Instagram and travel magazines have sold us a picture-perfect image of what travel should be: lounging with your family in the Caribbean, hiking mountains with friends, or hanging out with your lover in Mykonos. But what if your friends never seem to have free time? And what if that dream lover is literally a dream? Thankfully, I found a solution: solo travel.
I went on my first international solo trip at 18 years old after my first semester at Harvard. From a young age, I had a fascination with Japan’s advanced transportation system, one I had read about in books and seen in documentaries. While my friends were excited about the potential trip, our schedules never quite aligned. Knowing I might not have an opportunity again, I decided to take a leap and go alone.
Saying I was nervous would be an understatement. As my plane took off from Queens and started our 14 hour trip to Tokyo, worries filled my mind. How would I communicate if I didn’t speak a word of Japanese? Could I handle Tokyo’s transit network, daunting even for a New Yorker? Amidst the anxiety, I began to appreciate something better enjoyed alone and in quiet—the views. Thousands of feet below me, the beautiful snow-capped mountains and glaciers of Alaska unfolded, looking even more dramatic in the winter light.
Hours later, I stood in front of Tokyo Station, a place I had only seen in photos. I looked up, feeling tiny among the grand skyscrapers of Tokyo. Commuters of all types frantically surrounded me, walking from one train to the next. The realization quickly hit. I was completely alone, on the opposite side of the world, in a brand new country.
While I struggled at first with getting to my hotel, my fears quickly morphed into excitement as I saw the bright lights of Tokyo on the Yamanote train line. When in the planning stages, some of the benefits of solo travel are hard to appreciate. The first and biggest one is flexibility. As a solo traveler, I didn’t have to compromise on anything. If I felt tired and wanted to stay in, I could do just that. If I wanted to see ten tourist attractions on a tightly packed schedule, nothing was stopping me. The flexibility of traveling alone allowed me to do everything I wanted, from riding trains in Tokyo to take in the views to exploring Japan’s thrilling amusement parks.
Traveling alone also improved my communication skills. While being bilingual helped me smoothly explore places like Latin America, I had to find ways to get my ideas across in Asia. When I rode Eejanaika, one of the most intense roller coasters in both Japan and the world, I couldn’t communicate with words. Instead, I looked into the eyes of the man sitting next to me. We burst out laughing as the spinning train cars started moving upwards. That was a human connection beyond language.
Beyond language barriers, I also got out of my comfort zone. When I wasn’t focused on a close group of friends, I had no one to talk to but others. During my travels, I met both locals and other travelers from around the world. In China, I met a young man at the top of a skyscraper who told me about his time at university in the north of the country. I’ve made solo traveler friends on hikes through the mountains of Taiwan and on cable car rides. I still talk to many of these fellow travelers and have even made plans to visit their countries one day.
The confidence I got through solo travel cannot be understated either. It taught me that I can solve complex challenges on my own, and made me less reliant on the validation of others. Whether it was accidentally throwing my high-speed rail ticket in the trash in Japan or nearly getting stranded in Macau in the middle of the night, solo traveling has taught me that I can persevere through difficult moments.
Coming back to the United States, solo travel exposed me to practices in other countries that could make life in the U.S. much better. For instance, I was very impressed by the transit systems in Europe and Asia, which were even more advanced than places like New York City. Rather than waiting on a schedule, the trains in Hong Kong and Tokyo came frequently and could take me anywhere in the city without the need to drive. High-speed rail systems like the one in Spain blew me away with their quick speeds and smooth riding.
In London, technologies like platform doors also made me feel safer while riding. Seeing these motivated me to advocate for better public transit in the United States. I would love to take a high-speed rail train from Boston to New York in one hour. Additionally, talking to locals in England and Spain about their healthcare and education systems made me wonder what the United States could look like with an affordable healthcare system. Seeing how other cities and countries handle their challenges provides inspiration for what the United States can improve upon.
While traveling with others has its advantages, solo traveling has given me the chance to see places I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. If you ever find yourself with free time, put yourself out there and consider solo traveling. Who knows, you might just find that dream lover!
Roberto C. Quesada ‘27 (robertoquesada@college.harvard.edu) has solo traveled to four continents.