The original plan was going back to Italy with my sister this summer. We had such a fabulous time last year in Rome, Tuscany, Amalfi Coast and Venice that we wanted to see more of Italy and decided on Milan, Lake Como, Verona, Cinque Terre and Florence for our 2-week vacation. That was until my sister scored her dream internship and couldn't travel. I was devastated. I had lost more than a travel companion but someone I always have a blast with.
I started looking for someone else but the options were very limited. My boyfriend bought a restaurant last year and wouldn't take time away from his business. I asked a couple of friends but they all couldn't travel for various reasons. Soon I was faced with the awful dilemma: staying home or going alone.
The idea of travelling alone was not very pleasant at first but my passion for travelling - or simply the depressing idea of watching tv as my vacation - helped me come over my fear. I was not so much scared of taking the plane alone - it wouldn't be a first - but of what my days would look like. Would I get lonely? Would I have a good time - even if I didn't have someone to share it with? What about eating alone in restaurants? Was I independent enough? Would the voices in my head that are screaming "Loser" ever shut up? But first and foremost, was it safe for a woman to travel alone? After a week of driving myself insane with "should I?" and "shouldn't I?", I decided to grow a pair and I booked myself a trip.
The only criteria for my trip was that it had to be a metropolitan city. I wanted to be able to spend a week in a city without getting bored. A friend suggested London but there is something about the weather that is not appealing to me. The same friend suggested Tokyo. I had visited Hong Kong a few years ago but for my first trip alone it sounded too ambitious. I had visited Rome last year, went two times to NYC and three times to LA. A work colleague asked me why wasn't I going to Paris. Paris was never a city on my bucket list. I am French-Canadian and because I am familiar with the culture, this city doesn't sound exotic to me. I also like to learn new languages and my first language is French. But after giving it more thought, I realized that the idea was brilliant. I was already nervous about travelling alone and knowing the language and the culture would make it easier on me.
The hardest part was making the jump: buying the plane ticket. After that, I quickly found out the advantage of travelling alone...no compromise! So I decided to plan my dream vacation and spoil myself rotten. I will visit as many museums as I want, make reservations in fancy restaurants, shop in cute little Parisian boutiques, drink champagne at lunch and eat lots of French pastries. I also love La Belle Époque (Paris between 1871 and 1914) and it will be the theme of my trip. I will visit all the mythical sites that sill exist. In the end, travel companion or not, I decided that I would have a hell of a good time!
What about you? Would you ever travel alone?
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