Traveling with someone vs. alone

Everyone will have their own thoughts on this topic. It's a personal preference but I'll lay out some facts from my experience on this trip. Perhaps this information will help someone plan the key element of their trip. Do I travel alone, or not? 

Little things that become annoying. 

This is true when anyone is with someone else for long amounts of time. In a relationship of any sort, the longer you around someone the more little things your partner does can get annoying. A word they might use repeatedly, a bad habit they might have... It could be anything!

While I was traveling with a partner, things were good. We got along and we took each day as it came. Then just over a month into my travels I met someone who I had an instant connection with. I felt like I could be myself again. I had never realized how much I had been holding in and not being my true self. 

You need to be happy when you travel and enjoy everything! I found myself on wifi whenever possible, with my original travel partner trying to talk to friends back home in order to escape my present situation. 

Think about you for a minute. What kind of a person/ personality are you? If you are planning to travel with someone do your personalities match well to last you through the trip? 

For me, I have more guy friends then I do girls. I just tend to get along with guys better over a period of time. I do have a lot of great girls in my life but I didn't think about this when planning my trip with my original partner. 

She was a great girl but we truely were like ying and yang in our travel styles. We complimented each other well but I noticed an ease in myself when guys joined up with us on our travels. I really enjoyed it when this happened because I felt like it broke up the everyday of her and I. It was good for us. Even girls joining up with us on our travels was a nice break. 

If your traveling alone you definitely need to be somewhat of an independent person. You should know though, you'll never actually be alone. Especially if you are planning on staying in hostels, you'll never have a lack of travel partners. You may fly somewhere alone but as soon as you land somewhere and get settled you'll start meeting other travelers. 

Take a tour at your destination spot and you'll have travel buddies for days! 

Keep in mind though - to meet other travel buddies you can't be a shy person around new people. Be open and social around new people. 

Not to long ago I talked about this blog post with my (original) travel partner. I asked her if she had anything to add after I read her what I had put down. It started a conversation about her feelings towards me. She told me her sister had asked if her and I were going to be best friends after the trip ended. My partners response was, 

"no, Casey is more like a cousin. A family member that I care about and who will always be in my life."

I felt like that was a good answear and I definitely agreed.

I have NO idea what's on my forehead! 

I have now partnered up with a new travel mate. Her and I officially begin a new journey in travels as of today, my original partner left this morning with a German friend to another part of Indonesia. New horizons await all 4 of us, I guess you could say. But everything is good and is working out for the very best of reasons. 

Travlers will cycle thru, sometimes several travel buddies during the course of a trip. This I was aware of and I brought it up in conversation the very first day I met with my original partner to start our planning. I wish the best to her and I'm sure I'll see her again in Portland, OR. one day.