I would be hesitant about traveling abroad alone - but that's purely for safety reasons as you pointed about "with a bud"
There are some places where it might be beneficial to travel with companions for safety reasons, but overall I don't really see it as a safety concern. My Indian friend did, in a way. He knew I would be harrassed for being an American woman and unable to communicate with others very well on my own. But, *I* had already learned enough about the culture to know that while they may have been fascinated with me and inadvertantly harrass me, they respected women highly and would be shamed if I were to get angry or upset in offense. I knew that if I yelled, a dozen men would come to my side in a moment. Because I knew this, because I understood a bit of the culture, I felt safe traveling alone.
That said, having him there would have made certain things easier in India because they WERE fascinated with me and I had a habit of drawing a crowd just by simply being there. I flipped a scarf over my head on more than one occasion to attempt to 'blend in' and avoid the issues.
There are places that I might hesitate to go to, or at least be very aware and prepared for possible issues. But I take time to study culture and tradition of places I'm going to so I know what to expect and how to avoid any possible altercations.
But I'm just like you - while I often don't do these things alone because I do have family, I surely enjoy it. My husband and I are like this, actually. We were watching one of those "lockup" shows about people in prison - and my husband and I agreed that the idea of solitary confinement sounded surreal - like heaven. No people = no bull**** and drama.
No kidding. People come with so much baggage! LOL
I'm like you, I love being on my own. I always have. I need it to remain sane. Ironically, I chose a career that forces me to be around and interact with tons of people every day. I guess it's my way of balancing things out. I love my job, but my favorite part of my day is when I get in my car and drive home finally alone again. :lol:
Yeah... oddly I became a river guide. I had to deal with 6 - 10 people in my raft every day for 6 hours a day. Trapped, in a boat with them. Many times, I was the trip leader, which meant that I had to deal with the potentially 100 people on the entire trip. (check them all in, talk to them all, access their personalities, match them to an appropriate guide, give safety speeches to the entire groups, check up on them, etc) But, the PEOPLE is one of the main reasons I quit being a guide. It just exhausted me to be "on" all the time. You can't have a "bad day" as a tourist guide of any kind. You have to suck it up and be friendly, jovial, engaging, patient, and accepting the entire day. It was exhausting. And it eventually became too much of a job.
And, then I become a scuba diving instructor. I mean, despite my inclination to be alone, I tend to take jobs that require I not only be around other people, but also lead them. But maybe that's my compromise... I can be around them as long as I'm the one in charge. ROFL
Riv, I am exactly like that. Don't get me wrong, I like people... but in limited doses. If I don't get my "alone time" I get very cranky... too long and I turn into a total grizzly bear.
YES. I mean, I get super bitchy. I try to be nice about it, but I'm just screaming inside, "GO THE **** AWAY!!" LOL
I'm comfortable doing many things alone that others only do in pairs or groups. I go hiking/camping alone sometimes, even though I know the safety factor is an issue ("what if you break a leg?" my mom asks).
Just make a point of letting people know where you're going, and if you break a leg, someone will eventually be looking for you. I've always had a tendency to just up and head off somewhere without telling a soul. I've learned that it's not really the safest idea to do that. :lol:
I'm an "Adventure diner": I like to go to some exotic restaurant and order who-knows-what off the menu; if nobody is intrested in going to it with me, I go by myself.
I am adventurous with everything but food. I am NOT an adventurous eater. Yes, I will dine alone. Yes, I will try new things. But I will not try things that sound "icky" to me. ROFL I don't eat venison, snails, strange seafood, bison, etc, etc. I tried sushi once and thought I was going to throw up at the table. LOL
One of the main reasons I've stayed with my current job, despite various dissatisfactions, is that for most of the day I am out alone and rarely interact with the public. I like it like that. Being stuck in an office cubical with a hundred chattering monkeys all around me all day isn't far from my personal vision of hell.
Now see... compared to the amount of personal interaction that was required of me as a river guide, EMT, ski patrol, etc... working in an office where I only have to deal with a handful of the same people every day is CAKE. LOL
That said, I'd rather be outside.
Being a single parent, I don't get as much "alone time" as I used to, but spending time with my teenage son is different than with most people. For one thing he is mostly quiet and contemplative and perfectly comfortable with long silences. For another we have similar intrests, tastes and habits. (We've been called "the clones" before, poor kid, lol.)
The lack of 'alone time' inherent in raising a child is one reason I do not have one.
I require alone-time (or at least everybody-else-shut-up-time) in order to recharge my soul. At some point in my life I became aware that there were other people (strange creatures, surely from Mars or Jupiter) who actually required time among other people, preferably in a large crowd, to get that same "recharge" that I got from being alone. My initial reaction to this revelation was to wonder what planet they were from or what was wrong with them. :mrgreen:
I know, right?! All to often I'll have boyfriends who claim, "You never go out with me" when they go to meet friends or whatever. And they're right, I don't. Because when THEY go out, it's the only goddamn time I get to myself! LOL
To me, being around other people is almost always slightly tiring. However much I may like them, however familiar they may be, they have wants and expectations of some sort that they expect me to fulfill. Even my very best friends tire me out after about half a day and I'm ready to get away from them for a while.
Yes. This. 100x this. They have expectations that you feel you need to fulfil lest they get upset, take things personally, blah blah blah.
Now, I'm not a total hermit. After a couple of days completely alone, I start to miss my son. After a couple more days I might start to miss other close friends and immediate family. Three or four weeks alone and I'd probably be ready to talk to anyone, even someone annoying, like a salesman. :mrgreen:
I don't know.. I've not had the opportunity to be
completely alone for any real length of time (only 2 or 3 days). But the idea of it is... SOOOO appealing. LOL I can't wait to get my sailboat and just sail off where no one can bother me until I want to be bothered.
(Oddly enough for an introvert, I have "the gift of blarney" and the "silver tongue", and can play the sociable man and charm the birds out of the trees when I care to put forth the effort. It is an effort, though.)
Oh yes, same here. I showed many a person a good time on the river. I am able to effectively interact with and get along with just about every type of personality. (for a time) I was particularly good with the charm when I was working as a call girl. (hence the high tips I received) But it was definitely an effort, and one that exhausted me mentally as much as working on the river did.
Love, love, love my time alone. Before I got married, I did most of my travelling alone. In fact, the first time I sat on a plane with someone I knew was when hubby and I eloped.
I've had the best conversations flying alone, or just traveling in general. People talk to you that otherwise wouldn't if you weren't alone. I remember one flight where my seating companion and I got pretty drunk. He kept buying drinks for us, and we kept drinking them. Sat in the back of the plane and laughed and drank for hours. LOL
Perhaps this is why you and I connect on issues that I would never think we do. I am exactly like this. People think I'm weird, also, because of it, but my preference is to be by myself. I am happy to go to eat by myself, go shopping by myself, go to the movies by myself, etc... Often when doing this, I find people-watching to be a fascination activity. Back in the day when I used to actually have time to write, I'd create stories about the people I'd see, expanding on something mundane they were doing to something outrageous or interesting. I used to be a "diner-rat". I'd eat at diners alone, a lot, get to know the waitresses, the regulars. Real interesting.
Also, with my job, I talk and am with people all day. I value my alone time, a lot.
I think it's often personality differences... introvert vs. extrovert. Has little to do with social skills, but with comfortability and preference. Extroverts are more comfortable being around people; introverts are more comfortable being alone.
I like to people watch too. I find it very entertaining and enlightening. It's amazing what people do when they think no one is watching, and it's equally amazing watching the habits of individuals in group dynamics.
