More Brits are choosing to travel alone than ever before
Anna Brech
A new study suggests that more people than ever are choosing to strike out solo abroad.
Travel website Expedia found that 25% of Brits are planning to holiday alone in 2018, for an average of 11 days.
Read more: Unusual adventures for the thrill-seeker within
Among people who had already travelled alone, 32% reported that they had had a better experience as a result, while 64% said doing so boosted their confidence.
No more compromise
Clearly, the current solo travel boom shows no sign of slowing down.
And intriguingly, people are drawn to this option because it allows them greater freedom and integrity.
Of the group who planned to travel solo in the Expedia study, 44% said they were doing so because they prefer to do their own thing.
Flash Pack: How I learnt to embrace solo travel as a man
This is more than double those who said they were flying solo because their friends had settled down (20%) or because they couldn’t agree on a destination with their mates (14%).
Increasingly, solo travel is becoming a choice that’s fuelled by the desire not to compromise.
Freedom of self
This element of freedom and autonomy will ring true with anyone who’s travelled solo.
In fact, it’s often the thing that moves people from trying solo travel once to making a habit of it.
“The best thing about being a single traveller? You don’t have to answer to anyone,” says Laurel Waldron, a PR manager and solo travel convert.
“You can do whatever you want, see what you want to see, totally march to your own tune. I actually enjoy being by myself sometimes and would much prefer it on a holiday to dragging around someone who doesn’t want to do the same things as me.”
Flash Pack: Three great reasons why you should try travelling alone
Emanuele Barrasso, who recently put his London career on pause to take a sabbatical, agrees.
“I had the freedom to go to the places I wanted to see and meet new people,” he says. “The entire experience made me grow as a person, as a man, as a traveller, and built my confidence. It made me see the world from a different perspective, and if I can say it, it made me live the world.”
Beginning the journey
Of course, not everyone is ready to travel alone right off the bat – which is where Flash Pack comes in.
“As much as I relished the opportunity to embrace new horizons and get out of my comfort zone, I always had a feeling of trepidation about doing it totally alone,” says Amanda Foran, who travelled with us to Vietnam and Cambodia.
“The decider for me with Flash Pack was that it is all with like-minded solo travellers around my own age.”
Read more: Feeling the fear – my South African adventure
The Flash Pack group element is also something that won over journalist Jonathan Thompson, on our weekend getaway to Scotland.
“It’s often a gamble travelling with strangers,” he says. “[But] the beauty of Flashpacking is that the destinations and activities act as a kind of natural selection filter, so when you find yourself there, you know those around you genuinely want to be there, too.”
In a sense, our fleet of global adventures act as a stepping stone.
They offer a way to dip your toe into the delights of solo travel, while meeting other people of a similar age and life stage who are doing the same thing.
And once you’ve taken that first, crucial leap to opening up your world, who only knows where it will lead…
Ready to start your solo adventure?
Hike across the ethereal salt plains of Bolivia
Cruise off-road on Sicily’s Mount Etna
Snorkel a WW2 shipwreck in Bali
Float down the Amazon by night in Peru
Canyon through Slovenia’s lush alpine ravines
Sail on a slow boat down the Mekong in Laos
Images: Shutterstock, Flash Pack