Here’s What I Learned After Taking a Week-Long Trip by Myself

I've never been much of a traveler. Up until this year, I've visited a whopping total of four U.S. states – five, if I include my home state of California.

I was determined to change that this year, so I decided to make it my New Year's resolution to travel more. After all, I am a Sagittarius and it was about time I lived up to the title of being one of the biggest travelers among the zodiac signs.

So I booked a week-long trip to Anchorage, Alaska in March 2016 with just me, myself and I.

Off I Go!

Leading up to the trip, all of my friends and family were incredibly interested to know what I planned to do when I went to Alaska, especially because I was going all by myself. Honestly, I didn't have any plans. I only knew I wanted to see the Northern Lights and that was pretty much it. The rest of my trip was all up in the air.

Thankfully the woman I rented my Airbnb from had a binder full of restaurants to eat at, places to shop, cute coffeehouses to visit and even fun things to do around Anchorage. This was beyond helpful and allowed me to plan out my days accordingly.

 

What Did I End up Doing?

Because everything was relatively close to me and Uber and Lyft are not a thing out there, I ended up walking everywhere. I took a taxi maybe five or six times in the total of my seven days there.

There was a shopping center a little less than a mile away from where I was staying that had a vegan café and an adorable coffee shop that I would visit every morning.

After getting my grub on, I'd spend the majority of my days hiking and taking in all the Alaskan wilderness had to offer. And let me tell you something: Alaska is gorgeous beyond belief.

Don't even get me started on how breathtaking their sunsets are. They definitely beat the ones in L.A.

In the evenings, I hit up a different restaurant each night and hung out in Downtown Anchorage. I even befriended quite a few Alaskan natives – one of which I ended up going to an animal sanctuary with.

I wanted to see a moose somehow, someway on this trip, and I was glad I was able to make that happen.

As I already mentioned, my main goal of this trip was to see the Northern Lights. I tried to see them on two separate occasions, but it didn't pan out like I hoped. But it's just more of an excuse to make my way out to Alaska once more!

 

What Did I Take Away From This Experience?

Don't get me wrong, traveling alone is most definitely intimidating. You have to be comfortable spending plenty of time by yourself and making friends with total strangers.

For the most part, I don't mind spending time with just me. I feel like this trip, however, allowed me to be more secure in being alone. I walked away being a bit more comfortable in my own skin, as well.

Traveling by yourself is also great because you are in charge of everything. You decide where you want to go and when you want to go there. I woke up every single day and said to myself, "I think I'll go here today." It was as simple as that.

I'm already an independent person, but being the sole individual in charge of my travel itinerary boosted my independent nature and forced me to improve my decision-making skills.

If you haven't already traveled alone or are skeptical about doing so, just do it. It's a game-changing experience you don't want to miss.

 

Traveling to Alaska by my lonesome isn't the only insane thing I've done. Discover why I decided to cut off 11 inches of my hair because of a silly boy HERE.