Travel can be awesome no matter where you’re headed or who you’re doing it with, but there is nothing quite like the experience of doing it alone. Here are some of the perks that come along with solo travel.

Language Immersion

If you are traveling somewhere a different language is spoken, being alone means that you will have more opportunity to practice listening and speaking in the language. With someone it’s easy to spend most of the time chatting amongst yourselves or allowing them to handle the foreign transactions.

Tackle Your Own To-Do List

Naturally different people are going to have different goals on a trip and that extends to sights to see. When you’re alone you can do everything on your to-do list and if you don’t you only have yourself (and any unforeseen circumstances) to blame. Travel can be stressful and it’s easy to put the blame on our travel companions.

Make New Friends

Traveling alone means that you always have the option of striking up a conversation with a total stranger. Sometimes this does not amount to much, but sometimes you can make some really cool connections. At the least you can get some local recommendations for things to do and places to eat that you might not have known about otherwise.

Total Freedom

When you’re traveling alone you can have the freedom to pick up and head somewhere new at a moment’s notice. You don’t have to discuss the options with other people, or even necessarily let anyone know where you are. (Although sometimes that is a nice thing to do so that people at home don’t worry about you too much.)

Get to Know Yourself in a New Way

When you travel along you will always get the opportunity to learn new things about yourself, and those are sort of things that can change your life once you return home as well. Being outside of your comfort zone is one of the best ways to spur personal growth, whether you are specifically looking for it or not. Existing in a new environment can make you look at yourself in a whole new way, as well as how you look at the world in general.

You Might Save Money

You might even save money when you are traveling alone because you won’t be coerced into doing anything that you don’t want to do. You might even be able to figure out how to go a whole day without spending money, which is probably not something that would happen with a companion.

You Get to Tell Everyone that You Did It

Not only do you get to prove to yourself that you can totally handle a solo vacation, you get to brag about it when you come back. Not that you do anything just for the bragging rights, but you know, it makes a good story.