How to deal with being alone

Actually, the plan was for me to go on vacation alone for a few days last summer. Never done it before, but after quite a few intense and busy months I thought it would be a smart move; a kind of ‘clear my head’ vacation where I would be sitting somewhere abroad by myself, including a social media break. In the end, I didn't do it because I was afraid I wouldn't handle being alone and would feel even worse, so enter my lovely mom who beautifully joined me. By the way, also a recommendation – go on vacation with your mother (or father) once.

But that idea of going away alone still haunts my mind. Respect for the people who travel alone, although you are not necessarily alone, because all those backpackers eventually hang out a lot together. What I want is to just go somewhere alone for a long weekend or week, completely offline. A kind of vacation à la The Holiday, but without the handsome brother of the lady whose house you borrow or the neighbor you fall in love with. But before that happens, before I really dare, I'm going to start with baby steps:

Start with small activities

Go have coffee alone somewhere, go to a museum, take a class at the gym without your gym buddy... And if you really want to jump out of your comfort zone right at the start: then go to the cinema alone. You can also do that once in the afternoon, in case you don't find the idea of sitting among all those Tinder dates and friend groups in the evening very chill. The most important part of all this: leave your phone at home. Go off air, then you are really alone.

Onto the next part

Alright great, survived baby steps? We're going to take a step further. That coffee you went to drink alone is now going out to eat alone. May helps you along the way. And by that, I don't mean you should go solo to the snack bar around the corner, no, pick a nice place (tips for Amsterdammers), order that glass of wine and again: put your phone away. I know: awkward at first. Coincidentally, I just talked about this with Kiki, who did this a while ago after she put away her laptop after typing for a few hours, and she recommends it to everyone. And then about that cinema, instead of that afternoon show, you're now going to enjoy it in the evening (and that bucket of popcorn is for you, and only you. #winnning).

So back to that trip you ultimately want to make alone. Start with something easy. You can fly all the way to Australia or god knows where on the other side of the world, but don't forget that if you can't handle it, you'll have to make quite a journey back by yourself. Once, Liesbeth wrote about solo trips you can make in Europe; take advantage of it. I think that traveling alone is good for a person, and that's why it's time for me to look for a destination myself. I’m thinking of the South of France…