{"id":13439,"date":"2018-05-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flashpack.preview.uk.com\/2018\/05\/29\/solo-travel-unlocks-this-secret-to-fulfillment\/"},"modified":"2023-05-12T10:57:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T09:57:44","slug":"solo-travel-secret-fulfilment-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/solo\/travel\/solo-travel-secret-fulfilment-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Solo travel unlocks this secret to fulfillment"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a new blog<\/a> by Quartz, resilience is the most important quality in life.<\/p>\n

“Feeling good is all fine and good, but it\u2019s fleeting,” says writer Ephrat Livni<\/a>. “Learning to deal with difficulty, by contrast, improves your chances of feeling good again. That\u2019s much more useful than clinging to an illusion.<\/p>\n

“To be happy, you have to first learn how to be strong,” she continues.<\/p>\n

“To pick yourself up after a fall, detach from sadness when you don\u2019t succeed, and find the will to persist instead of getting depressed when things go awry, which they often will.”<\/p>\n

Learn resilience with solo travel<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The science behind resilience also shows that it is a learned skill<\/a>. People who are resilient\u00a0see themselves as orchestrators of their own fate.<\/p>\n

They meet the world on their own terms, using whatever skills they have available.<\/p>\n

Certain cognitive skills underpin resilience, and they stem from thinking, “I can change the situation, rather than assuming it\u2019s fixed.”<\/p>\n

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When you travel alone, you are the ultimate master of your own destiny. And you’re forced to come up with novel solutions at every turn.<\/p>\n

Exposure to continued stress is hands-down damaging, but solo travel hits the sweet spot in the balance.<\/p>\n

Master of your own destiny<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The challenges that you might face when you fly solo include things like finding a hotel for the night or getting from A to B when you don’t speak the language.<\/p>\n

They’re not usually life-or-death situations but they are demanding enough to put you on your toes.<\/p>\n

Read more: Want to travel alone? Don’t wait to be confident<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You might not choose to tackle these moments but the more you put yourself in the firing line for them, the more resilient you become.<\/p>\n

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“Travelling has brought out a confidence I never knew I had within me,” says travel blogger\u00a0Absolutely Lucy<\/a>. ” [\u2026] I\u2019ve met so many people who have spoken of the exact same feeling \u2013 that feeling of a sudden strength and confidence, that undeniable capability.<\/p>\n

Read more: Why travelling alone gives you the edge at work<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve already learnt so much by relying totally on myself to get from A to B, and then on to C, I\u2019ve had to find my way home from the middle of nowhere by trying to communicate with those who don\u2019t speak English, I\u2019ve had to look after myself when I\u2019m sick. But I\u2019ve done it all and done it well.”<\/p>\n

A self-fulfilling prophecy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Resilience – the ability to think positively whatever is thrown at you – is also a self-fulfilling prophecy; something else that comes to the fore when you travel alone.<\/p>\n

A multitude of research shows that happy people become more satisfied not simply because they feel better, but because they develop the resources<\/a> for living well.<\/p>\n

These people use positive emotion to “produce novel and broad-ranging thoughts and actions”, which in turn help to actualise happy outcomes.<\/p>\n

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“If you do something that requires a certain amount of strength or independence, you then see yourself as a stronger and more independent person,” notes psychologist\u00a0Dr. Chloe Carmichael Peet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more: “I embraced my 30s crisis and you should too”<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“Your behaviour is reinforcing a positive self-esteem. As your self-esteem grows, you start engaging in more independent, self-serving behaviours.”<\/p>\n

When you travel alone, you start honing your inner resource muscle. Armed with positive emotion, you take on risks for a happy outcome – which in turn fuels greater positive emotion and greater resilience.<\/p>\n

Taking on risk<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Whether you’re travelling truly alone or in\u00a0a group of strangers<\/a>, the effect on resilience will be the same.<\/p>\n

Either way, you’re out of your comfort zone and relying on your own resources (rather than blanketed by the presence of loved ones).<\/p>\n

Read more: 7 travel challenges to boost your self-esteem<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Take Flash Pack’s co-founder Radha Vyas<\/a>, who flexed her own capacity for resilience on a recent trip to South Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We had to abseil down one of the highest commercial abseils in the world at Table Mountain. And I was scared to death,” she recalls.<\/p>\n

“But because I was with a group of people I didn\u2019t really know, I didn\u2019t want to be seen as a wuss. I did it, and I\u2019m so glad I did, because it was the most amazing experience of my life. I\u2019ll never forget it.”<\/p>\n