Traveling Alone | A. Perez Voyages

✉️ A Note on the Voyage Journal

The Voyage Journal is a collection of personal reflections written throughout my travels—capturing raw moments, transitions, and experiences as they happened. These entries are less about guides and more about the human side of the journey.

The Fear of Traveling Alone

Solo travel at Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park. The Florida Keys.

Traveling alone — most people frown upon it.

They see it as:

loneliness
dangerous
boring
or just plain stupid

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

But if there’s one word that connects all of these reactions, it’s fear.

Fear of being alone.
Fear of something going wrong.
Fear of not enjoying yourself.

I get it — I was once there too.

Learning to Do Things Alone

Doing things alone isn’t always natural at first.

Even something as simple as going to the movies alone can feel uncomfortable.

But for me, if I really want to do something, I just go.

The same applies to travel.

Traveling alone became something I did not out of intention at first — but out of circumstance.

How Solo Travel Began for Me

A week after graduating college, I planned my first trip post-graduation to Key West.

Five people were supposed to go.

One by one, everyone backed out.

And just like that, it was me, my car, my bag, and the road ahead.

That drive down US-1 through the Florida Keys changed everything.

I left hoping to enjoy myself… and came back with a completely new perspective on travel.

What Solo Travel Teaches You

If I do plan a trip to a new place overseas or within my side of the world, chances are I will travel alone and meet people along the way based on how my trips have turned out. Solo travel for me didn’t begin by choice though. Several years ago, a week after my college graduation, I made a stop in Miami for a few days before celebrating my first travel trip post-college in Key West. Ready for a nice celebration with about five people, the day of departure, I saw each individual back off for different reasons leaving me, my bag, my car and the road in front of me. Although the Florida Keys is not off the beaten path, a simple drive down the scenic US 1 changed my perspective for travel in an entirety. I left for the Keys with the hopes of enjoying myself and returned twice as satisfied as anticipated.