Traveling solo...

Never to go on trips with anyone you do not love.

-- Ernest Hemingway, A Movable Feast

For those of you who haven't read A Movable Feast, it chronicles Hemingway's life as a young, aspiring writer in Paris. I read it when I was footloose and fancy free just before going to Paris with a platonic male friend. I wished I had heeded Hemingway's words of wisdom before we embarked. It turned out to be -- what I thought at the time -- a nightmare. I won't go into the details here. But decades later it makes me and my friends laugh out loud.

There is something to be said for traveling alone. Here are 7 reasons why from homestay.com via Travel Girl Magazine:

(1) You are forced to grow up -- you have to figure out everything on your own
(2) You can do what you want when you want
(3) You become more immersed in other cultures
(4) You come out of your shell more
(5) You have more time to explore
(6) You meet more people
(7) You learn how to budget your money better

I will always have Paris. But the next time I go it will be either solo or with loved ones. I also plan to stay at a lavish hotel, eat at fancy restaurants and shop at chic boutiques. Because if you're going back to Paris, you better get it right the second time.

What do you like about traveling alone?

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