akl_traveller

Travelled alone (12 months backpacking) and with both friends and family. I will never travel alone again.
Why? Because you can never switch off when you're alone. If you're with a mate and you can't find a place to stay you grab your sleeping bags and kip in a park together. One keeps watch ad the other sleeps. On a bus or train you're always checking for your stop (I was once saved from crossing the BUL-ROM border by some friendly Bulgarian soldiers on a bus). When you're in an airport you're constantly watching the clock. Everything is just "on edge" all the time and regardless of what anybody here tries to say, going alone to a restaurant or a club looks *weird*. You find people to hang out with a day or six at hostels (possibly) but that's it.
When you're with people you can switch off and relax. It's just night and day.
Yes you can travel and Tinder your way across the world but if that's your sole goal it's a lot cheaper to do it at home.

TimDP

I'm someone who mostly travels alone. As long as I'm single I will also continue to do so.

I still remember the look on the faces of my family went I told them I would go the US. It was the 2nd year that I had a job (first year with paid holiday), before that as a student / kid travel was with my parents by car to Spain, France or the Belgian coast or skiing trips with friends. They all believed I was joking but my mind was set on visiting the US. A week later everything was booked: for the first time TATL flight, first time checking in baggage, and I did a road trip of 9 days on my own New York > Philadelphia > Washington > Gettysburg > Niagara Falls > New York on my own. That was in 2007 and since then I went on my own to New York, Boston, 3 times Chicago, Dubai, Tokyo, 28 days Australia, mainly camping, 2 weeks camping in Yellowstone, and 2x times San Francisco (although on both occasions the first 5 days were for business reasons). The second time in San Francisco I went on a road for 9 days after my conference ended and went camping at the Grand Canyon and in Zion. In May I will go to Canada for 3,5 weeks, again on my own and most of the trip is camping with a tent.
The trips I made with others were mainly city trips within Europe + a few trips to the US. I have been a 'guide' for 4 times already in New York: 3 times for family and one time with a friend.

I enjoy travelling alone. I determine my own schedule, direction, food, ..... No wait on other people, no discussions about restaurant choices, ...... Almost every trip I did with others had at least one day in it with fights over the choice of food. Also I'm always the one who is supposed to be the organizer so even the switching off is not always easy when travelling with other people.
On the other hand when on your own, a lot of the expenses remain the same which makes it more expensive. A rental car has the same price if you're alone or with other people (besides additional drivers), prices for hotel rooms are the same for one or two (besides some taxes), ... and when hiking some hikes are not recommended doing alone.

I don't mind being on my own, the 'real' world is already busy enough. I can spend a week somewhere not needing to talk to anyone else and having a great time. During my trip in Australia I had several nights the campgrounds for myself. On the other hand I don't have any problem chatting with complete strangers. Being able to share experiences from other trips helps of course. And the way I plan my trips makes it easy to meet people with the same interests. Lot of my trips include running a marathon, so there are always other runners in the same city. On other occasions I take some group activities (for instance: I took a day trip from Reykjavik to the Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, a day trip to Frazer Island in Australia, scuba diving and snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef, ...). Being multilingual also helps of course. I'm able to speak Dutch, English and French on a good level and German on a basic level.

The only big benefit of group travel for me is that I experience things I would never experience on my own due to the stupidity of others in the group. My first New York marathon was via a travel agent and on the first day in New York 2 of the group jumped over the subway gates as their card would validate. So I was able to see the NYPD in action from real close as 2 agents were really quick at the platform to give a fine to those 2 gate jumpers.

So I stick to solo travel.

xooz

For US travelers, I think there is probably some reluctance when it comes to taking a trip to a country solo AND not speaking the language. Maybe non-US folks are more used to being in a place where the language is not understood... certainly non-US people are more likely to speak multiple languages.

There is some comfort in traveling with friends in just being able to make conversation. I personally am in the pool of people who prefer solo business travel, but also prefer traveling with friends for pleasure. Luckily I have friends whose travel interests and travel mindset are compatible with mine. Finally, the other main reason I rarely travel for pleasure alone is the cost compared to being able to share costs with a friend.