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[Raistlin]

I'm contemplating doing a 2.1 day trip to Chicago (and driving up to Milwaukee) for a pair of concerts, but have never done this sort of thing before. While I have gone to a local show or two stag, as well as some movies, this is obviously a pretty big jump.

Anyone done this sort of thing before? How did it go? Any pointers?

 

[Beezy]

Mr. Solo Dolo

 

[MorisUkunRasik]

Pointer: bring someone else

 

[Twig]

I went on a week-long to Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima by myself (although I met a couple friends out there, one night each).

I can say, unequivocally, that I would have enjoyed it far more if I had someone with me the whole time. I still had fun but...

Take someone if you can. Unless you LIKE traveling alone. Some people do?

 

[swoon]

i took a trip across the usa for almost 4 months solo. it almost killed me.

 

[Tater Tot]

i took a trip across the usa for almost 4 months solo. it almost killed me.

What happened?

 

[muttyeah416]

yeah i just ended up watching across the universe and staring at my hands and painting

 

[Raistlin]

This isn't filling me with confidence :lol

 

[Twig]

Well, if you want advice, then... plan it out ahead. Don't rely on others to do it for you, sorta thing.

Uh... don't do drugs?

 

[hellclerk]

i'll likely be making my trip home from college in May solo on a motorcycle. 3-4 days, 1200 miles, and long slabs of highway for the MN->NJ trip. the best thing is, i get to do it again at the END of the summer (or even sooner).

honestly though, i really want to take that trip. depending on weather for Spring break, and the state of the bike, i might take the week to go down to Miami to see family. those would be some awesome trips...

 

[Stinkles]

I went to the Big Island for ten days, ate Plate Lunches every day, had leftovers for dinner. Got up when I felt like it, went to bed when I liked. Did dangerous hikes. Swam with Manta rays at midnight. Got right up to the lava flow. Snorkeled with turtles and dolphins. Met nice people. Rode motorbike. Off-roaded in Jeep. Watched stars at night. read a ton of books. Drank girl drinks.


Best vacation ever.

 

[RobertM]

I went to New York once. Met some people, missed the last train, dodged some bad looking dudes, some taxi drivers were fighting over my money which kind of felt like I was in GTA, called my sister to pick me up, got home, and went to sleep.

 

[swoon]

What happened?

slowly screwing my away across kansas, i had to make a correction.

but really the trip was a result of some serious depression, and it was my intent to have the land take me, or beat it. i spend 2 weeks in the most miserable part of western kansas without speaking to anyone and barley eating food. i worked odd jobs in even odder parts of of the midwest. i slept with every dairy queen blizzard maker i met, and did a lot of other things with that crowd that should of killed all of us. and then repeated the same thing with other professions in many other cities. bouts of extreme loneliness followed by long weekends of attempted suicide essentially.

but

i came back alive, and i've been more grounded and self aware since then.


chicago for 2 days won't kill anyone. and you might learn some things about yourself in the meantime.

 

[Stinkles]

I went to New York once. Met some people, missed the last train, dodged some bad looking dudes, some taxi drivers were fighting over my money which kind of felt like I was in GTA, called my sister to pick me up, got home, and went to sleep.

And that's when the C.H.U.D.s came for you.

 

[Scuba Steve]

i slept with every dairy queen blizzard maker i met

nice

 

[JzeroT1437]

I travel solo all the time--it becomes kind of necessary if you want to explore the world in any large-scale sense. Even if your friends want to go everywhere you go, they aren't always going to be able to afford it when you can and vice versa.

My advice: Learn to meet strangers and make new friends where you go. It's not that hard--it's easier if you're outside of America or in a larger city like NYC, but possible everywhere.

Don't miss a show because your friends can't go unless you think you wouldn't enjoy it without them.

 

[Xeke]

You need a sitter or you may freak out and kill yourself.

 

[Always-honest]

hell no. i wanna share the joy

 

[siddx]

Went to Japan by myself. I was stressed at first and had something else going on that ruined the trip. But I was fine.
So I think you'll be fine in Chicago.

 

[Twig]

My advice: Learn to meet strangers and make new friends where you go. It's not that hard--it's easier if you're outside of America or in a larger city like NYC, but possible everywhere.

Yeah this is sound advice. Probably the best anyone can give.

I'm terrible at meeting new people. I either need the other person to initiate the conversation (because fuck if I can make the first move) or I need someone I know there with me to boost my confidence.

But if you don't have these problems, I bet traveling alone is pretty fucking awesome.

 

[Milk Lizard]

Yeah many times, sadly no one likes the music i do and i can at most bring a friend once to a concert until he/she refuses to ever go with me again. :lol

 

[thomaser]

I've been to London twice by myself, four days or so each time. Enjoyed it very much. But I planned out each stay thoroughly before going, so I always had something to do. Also spent a week in Japan once together with a friend, but had lots of time alone since our hotels were an hour apart by train :lol That went very well too, again because I made sure to spend my time alone doing specific things I wanted to do instead of just hanging out around the hotel.

 

[Cheshire]

What the hell? I backpacked across Europe solo for 9 months and if I had the chance to do it again I would still go solo. I met so many more people and did what I wanted when I wanted it was fantastic. I'm heading over to the US/Canada for a few months in a year or 2 and I'm taking my partner and in a way I'm dreading it. Travelling solo is awesome.

 

[Jake.]

i've gone all over the world by myself (japan, england etc). its hardly a rare thing.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

I travel solo all the time--it becomes kind of necessary if you want to explore the world in any large-scale sense. Even if your friends want to go everywhere you go, they aren't always going to be able to afford it when you can and vice versa.

My advice: Learn to meet strangers and make new friends where you go. It's not that hard--it's easier if you're outside of America or in a larger city like NYC, but possible everywhere.

Don't miss a show because your friends can't go unless you think you wouldn't enjoy it without them.

co-sign. i gave up waiting on friends to go travel with me and started going by myself. i wanna go to seattle by myself soon. plus i wanna go on a cruise too.

 

[Falch]

Spend a 4 day holiday in New York City last december, even though I had never been in the US before (did spend 6 weeks before that in Upstate NY in an exchange program). Absolutely fucking loved it, and I could not have done so much and seen so much in those 4 days if I hadn't been alone.

 

[Aesius]

Don't know if it really counts but I went on a month long study abroad trip to London last summer and didn't know anyone else on the trip.

It was scary as fuck TBH. I had a mini freakout the second day when I realized I had no internet, phone, television, car, or even a reliable way to tell what time it was. I was basically trapped in my dorm with nobody to talk to and nothing to do.

It forced me to make friends though and I had a great time for the rest of the trip. I'm pretty sure I could easily do it again now that I've experienced it, but that first time was quite a shock.

 

[Fyodor Dostoevsky]

slowly screwing my away across kansas, i had to make a correction.

but really the trip was a result of some serious depression, and it was my intent to have the land take me, or beat it. i spend 2 weeks in the most miserable part of western kansas without speaking to anyone and barley eating food. i worked odd jobs in even odder parts of of the midwest. i slept with every dairy queen blizzard maker i met, and did a lot of other things with that crowd that should of killed all of us. and then repeated the same thing with other professions in many other cities. bouts of extreme loneliness followed by long weekends of attempted suicide essentially.

but

i came back alive, and i've been more grounded and self aware since then.


chicago for 2 days won't kill anyone. and you might learn some things about yourself in the meantime.

Sounds like you should've been hospitalized for approaching perfection

 

[Calcaneus]

Nah, never went solo, but I have thought about it once or twice. Going on trips with friends is fun, but I always wondered about just taking a summer out to just drive across the country on my own. I guess a lot of people think about doing something like that once in a while.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I often travel solo. No big deal as long as you're okay at making friends.

 

[backflip10019]

Do you want like a magazine or something? It's going to be boring sitting there by yourself.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

went to NYC solo for two weeks. The amount of bumps I kept getting while walking down the street will stay in my memory forever

 

[malingenie]

Went to NYC solo for a weekend, strung out and without plan. Met someone the first night and stayed at her house, it was divine.
I personally enjoy solitude and being with people the same. Solo you have the advantage of doing everything you want and nothing you don't want.

 

[Jugendstil]

I went to San Francisco last summer by myself, and ended up meeting up with a guy I had met in Chicago earlier in the summer and had a crazy fun time. Being by myself made it easier for me to meet new people and just do whatever I wanted. If you're just going to stand around by yourself though, it will probably be boring.

 

[bjork]

Going places alone is kind of exciting, I like to feel like I'm joe adventurer, but I always like having a cohort along. It's just more fun that way.

 

[vas_a_morir]

I went into this hoping Amir0x would show up and give us some drug stories... but unfortunately, you meant a literal "TRIP." Leaving thread now.

 

[JORMBO]

I go to concerts by myself sometimes since it's hard to find people that like the same bands. No quite the same, but it usually turns into a day by myself. I always just chat up people waiting in line to get in or the people around me once I'm there. I've met some cool people I would not have met if I had originally gone with friends.

 

[Litflynt912]

reading these replies....freaks me out...
I am going to Japan in Dec for 5 days by myself...have the language capability of a retarded koi fish and and slightly timid in public...

this will not end well...

 

[Beardz]

Man travels through 37 countries on just £1

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6167116/Man-travels-through-37-countries-on-just-1.html

 

[AVclub]

When I was in college, my friends backed out at the last minute from going on a trip to Spring Break in Daytona Beach, FL. So I boarded a bus full of college kids I didn't know and headed to Florida for a week alone.

They had to place me in a room full of people I didn't know as well. I had a lot of fun and met some cool people, mostly because I forced myself to be really outgoing and social. I think though, it would have been better if at least one of my friends was there.

 

[JORMBO]

Man travels through 37 countries on just £1

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6167116/Man-travels-through-37-countries-on-just-1.html

I've always wanted to do something like that. Maybe just travel around the US at the very least. If I ever lost my job I think I would do it.

 

[Twig]

reading these replies....freaks me out...
I am going to Japan in Dec for 5 days by myself...have the language capability of a retarded koi fish and and slightly timid in public...

this will not end well...

Nah, you should be fine. Japan's very friendly toward tourists, in my experience.

The hardest part for you will be figuring out the trains. (If you're going to Tokyo, anyway.)

 

[Houston3000]

I'm terrible at picking up women by myself, I need a friend next to me to bounce off clever quips so that girls think I'm funny.

 

[totowhoa]

Yeah many times, sadly no one likes the music i do and i can at most bring a friend once to a concert until he/she refuses to ever go with me again. :lol

Heh, we probably like the same music then :lol

 

[tekumseh]

I've done this several times. Went to Florida about 5 years ago for 2 weeks to watch Dodger spring training games. This trip was fabulous. Drove up to Alpine Valley in Wisconsin to see a couple of Dave Matthews Band shows. Saw a Brewers game on this trip. Fantastic. It's better to do things you really want to do alone than to miss them for the sake of not having to go alone. Always....

 

[taylor910]

Went to Europe for 2 months with some buddies. About half way through I wanted to blow my brains out (or theirs) so I took off to another country for a week.

Definitely a cool experience for me.

 

[baultista]

I often travel solo. No big deal as long as you're okay at making friends.

If the OP was good at that he probably wouldn't be travelling solo.

 

[criesofthepast]

Travelling solo doesn't sound all that bad but going to a concert sucks all by yourself. I had a friend bail on me once at a concert and it was not fun at all. Felt pretty weird all alone. It was a small more intimate venue though which probably didn't help.

 

[DemiMatt]

I did a trip to japan by myself. I did stay with a friend, but that was for 2 weeks, 1 week I just took the shinkansen all over the country by myself. It was heaps of fun, just get a travel guide or have an idea of what you want to do.

For me thouhg I mainly did shopping and went to arcades and did some siteseeing. so my activities were not that social. Still great experience, although not speaking english for a month sucked. hahaha.

I would say GO4IT!

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

slowly screwing my away across kansas, i had to make a correction.

but really the trip was a result of some serious depression, and it was my intent to have the land take me, or beat it. i spend 2 weeks in the most miserable part of western kansas without speaking to anyone and barley eating food. i worked odd jobs in even odder parts of of the midwest. i slept with every dairy queen blizzard maker i met, and did a lot of other things with that crowd that should of killed all of us. and then repeated the same thing with other professions in many other cities. bouts of extreme loneliness followed by long weekends of attempted suicide essentially.

but

i came back alive, and i've been more grounded and self aware since then.


chicago for 2 days won't kill anyone. and you might learn some things about yourself in the meantime.

you need a hug man!