My First Time travelling on my own

Diego Delso all rights reserved on this picture.

The background of the story:

In 2013, I lived and studied in Coimbra in Portugal because I was doing an Erasmus over there. During that time, I don’t know why but the only travels I did were to France and when it came to Portugal I knew only about Coimbra. This was kind of bad I thought and I had to do something about it. I couldn’t be in Portugal and not know any other cities.

So, during one of my trips to France I decided that I needed to go to another city instead of Coimbra when I would be returning.

The problem was that I would be travelling on my own and that I would have to visit the place on my own. I Never did That before and I was a bit stressed by having to do it without any friends, but the end of my stay in Portugal was getting near and I would not have got the needed to do it another time!

Plus, there was a city that I really wanted to visit and now I finally had the opportunity to do it! I would be going to Lisbon on my own.

Pre-planning:

I am someone that loves touristic places and would rather go to a place very crowded rather than somewhere where public transports won’t be able to bring me to.

After some quick researches, I decided that if I wanted to be able to visit all the touristic places on my own I needed to live in the city center.

My budget was not very big at the time so after a couple of calls I had to settle for a Youth hostel. I now had somewhere where I could sleep, I just needed to know how to get to the hotel in order to go to Lisbon stress free.

I found out that from the airport I could go to the city center using a bus or a train. I was now ready to go to this new place on my own. My trip was going to last a bit less than 3 days in total. I was going to land on Friday night and was departing on Sunday Morning.

Day 1:

I landed in Portugal quite late because I took a low-cost airline that was departing from an airport that was quite hard to attend if you didn’t have a car.

I had initially plan to get to the youth hostel by using the train, then the bus but after I still would have needed to walk like 2kms to go to my hostel. My battery was running low so I decided that the best option was taking a taxi. it would cost me a lot more but at least I would be able to get to my place like two hours earlier. Furthermore, my booking information were on my phone so I had to make sure that I get to the youth hostel in time.

I got over there I checked in and once again I was on my own. Of the eight beds, available 2 were taking but the occupants were not there. I took a shower and just went downstairs to get to know the neighborhood. There were some really good restaurants around the hostel and I spent my night in an Indian one. It was really good and cheap, and I would go on to eat there the two times the next day because I wanted to get a taste of everything on the menu. I got back to my hotel and I was still on my own. In Lisbon, the only people I talked to on the first day were the taxi driver, the waiter of the Indian restaurant and the guy that give me the keys to my room. I thought about maybe going out. In the horizon, I could see a party on a rooftop, but the clothes I had with me were too casual. I went to sleep

Day 2:

I woke up, and I went to have breakfast. The people from my room were still not there. they had slept somewhere else I would later find out.

In the dining room, there was a huge table full of people having breakfast and there was an empty seat. I went in the other room where there was no one and have breakfast on my own. I ate and I go down in the lobby and I realize I have no idea of what I should do in Lisbon. I got told Lisbon was nice and the food delicious but I was a bit in no man’s land when it comes to what I had to see. I walk a bit and I fall on a group of people. So, for once that day I decided that I needed to interact a bit with the others. They were doing a guided tour. I joined them. we walked like three hours. At the End, it was free but we all tipped the guide because he had really put in an effort and was very friendly. He then gives me a list of places I had to visit.  My plan for the day was to go to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. This place is so nice, I recommend everyone to go and see this place at least once in their lives. On my way to this monument, my phone fell off my pocket. I really only notice that the moment I wanted to take a picture of this wonderful place but couldn’t find my phone. I walked back on my path and asked about 50 people if they had found a phone on the floor, and in the end, someone did and they gave it back to me. I was so happy. I went back to take pictures of this wonderful place and started to interact with other people, taking pictures for them and with them. In the end, it was quite a good day. I returned to the hotel, went to eat in my Indian restaurant and when I got back to the room there was my roommates for the first time. They had been travelling to other cities by car and in the night, they just slept in their car which explain why they were never in the room.

Exhausted by this day, I went to bed

Day 3:

Day three was about me packing my stuff. I woke up super early and took the first train to Coimbra. On this train, I will happen to meet a girl that would later become my girlfriend but this is for another story.

What did this experience taught me about me and what I will do next time I travel on my own?

Like I usually say I was born on my own furthermore I grew with no siblings around so I didn’t know why I was kind of scared to travel on my own.

At the end, I did try to talk to others but I didn’t do it enough I guess. I talked to others to get directions but I didn’t really get to socialize with no one which was quite unfortunate.

At one point, I really talked to lots of people because my phone had fell from my pocket and well I had to ask everyone if they had seen it but I think that otherwise I stayed in my comfort zone and didn’t try to put myself in dangerous situations.

I wanted to go out at night but didn’t have nor the clothes nor the confidence required at the time to do it on my own. I guess the part where I lost my phone was a defining moment because after that I felt more confident in myself; Following this trip I really started to talk more often to people, I would per example oblige myself to talk to a stranger per day, to go out to clubs on my own and just to open myself more to others. Being alone and traveling alone doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you will stay on your own all the time. it is up to you but travelling on your own is a great way to knowing new places and people at your own pace and it is something that I now enjoy doing.