Brave enough to travel alone

Yesterday I read a piece by Mr. Ngoc about traveling alone and thought it was well written. But something about it didn't sit right with me.

In 2015 I decided to go solo from Nha Trang up to Hanoi. I've never been much of a planner, so by Mr. Ngoc's framing I wasn't being brave at all. No worry means no fear. No fear means no bravery needed. So off I went.

Only after finishing the trip did I see I had been brave. Brave alone. No phone, no internet. In that moment I was truly by myself.

In an era where people are always connected, being disconnected becomes necessary. Constant connection creates the illusion that someone is always beside you. Having people beside you is good; spending time on yourself is meaningful too. They say time is money, because if you spend it working instead of playing, money follows. Time is knowledge, because if you spend it studying instead of earning, you learn more. Time is affection, because if you aren't studying or earning, you have more of it to give in love. People often say, spend a lot of time with the ones you love.

That trip was the first time I ever went far on my own. The first time I spent time loving myself. Just like when you spend lots of time with someone else and understand them better, I came to understand myself better too.

Be brave enough to go alone, be brave enough to love. Because each of us has only so much time.