I recently traveled for the first time completely by myself to Copenhagen, a city I had never been to before. Naturally I had my concerns about traveling alone, especially in a foreign country I had next to no knowledge about. I have little sense of direction and getting lost is second nature to me. This trip was one big wildcard there was no way for me to be super prepared for.

Upon getting to Copenhagen I realized that I didn’t switch my SIM cards and thereby would have no Internet or texting access for the entirety of the trip. Nothing makes your heart sink more than figuring that out. So I grabbed a map and prayed I could figure out the metro and public transportation system on my own.

People are way friendlier than I give them credit for. On the metro, someone saw me frantically figuring out how to get to my hostel and was able to point me in the right direction. It turned out to be a straight shot so I was able to easily find it.

Once at the hostel I check into my room and ate the free dinner offered at the hostel. By doing this I was able to meet people and hear what was worth doing in town. As it turned out there was a music festival going on in town that weekend. I walked around after dinner and was able to identify a few landmarks near the hostel, which meant that if I got lost if I could make it to one of the landmarks it was very likely I could make it home.

The first day I decided to go on every free walking tour I could find. This allowed me to see the city and not actually have to navigate it myself at all. I also was able to meet people this way and not be completely alone for the entirety of the trip. Once I had gone on one walking tour I just went back to the hostel where the next one would pick up.

For day three I identified a list of tourist attractions I hadn’t gotten to see on the tours. This day I was fully on my own. I expected to be super lonely, but it was actually pretty relaxing. I didn’t have to worry about what anyone else wanted to do but rather just got to do what I wanted. It was definitely rewarding but different than anything I had ever previously done.

I learned a lot about myself by traveling alone, like the fact that my sense of direction, while bad, won’t kill me. I definitely prefer traveling with others, but traveling alone is definitely something I would recommend everyone do at least once. I learned a lot about myself that way. Even though I was alone, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated, definitely a learning experience all around.