Carrying two suitcases and none of my parents’ concerned admonishments, I hopped on the airplane heading towards NYC.

I was asked how my trip was, and I said spectacular. Then I was asked, as always: “Who did you go with? Your parents? Your friends? Are you enjoying their company? ”

I smiled and replied: “No, I’m by myself.”

With the questioner’s voice pitch going higher: “OMG your poor thing! ”, I heard a strong sense of sympathy in her tone, but I hardly felt as sorry for myself.

I was by myself, but I never felt lonely throughout the whole trip. For from the moment I landed, even before then, I’ve had joyful company made by either various strangers or my camera capturing things I spotted while wandering around.

I understand that people, especially girls, have this innate need to be accompanied, especially when traveling. The benefits are undeniable. Entering an unfamiliar environment can be tough sometimes, even dangerous, so it is always comforting to have someone familiar around to look after you. However, I have always believed that to gain maximally from a travel experience, one has to be alone. I have enjoyed traveling all by myself since long ago. Not that I don’t appreciate being accompanied by friends and family, but when it comes to entering a new environment, I very much prefer immersing myself into it rather than being protected by the familiarity of my traveling companions.

For starters, it removes my label as a vulnerable juvenile Asian girl. Planning my own trip routes, carrying my own bags and dealing with emergencies on my own gives me a proud sense of independence. I feel less needed to be taken touristic pictures by others with every signature spot along the trips, because I no longer desire to prove to others of where I’ve been—my trips are about myself, not about showing off to others.

What I find the most enchanting about traveling alone is that it is liberating. It gives me much more opportunities of improvisation. Having no worries of compromising on every decision to satisfy all members in the pack, I feel more like I am embarking on adventures, bumping into all the coincidences.

It is the same with exploring the undersea world. One can always walk down a transparent sea tunnel in the aquarium, but to immerse one’s self into that salty humidity and to shiver over the sudden temperature difference between water and air, one has to dive into the ocean. Traveling in packs limits trips’ spontaneity—just like experiencing the ocean in an aquarium. You would be so smothered by fixed company and fixed traveling routes that, you would have the views in your eyes as scheduled, but they would just numbly pass through your mind, leaving no track for you to recall and savor in the rest of your life.

In contrast, traveling alone pushes you to interact with the entire surrounding environment. With no one on your side taking up all your attentions, you get to open up to everything around, especially random strangers you’d never notice if you’re surrounded by friends and family.

While conversing with strangers, I feel like I’m embracing the whole world. I have met typical Chinese wolf-mother sending her 13-year-old daughter abroad, and I’ve also met newly-wed couple with their newly-born baby going on a holiday. I’ve chatted with white African and black European and learned about their unique life experiences with such identities.

I’ve talked to so many people with distinct characteristics and life stories and I remember every one of them vividly. There were chatty Uber drivers urging me to view their favorite sceneries along the way, zealous bar owner offering me a free drink for my adventurous mind, Taiwanese businessman taking pride in his 8-year-old daughter who’s been doing modeling since the age of 6, Israeli army policeman taking pride in every story behind every of his scars and more. While they expressed their perspectives of world and living based on their own life experiences, I get to dip into the peculiar cultures that fostered them into such fascinating individuals.

Moreover, each time I get active responsea from strangers when I try to start a conversation, I’m amazed by how sincere and trustful people are.

Born in the 21st century which, as everyone remarks, is when humans become sophisticated, selfish and deceitful, I’ve been told to be cautious around strangers since I was born. However, with more trips I went on, I am more inclined to think the opposite. I myself feel pleasantly surprised every time when people trustfully open up to me when we are still strangers, and I always react with the same trust and zeal.

These random friendships are lovely for its uncertainty. Some of them I might see again in the future, some of them I might not. But no matter what, these friendships are not precious for its longevity, but the quality times we spent together and the conversations we had that I would remember my whole life, needless of constant reminder.

With all my experiences of traveling alone, I’ve got a profound understanding about the distinction between being a traveler and being a tourist. I expanded my vision in a way merely witnessing exotic sceneries cannot provide, and through these years taking moderate risks rather than stick to the safest plans, I gained a very distinctive personality as a young adventurer.

Most of all, the memories I have for my trips, with all the surprises, people and incidents I did not plan to meet in my trips, are invaluable, for coincidences always give me more joy by the thought that they could have slipped from my life if I’d done anything differently.