<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6ab4e120eb72254112679f91?format=jpeg" height="2268" width="3024" alt="A woman walking in Venice."><figcaption>Macie Strum finds solo traveling less stressful.<p class="copyright">Provided by Macie Strum</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Macie Strum has been traveling alone for eight years.</li><li>During a trip to Japan, she realized that traveling with a friend was more stressful than traveling on her own.</li><li>Now, she credits years of solo travel for helping her gain more trust in herself.</li></ul><p>After spending two months <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-thailand-tourists-same-mistakes-street-food-tours-bangkok-phuket-2026-1">traveling alone through Thailand</a> and Vietnam in early 2024, I went to Japan to meet a friend. I was excited, but within days, traveling with someone else felt more stressful than being on my own.</p><p>For months, I'd made every decision myself: when to wake up, where to eat, and how to spend the day. I could change plans on a whim. Suddenly, every choice involved another person.</p><p>After months of solo travel, apparently, I'd become terrible at compromising.</p><p>Just a few months earlier, I'd been <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/laid-off-breakup-travel-across-asia-europe-move-abroad-success-2026-2">laid off from a job</a> that hadn't made me happy for some time. I'd wanted to quit after a year and spend months traveling around Asia; losing my job simply sped up that plan.</p><p>Within four months, I sold my furniture, found someone to take over my lease, and boarded a one-way flight to South Korea in April 2024, unsure when I would return home.</p><p>I'd traveled alone before, but never for this long. I'd never felt I had to wait for someone else to see the places on my bucket list. And, for the first time, I wasn't squeezing travel into PTO or college breaks, or planning a short trip around friends' schedules. I had months ahead of me — and no one else's timetable to consider.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6ab4e314eb72254112679f94?format=jpeg" height="2268" width="3024" alt="Two women posing in Japan."><figcaption>Strum found traveling with her friend in Japan stressful after being on her own.<p class="copyright">Provided by Macie Strum</p></figcaption></figure><h2 id="3dc02cab-c92c-409f-b35b-06d6e5ed236c" data-toc-id="3dc02cab-c92c-409f-b35b-06d6e5ed236c">At first, I was nervous about traveling alone</h2><p>I could wake up without a packed itinerary, stay longer when I loved a place, or rearrange my plans without consulting anyone. If I wanted pad see ew from the same Bangkok restaurant every day, I could. If I wanted to spend hours at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, I didn't have to worry about someone else being ready to leave. And when I met a great group of people at a hostel in Ninh Binh, I simply changed my schedule.</p><p>I didn't realize how normal that freedom had become until I met my friend to <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/favorite-less-crowded-places-japan-worth-visiting-traveler-recommendations-2026-7">travel in Japan</a>.</p><p>We had a great trip, but our travel styles didn't always align. I preferred social hostels; she was more comfortable in hotels. I could have happily eaten wagyu every night, while she — reasonably — suggested breaks from that much meat. She was right. It was just so delicious.</p><p>These compromises weren't necessarily earth-shattering, but after two months of making every decision entirely on my own, I was surprised by how much of an adjustment it was to factor someone else into my plans again.</p><h2 id="6dde3ee1-7c4e-4d82-9202-faa336f0317c" data-toc-id="6dde3ee1-7c4e-4d82-9202-faa336f0317c">A pattern emerged</h2><p id="6dde3ee1-7c4e-4d82-9202-faa336f0317c">Despite being an anxious person, I often found <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solo-travel-dont-need-company-to-do-something-meaningful-2026-8">solo travel less stressful</a>. When I was alone, I could prioritize what I wanted to do without wondering whether someone else was having a good time. Traveling with other people, I tended to overthink their experience as much as my own.</p><p>I was constantly asking myself: Are they only doing this because I wanted to? What if they're annoyed that I want to go back to the hotel and rest? Am I being good company?</p><p>Those questions disappeared when I was by myself. If I was tired, I could return to my hostel for a quick nap. If I wasn't enjoying an activity I'd signed up for, I could leave. When the decisions affected only me, the stakes felt much smaller.</p><h2 id="49dc7967-1fd7-414e-ab93-366431b80df6" data-toc-id="49dc7967-1fd7-414e-ab93-366431b80df6">Solo travel has become more than evading compromise</h2><p id="49dc7967-1fd7-414e-ab93-366431b80df6">Years of solo travel have taught me to trust my abilities and instincts. It has taught me to act quickly and deal with problems as they arise.</p><p>When I forgot my International Driving Permit and couldn't <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-italian-cities-to-see-skip-from-frequent-visitor-2026-5">rent a car in Italy</a>, I came up with a Plan B and was on a train an hour later. Years earlier, a disruption like that would have sent me into full panic mode.</p><p>Solo travel has also made me more decisive and more comfortable with my own company. Because I live with anxiety, I'm prone to overthinking and second-guessing myself. But when I'm the one calling all the shots, agonizing over every option starts to feel like a waste of time.</p><figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6ab4e3aed15f8a5729749ef6?format=jpeg" height="2268" width="3024" alt="A woman in an orange dress in Southeast Asia."><figcaption>Traveling on her own has helped with anxiety.<p class="copyright">Provided by Macie Strum</p></figcaption></figure><p>Before I spent eight months <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-southeast-asia-worst-best-cities-thailand-laos-vietnam-malaysia-2025-10">traveling through Asia</a>, being alone often meant letting my thoughts spiral. Along the way, solitude stopped feeling like a void that needed to be filled. Eating alone, wandering a city for hours, or spending an evening by myself became things I genuinely enjoyed.</p><h2 id="3b0eedf2-c178-4e7b-b37c-37c682ee9cc7" data-toc-id="3b0eedf2-c178-4e7b-b37c-37c682ee9cc7">I still love traveling with others</h2><p>None of this means I don't look forward to trips with people I love. There's something special about reminiscing with someone years later about a place you experienced together. </p><p>For someone with anxiety, traveling alone might seem like the most stressful option — but after years of <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/independent-son-traveled-often-kid-2026-9">independent travel</a>, I beg to differ.</p><p>Learning to trust myself and enjoy my own company has given me unexpected confidence I never thought I could gain from traveling alone. Sometimes, only having myself to consider is exactly what takes the pressure off.</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solo-travel-around-asia-changed-travels-with-friends-2026-9">Business Insider</a></div>
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