This oft-hated (free) tool helped me conquer my big fear of traveling alone.
You're going to get the ick but you need to stay with me here.
Good morning! I’m writing you from the Edinburgh airport, still well over 12 hours of travel between me and touch down in New York (well, New Jersey…) and a really exquisite pistachio iced latte in hand. My pants desperately need to be washed, a week of traveling light and the last few nights in a shitty hotel are giving me a terrible case of the uglies that I’m hoping— nay, pleading— will be fixed by my own bath products and a face mask as soon as I’m comfortably settled. I’m about 57% into my 26 hour audiobook about Mary Queen of Scots, which has been on for nearly every second I’ve been walking around along on this trip (it’s extremely dry, it’s giving me more questions than answers, this is really a feat of discipline and great interest in history that I continue).
The “tool” I alluded to in the subject line is helping me power on through the book as well, but we’ll come back to that later— as will we to the fun, delightful elements that accompany a much-needed trip somewhere new: the sights, the smells, the tastes, and most importantly, the things it all stirs up within us, the ways a new place can enrich your own interior.
Read on for how an app on my phone made traveling alone infinitely less scary… starting with:
Upping my thrifting game infinitely by telling me what I don’t know about materials and brands and original price points
Telling me which side of the train to sit on to catch the stunning view
Helping me navigate every museum, tourist site or overwhelmingly large train station I found myself in
Telling me what attractions I needed advance tickets for and what I could show up to impromptu
Suggesting books and audiobooks to do with the historical sites on my trip, based on my age, home city and Goodreads history
Filling in the blanks on historical ruins that a guidebook could never
And I should add— before the last few weeks, I was this app’s biggest hater. I scoffed. I laughed. I judged. Normalize changing your mind with life experience, because I come to you, humbly, ready to eat my words and just move on to the chapter of my life where I use every tool at my disposal to get smarter and to have a better, more beautiful, mentally rich life…