Do you travel solo? Are you planning to travel solo in India but are scared to do so?
You might have read certain scary accounts of travelers, but the blog contains the top reasons to travel solo in India, which would ensure that you plan your next vacation here only. Indians truly follow the principle ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, meaning the Guest is God.
Celebrated largely for its centuries-old cultural heritage, architectural richness, and geographical diversity, India undoubtedly is one of the most well-known destinations, among tourists all around the world, who visit India every year in crazy numbers. Provided you take care of some basic principles of traveling, traveling solo in India could be a great and enlightening experience for you.
Reasons why you should consider to travel solo in India:
Friendliest people in the World:
India and its people are the friendliest lot in the world, known for their trademark hospitality. English is a widely-spoken language and therefore, it is not a tough task to strike up a conversation with people here.
On the other, one can also learn a few Hindi words like Shukriya meaning Thank You, Namaste meaning Hello et al, as this would prove to be quite helpful. Irrespective of their backgrounds, most of the people here are quite social and helpful.
Although you might need to be careful from touts you should not miss a chance to mingle with some amazing people, doing away with your hesitation about traveling solo.
High-Spirited Festivities and Lively Environment:
India is known as the land of numerous festivals, which are held all around the year. The long list of festivals and fairs includes Holi, Diwali, Pushkar Fair, Eid, and Nagaur Festival along with a lot of others.
During the festivals, the atmosphere is quite lively, and the festivities are actually quite infectious. If you are walking down a street during this time, you will surely get a friendly smile or a friendly hug from the locals, which will surely make you even happier.
Enjoy the rituals, dances, music, the sumptuous food, and mingle with all.
Polite and Unbiased Locals:
It is believed that India is a country of people who like to follow their age-old traditions, customs, and rituals.
Though it is true at the same time it is necessary to mention that the locals here are extremely polite and unbiased and know how to respect the individual likings and preferences of its guest visitors.
If a man or a woman of a different culture has a confused look on his or her face, an Indian would be ready to help them out, if and when asked to do so.
An accommodation option for every pocket:
Searching for a suitable accommodation would not be a problem for you if you are traveling solo in India. There is an option for all pocket sizes.
The accommodation here is segregated into categories like luxury hotels, heritage hotels, budget hotels, heritage or spa or beach resorts, business hotels, homestays, and guest houses.
You can take a pick as per your liking and requirements. You would have a comfortable stay amidst flawless hospitality services, amidst modern comforts.
Valuing Your Personal Space:
Even though the people are social, friendly, and helpful they do not interfere with your privacy and value your personal space.
They let you enjoy on your own so that you can do things that are of your own interest. You can literally ‘feel at home’, in spite of the fact that you are actually in another country.
Meet Amazing Co- Travelers:
India is popular among travelers from all around the globe of different age groups, backgrounds, and classes who come here with varied interests.
You can surely find some amazing co-travelers here who share the same interests as you or for that matter have an interest in things which you might not know are that interesting.
They might even tell you a thing or two. For instance, if you are visiting Kerala only for its backwaters; your fellow traveler might tell you about the age-old Ayuerveda services, offered here.
While you are traveling solo, you can actually make good friends during your journey.
List of things to do and see:
India and its destinations have something to offer to all kinds of travelers. The list of activities that you can do here and the list of destinations that you can visit here is endless.
It would not be wrong to say that a single vacation in India might not be enough to explore the vast sights and sounds of this country. There is nature, desserts, mountains, beaches, rivers, wildlife, adventure, religion, spirituality, backwaters, Ayurveda and much more.
You are your own planner, pick what you wish to do and plan the itinerary on your own. You have endless things to do here. Delhi, Agra, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Ladakh, Gangtok, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh are some of the most sought-after destinations.
Explore slow travel:
You would actually not feel the need to travel across India in a hurried manner, even if you were traveling alone. It is guaranteed that you love to explore slow travel here and not act like a typical tourist.
You can actually skip a day of sightseeing, stay at your hotel, enjoy the hotel’s facilities, and simply relax. Just explore the nearby streets, bargain and shop at the local bazaars, or simply chat with the locals.
One is almost not ‘alone’, amidst so many people:
Until and unless you search for an off-beat road or path to walk on, you are never going to be alone anywhere in India. Actually, it is going to be quite a hard task for you to find a lonely path here.
Technically, you are never ‘alone’ here and are surrounded by plenty of people. Even in regions with a low-density of population, a solo traveler will surely find someone friendly for a company.
Pick-up and Drop services offered by hotels:
Traveling to and from the hotel is not a problem at all. Most of the hotels offer services of picking you up from the airport and railway stations and even dropping you back.
Hotels also have a travel management desk from you can book a car or a cab on rent, which will take you to places where you want to go. While you are traveling solo, this comes across as a great help.
Free Wi-Fi:
Enjoying the facility of free internet connectivity in the room is the one, which no one would like to cash on. Most of the hotels in India offer the service of free WI-FI, either in the room or in the reception area, and sometimes at both places.
This complimentary facility makes your life easier and that too when you are traveling solo and wish to stay in touch with your loved ones. You can also update your status and share pictures even while you traveling.
Safe and inviting:
Though it is not written to be biased about some place and tag it as safe or unsafe India surely is one of the safest places because of its helpful people. Excellent public transportation system and tourism offices, offering loads of information, help solo travel greatly.
Freedom to stay on a shoe-string budget:
It is always thought that when people are traveling in groups, they get amazing discounts but you can also think otherwise.
You actually have the freedom to stay on a shoestring budget and not get worried thinking about someone else’s comforts. A solo traveler can stay anywhere he wants at a guesthouse or even in a homestay.
There is just no peer pressure and there is simply no need to need for you to think about maintaining a status.
Contributed by Geetika Handa
Nikhil Chandra
Digital marketer by profession and a keen traveler, amateur photographer and avid book reader by passion, Nikhil Chandra’s writing and photographs have been published in various travel magazines and blogs including Travel & Leisure, Seat 61, Mode&Tendances, Oryx Magazine (Qatar air inflight magazine) among others. Holding a masters in Literature and Marketing Management, Nikhil Chandra applies his educational qualifications, professional experience, and wander wisdom to write on a range of topics that includes search engine, PPC, content marketing, photography tips and travel. He summarizes himself succinctly as a writer here and there and on this and that.
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