Hey Love,
Here's a little fact about traveling that you might not have realized: We love it so much because new experiences activate pleasure receptors in our brains.
That means that even though the concept of traveling solo can be scary, it's the very things about it that are scary that are also what make us feel so good about traveling.
We are actually hardwired to seek and crave novelty. There have been multiple studies on the subject (which you can read about here if it interests you), but putting them all together, one thing is incredibly clear: We are delighted by new things.
Have you ever noticed how when you go somewhere new or buy something you've been anticipating for a while, it's super exciting, yet that excitement becomes less and less over time?
It's why we keep wanting to upgrade our phones, it's why there's that lovely honeymoon phase when you date someone new, and why we want to travel in the first place. Newness promotes activity in the hippocampus, a part of our brain, which releases dopamine.
Unfortunately, that newness inevitably wears off. But what if you could have new stimuli constantly?
That's exactly what traveling is, and by traveling solo, you ensure that absolutely everything is new. Once something isn't interesting anymore, you can simply move on and seek new stimuli, without anyone or anything holding you back.
When you think about it that way, it becomes a lot less scary and a lot more exciting to travel alone, doesn't it?
Finally, in the last email of our solo planning series, I'll tell you how to document the journey and which items are essential.
See you tomorrow.
- Kristin