Some people may say that traveling alone is not as desirable as a group tour led by a tour guide. They claim that it is very dangerous to travel alone to some countries of unstable national security. However, as far as I am concerned, traveling alone is far better than traveling in a group considering two major benefits you can earn from the experiences of traveling alone.
First of all, by traveling alone, you can enjoy freedom of traveling anywhere at any time at your discretion. To be specific, if you travel in a group, you may have to follow the schedule your guide suggests during the whole travel. You will inevitably be faced with some limits on the range of your behavior because you are one of members of a tour group and any private behaviors could cause damage to your colleagues. Besides, there will always be time limits when you eat at a restaurant or go toilet because you should meet the tour schedule. On the other hand, if you travel alone, there is nothing to restrict your behaviors. You can freely choose routes and places you want to go. It is even possible to chart a new course of your own while traveling.
Second, you can easily make new friends of different nationalities. If you follow a group tour led by a tour guide, it will be almost impossible to make new foreign friends because you may have to interact with only the group members. However, if you travel alone, you will find much more opportunities to contact with the local civilians. For example, four years ago, I traveled to Southeast Asia. I visited two countries of Vietnam and Cambodia. When I traveled to Vietnam, I failed to make any Vietnamese friends because I could not have an opportunity to contact with natives while following my group. In contrast, in Cambodia, I traveled alone and it made me ask directions to places I wanted to go to natives. Owing to that, I was able to make some Cambodian friends and could have a chance to take several pictures with them, which reminds me of that time whenever I see the pictures.
In conclusion, it also makes sense that traveling alone can be risky sometimes. However, I believe that travel is meaningful only when you freely interact with local civilians living in the region or country you visit since traveling alone has two aforementioned merits that traveling in a group never provides. Therefore, I totally agree with the idea that traveling alone is better than traveling in a group led by a tour guide.
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