Traveling DOLO
...was one of the best decisions of my life!
I skydived at 30, and I traveled alone at 31 to New Orleans. I really feel like I am wearing grown woman panties now! And guess what?! They're not only comfortable, but they're also sexy as hell!
Now, let me tell you FIVE reasons why traveling alone was so damn awesome.
OK, So...
1. You Can Do Whatever The Hell You Want
Yes! That's right! You don't have to worry about passing by some novelty store and "Brittany" having a meltdown that what she sees in the window is the perfect gift for her whomever, so you go in with her, not sharing the same excitement, staying in there for way too long, only to note that "Brittany" decides that gift isn't that perfect after all for her whomever.
While in New Orleans, I literally got to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. And this is no shade to friends that I love being around, but dammit! There's nothing like being unchained: Jen Unchained. I like the ring of that.
2. You Don't HAVE to Talk to Anybody Unless YOU Want To
You really don't.
3. You Get Hit On More Than Normal (And I wasn't scared)
Now, this I enjoyed. Very much. LA is a special place because you don't really walk anywhere unless your destination is a stone's throw away. Like, literally. If it's farther than your ability to throw a stone, you will jump in your car to get there.
A friend mentioned that when you walk around, that's when the catcalls and honks occur, and she's right! I received a lot of that in New Orleans, and it was awesome! I just reveled in it. I mean, what else can you do, right?
There's also no mistaking that the attention is only for you. No other cute friend is next to you, so you're not secretly thinking Was that for me or Deirdre?
4. You Get to Be A Part of Random Groups
If you want a little more human interaction than just observing them, the Universe picks up on that, and you just randomly become a part of someone else's group.
For example, I was all by my lonesome at a standing table at Essence Fest eating some gumbo, and about 4 girls came up to me asking Is anyone else standing here with you? I replied No, but you're all welcome to. We ate together and chatted it up a bit, and guess what I did when I was ready to go? I just left!
I'm sure the other girls had a great time together, but one question never left my mouth during my entire trip: You all ready to go? Nah.
5. You Can Slip Through Crowds Like Butter
You know that annoying ass hand-holding trick to slip through crowds, and you end up bumping shoulders with folks; stepping on ridiculously short people; or poking a tall man in the back with your nose? Yeah, that doesn't happen when you're alone.
You just slip through the crowd, like butter! And it's glorious!
There are so many other reasons why you should travel DOLO, like it will actually become a spiritual trip or it's what you needed to empower you to move forward with something or someone in your life or you needed to just shut the hell up because you talk too much...yeah, I experienced all of that, but that's for a more serious blog. So, just do it! Go! It'll definitely be good for you!
P.S. You get to learn new words like DOLO from locals (I had to look this up on Urban Dictionary. Sad)