Why the hell not! Is how I would approach that stupid question. Besides the sexism that the question reeks of, what gives me the jitters is that the person would never have travelled alone and wouldn’t know his heel from his hoof!
Travelling has from time immemorial been professed as the source of all knowledge, inside and outside.
Our lives are so consumed by screens these days that we hardly recognise our neighbours when we see them at the New Year’s Eve party. We know so little about other humans (family included) that we get fooled into believing that knowing something or someone is hardly of any consequence.
Nothing could be further from the truth; interacting with people, situations, crises, and accidents is what makes us human, and it is these small learnings that allow us to evolve—not as a species, but as individuals.
Some girls don’t know how to react when they don’t have their choice of feathers under their heads at night; far from it, I have always thought I could hold my own. Little did I know that a simple act of travelling was about to blow my mind.
Traveling is all about building capabilities in human interaction: understanding people, communicating, actually getting through to someone, and a lot more things needed to lead a good life.
So, yes! Everyone should surely travel Solo to be able to look oneself in the eyes every morning. My first solo trip was to Pondicherry, and I learned to surf during that trip. this one.
Vidhi