“Traveling alone is a freshman week feeling”
“After graduating from high school in 2016, I really wanted to hike the John Muir Trail in California.
Since I didn't have anyone who wanted to do this with me, I flew to the USA alone for ten weeks.
I was definitely nervous.
Shortly after my arrival I had to collect my permit for the trail, and actually I just barely made it because the bus to the permit office in Lone Pine only ran every two days.
When I got it, everything was fine.
I knew we were going to the mountains now.
When I tell fellow students about my hikes, many think I'm walking through the wilderness alone.
I did that sometimes too, but mostly I met people from all over the world.
I always sat around the campfire with others on campsites.
I don't know if I would have done that if I had had friends with me.
I think that also made it easier for me to start my studies, because after my trip it was easier for me to approach strangers and I became more social.
In the first few weeks you get to know a lot of people at the university, after that most of them have their friends.
It's different when you travel.
All are in a similar situation and just want to have a good time and meet new people.
Traveling alone feels like a freshman week – just uninterrupted.
That's why I always took a few weeks during my studies to travel and go hiking.
Sometimes with friends or my brother, but also always alone - for example in Spain.
I was there in the low season, so the hostels were pretty empty.
Normally in hostels you get to know other solo travelers very quickly.
On this trip it took almost a week until I met an Englishman with whom I went to town for a drink.
But that was okay too.
When you travel alone, you also learn how to take care of yourself.
This spring I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to almost the Canadian border for four months in the USA.
Once I met only two people in three days.
But most of the time I was out with people, and when you camp together almost every night, you make friends pretty quickly.
I also like hitchhiking because I get to meet so many different people from each country that I've sometimes had the opportunity to eat with or camp in their backyard.
So far I've only had positive experiences.
In general, traveling gives me the strength to get through the exam phases because I'm looking forward to something.
And even after the trips, when the memories are still fresh, I'm just happier and really want to learn something again."
Oscar Stübner, 25 years old, master's degree in mechanical engineering in Aachen
"Alone you simply have more freedom"
“I love traveling alone because then I can just do what I feel like doing.
For example, I've been to Rome several times, but the first time I was there alone, I was finally able to walk all the places I like.
I walked almost 30,000 steps that day and ended up totally exhausted, but also very happy.
During my Erasmus semester in Lithuania in 2018, I made some city trips in the Baltic States.
There was no one among my friends who wanted to come or who I wanted to take with me.
Alone you simply have more freedom, even if it takes effort to sit alone in a restaurant, for example.
The first time I felt like everyone was watching me.
That's why I even took a book with me to keep me busy.
But you just have to put aside this uncertainty and then you can really enjoy the time alone.
The only thing I really miss on solo trips is being able to talk to fellow travelers in the evening about what I've experienced.
That's why I write a diary to review what I've experienced.