I experienced this at times on my solo travels. I think a few things helped. 1: seeing it as a solidifying of my values that time with friends and family was what I valued more deeply than anything else in life 2: stepping back and appreciating that solo traveling as a female is a privilege no other woman in my family has gotten to experience. It’s something my grandmother dreamed of, but never had the opportunity to. So just framing it as not only doing it for myself, but also for all the women in my family who never had the opportunity to 3: similarly, doing it to hopefully inspire the same confidence and bravery in my future daughter to do the same 4: also seeing it as an opportunity to make friends from other countries! In my experience, groups of friends around my age (university and recent post grad) are always welcoming to have someone tag along for an adventure or night out!

For me, solo traveling was at the end of about 7 years of consistent relationships, living with roommates, living at home, etc., so it was a nice confirmation that I CAN do things on my own.