Everyone needs a break every once in a while, so we travel to refresh our mind. When we think about travelling, we think about where we want to go, what we want to do and who we are going to go with. However, there is something more to ‘who we are going with.’ Do we actually have to go with someone?

In Korea, when we eat alone, go shopping alone or travel alone, most of us lose confidence and feel embarrassed. For example, when university students have to eat alone, they sit at the corner of the cafeteria or just prefer to skip their meals rather than eating alone. What is wrong with being alone? Being alone or doing something alone has its own merits. When you do something alone, you do not have to care about anyone else. You can just do it the way you want. Therefore, being alone has increasingly gained popularity over the few years and it has become somewhat of a trend.

According to the book ‘Trend Korea 2013,’ by Kim Nan-do, due to the individuation process in socio-demographic changes and the craving to find one’s ego through resting and entertainment, the ‘Alone with Lounging’ trend has been created. Lounging is a personal effort to relieve the loneliness of those who feel emptiness in the human relationships that have widened through the Internet and electronic devices. Through lounging, they find meaning in themselves while resting and consistently looking for activities that can give them satisfaction. Some examples of the ’Alone with Lounging’ trend include Karaoke rooms for one person and seats specially made for singles at restaurants. Some restaurants even have partitions for each seat, so that customers who come alone are not bothered and can dine without caring about what others think.

As a part of this trend, travelling alone has also gained popularity. While travelling alone, you can meet new people who are also travelling alone or meet no one at all. Travelling alone will allow oneself to travel at any pace they want, and to solely focus on oneself, without having unnecessary conversations. Through this, one can find their ego or have a true rest and get healed.

 During this past winter vacation, I went on a trip to Europe with 15 people. Through this trip, I wanted to look back on the two years of my university life so far and think about what I will do with the rest of my university career. However, I could not find any time for myself to be alone and think. Someone was always beside me. Of course, travelling with your friends is also awesome. However, you should decide whether you will travel with your friends or alone considering your current state of mind. For university students whose school lives are quickly flying by; especially those who are wandering when their friends are avid in something, I strongly recommend travelling alone.

There is nothing wrong with being alone. Why not go somewhere alone?

Choi Yu-hyun Editor-in-Chief
saera92@uos.ac.kr