Most of us who have traveled solo have faced bewilderment from the less travel-savvy for that choice. "You're so brave!" is one of the few compliments I get. More often, the response is more of an interrogation, especially from certain relatives of mine.

"How are you going to get around? What if you get lost? You won't speak the language. You won't have anyone to talk to. You won't be able to eat as well. Those hostels have got to be pretty crappy if they're so cheap. And think about the kinds of people that are going to be staying there with you. They're probably going to take your stuff. What if you can't get money out? And the war ended in that country not long ago. Aren't you afraid of land mines?"

I try to deal with this barrage of questions as best I can. As you can imagine, it's frustrating. They're making judgements about you and your style of travel without even knowing the full picture. It really doesn't require any special skills to navigate yourself around a new place. There are still parts of San Francisco and Oakland that are unfamiliar to me, so I'll do some research before I leave the house and I'll make sure I carry a map. Going to a new city or country is just one step up from that. All you really have to do is follow some basic steps and you should get to your destination with no problems. As for those potential dangers, a quick read of a guidebook will make you aware of such things as pickpockets and landmines and how to avoid them. Landmines were only an issue in Bosnia and Croatia, and were absent in the urban and tourist centers. If that many people live/work/travel there, they should have been dealt with already, wouldn't you think. 

And it really is true that a lot of people speak English nowadays. Even when I didn't ask for help, a kind local would go out of their way to point me in the right direction or help me with my heavy suitcase. And unlike many places in the States, the cities and towns I've visited, especially on this last trip, were small and easy to get around. Even if you do get lost, you'll inevitably end up back where you started. But getting lost and wandering aimlessly (without looking too lost) is actually kind of fun. It forces me to slow down and enjoy what surrounds me. After all, I did sit on a plane for 12+ hours to see and experience something different from what I'm used to.

And as all seasoned solo travelers know well, you're far from alone, especially when staying in hostels. Some of the best memories of my travels have been of the people I've met. And it isn't just people from the U.S. and Hong Kong I meet. Those aren't the only two countries out there. There are the Aussies, English, Canadians, Scots, Irish, and Kiwis I share a common language with. And with English now being the unofficial international language, I can really talk to almost anyone. People rarely ask anymore whether I speak English. It does help that I speak some other languages, but I rarely have to use them.

And hostels are really not as shady as they're made out to be. In fact, for the most part, they're probably better than a lot of motels I've stayed at in North America. Nowadays, a lot of them even have lockers for you to keep your valuables in, or at least a safe at the reception desk. As for all those shady people who choose to stay in dorms with shared facilities - who's to say that they're any more suspect than those I pass on the street, or who I shared a dorm with my freshman year of college? Though I've heard horror stories of people getting robbed in their hostels, I tend to think of my fellow hostel-dwellers as like-minded world travelers who just want a place to leave their stuff and rest their heads. And one of the most rewarding parts of travel is meeting people from other backgrounds - so much for not hanging out with strangers. Had I followed that childhood rule on my last trip, this is what I would have missed out on:

The Danish girl who gave me a meal coupon worth 12 euros and sent me some of her pictures of Helsinki after my camera went out of commission, and with whom I had conversations about the U.S. and Denmark

The Japanese couple spending 2 years to travel every continent of the world

The Chinese-Malay resident of Vancouver who I befriended in Riga and with whom I met up in Vilnius, Warsaw and Krakow, who looked after me when I got sick and accompanied me to Auschwitz

The Seattlite with a love for Eastern Europe, who shared some of his experiences with me, including of some places I would be heading for

The Londoner who reversed the usual migration trend by heading to Krakow to hang out and work at a youth hostel

The couple from San Jose  who were spending 6 months on a round-the-world trip, a rarity for Americans

The Melbournite who had been all over Africa, Latin America and Asia, and the American woman who was taking two years off to travel the world

The brother and sister from Germany who invited me to spend an afternoon and evening with them, and with whom I enjoyed an extended conversation about Obama, Angela Merkel, the EU, immigration, and Germany

The locals in Zagreb who invited me to sit down with them in a cafe and educated me about their country and its neighbor, Slovenia

The young Pennsylvanian on his way to Cyprus who had visited close to 40 countries and had an encyclopedic knowledge of geography

The Montrealer who offered to show me around his city if I ever stopped by

Of course, there were many others I met, all of whom added to the experience. I found the interactions I had with these individuals far more rewarding than traveling with a friend or relative, which would have made me more insular and perhaps closed-minded as well. By having to do things on my own, and meeting lots of people along the way, I've truly traveled, and I can't imagine doing it any other way.