Let’s be honest, group trips don’t always work out. It starts with seven, then drops to five, dwindles to three then eventually you are left to cancel flights, hotel reservations and planned Instagram captions.

Wack.

I get it. Traveling alone can seem so…lonely. Who is going to take photos of you? Who will you explore your surroundings with? Who will you fly or take the train with? Yourself, that’s who.

You can’t always wait until your friends’ work schedules, bank accounts or relationship statues align with your planned trips or you may end up waiting forever and never going anywhere.

So what are the perks of traveling alone?

1. You decide when you go and how long you stay. You want to stay for 3 days? Good. You want to stay for 3 weeks? Do it! You want to travel to Paris in the dead of winter instead of the springtime (the flights are cheaper)? Go for it.

2. You can control what you do during the trip. You rather explore the city instead of sitting at the beach all day? Great. You really want to stand in line for hours to get a rainbow bagel? Do it!

3. You can meet more people when you aren’t with a group of people. Getting invited to dinner and/or drinks is easier when you don’t have four other people in tow. You may even find your future husband/wife that would have been too nervous to approach you with a huge group!

Traveling alone can seem scary but it’s truly worth it when you don’t want to be on someone else’s time schedule. Just keep your eyes open, keep your valuables close you, don’t get too drunk and if something doesn’t seem right, LEAVE! Just don’t let the fear of traveling alone stop you from seeing this beautiful and vibrant world.