So, here I give you 3 reasons why I love travelling alone for those I meet that clearly feel sorry for the wee lonely girl driving around Africa on her own! Having just finished off a 1000km solo road trip across the Cape, the above question is definitely the most common thing I’ve been asked along the way. I previously covered 5 things you want to know and surprising things Indians ask me but here are my answers to this new question:

1. I’ve always travelled alone To me, travelling and going on holiday alone is normal because I’ve always done it that way: my first trip was 4 months working and travelling in North America on my own when I was 18 and I’ve not stopped doing my own thing since… I now find it weird when I find myself in Heathrow with someone else… What about my half hour of perfume sampling in duty free?

2. I enjoy doing things a bit differently to most it took me 10 years to identify this, but having purpose to my day even when on holiday, makes me happy. When I was following the guide book and ticking off tourist sites on my first round the world trip (2007 – 2009) I felt like something was missing, which is why on my second round the world trip (2014 – 2015) I started this blog and designed my route and days around running, yoga and other “purposeful” things amongst the pleasure of being abroad and experiencing new things. There’s loads of research which backs this up – if you’re interested check out the book Happiness by Design which confirms I’m not a weirdo if nothing else

3. I love meeting new people and this simply doesn’t happen as easily when you’re with someone else. In the past 24 hours alone I’ve met a super talented South African lady who paints wildlife, a German photographer who lived here in the 70s (when life was so much better… yawn…), a lovely Dutch girl who’s just finishing off a year of travel and a friendly South African guy who spent 4 months working in the biggest country club in America last year! I love hearing about people’s lives and experiences and some stories are so inspiring to hear (not the country club one)

Finally, let’s be honest, there’s also plethora of reasons I hate travelling alone but I’ll leave that for now. I gave you 5 reasons I don’t love travelling alone previously, and I’m currently happily watching the sunset, glass of wine in hand… less purposeful but very pleasurable…