#1

Alright, since backpacking/ traveling alone has been so popular in recent years, I would like to share my solo backpacking/ traveling experience here.

I first started to travel alone when I was 21, to be exactly, on my 21st birthday. I've always wanted to travel alone since I was a kid. I used to collect information about the holiday working visa offered in some countries like Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. And I told myself that one day, I would go travel alone, with a big backpack. However, this dream was so unachievable to me that time, because I come from a strict (/very strict) family, my mom and dad both are teachers (/typical asian parents). Like children of tiger mom Amy Chua, I was never allowed to stay overnight at friend's house. I wasn't allowed to hang out with friends at shopping mall until I was 16. I still remember I cried when memorizing multiplication tables, drawing, doing homework etc, and mom was beside me, holding a cane. They wouldn't let me go traveling alone, although I'm already an adult and I know how to take care of myself. Till now, after I've been to many places (okay actually just 10 cities) by myself, they still think it's a no-no. Now I'm home, I don't know when can I do solo travel again. I'm a typical sagittarius, all I need in my life is freedom. You know how suffer I'm when I live a life without freedom. I'm so jealous of friends and other people who are still doing solo travel. They must have open-minded parents. How I wish my parents could understand me. Know what? They told me that if I saved all the money instead of traveling, now I would have a lot of money. They never understand. I would give up everything I have in exchange for freedom. Since I was little, I told myself that I'm gonna leave home when I turn 18, and it came true. After I graduated from high school, I was offered a scholarship. I went to study in another state which is about 6 hours drive away from my house. After one and a half years studying there, I transferred to a university in the United States. I was almost 20 by that time, and I knew I was totally free.

Oops looks like I talked too much about my childhood. Let's get back to the topic. My first travel in the states wasn't a solo one. I went to visit my friends in Seattle. The next trip was an Europe trip, still, I wasn't alone too. What actually motivated me to achieve my dream was a guy. Perhaps I shouldn't tell too much about this guy, because I'm afraid that he would see this. I started planning this trip a few months before my birthday, and the first city would definitely be New York City. To me, New York City is like a dream place. I love the skyscrapers, and all the glamour, nightlife, shopping (but I didn't do much shopping. I'll talk about this later) and fame! So New York City must be my first destination, and I had to get there on my birthday. I went online to book hostels and megabus tickets, and the itinerary was like this: Columbus --Pittsburgh -- New York City -- Boston -- New Haven -- Philadelphia -- Washington D.C. -- Pittsburgh -- Columbus.
Also, before the trip, I got myself a 55 liter backpack from Amazon.

It was a 2 week trip. Not to mention, it was winter. So I had to bring my winter jacket, boots, gloves, hat etc to keep me warm. Early in the morning, I took megabus for like 3++ hours to Pittsburgh. I had to transfer there, because there was no direct bus from Columbus to New York, unless I took Greyhound. I wouldn't want to critique Greyhound, but Megabus is always a better choice. Megabus is clean. There are power outlets, wifi (SOME Greyhound buses do have), and more space in Megabus. You will also have chance to take double-deck coaches if you go to/ depart from big cities like Chicago and New York. The upper deck is super fun (to me) as there's glass roof and you would be able to see the sky (or stars at night!). Plus, Megabus is so much cheaper than Greyhound (there are always $1 sales!) Megabus coaches are seldom delayed, and they don't stop at too many places. Megabus is a better choice if you wanna get to your destination in a shorter time. I had a really bad experience when I took Greyhound from Orlando, FL to Miami. The bus that we were supposed to take was full, and we had to wait for the next bus. In the end we arrived in Miami 4 or 5 hours later than we were supposed to. And they did not offer a refund. When I took Greyhound from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, the bus was so fking full that some people had to stand for a few hours because there were no enough seats. Greyhound should really stop selling tickets if the seats are already full ==' The only good thing about Greyhound is that they go to more places than Megabus do.

I spent half a day in Pittsburgh and there I met my friends who were studying in the University of Pittsburgh. I had actually been to this city twice before this and I was pretty familiar with the downtown area lol. Bus to New York City departed at around 11pm and arrived in NYC at 6:30 in the morning. I brought my fully charged laptop and phone to the bus, and spent the first 6 hours of my birthday watching movies, checking my facebook and replying friends' wishes. I was actually a little worried before the trip, as I always heard from people and saw from internet that NYC isn't a safe place. However, when I got there, I wasn't worried anymore. It was 6:30 in the morning and the sky was still dark. I carried my huge backpack, walked alone towards times square. I looked around when walking, and was extremely careful when there were strangers around. Stopped somewhere and bought my public transportation ticket from a machine, then continued walking towards Times Square. I remember I walked for like 20 minutes, because the bus stop was pretty far from Times Square. It was almost 7 by the time I got there. Went into Starbucks, got myself a java chip frappuccino using the Starbucks birthday reward card, and wished myself Happy Birthday. Walked around Times Square after that (shops open pretty early) and thought I could stay there until 3pm because the hostel I was going to stay only accepts check in after 3, and I wanted to save locker fee :3 (Some hostels do have luggage room where you can keep your luggage if you arrive before check in time, but at some hostels you have to pay for locker) But that backpack was so heavy that I gave up at around 11am and took subway to Hostelling International Hostel. It wasn't the first hostel I ever stayed (stayed in hostels too when I went to Europe) so I was able to compare this hostel to the ones I stayed before. This one was not bad, I would rate 8 out of 10 (HI hostels are usually good, stick with HI hostels if you are worried of choosing the wrong place to stay or sick of reading reviews). I paid for around $40 (or less than that, I don't really remember) per night. Rooms were okay, with lockers.

Staying in hostel is always a better choice for solo traveler. First, you spend less money on accommodation. Second, it's safer than staying alone in a hotel room. Third, you get to meet a lot of people from different countries, who share the same interest with you, and you get helpful advices from them too. You could also invite them to visit the city with you if you want, but I wouldn't do that because I'm a loner yo lol. At this hostel I met a french girl who was about the same age with me, and was traveling alone too. She wasn't good in English (/I couldn't understand what she said). It was so funny when both of us communicated with each other by using google translator. There was also a Chinese American girl whom I met in my hostel in Santa Monica, and I later saw her again in the hostel in San Diego lol.

................................................................................................. to be continued