Alone — James Leithart

I’ve spent a large portion of my life alone. I don’t necessarily mean that I’m completely by myself, but if there are people around, I don’t know them. Even before the last few years have forced so many people into isolation, I was trying to learn to be okay with just myself. From roadtrips through New Zealand, train rides across France, or hiking in remote corners of Iceland I’ve worked on how to thrive on my own.

Don’t take this as me complaining, or whining that I am lonely, because neither of those things are the case. I’ve come to appreciate being alone, sometimes to a fault. Maybe it’s coming from big family, or maybe it has slowly been growing in me since being an 18 year old packing my life up and moving across the United States to somewhere that I knew virtually no one. Wherever it started, becoming comfortable being alone was one of the best things for my life.

Over the course of my life I’ve been to almost three dozen countries. If I hadn’t been willing to travel alone, that would have never happened. Since graduating from college I have moved my entire life across multiple oceans, often to places where I knew fewer than five people. If I hadn’t been comfortable being alone, I would have been miserable. In the three and a half years I’ve been in Albania, I’ve made almost 50 videos about my life here. If I hadn’t been able to work on those alone, I would be in a far difference place in my career. It all comes down to one thing, not being afraid of my own company.

Not being afraid of my own company does not mean that I hate being around other people. When I take trips I am often looking for someone to join me. Experiences are more fun when you can share them with others. Reminiscing is far more fun when you can text someone and say; “Remember that rainy night in Cancun when a bus drove through a puddle and the splash completely engulfed you?” As I get older, I’m realizing this more and more. I’m far less likely to hop on a plane - or in my van - and head to somewhere random without someone else I know involved in the trip.

However, in my wanderings around Albania it’s rare to find someone. Those who are willing rarely have the time, and those with the time rarely have the willingness. So for the foreseeable future, I will have to tap back into what led me here in the first place.

But again, I’m not complaining. Being alone is how I got myself to this point. I owe my career to being able to work alone, without someone pushing me. I owe my mental health to being alone, giving myself time and space to process. I owe most of my accomplished goals to being alone. So I say bring it on.