The Quiet Bravery of Going Alone

There's quiet courage in going through something even when it doesn't happen as you imagined. The original plan was shared. A trip with a friend, a familiar face beside you in unfamiliar streets. But life shifts. People need to be elsewhere. And suddenly, you're faced with a choice: wait for the perfect timing... or go anyway. Going alone doesn't always mean loneliness. Sometimes, it means finally listening to your own pace. Taking up space without explaining why. Being still in a new place, with no one to ask "what's next?" There's a strange beauty in that. It's in the moment you arrive and realize no one's waiting for you. In the way you set up your tripod like an old friend. In the quiet confidence of asking directions in a language that isn't yours, but trying anyway. In the way strangers smile when you say good morning, and for once, you really feel it. (The tour guide from a different group took this photo because he saw that I wa...