Introverted travelling

I recently read two articles about introverted travellers, Sophia Dembling writes in her aticle for the World Hum that

"Extroverts are unintentional bullies, demanding that everyone join their party or be considered queer, sad or stunted."

That is the exact feeling I had in Morocco a few weeks ago. People tell you to your face that you should find friends to hang with, because "you shouldn't be lonely".
Being lonely, and being alone, are two very different things. I was happy to read that both Sophia Dembling and Christine Garvin defend the right to travel as an introverted traveller. One can be alone and still feel as a big part of this world, and one can be with five interesting and fun people and still feel lonely.

People is not the answer to happiness nor lack of loneliness. To sit on a tree stump watching a gorgeous waterfall or on a bench watching people pass by all busy with their daily life can give both happiness and an understanding that one wont reach in interaction with the people.

To explore a new city alone can be very satisfying, and being alone in a big city never mean one is lonely because in a city there is always someone to talk to. But as an extroverted person would speak to someone on almost every new street, the introverted person might be satisfied to speak to one or two new persons during a day.

There are different kinds of introversion, there are those who prefer to stay at hotels where one is left alone. There are those who enjoy hostels and b&b where one can interract with other travellers and hardly ever is left alone. I am one of those. Interaction is great - but to be alone whenever one want to is a right and a person who is alone should never be looked upon as a failure.

Links:
Confessions of an Introverted Traveller - Sophia Dembling
In defence of the introverted traveller - Christine Garvin