{"id":44141,"date":"2020-08-21T21:57:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T01:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/?p=44141"},"modified":"2023-09-16T15:06:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T19:06:30","slug":"going-out-clubbing-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/2020\/08\/21\/going-out-clubbing-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Solo Travel: My First Time Going Out Clubbing Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Solo clubbing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it doesn’t have to be as awkward or as intimidating as it may sound. As an introvert, I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d pluck up the courage to go clubbing by myself.<\/p>\n

“It’s no big deal,”<\/strong> I affirmed myself. “Everything is going to be alright. Everyone is here to have fun,”<\/strong> I repeatedly told myself while waiting in line to enter a nightclub alone.<\/p>\n

An introvert… clubbing solo.<\/em> Something about that sentence almost seems paradoxical.<\/p>\n

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How this all started:<\/h2>\n

I was traveling solo in Warsaw, Poland when I decided one Friday night that I wanted to go out and meet new people. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of going to a club by myself, but I didn’t know a single person in the entire country so I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter.<\/p>\n

The decision was not whether or not to go with someone else, but whether or not to go out at all, to begin with. It would have been so easy for me to back down and stay home.<\/p>\n

If I was<\/em> going to go out that night, I was going out alone. That much was certain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I considered all of my options that night. I could have stayed home to watch a movie on Netflix; I was already hooked on a series that I would have gladly binge-watched. There were plenty of ways for me to avoid putting myself out there in such an uncomfortable position.<\/p>\n

Nightclubs and bars are challenging territories for a lot of introverts. Nearly every aspect of the environment puts us outside of our ideal comfort zone. That’s not to say that we can’t still enjoy them. It just requires a little bit more effort to get us there and into the right mindset to enjoy it.<\/p>\n

Going out to a club doesn’t have to be a group excursion.<\/h2>\n

I had never gone out to any bars or clubs by myself before.<\/p>\n

The thought of finding myself in such a social environment without any friends to fall back on made me extremely anxious.<\/p>\n

Who would I spend the night talking\/dancing with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was starting to really freak myself out by thinking about it. I have a tendency to over-analyze situations. I had to tell myself to cut it out. I was trying to meet new people. That was the point<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t supposed to know yet.<\/p>\n

Which clubs should you go to when you are clubbing alone?<\/h3>\n

Fear of the unknown could have easily stopped me from leaving my home in Warsaw that night. Since I knew I was going to be entering the club alone, a tip that I found helpful while building up the courage to go solo was choosing to go to a place I was already familiar with.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jorge and I had found an amazing gay club in Warsaw the prior weekend when he was visiting<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Go somewhere you know.<\/h4>\n

I had already been clubbing at Metropolis Warszawa.<\/p>\n

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In my experience, I found that already knowing what the inside would look like prior to going brought with it added comfort to what was otherwise a very unsettling situation. Going felt less intimidating because I could already imagine what the inside would look like once I entered.<\/p>\n

LGBT-Friendly is a plus.<\/h4>\n

Since I’m openly gay, it helped me to know in advance that the environment I’d soon find myself in would be a safe one. I didn’t want to put myself in harm’s way since I was already in an unfamiliar country.<\/p>\n

This particular nightclub in Poland was one of the best gay clubs I have ever been to.<\/p>\n

Know the location’s reputation.<\/h4>\n

The fun, lively, and accepting environment that I experienced at this club in the past gave me an extra boost of confidence that I could trust the specific club to liven up as the night progressed.<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t have to worry about it being dead.<\/p>\n

The busier the spot you choose, the better.<\/p>\n