There is a little privilege that comes with traveling alone that I didn’t expect to love so much – Table for one.

Whenever I travel solo, food is one of the most important parts of the experience for me. I want to try the food, discover new flavors, sit somewhere interesting, and simply enjoy the moment.

So I have become very comfortable walking into a restaurant alone and saying:

“Table for one, please.”

And actually, I love it.

Especially when the restaurant is busy.

Somehow, there is almost always a place for me.

While everyone else is waiting for their table to become available, I can often get seated much earlier simply because I only need one seat.

That’s when I realized that being alone gives you an advantage.

Over time, this has become one of my favorite things about traveling alone.

***

I used to be afraid of being alone.

Not just the ordinary kind of loneliness, but a deeper feeling of being abandoned.

I remember arriving at an airport and feeling nervous about walking out alone. I would always hope that there would be someone waiting for me when I came out.

I was so used to having people around that even sharing a room with six people didn’t feel unusual to me.

And going home alone could make me nervous too. I remember standing in front of my door, wondering what I would find.

If the door was already open, it meant someone was home.

If it was still locked, it meant I was the first one back.

An empty home.

And somehow, that feeling could make me anxious.

For a long time, I thought I simply didn’t like being alone.

But the more I learned about myself, the more I realized that perhaps it wasn’t really about being alone.

It was about the feeling of being left.

Once I understood where that feeling came from, something slowly started to shift.

I stopped seeing being alone as loneliness.

I started seeing it as my time.

And now? It’s something I actively choose.

***

It’s a national holiday in Vietnam, and I haven’t traveled for a while.

So today, I wanted to give myself something a little better.

A really good Table for One.

A little treat.

A little time to sit down, slow down, and enjoy myself.

I like watching the little things too.

For example, they forgot my coaster today.

I also asked about their non-alcoholic drinks. They have some options, and I actually appreciated how honest they were about a few drinks that were missing from the menu. They simply said they were still working on the recipe.

They also make some of their sauces themselves, which I really like.

It’s such a tiny thing.

But when you’re sitting alone, you notice these little details.

***

I can let my thoughts wander.

Of course, my thoughts eventually go to my son.

I know I sometimes tell him that I’m angry or sad when he doesn’t follow what I ask him to do. And I know that’s not the right approach.

He should not feel responsible for managing my emotions. That’s mine to manage.

And I hope I can teach him the difference between being alone and feeling abandoned. They are not the same thing.

I want him to know that independence and security can exist together.

Today, sitting at my Table for One,  I need to keep learning how to let my son stand alone—without making him afraid that standing alone means losing me.

Maybe, we don’t just teach our children what we know. Sometimes, we teach them what we are still learning.

Thank you.