Published on
updated on
Reading 2 min.
Long taboo, solitude is now a parameter seen as a way to take time for yourself. Some choose it to experience travel at their own pace or to sit at a restaurant. Focus on a two-faced social experience.
For the World Health Organization, loneliness is a public health priority. A current issue which pushed the international body to create a Commission to promote social bonds a year ago. Worldwide, this affects one in four people. It is also estimated that between 5% and 15% of adolescents are affected. At the start of the year, a group of doctors, researchers and politicians recalled in an article published in The World that social isolation could have serious health consequences, even suggesting that the ravages of loneliness are like smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. When we lack social connections, studies have shown that there is an early risk of death at least equivalent, if not greater, than alcohol abuse, obesity, air pollution or physical inactivity .
In France, 15% of people feel alone most of the time. A solitude which is not necessarily chosen even though others organize certain of their projects to experience precisely the benefits – because there may be some, of this state which is nevertheless still taboo.
Even though the experience of confinement has been deeply marked by the absence of closeness with loved ones, some paradoxically seek to experience the sensations of solitude, in particular by going on a trip. Since 2019, the Kayak comparator has identified a 51% increase in searches for flights for a single passenger. Are these solo projects, if not simple trips to meet a friend? The famous platform, which worked on a practical guide to travel without anyone, likes to think that these are indeed stays voluntarily experienced without an accompanying person. Because this year, these same searches jumped by 10%.
To correlate the highlighting of this trend, a study* was carried out to reveal that the phenomenon is not about to disappear like a blast: no less than 41% of French people plan to travel alone over the next twelve months . Putting oneself back at the heart of one’s daily life constitutes the primary motivation for this type of project. More than half of the respondents concerned (52%) say they want to discover new places in their own way. Likewise, 44% have no reason to compromise with a travel companion, while 43% want to disconnect from their daily lives and take time for themselves.
If the notions of introspection and surpassing oneself are the reasons for solo travel that we think of straight away, they actually only come second (31%). Furthermore, there is not necessarily the desire to meet new people. This quest concerns a minority, only 20%, even if 48% are not against a possible romance.
But there is another, more accessible escape, that of the senses. The restaurant experience without people indeed seems easier to decide. 84% of French people say they have already sat down to eat alone. This is especially the case for Gen Z and millennials (32% for each group), if not baby boomers (30%). A rise in the importance of lunches and dinners already revealed by a Lightspeed study a few weeks ago.
*An online survey was carried out by PureSpectrum among 1,000 French consumers interested in solo travel. Within this sample, large cities were weighted for direct comparison. The research field took place between August 7 and 12, 2024.