I've never been much of a traveller but recently got the travel bug and want to try it. Unfortunately my income is a lot higher than most of my friends, so I'm unable to do it much with them. I was opposses at first, but have gotten increasingly more curious about it. Anyone have any experience doing this? I want to start domestically, with visiting other parts of the US first, but also want to eventually try it internationally as well.
Was in the same situation as you a loooong time ago. My income was much higher than my friends after I graduated and immediately started my career. Started domestically too by travelling alone to London for long weekends. Then travelled to Seattle for PAX alone in 2011, LA on my own for E3 in 2012, All over Japan (TGS in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka) alone in 2013 and then to Boston (PAX East) to NYC on my own in 2014 (Travelled from UK to USA alone but did meet an online friend when I was there so that maybe doesn't count). All trips were around 2/3 weeks.
I found it to be fun, liberating and really enjoyable! Met and got acquainted to so many like-minded people. Partied hard. Created fond memories. Part of me also felt that travelling alone made me more extroverted and confident. I was able to rely and depend on myself a lot more. Reflect and enjoy a peaceful holiday at my own pace. Now that I no longer travel alone I do miss the spontaneity of just going wherever I felt like not having to worry about keeping someone waiting.
Accommodation cost tends to be the only downside to solo travelling but it's an easy problem to solve if you are flexible. Found that hostels were the best because it was really affordable (as a result more money to spend on food/drink/souvenirs etc.), the host/staff are very knowledgeable with the area so they are really helpful with ideas of things to do, the hostel always have daily cool (and some free) activities to take part in (hiking, tours, movie night, comedy club night, bar crawls etc). Also I found it to be much less lonely at a hostel as it is much easier to meet interesting people and make friends as most hostels tends to be accommodated by like-minded travellers local and abroad. Seattle hostel I was at provided free breakfast which was awesome and I spoke to many nice people who shared their life stories. Only downside to hostels was that is obviously privacy (some hostels have private rooms but they get booked months in advance), cleanliness (Exception: Japanese hostels are insanely clean) and shared bathrooms (gotta wake up early to take a shower etc.)
Hotels are a little more pricy for solo-travellers but the perks are good such as privacy, your own bathroom and TV etc. I did find it pretty lonely staying alone in a hotel since the clientele are a mix of couples/group of friends/business folk/shady people. You ended up just talking to the bar tender. Also some hotels don't have a concierge so it's kinda awkward asking hotel staff for recommendations while they are busy working. Never found the concierge to be helpful anyway. Found they often just recommended/promoted affiliated places rather than dishing out good local recommendations.
US motels tend to be a good middle point between hostel and hotel offering the privacy and perks of a hotel at a decent price but you gotta just do your homework and make sure it's right for you.
Other solo-travelling downside is that all kinds of scammers (dodgy nightclub promoters/religious/CD mixtape), drug dealers, and homeless/drug addict beggars tend to be very social with solo-travellers so that can get inconvenient to deal with but most are harmless and you just keep walking and nicely say "No thanks". Only had one experience of a mentally unstable homeless man randomly shouting/swearing something really loud right into my ear and then walked away in Downtown LA. I later learned that there was a reason by the locals in LA always drove everywhere. Aside from that, I experienced all sorts of friendly/harmless scammers in LA, harmless social homeless beggars in Boston and the odd pushy dodgy nightclub promoters in popular nightspots in Japan.
Anyway, my advice to you is go for it! Just always ALWAYS do your research/homework. Be aware of the dangers. Get a local guide to help you if you're unsure. Safety is key. Be safe and happy. Wet your toes by travelling alone domestically then try travelling to reasonably safe countries like Europe/USA/UK/Canada/Japan/Korea etc as a next step and then finally try places like South America/India/Africa (with a guide/helper) once you are super confident and experienced. I never got that far sadly but many solo-travellers have. Enjoy the world :)