I traveled out of the country for the first time by myself, and had a great experience!

# EDIT: Apologies for not responding, but I had a lot of messages and replies to respond to and it got a lot more popular than I thought it would. I apologize if anyone had questions that I didn't answer. I wrote this about 6 months ago and I have moved on to other things so I won't be replying to anything anymore.<br><br>#<br>I'm a 22 year old guy from the US, and I finally traveled out of the country over the weekend! I went to a random city in North America and had a great time. At 22 I thought it was embarrassing that I had never traveled out of the country, so I saved up money, bought a ticket, booked a hotel, and flew out to Toronto, Canada! <br><br>I was actually super stressed the night before I had to fly out, and for a second I didn't want to go. But my dad convinced me to go and I didn't want to waste money on the plane ticket and hotel so I sucked it up and went.<br><br>I flew out of Albany, NY and had a layover in Chicago. At security, I had no idea where the hell I was going, but I figured it out by asking for directions a couple times and soon enough, I was on the plane and we were taking off! <br><br>I was also super nervous at the airport and boarding the plane, but there are a lot of solo women travelers and nobody gives them weird looks so I stopped being nervous after I got my boarding pass.<br><br>The first flight was a great flight and we had a lot of extra space. The second flight wasn't as roomy, but it was a lot shorter. Once I landed, I had no idea where to go again, so I asked a million questions about where I pick up my bags and how to get to the city. <br><br>After getting my bag and asking for directions a lot, I finally got on the street car and was on my way to my hotel! Once again, I had no idea where the hell I was going, but I asked 4 different people for directions and I finally got to my hotel. I was super stressed about being scammed out of my money but I learned a lot from my father who travels a lot. Once I got to my hotel I was finally able to relax and take a nap.<br><br>The next day, I had a lot of fun exploring the city. I visited Toronto Island and went to the top of the CN Tower and learned about Canadian history. I also went to the Toronto sign and the hockey hall of fame. At night I also went to an NBA game, the Raptors were taking on the Jazz! <br><br>I had a great time and learned a lot about myself. I finally feel like a man and I learned how to do a lot of things on my own. I finally got rid of the anxiety of traveling out of the country and I'm excited for the next time I travel. In my opinion, anything you want to try but makes you nervous is sometimes a good thing because it challenges yourself and makes you grow as a person. Giving up on things you're nervous to do is stupid because it will hold you back and you will regret it the rest of your life, and you will not grow as a person and be able to experience life.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>EDIT: Wow didn't expect this many upvotes! Thanks for all the awards. Also I apologize if I don't respond to your comment, I'm getting a lot of them.