I'd like to describe a Saturday last spring when I spent the whole day alone in Lisbon. I'm from Brazil, and I was there for a work conference, but it ended a day earlier than I'd thought, and my colleagues had all flown home. So I had a free day in a city I'd never visited, with nobody to plan around.
At first I felt slightly awkward. I'm someone who normally travels in groups and talks constantly. But I decided to make the most of it. I started with a custard tart and a coffee at a small bakery near my hotel, then I rode one of the old yellow trams up to a viewpoint in the Alfama district and simply sat there for an hour, watching the river. I wandered through narrow streets without a map, and ended up in a tiny bookshop where I chatted to the owner about Brazilian authors. In the evening, I had dinner on my own, which I'd always found embarrassing, and listened to traditional fado music in a small restaurant.
How I felt changed during the day. In the morning I kept checking my phone for messages, as if I needed company. But by the afternoon I felt completely free. Nobody was waiting for me, and I could follow my curiosity. I noticed things I'd normally miss, like the sound of the tram bells and the tiles on the buildings. By the end of the day I felt calmer than I had in months. Since then I've tried to schedule a day alone every few months, because I realised I'd been avoiding my own company for years.