For the longest time, I believed that a solo dinner required a book, magazine, and/ or my cell phone to keep me company since I’d be sans date. At least, that was so, until several summers ago. I was working from home a lot that summer {pre-quarantine, so before WFH became our new normal}, and on a rather muggy day, I decided that the last thing I wanted to do was whip up a meal over a hot stove. I went out for lunch at a new restaurant I had been wanting to try, grabbing a book and my latest magazine to catch up on. As I ate the mushroom and bleu cheese burger, with a side of water since it was only noon, I found myself more interested in enjoying the flavor of the food, the atmosphere of the restaurant, and meeting new people who were seated next to me. I ended up reading the first two lines of my book, before closing it to spend my lunch hour enjoying my meal instead.

While every month, and especially February, can at times feel like everything needs to be done with your plus one, sometimes it’s nice to remember that there’s also something pretty special about getting a table for one. That one meal inspired me to begin finding my independence. Today, I will travel somewhere solo because no one else wants to go with me. I’ll attend an event alone, if that is something I want to see. Whether I take myself out on the dinner date at the restaurant only I am craving or travel halfway across the world to embark on the adventure no one else wants to go on just yet, I always love knowing that I am capable of being my own date. And I’ve since enjoyed many meals on my own, be it a sushi dinner when no one else is craving Japanese, or enjoying a cup of tea and a cookie at my favorite cafe in the afternoon.

While I still prefer date night dinners and Sunday brunches with friends over a solo meal, I love knowing that whether anyone is free or interested in doing something, if it’s something I want to do, I am more than capable of doing it on my own. And while there are days when I enjoy reading a book with my dinner or catching up on emails for a work lunch, on those days I want some me time, I prefer grabbing a seat at the bar and enjoying a meal I’m craving, sans any of my “solo meal safety nets”.

I’d love to know, what do you like to do on your own?

x Paris