When you are solo traveling, it can sometimes feel strange to eat alone in a restaurant abroad. Your mind tells you everyone is staring at you and judging you. This might even prompt you to choose takeout when you travel. But if you do that you’ll be missing out on a really beautiful experience. Here’s how not to feel awkward when you eat alone when you travel (or even in your city or town).

No One Is Looking

Literally, no one is looking at you or judging you, but it feels like it is because of your thinking. You have this notion that people need to eat in herds, it’s not the case. In many places in the world, eating alone is completely normal. For example, Japan has restaurants all over the place where you sit inside something like a cubicle and enjoy your meal with the chef handing you dishes from a shutter in the front part of your cubicle.

Of course, in most places, you’re not sitting in a cubicle, you’re sitting out in the wild west of a dining room or patio. Everyone that is there is living their reality while they are there, they are not concerned about what you are doing at all – it is simply all in your mind.

Take Reading Material

If you don’t want to have to look around as you’re waiting for your food or while eating, take a book or any other reading material with you. This can give you the confidence of looking uninterested in your surroundings and allow you to just focus on your food and yourself.

Sit at a Corner Table

You don’t have to sit smack dab in the middle of the place where you feel vulnerable. Choose a side table where you have more privacy. If you’re sitting inside the restaurant or cafe, you can opt to choose the chair that faces a wall if that makes you feel more comfortable. That way, you don’t have to look at anyone while you’re dining and can feel like you have your own little world.

Use Your Phone or Laptop

Call someone, scroll, type out some notes, or send an email or two. This makes you look busy, feel busy and that makes you feel less awkward about eating alone. You can even watch a movie if you want. The point is, having a device with you gives you the ability to focus elsewhere, if you’re feeling awkward. After a few minutes, you’ll start to feel comfortable and not worry too much that you are there on your own.

Go Big and Eat Alone

It takes confidence to eat alone, clearly, as we are writing a whole article about. Revel in the fact, that you are unique and there are very few people like you in the world. If you can embrace your uniqueness, then eating alone is easy. Eating alone means you can enjoy your own company and are interesting enough to entertain your own thoughts and find pleasure in your own company. That’s pretty amazing and admirable. If you love yourself, you can eat alone with the confidence that you are whole.