[nicbou]

I see this advice a lot, and it's probably good advice, but my experience differs.

When I travel solo, I become much more introverted. I think that being in your own head has a stickiness to it, so if you're in it for a while, it's hard to snap out of it. You can also be quite weary after a day on the road.

You might also find solo travel difficult when you're around other people. I love solo travel when I'm in nature, but Friday nights in cities can be dreadful.

Still, you will meet people. You don't have to be extroverted, just open to talk. If you're not curious, other people will be. They'll throw you the ball. You just have to throw it back. Bless these people.

[brewdad]

Maybe look at the culture of the people where you are traveling to if looking to break out of a shell of your own creation. Sitting at a bar in Ireland good. Sitting at the same bar in Sweden or Seattle bad.

[whstl]

I have a story related to this. It wasn't a bar, I was in Germany traveling without set destination by train (thanks, 9 euro ticket).

However, the stereotypically cold Germans were actually highly receptive of a random stranger talking with them. I was invited to changed destinations a few times to hang out in random cities, and started a couple friendships.

Of course those were also people taking advantage of the 9 euro ticket, so there's a lot of selection bias here. :)