Solo Experiences Are Going Mainstream: Why Brits Are Choosing to Do More Things Alone

1 hour ago

6 min read

Trend: Life on My Terms. Doing things alone is shifting from something consumers tolerate when nobody else is available into something they increasingly choose for themselves. In Britain, 78% say they are more comfortable doing things alone than five years ago, while 72% have actively chosen a solo activity even when somebody was available to join them. The emerging Solo Experiences trend reflects a wider desire to stop waiting for other people's schedules, preferences and availability before living life.

Why Everyone Is Talking About It: Going Alone Is Becoming a Choice

Solo behaviour is spreading across everyday experiences that have traditionally been imagined as social occasions. Walking or hiking leads at 72%, but 65% have eaten out alone, 54% have visited a pub or bar alone, 50% prefer going to the cinema alone and 45% have travelled abroad by themselves.

The more important shift is intentionality. Nearly three-quarters have chosen to do something alone despite having someone available to join them, while a quarter believe solo activities are more socially acceptable than five years ago. Being alone is becoming less associated with having nobody to go with and more associated with choosing exactly how an experience unfolds.

ALONE BY NECESSITY → ALONE BY CHOICE

➡️ Viral Insight: Solo is becoming a preference rather than a compromise. As consumers become more comfortable acting independently, waiting for somebody else to join becomes less necessary before experiences can happen.

Why Consumers Are Changing: My Plans Don't Depend on Yours

Control is central to the attraction. Almost two in five respondents, 39%, choose solo activities because they can go at their own pace, while 34% enjoy their own company and 33% value being able to make their own decisions.

Going alone removes negotiation from the experience. There is no need to coordinate schedules, agree on a restaurant, compromise over a film or adapt a holiday itinerary around another person's preferences. Consumers gain the ability to decide what they want, when they want it and how they want to experience it.

WAIT FOR COMPANY → MAKE MY OWN PLANS → LIVE ON MY TERMS

➡️ Consumer Insight: Independence gives consumers control over their experiences. Solo participation turns personal availability and preference — rather than somebody else's willingness to participate — into the starting point for making plans.

Who Is Driving This Trend: The Independent Experience Seekers

The Independent Experience Seekers are consumers becoming increasingly comfortable treating themselves as sufficient company. Age may contribute to this confidence: 36% of respondents say they have become more comfortable doing things alone as they have grown older.

But independence does not mean rejecting relationships or social experiences. It means removing dependence on other people from the decision to participate. Consumers can still choose company when they want it while gaining the confidence to continue with their plans when they do not.

Core Motivations: I Don't Want to Wait to Live My Life

Freedom – Let Me Make My Own PlansConsumers want to pursue experiences without making their participation dependent on somebody else's availability.

Control – Let Me Set the PaceConsumers want to decide how quickly, slowly or spontaneously an experience unfolds.

Independence – I Can Do This MyselfConsumers want to feel comfortable participating in everyday activities without requiring companionship.

Convenience – Remove the CoordinationConsumers want to avoid the schedules, negotiations and compromises involved in organizing activities with other people.

Enjoyment – Let Me Enjoy My Own CompanyConsumers want to experience time alone as something personally rewarding rather than socially undesirable.

Confidence – Make Going Alone Feel NormalConsumers want to participate independently without feeling awkward, judged or conspicuous.

➡️ Audience Insight: Independent Experience Seekers are not withdrawing from social life; they are expanding the circumstances in which life can happen. Company becomes an option rather than a requirement.

Why This Trend Matters Right Now: Solo Is Losing Its Social Stigma

The change in comfort is significant: 78% report feeling more comfortable doing things alone than five years ago, and 25% believe solo activities have become more socially acceptable. As those perceptions change, activities historically coded around couples, families or groups become increasingly available to individuals.

Barriers nevertheless remain. Lack of confidence prevents 22% from doing more alone, 20% feel self-conscious and 19% identify personal safety as a concern. The next stage of the trend therefore depends not only on consumers becoming more independent but also on businesses making solo participation feel safer and more socially natural.

SOLO AS COMPROMISE → SOLO AS CHOICE → SOLO AS FREEDOM

➡️ Why It Matters: Social acceptance expands the number of experiences consumers feel comfortable accessing independently. When being alone stops signalling that something is missing, solo participation becomes another legitimate way to experience everyday life.

Viral Potential: One Is Becoming a Complete Social Unit

The appeal of solo experiences translates easily into digital conversation because it challenges familiar assumptions about which activities people are “supposed” to do together. Going to the cinema alone may feel relatively easy, but eating in restaurants, visiting bars and travelling abroad alone push the idea further.

The trend therefore creates a recognizable cultural question: Why should an experience require somebody else before it becomes worth doing? The answer increasingly favors personal agency — if consumers want the experience, they can give themselves permission to have it.

DON'T HAVE ANYONE TO GO WITH → GO ANYWAY → PREFER IT THAT WAY

➡️ Viral Potential: Solo experiences turn independence into a visible lifestyle choice. Every traditionally social activity that becomes normalized for one person expands the cultural boundaries of what consumers feel comfortable doing alone.

Marketing Strategy: Design for One

The opportunity is to stop treating solo consumers as incomplete groups. Entertainment, hospitality, leisure and travel businesses can design experiences where arriving alone feels intentional, comfortable and equally valued.

Strategy Area	Opportunity
Product – Solo-Friendly Experiences	Make One Feel Complete. Design seating, activities, packages and services that work naturally for individuals rather than adapting group propositions for one person.
Pricing – Individual Value	Remove the Solo Penalty. Avoid pricing structures that make individual participation disproportionately expensive compared with couples or groups.
Promotion – Independence	Normalize Going Alone. Show solo participation as confident, enjoyable and intentional rather than presenting every experience through couples, families and friendship groups.
Distribution – Easy Access	Make Spontaneous Plans Possible. Reduce booking friction and make it easy for individuals to decide, book and participate without extensive advance planning.
Innovation – Solo-First Design	Build for One From the Beginning. Create spaces and experiences that address comfort, confidence, safety and social awkwardness as core design considerations.

➡️ Strategic Insight: The Solo Economy grows when businesses stop treating one person as half of a booking. Designing intentionally for individuals can unlock occasions that consumers previously postponed, avoided or experienced only when company was available.

Trend Snapshot: My Life Doesn't Need to Wait

Solo experiences fit a larger Life on My Terms shift because they transfer control over participation from the group to the individual. Consumers gain greater freedom to decide what they do, when they do it and how the experience unfolds.

Trend Dimension	Insight
Broad Trend – Life on My Terms	My Life Doesn't Need to Wait. Consumers increasingly organize experiences around their own preferences, availability and priorities.
Industry Trend – Solo Experiences	Going Alone Goes Mainstream. Cinema, restaurants, bars, travel and leisure increasingly become legitimate individual occasions.
Lifestyle Trend – Independent Living	My Plans Don't Depend on Yours. Consumers become more comfortable experiencing everyday life without requiring companionship.
Strategy – Solo-Friendly Experiences	Design for One. Businesses can make individual participation feel intentional, comfortable and equally valued.
Consumer Motivation – Freedom	Let Me Do What I Want, When I Want. Consumers want experiences that do not depend on coordinating with other people.
Consumer Drive – Control	Let Me Set the Pace. Consumers value making their own decisions and experiencing activities according to their preferences.
Business Opportunity – Solo Economy	One Is a Customer Segment. Entertainment, hospitality, leisure and travel can build propositions specifically around individual participation.
Innovation Outlook – Solo-First Design	Design Beyond Couples and Groups. Products, spaces and services increasingly treat individuals as a primary audience rather than an exception.

➡️ Trend Snapshot Insight: LIFE ON MY TERMS → SOLO EXPERIENCES → INDEPENDENT LIVING. As consumers become more comfortable acting independently, experiences no longer need to wait for the right companion, schedule or group to come together.

Final Thoughts: Stop Waiting for Someone Else

Solo experiences are becoming less about being alone and more about having agency. The survey suggests that many Brits already value going at their own pace, making their own decisions and enjoying their own company, while cinema, dining, nightlife, outdoor activities and international travel are all becoming viable solo occasions.

The next opportunity is making independence feel effortless. Businesses that reduce self-consciousness, improve personal safety and design specifically for individual customers can help transform solo participation from something consumers need confidence to attempt into an ordinary part of everyday life.

➡️ Final Insight: Consumers are becoming more willing to experience life without waiting for somebody else to join them. Solo Experiences turn independence into freedom over when, where and how those experiences happen. In a Life on My Terms culture, the right company is increasingly optional — but the experience doesn't have to be.