Travelling alone

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

“My first solo trip lasted three nights in a city two hours away by train. I booked a small hotel near the centre and gave my itinerary to a friend. On the first afternoon, I spent twenty minutes choosing somewhere to eat because there was nobody else to break the tie. I visited a gallery, walked along the river and returned to the hotel before dark. The independence I had imagined as dramatic began with deciding whether I wanted soup.

Alone, I noticed the shape of my own preferences, including how easily I mistook habit for choice. I could spend an hour in one room of the gallery without negotiating, but I also had nobody to draw my attention to the room I might skip. Freedom widened the day and narrowed the conversation. By the third morning, I was glad to talk to the café owner about ordinary things. I would travel alone again, with sensible preparations, but I would not call it a superior form of travel. It taught me what company gives as clearly as what solitude allows.”

Source B: an original nineteenth-century-style letter or account, written for practice; this is not an archival document.

“I undertook my journey without a companion, partly from necessity and partly from a wish to discover whether my own judgement could be trusted beyond familiar streets. My sister supplied more advice than could comfortably fit in the travelling bag. I left her the addresses at which I expected to stay and promised letters, though she declared that promises moved more slowly than trains.

The first pleasure was the absence of consultation. I could stop at a church, pass a fashionable shop or sit beside a field until the light altered, without defending the decision. Yet an unshared observation has a peculiar weight. More than once I turned to remark upon a view and found only my own luggage ready to listen. The freedom was real, but so was the value of another person's surprise. I returned neither cured of society nor frightened of solitude. I had learned that choosing one's company and learning to proceed without it are neighbouring accomplishments, not enemies.”

Refer to both sources. Infer the differences in the preparations and circumstances of the solo journeys. Write a summary supported by details from both sources.