Why You Should Embrace Eating Out By Yourself

A cardinal rule: do not take a book

I recently opened up a Substack newsletter to find it filled with the author’s trepidation about dining alone. I sighed.

I have spent decades traveling by myself, most often for work, but occasionally for a holiday. That means plenty of experience with eating solo.

Around the time of the Great Recession, news companies I worked for banned room service. That left people with two choices: pick up a bag of food, or eat in a restaurant.

Long ago, I lost any inhibition about eating out by myself. I still run into situations where I am not comfortable, but I know how to deal with them. To me, dining alone is something to embrace, not to fear.

Here are some guidelines that I follow.