When traveling, unless traveling with a friend or partner you sometimes end up eating alone – whether on a tour or when doing independent travel. For most people this is a departure from their typical lifestyle. For some it's a social stretch, how often do you eat alone?
I first dealt with this on a conscious level when I had along wait in an airport. When you have 3 hours, there is only so much shopping and reading you can do so it’s nice to eat at the airport. But instead of just doing the fast food place I went to Fridays and had a nice sit down meal. An airport isn’t a bad place to try out eating alone. There are quite a few other people doing that already, you’re not in a place where you’re likely to run into people you know, and you probably already have something to distract yourself with - a book or a magazine.
When you’re on vacation alone you shouldn’t feel forced to eat fast food for every meal, or have to bring food back to the hotel or picnic just because you’re alone. You can and should eat in restaurants and enjoy the local cuisine without feeling subconscious or out of place. If it's hard for you, then try finding times and places, like the airport, where you can practice doing it, it's not as scary as it seems.
