You will need a bit of background on me first. I am from a small town in Norway where I used to do horseback riding and needed a scooter or car to get around. I loved horses, still do, but I do not get the chance to ride as often as I once did.
When I was 15 years old I came across anime for the first time, besides pokemon and a few other popular shows. From a young age I did not like dub, so I researched so I could watch it in the original language when English did not match the movements. Once I started watching anime along came movies, dramas, music, culture and the language interest. When I turned 17 I started studying Japanese., which I had watched so much of that I had begun to pick up the language.I also got a tutor in Japanese my last year of high school. I had also gotten a part time job, mostly because I had began to dream about visiting Tokyo which I needed money for. And following that, I started to save up and invite people to Tokyo with me.

Declined invitations

All of my friends were planning on university or just a gap year to work after high school. They also tried to talk me into visiting countries near Norway, but I was deadset on Tokyo!
My original thought was two weeks, maybe one if people would join, but it was nearing my last semester in high school and still only declines. I wanted to go with friends, but I did ask my parents as well. There was no interest from either, so I slowly decided to go alone. What was planned as two weeks became 3 months and Japanese language school. I worked throughout the summer to have money while there, but my departure date could not come soon enough.
And thus, I ended up with my first solo trip. 3 months in Tokyo.

Departure

I was never worried about my departure, even though I had a layover. There are no direct flights from Oslo to Tokyo, there has been, but there was not then and I have never taken one. Why I was never worried was because I travelled a lot as a kid, but this would be my longest distance yet. My mom prepped me like crazy, she must have been very worried that my first solo travel was to the other side of the world outside of Europe.
It was a smooth ride and all the way from Narita to Shinjuku Station went so smooth. I had close to zero worries and I got to practise my Japanese.

No Google Maps

The smooth ride stopped at Shinjuku Station. I was renting housing from a company with an office in Shinjuku, so it was not far, but I was so unsure with the map. Therefore I took a taxi and it was smooth ride again. The staff was nice and explained everything well to me. Instead of getting on the JR Line again, I got another taxi. It was just one station over, but I was very worried about how heavy my luggage was and it was still very warm. Summer in Japan is no joke!

Emergency! The taxi driver did not put me off on the right street and pointed me in the wrong direction. I had my map and was thinking it should be the street behind, but since I had never been to Tokyo before and the taxi driver lived there, I was afraid to follow my instincts.
I am shy and I´m an introvert, but two people came walking towards me at that point. I had been standing still for no more than five minutes, but they were the first I dared to ask. The world was on my side! They actually knew somebody living in the same building as me. It was a rental place for foreigners and lucky for me one of them was an extrovert and had made friends with the neighbours.

I managed to get to my place, put my suitcase down and meet new people. My first impression was that everyone was so nice. That evening I was sat outside with a lot of people, just talking. It seemed like it was an everyday thing for them to me, which I later learned was almost true. Five out of seven evenings at least some people would gather outside and chat, smoke or drink. Since I was still very shy during my first evening there, I kept speaking mostly English, but when I said I spoke a bit of Japanese I ended up being tested. This has become one of my core memories and I remember that I really surprised everyone that evening. This evening turned into one of the nights I truly treasure.

Solo adventures or not really

Though I travelled alone to Tokyo, I never had many solo adventures here. I made so many friends at my apartment complex and at school that I rarely ventured out alone. We were a lot of people in the same situation, we all loved Japan and came there for that reason. If I suggested something or someone suggested something to me it was often a new experience for us both and we ventured out to explore together.

All the major places was ventured to with new friends and the smaller adventures at random times were done alone.
Though I found myself in a new country with friends I had just met, I was living my best life. So much so that when my 3 months ended I returned to Norway for only 7 months. In those months I got my old part time job back and worked. The second time I returned to Tokyo it was for a year. The second time I could not really call it solo traveling because many of my friends were still in Tokyo and I was just returning to my second home.

Any fears?

Honestly, I had none. My Japanese was good enough that I would be able to communicate with people. I knew where I was going and how to do it in case I was unsure, which was the taxi.
My most frightening part was if I would be able to make any friends. Since I was there for 3 months, I figured I would meet someone at some time, but I was still worried as I was as shy as I was. It is better now, but I still often find myself being adopted by extroverts. People even believe I am an extrovert, which makes sense as I have moved around a lot and I have had to make new friends in every city I have lived in. The first time it was also a worry about the language, but now my English is at a higher level so I do not really worry about that part any more.

Any regrets?

None! Though it was not my initial intention to go alone, I learened that it is fully possible to travel alone. Even if I was a picky eater, that was also not a problem. It simply showed me that if I want to go somewhere, I will be fine alone. I can go alone.

Tokyo and Japan will always have a special place in my heart. It is a place I always want to visit and always want to return to. If I could go once a year or more, I would, but there are so many other countries I want to visit that it is not possible.
Now I am also very comfortable with visiting countries where I do not speak the language. All because people did not want to travel to Tokyo with me when I was a teenager. Sometimes I do wonder what I would be doing now, if I decided to not go.