You never know who you really are until there is nobody around for you to impress. Immerse yourself in new surroundings and notice which things about you remain steady, and which fall by the wayside.  Your character is revealed, for better or worse, when no one else is looking. It may be scary at first, but new ideas, inner strength, and confidence soon reside where fear has been evicted.  

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There is nothing like a new experience, done on your own, to force a learning curve that offers new perspectives on old ideas and values.  Growth occurs, and character forged.  Insights well up from within.  Previously unimagined strengths are revealed, weakness dissipates.  As independence becomes more solid and we become more comfortable with ourselves, we find that no matter what, we are never in bad company.

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If it's so great, why do we find so many excuses not to get out there on our own?  Because it's scary as hell.  Every time we do something that goes against the grain of who we are, something inside us whispers a warning.  A raindrop sends out ripples on the calm of our subconscious.  As we ignore ourselves for innumerable reasons, the whispers and ripples of agitation continue, but we get really good at distracting ourselves from them.  If for some unthinkable reason we find ourselves alone with nothing to distract us, those messages come through in screams and raging torrents.  How are we to deal with such a cacophony arising from our own self-betrayal?  A little at a time.  Small doses of introspection that become larger and more frequent with time.  At first, we make small changes to the way we function.  With time, we re-plasticize our being and can form and adapt, and it becomes easier to heed the voice within us that guides us.  Or maybe I'm just crazy and this has merely been my personal experience of lunacy.  If so, I'll follow it any day of the week, because it feels a whole lot worse not to listen to myself.  

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Try it and see.  Find a quiet spot to watch a sunset.  Take a long walk without your phone.  An experience in solitude is completely turned on its ear from one done with a group, although both have their rewards.