If you're lonely, then you can take a buddy, or if you're adventurous, then you can make friends wherever you go.

I personally recommend the latter. We don't talk to anyone (seriously enough) when we travel with other people, the best acquaintances I made were when I was travelling alone. You really get the chance to know yourself better, discover strengths you didn't even know you had, meet awesome people from all over the place.

I also recommend staying either in youth hostels (despite the name, there's no age restriction) or even hospex networks, à la Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club or BeWelcome. Or if your budget is tight, consider exchanging some services against shelter and food, with the likes of WWOOFing or WorkAway.

Here's more detail about the hospex sites I mentioned and a few more.

Have fun!