The Truth About What Happens When Women Travel Solo
With COVID-19 keeping us house-bound for much of 2020, women are feeling the need to get out and have some alone time now more than ever before. So why night try solo travel? There’s nothing that makes your parents, friends, and partner fret more than the idea of you—a woman—out there alone in the big, bad world. You tell them you ache to spend a month on the road exploring the states on your own. They beg you to take your boyfriend or husband. You tell them you want to fly overseas and get lost exploring a new country. They list all of the horrible things that have happened in every location on your wish list. In fact, they spend hours—days even—telling you all of the tragic things that can and have, happened when women travel solo.
It’s true, exploring on your own comes with some added—but unlikely—risks. Fortunately, there are plenty of measures you can take to minimize them. And those unlikely risks aren’t stopping women from traveling on their own. In fact, according to a statistics report in Solo Traveler, data from multiple studies, surveys, and sources estimate women make up approximately 72% of solo travelers.
While pointing out the supporting data and steps you are taking to ensure a safe trip for yourself is not likely to change your loved ones’ minds, perhaps sharing this list of things that are highly likely to happen when women travel solo, will begin to shift their perspective.
7 Things That Are Likely to Happen When Women Travel Solo
Confidence Increases
Women who plan and execute a solo adventure experience a boost in confidence. Knowing that you are capable of successfully organizing a trip with multiple moving parts including meals, accommodations, activities, and transportation makes managing daily tasks seem far more doable. Like any other accomplishment, a successful experience while traveling alone makes the next thing you decide you want to conquer seem far less intimidating.
They Become More Flexible
When you travel alone you learn to adjust plans to fit your changing needs. With no one else to answer to, you can eat when you want, sleep when you want, and skip or change the activities you planned based on a whim. Our day-to-day lives often demand that we adhere to strict schedules and timelines. It’s easy for that rigidity to seep into the rest of our lives. A little solo time on the road is just what the doctor ordered for increasing your flexibility.
They Get Smarter
You’ve learned most of what you know from books: history, social studies, the arts. Traveling gives you the opportunity to learn about people, places, and tons of cool things in person! There’s nothing like seeing a work of art or a historical site in real life. And when you are alone, you can spend as much time as you like learning about those things that interest you most. Bonus: you are likely to gain an interest in things you never even considered before.
Their Risk Decreases
The best way to overcome a fear of something is to face it head-on. The more women travel solo without incident, the safer and braver they feel in the world. Here’s the best part: studies have shown that criminals are likely to choose victims that present as lacking confidence. As a woman begins to feel more confident in moving through the world on her own, the less likely she is to be marked as a target by potential criminals. Traveling solo may actually decrease a woman’s risk of being assaulted in all of life’s riskier situations.
They Become Independent
Traveling alone for the first time is intimidating for everyone. A lot goes into planning a trip on your own. Furthermore, most of us are used to being surrounded and supported by our tribe of favorite people. Our lives are centered around having friends and a family to lean on. Relying on one’s own self to cross great distances and explore new and strange locations is no small task.
Traveling alone gives women the opportunity to see what they are really capable of. It gives them the chance to rely only on themselves and discover how smart, powerful and capable they really are. Even if you decide you never want to be on your own again, just knowing that you are capable of getting by without anyone else’s help will make you more independent.
They Learn to Love Themselves
Shit gets real when you only have yourself to rely on. Without the everyday distractions provided by well-meaning friends and family, you have an opportunity to truly get to know yourself. If you weren’t aware of your likes, dislikes, interests, and physical and emotional abilities before your trip, you’ll certainly have a good feel for them upon your return. One thing is for sure, you become your own best friend when traveling alone. You inevitably learn to love yourself a little bit more than you ever did before.
They Learn to Love The World
When you travel with loved ones, it’s easy to stay focused on them instead of connecting with the strangers around you. When you are on your own, you’re bound to meet new people and make new friends. One of the things that solo traveler report over and over again is being surprised at how friendly the people they meet on their adventures are. Many come home with new connections all across the globe.
They are Happier
Women who travel solo tend to be happier than those who live in fear of going on adventures alone. A sense of freedom, independence, and growing confidence and knowledge all lend to ladies feel more fulfilled in life. Walking through the world feeling fearful of being on one’s own shrinks women. And now it’s more important than ever for women to take up space and be present and fierce in the world.
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