How do you safely solo vacation as a woman?

6 comments

1. Depends where you go. Certain countries i would recommend going with a tour group or a well known tour guide as a solo female traveller because its safer.
   I solo travelled all around New Zealand my advise: make loads of friends along the the way especially with other solo travellers – hostels are good for this, hang out with groups of people, don’t go off alone with one person, speak to your hotel or your accommodation about where is safe and dangerous places where you are. Stick to tourist areas. Organise group tours to places – that way you can make friends and see places.
   Let your accommodation know where you’re going so if you don’t come back they can send help. Stay in constant contact with your friends and family back home. Plan your holiday step by step so you have a plan but be flexible.
   Always keep your passport with you or locked away in a safe in your hotel. Its your most valuable asset.
   Always keep some money with you but not all of your travel money – just what you need for that day and no more.
   Only use verified taxis that the hotel or your accommodation use.
   WhatsApp is good to use abroad.

2. If it’s a city I don’t know, I just look up beforehand if there are any districts that have a highish rate of criminality, and avoid them. That’s really the only main thing. I guess I’m also careful with picking taxi services, though this is mainly because I don’t want to be scammed into paying too much. And if soccer is popular in the country I might try to not travel to a city if there’s a soccer derby going on that particular day, in case of hooliganism. That’s something I do when I travel with other people too, though.

   I’ve been solo travelling since I was 18, out and about both day and night, drunk and sober, and have never felt unsafe.

3. First you pick a destination that fits your comfort level. From one woman to the next, that might be different, we all have different perception of different risks, so you should be comfortable with the level you’re at, wherever you are.

   You make sure some people know where you are and you’re checking in with friends or family with somewhat regular frequency. You make sure you have ways to contact people, I basically always make sure I can text and call and not depend on WiFi when I’m traveling.

   I tend to pick hostels where there will basically always be people around and I make friends along the way. I listen to my guts and trust my instincts about places and people

4. You start of by going to countries that are similar to yours, then you travel the “Western world”, followed by countries known to be touristy (Thailand etc.) and finally you may go wherever you want.

   Here’s my list, in case anyone has questions: Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, South Africa, India, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Macau, Hong Kong, French Polynesia (Tahiti, Mo’orea), USA (30+ states), Mexico, Costa Rica, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Monaco, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy, Vatican, San Marino, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece, Turkey.

5. It depends on how confident and street smart you are first of all. Second, it depends on where you plan to go. Like if you’re going to England or Japan, even as someone who is terrified of traveling alone, you’ll be perfectly fine. People are so friendly and helpful there, it’s easy to travel alone. But if you are going somewhere like Thailand or Egypt, I definitely recommend going with a tour group generally if it’s tour first time. Did alright going to Thailand the first time on my own but I think it was because I was head strong, street smart and also lucky. But in hindsight I probably should have done a group tour anyway or at least gone with a friend or two. So it really depends on where you want to go, your comfort level and honestly the situation and attitude toward foreigners there.

6. As a rule, by taking the same sensible precautions I take at home.