Traveling Solo as a Woman - A Few Things I've Learned

I often get a lot of questions about what it's like to travel solo, especially as a woman, so I thought maybe I would talk a little bit about it here.

My first time traveling alone was in 2017, I decided to backpack Thailand shortly after a break-up. Funny enough, at the time I booked the trip, I wasn't really worried about the fact that I was traveling solo. It wasn't until I boarded the plane that I thought, "Oh no, I am arriving in Bangkok at 2am, how do I even get to my hostel?" and that's when I really began thinking about what it would be like to be alone, across the world.

When I arrived, I remember being dropped off at the hostel by a taxi on a relatively quiet, dark street, at about 3am, searching for a buzzer to get inside of my hostel. Once I found it, the person working, opened what seemed like a garage door to let me in. I was then brought to a shared dorm room, where everyone was already asleep with the lights off, forcing me to forage through whatever was at the top of my bag to sleep in for the night, having no real idea how many people were in the beds around me, what the room looked like, and generally what the hostel looked like. While it all turned out fine, and I woke up to an adorable, little hostel surrounded by lovely people, I've decided now that, if I am traveling solo, I try my best not to arrive at a new place when it's dark. This helps me ensure I have a good sense of my surroundings.

At the time, Uber wasn't available the way it is now abroad, so I also needed to use a local taxi service, which was certainly not a bad thing, it's great to support local services, however, as a woman traveling solo, it certainly feels nerve-racking to get into the car with someone you don't know, and have no service tracking your location. Therefore, another thing I like to recommend as a solo traveling female, is that if Uber is available in the country you are traveling to, you should try and use it (at least until you're comfortable with the local services) as it has some great safety features built in. For example, last year, I arrived in Colombia for the first time, and we were stuck in a lot of traffic, causing the Uber driver to have to re-route, lengthening the time of our trip, and Uber sent me a notification asking if I was okay. I appreciated this feature because it was beginning to get dark outside and I was unfamiliar with where I was, and while all was fine, I appreciated knowing that my location was being monitored.

That also leads me to say, that I always, always make sure I have data when I am traveling solo, especially upon arrival in a new place. This makes me feel more secure if I do have to take a taxi or public transportation from the airport. I currently use TMobile, and I usually activate my international data pass for at least 24 hours so that my phone connects to a local network. Then, usually, I will opt to get a local SIM card because it's a lot cheaper than paying for an international data pass.

A few other things I like to do when I travel solo include:

• Know the local emergency number

• Know the closest hospital (if I am staying for an extended time - or even if I am not, I've had pretty intense food poisoning while being alone and have almost needed to admit myself)

• Share my location with a few close friends

• Have the phone number of the airbnb host / hostel I am staying in

• Carry a bag that I can keep close to my body if I am walking in an area that I don't know well (fanny pack in my case)

• Research the attire of the place I am going so that I can ensure I pack clothes that won't make me stand out

• Bring a mini first aid kit with common meds (ibuprofen, tums, pepto)

• Book women-only dorm rooms if I am staying in a hostel (Now I am nearly 30 years old, I don't want to share a room with 18-year-old men).

• Take note of important phrases if I don't speak the language

• Sometimes, I cover my phone camera while I am using it on the street so people don't know if it's an iPhone (the camera is an easy way to differentiate)

• Look confident, even if I might not know exactly where I am

I am sure more things will eventually come to mind, and if they do, perhaps I will add a second part to this blog post, in the meantime, stay safe out there, and keep your head held high, you're a badass for traveling solo in a world that doesn't always make it easy to do so!