THE ANSWER IS YES! YOU CAN TRAVEL SAFELY ALONE AS A WOMAN! There are lots of wonderful benefits of traveling alone. You have all the power and independence to do as you please! But the biggest concern for most women is how to be safe when traveling alone. Our culture and media makes us think that if we dare to go anywhere BY OURSELVES (gasp), we will be randomly scammed, kidnapped, hackled, raped or worse! In reality, traveling alone can be very liberating and you can gain a lot of self-confidence by doing so!
Top Safety Tips for Women Solo Travelers
- KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH. A huge part of safety is in the knowledge. You should have knowledge of the destination! Do research before you go there. Research culture norms, language, areas to stay/avoid, getting around, local scams, and read about other past female solo travelers experiences.
- Subscribe to different female solo travelers facebook groups and type in the destination in the search bar – and read all about what others have said. I’ve even facebook messaged some women who have gone to the destinations I was going to, and ask questions!
- Listen to podcasts about the destination. I just type the name of the destination on Spotify and see what comes up.
- Watch YouTube videos of other people’s experiences at your destination.
- I love this website (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/death-abroad1/death-statistics.html). It has all the stats of U.S. citizens who died overseas in each country and how they died. A little morbid yes, but it just shows that as a traveler, you almost have nothing to worry about in most places you visited. Show them to family members who are worried.
- Buy a SIM-card phone from Amazon. I got one for $30 and it’s a good back-up incase you lose your phone abroad.
- Share your itinerary with a close friend or partner before you leave, with names and numbers of places you are staying at.
- “Share your location” on your phone with friends and family so they can locate you at any time.
- Bring back-up phone charger so you can always have your phone charged while you travel.
- Use Uber. It’s available in most major cities in the world and it’s very safe and has a centralized system for safety. They vet their drivers, you can share locations/stats, and they have a whole safety system now where you can even request live help and record your ride conversation if you need to.
- Get on a tour group!!! Probably the safest thing for a solo female traveler is to put yourself on a tour group! Tour groups are extremely safe, plus you will make new like-minded friends!
- If group tours aren’t your thing, hire a private tour guide. Depending which country you are in, they can be extremely affordable. I’ve gotten private guides in many countries for less than $200 for a whole day.
- Get a money belt – it’s always safer for walking around to keep your money close to you. Depending on the country/city, if you are in a lot of crowded places, keep your money in front of you (money belt, fanny pack, front-cross bags) instead of in the back of you in a backpack. Also makes it easy access for you!
- Probably the most obvious safety tip but I’ll still say it – as a solo female traveler, do not go walking around in not well-lit places at night. Do research on the area before you go out to dinner. When in doubt, take an Uber to and from the restaurant from your hotel instead. You don’t want to get lost and then have your phone out to find directions, which makes it extremely obvious you are a tourist who is lost! Also, just because it is a place where there are a LOT of people, doesn’t mean it’s safer in terms of pick-picketers in crowds. This goes back to #1, know your area. Do research. Ask questions before you go there.