Watertown, MA–April 19, 2024
How to Travel Solo, But Not Alone
When Joan Baxter, age 62, signed up for her first trip with AdventureWomen in 2019, she did so cautiously. “I didn’t know anyone else going on the trip, I thought I might be older than most of the other women, and I just wasn’t sure if I was going to fit in,” Joan remembers thinking. But she took the leap on an 8-day whale watching, glamping and kayaking trip to Baja and hasn’t looked back since. “Everyone was completely welcoming and we all had a blast every single day.” Joan has since traveled with AdventureWomen to both Morocco and Croatia, and she is heading to Utah’s Zion & Bryce National Parks in just a few weeks.
Joan isn’t alone when she travels and she’s not alone in the solo travel trend. While it can be empowering, liberating, and exhilarating to travel on your own, traveling in a small group setting can add an extra level of security and camaraderie particularly in some countries where traveling alone as a woman can be difficult.
“The top question we get from new guests is whether everyone else on the trip is coming with a friend,” says AdventureWomen President Paige Davis. “While we’re all far from being teenagers, we all still hold some of the same social anxieties we had when we were younger.” The great news is that AdventureWomen reports over 60% of their guests are traveling on their own. “We sell a fair number of double rooms to women traveling alone, and AdventureWomen has a great track record of matching up roommates with similar interests,” reports Davis. “And if roommates aren’t connecting with each other after a night or two, we can switch the roommates up to see if a different configuration might help.”
Joining a group of travelers offers a unique sense of community that solo travel sometimes lacks, and it allows women to connect with others who share their passion for exploring new places, learning about different cultures, and seeking adventure. This camaraderie can lead to lasting friendships, and often, people who meet each other while traveling continue to stay in touch long after the trip has ended.
Here are our 5 top reasons for women who travel solo to consider traveling with a group rather than on your own:
- Safety First! When you’re all alone on a self-guided journey, you’re naturally more vulnerable, especially women who are traveling to unknown places where cultural expectations and gender roles may be quite different from those at home. Traveling with a group of like-minded women improves personal safety.
- Better Travel Deals. Group travel is typically much more affordable as groups can negotiate better accommodation rates and dining and transportation discounts than you would be able to traveling on your own.
- Access to Unique Attractions. Many of the destination-based activities we include in our AdventureWomen itineraries (visiting schools to donate books, cooking with a local chef, meeting with a local women’s group for example) are rarely accessible to individuals as solo travelers.
- Get an Insiders Tour of a Destination. AdventureWomen has been taking groups of women on adventure vacations for more than 40 years, so we know the best local tour guides, the ins and outs of our regional destinations and the most interesting and authentic local hot spots to visit. You might miss out on some of these undiscovered gems without the insight of such an experienced adventure travel company and one which truly understands what women desire most in an adventure travel experience.
- Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. Wouldn’t you rather spend your time diving into a destination rather than worrying about planning all the many details of your daily itinerary and logistically planning all that goes into executing a trip? If your answer is “yes!”, then group travel is a great option for you. Solo women travelers are left to entirely fend for themselves when something doesn’t go as planned on a trip or when a problem arises mid-trip and even just managing the minutia of how to get where they’re going next. Why stress when you don’t have to!
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ABOUT ADVENTUREWOMEN
AdventureWomen is proudly women-owned and operated since 1982. We offer dynamic explorations brimming with empowerment and discovery. Each adventure includes meaningful encounters with local women driven by our unwavering belief in the value of women-to-women cultural experiences. Our trips all over the world transform strangers into a family of friends transcending boundaries.
