12 Tips for Traveling Solo – Advice from our Favourite Female Travel Bloggers

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a female

Traveling by yourself for the first time can be a daunting experience for anybody. But as a female solo traveler there are a few extra precautions you will need to take to make sure you have a great trip, and get home safely.

That’s why we have asked our favourite female adventurers from the best solo female travel blogs online, to give their number 1 tips to traveling by yourself.

Traveling By Yourself – tips for traveling solo as a female

The Peaceful Female Dorm

Mélissa from abrokenbackpack.com

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a femaleTraveling solo is my favourite way of traveling. You don’t need to compromise, you just have to worry about what you want to do. In my case, I love to be solo so I can also meet travel buddies easily. Hostels are definitely the perfect place to meet other backpackers! They generally offer activities and / or tours which can give you the opportunity to share some memories with others. For a solo female backpacker, the hostel’s best part is probably the female dorms. This is a cheap option to make sure that you will sleep well (or at least a lot better!). Not quite sure about it? A female dorm means: cleaner, quieter and less snoring! I used to do the mistake to book mixed dorms so I could meet more people and I ended up sleeping really bad and even, sometimes, being the only girl in the dorm. That awkward situation is not going to happen again!

Be Confident

Anna from Global Gallivanting

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a female

The best advice I would give a first time solo female traveller is to be confident, assertive and not to worry too much! Don’t look an easy target, act confident, hold yourself well and be assertive even if you aren’t!

I think it’s important to be culturally aware and adjust how you act and dress to be appropriate to the country you are in, for example in India I usually cover up and I am very careful who I trust.  Take sensible precautions, don’t flash too much flesh or wealth, act confident and most importantly learn to trust your gut instinct and don’t let fear stop you from living your dreams – you’ll find that people all around the world are much the same and will help you out. The world is not such a scary place as the media likes to make it out to be.

 

Do your research about where you are headed first

Inma from A World to Travel

 

How do you like our base? #Galicia

A photo posted by A World to Travel (@aworldtotravel) on

Research things like how to get to places during the day and night.  Some basic words in the language spoken there. How to dress appropriately and special customs to be aware of. If there are any areas to avoid, or political situations. And what to do if you are in trouble.
You will be the only one in control once you arrive to your destination so please do yourself a favor and take some time looking it up. It will save you headaches later.

Let’s talk about sex!

Alice from teacaketravels.com

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a female
Travelling, along with learning who you are, what you want and what you need comes with the wonderful opportunity to meet others and learn what other people and this world is all about!

Whilst you’re on the road, there’s also a good chance you’re going to meet some ridiculously handsome and beautiful people who you want to kiss the face off of. Without trying to sound like your Mother, girl to girl, take care of the empress within you and make sure you pop some condoms in your purse. That way, you’re covered and they’re covered in case they rushed out the door too quick that night and forgot to pack their love kit. Now go ahead and capture all the sexy species your heart desires!

How to tell your friends and family

Gloria from NomadicChica.com

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a femaleIf you’ve never traveled by yourself before and you are starting to pitch your family and friends about it, you will hear probably too many times things like: don’t do it, it’s too dangerous, bad things can happen on the road for a solo female traveling. And this is my advice, and I tell you this cause this happened to me. Imagine how it was being from a Chilean family with Palestinian influence….very protective and conservative people who where freaking out with this crazy girl who wanted to see the World and beyond the Andes. If you feel the urge to travel, prepare yourself and don’t listen others fears that try to keep you under your comfort zone. Be brave, be open to unexpected situations and trust yourself. Just remember to be careful and don’t put yourself in dangerous situations, and you’ll have nothing but a great experience!

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Tips for traveling alone in North Africa or the Middle East

Amanda from Marocmama

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a female

My tip is for women who are traveling alone in North Africa or the Middle East (heck even the southern Mediterranean or Latin America). It’s pretty common in this part of the world to hear comments from men, and it can get exhausting. You won’t be able to completely avoid it but these few tips can lessen the verbal harassment. First, wear dark sunglasses.  This is one of my best tips because it allows you to look around without anyone knowing where you’re looking. Second is wearing a fake wedding ring and/or referring to your spouse or partner. Finally, dress similar to the locals. This doesn’t mean you need to adopt their local dress but if you see most women are more covered up then you should try to do the same. Finally, learn to say firmly say no. You might be surprised how often this one little world, delivered forcefully will come in handy.

Brave the Bar

Jess from ThoseWhoWander.org

Eating delicious local cuisine is one of the truly sumptuous parts of any travel adventure. Going solo means you can Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a femalesave a lot of money by eating street food or grabbing something from the local store and eating on the run. For many the thought of eating alone in a restaurant is enough to make you want to give up on eating all together, however you’d be missing out on a golden opportunity. If you muster up the courage to treat yourself to a nice night out fight the urge to sit at the corner table and play on your phone. Instead head straight for a bar stool.

The bar is usually the most social place of any establishment and generally they’ll serve either the full menu or a snack menu. Sitting at the bar means you’ll be in the traffic zone. The waitresses will be coming by to collect drinks and place orders, the bar tenders will be polishing glasses and regulars will be coming up to get their usual – all opportunities to strike up a conversation, especially if it’s on a slower day.

As the night goes on you’ll find more and more people will join you at the bar. And I’ll guarantee people will talk to you, just sitting at the bar will give you an air of mystery and confidence (and you probably have an accent so they’ll be moths to a flame). Many a great night has started this way, whether it’s been accepting an invite to join a table, having a few drinks with locals or fellow travellers or being invited to drinks with the staff after their shift. So don’t be shy, claim your bar stool.

Never Look Lost – even if you are

Traveling By Yourself - tips for traveling solo as a female

The key to Solo Travel Survival is to act confident. If you pretend to know what you’re doing and where you’re going, you much less vulnerable to get robbed, scammed and other nasty stuff. For example, if you arrive at a new destination, don’t look all lost at the bus or train station. Instead, simply head to a single direction and find a safe spot to check your map. I truly believe, acting confident avoided me loads of hassle!

 

Keen for more Tips for Traveling Solo? HEAD TO PAGE 2 

 

3 Comments

  • Tips-paris

    October 24, 2015

    really great advises!
    “If you’ve always wanted to travel solo but haven’t tried it out yet, start small when you do. Take baby steps”

    One other advise maybe it ‘s easiest to begin by very touristic places,

  • Great post! thanks for the tips and sharing your experience on traveling solo.

  • David Zoey

    October 3, 2018

    Traveling solo is a problem for the female. Before the traveling collects the all details for the destination, travel issues, etc. It’s safe for traveling. You share the tips are very beneficial for the female solo traveler. Good work. Keep it up.