How to Travel Alone As a Woman

Though some tips apply to just about every solo traveler, women traveling alone have their own set of safety concerns that most men don’t have to face. Here are a few tips to help you protect yourself.

• Exercise Hotel Safety

At check-in, consider asking for a room near the elevator so you won’t need to walk down long, potentially ill-lit hallways to reach your room. When filling out guest registration forms, consider using your first initial instead of your name, and skip the “Mrs./Miss/Mr.” check box. Additionally, make sure the clerk writes down your room number instead of saying it out loud. This will prevent anyone in the vicinity from knowing where to find you later. Consider packing a door stop to wedge under the door in case the lock is unreliable.

• Dress To Blend In

To avoid attracting unwanted attention, dress as conservatively as the women you see around you. A good rule of thumb is to dress modestly. Think knee-length or longer skirts. Bare arms, shoulders, and legs are considered risqué in some countries, so do the research before you go and once you’re there.

• Know When To Buddy Up

Seeking out company can help you have a safer and more enjoyable experience. Smaller hotels and hostels are great places to find like-minded travelers to explore new places with. And even when you can’t find someone to buddy up with, there are often ways to associate yourself with others so you’ll be less likely to be bothered. In some countries, there are women-only sections in trains and women’s waiting rooms at train stations. Sticking close to families on public transportation and in unfamiliar public markets is another technique some women use.

• Combat Harassment

Having a repertoire of harassment deterrents can be as important to women travelers as a sturdy pair of shoes and a passport. Not engaging with people who are bothering you can make you a less interesting target. If you want to avoid being approached during lulls in activity, such as while waiting for a train, carry a novel or keep your eyes on your phone to make yourself look busy and involved.

If a situation of harassment escalates, making a scene can sometimes be effective. Many societies place a high premium on respecting social norms, so drawing attention to harassment in a loud and clear manner may solve the problem.

• Don’t Hire a Taxi Off The Street

This applies especially at night. Make the most of reliable local sources such as hotels and restaurants that are able to book legitimate and trustworthy public transport.

Good and reliable taxies can, in supported countries, be found at Holiday Taxis or KiWiTaxi.

• It May Help to Wear a Wedding Band

And never admit you are single!

• Learn a Few Key Phrases

Learn standard greetings and manners such as “please” and “thank you”, as well as phrases that will raise awareness to those around you, including “go away” and “help”.

• Don’t Be Afraid to Call For Help

Now you know some of the local language, don’t be afraid to use it and make people aware if you are in trouble. More often than not, bystanders will step in if they know you’re in trouble.

• Find Out Which Places You Should Avoid

Ask your accommodation staff about any areas that you should avoid, and store the phone number and address of your hotel in your mobile phone. It’s also worth having them written down in the local language, in case you get lost or your battery runs out.

• Don’t Panic If You Think You’re Being Followed

Think you’re being followed? Cross the street and try to find a group of people you can join or talk to, for example in a café or shop. Either that, or head to a reliable-looking hotel to relax in the lobby for a while. This is always a good way to get your equilibrium back.

Tips for Solo Dining

Eating alone isn’t so bad. Many solo travelers (and frequent business travelers) hate dining by themselves. There’s even a name for it: solomangarephobia.

The following tips can help you overcome what for many travelers is the most unpleasant aspect of going it alone:

Chat With The Service People

Waiters and waitresses are some of the best local color you’ll find.

Choose The Right Eatery

Cafe or outdoor dining is often attractive to single travelers; sitting alone with a book in a cafe isn’t as unusual as a table for one at a fancy restaurant. You can also opt for a counter seat or a seat at the bar. A restaurant booth can also provide some privacy.

Bring Reading Material

If you start to feel uneasy sitting alone and staring down at your food, you can crack open a book, whip out your phone, or read a magazine.

Eat In

If you don’t want to endure yet another public meal alone, use room service or order carry-out from a restaurant nearby.

Eat Well

Just because you’re alone doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time for sit-down meals, a leisurely cup of coffee, or a decadent dessert.

Become a Regular

Dine in the same place regularly so that you become friendly with the staff.

Take Your Restaurant Meal at Noon

If you want to dine at a fine restaurant, do so at noon. It’s the same executive chef and quality of food but the prices are lower, the lights are higher, and the crowd less romantic.

Eat at The Bar or a Communal Table

A table for two or four leaves no opportunity for a solo traveler to be social. Eat at the bar or in a restaurant with communal tables and you could be mixing with the locals in no time.

Top Solo Travel Activities

Get Lost

It’s easy to overthink and over plan many aspects of travel, especially when you’re by yourself. Sometimes, having the confidence to just wander around and see where the day or night takes you can lead to some of the best stories.

Join a Tour

An organized day tour or a longer package group holiday suits many solo travelers, allowing you to make friends while on the road. Going with an escorted tour is how the best way to see the world on your own. It’s a bit more expensive, but safe. It means no solo meals as you always have someone to share that with you.

Join a Cruise

Some solo travelers love complete freedom, while others enjoy having more structured options. Multi-destination cruises tread a comfortable middle ground for many people, allowing them to kick back and relax in a group at their leisure, or go off on a mini solo adventure once they disembark at a new destination.

Experience It All

When Airbnb introduced experiences, diverse local-led activities in cities all around the world, it completely reshaped the industry. Now, solo travelers around the world can take part in countless unique experiences, while meeting new people.

When You’ve Had Enough of Single Travel

The constant sensory input and vigilance of traveling alone can wear you down. If you feel your attention or your body flagging, don’t be afraid to back off your ambitious itinerary, slow the pace, and kick back for a bit.

When traveling abroad, seek out an expat bar – locals will often know where these are  – where you can hang out and speak your native tongue with some fellow expatriates and travelers. When traveling in more familiar locales, a hot shower and a night in front of the tube in a nice hotel room can often give you enough of a reprieve to send you out eagerly the next morning.

Use Facebook and Twitter to make connections where you’re travelling. Offer to take local friends of friends out for dinner, and you’ll be surprised how many people take you up on it – everyone likes to be a tour guide for a night. Also seek out your interests in your destination – the fan club for the local football team, say, or a park run.

Don’t bury your head in a book. It’s easy to be daunted by travelling alone – and retreating into the pages of a good novel can feel like the perfect way to escape curious stares on public transport or in restaurants.

But going solo means you have a chance to really take in your surroundings, meeting locals and travelers alike along the way; be content to be by yourself, but confident enough to introduce yourself to people when you want to be sociable.