Solo Female Travelling
My mother recently went travelling to Canada, on her own for the first time in my life. My Dad isn’t big on travelling and doesn’t like to fly, so in the past, mum and I always travelled together. The two of us have been to Europe, Canada, America, Fiji, Australia, Hawaii and many other amazing places in our trips abroad and loved discovering new places. But when I had my daughter, travel changed slightly for me, was less frequent and laissez-faire for a while, as I had a newborn to consider.
It also meant that our holidays were now centred around us as a family and somewhere safe and secure for our little one….
Solo Female Travelling
So when Mum decided she’d go off on her own to tour Northern Canada, it got me thinking about solo-travelling and the safety/organisation aspects of it, particularly for women. Travelling is an amazing thing and it’s often easy to glamorise your destinations and forget that there are dangers too. Growing-up in London, I’ve always been fairly streetwise and savvy when it comes to travelling, but it’s so easy to get caught-up in your beautiful surroundings, no routine and the new people you meet on your way. For the most part, travelling is safe and the majority of people are lovely, but it can be an intimidating prospect travelling alone, particularly as a woman I think.
I know that as my daughter grows-up, I want her to be as interested in the world as we are as parents and for her to have that urge for exploration and discovery. I really think travel helps sculpt you as a person, makes you more well-rounded and teaches you about other people, cultures and customs. I also know that as she grows-up, she’s inevitably going to want to do some travelling by herself (eek!) and not take me and her Dad everywhere with her (double eek!). So it got me to thinking how solo female travelling works these days and what’s the best way forward.
It’s all about the App
As with everything these days, there’s an app for absolutely everything, including solo-travelling. I stumbled across Tourlina, the meet travellers app, which is specifically aimed at women and lets you link up with other solo travellers, according to your itinerary. I love this idea!
Essentially, all users are verified, to ensure safety and security and by entering your travel destination and dates, you’re matched with potential buddies who are also travelling to those destinations at the same time. You can swipe to get chatting with them and start planning your trips and you can even link-up with female locals at your destination too.
I really like the idea and peace of mind this would be bring a) me as a solo female traveller but b) as a mum of a solo female traveller and the notion that you may make lifelong friends too.
