All around the world women have been excelling in all the different professions, marking their place in versatile positions. They are everywhere from government services, diplomats, frontliners, salespeople, astronauts, scientists, physicists, and much more. There also has been a significant increase in the female solo traveler community, specifically in these recent years. Whether it is for a business trip or just for enjoyment and exploration, women are opting for all kinds of adventures worldwide on their own.
While there are many benefits of solo travelling, there are many challenges and hurdles that come in the way of most travellers regardless of gender. But when it comes to women the problems and hardship are doubled. From safety issues to proper shelter, women need to implement extra precautionary measures especially when they’re traveling by themselves.
The key is to ditch all those challenges and find your way to enjoy it by applying some practices and implications to keep you safe and doesn’t restrict any of your traveling plans. In this blog, we’ll be suggesting 10 different ways to keep you safe when planning a solo trip as a woman.
Essential Tips for Female Solo Traveler
Even if there are many hindrances and challenges, you shouldn’t just bound yourself or restrict yourself from traveling on your own just because you’re a woman. You must be careful and apply all the necessary precautions while enjoying every trip. Some of the must-haves for solo female travelers are as follows:
Know Where You’re Staying Beforehand
Whenever you’re going, it is important to know about the accommodation and surroundings of where you’re staying. Sometimes when you’re booking a hotel from your hometown, you don’t know where it is located and whether or not the place is located near the city or far away costing you a lot of expenses when touring around the city.
You should always go to the places in the heart of the city so that you can easily roam around the town without the worry of getting to your hotel before dark and it won’t even take you long to get to the famous spots since your hotel will be amongst the main places.
You should also check the reviews of the area and hotel as well so that you won’t have any regrets after seeing the first look of the hotel. Make sure that the neighborhood is crime-free and always keep a second hotel in mind in case the first one goes down the hill.
Leave Your Itinerary With Family/Friends
This part is important whether you’re a male traveler or female, you must leave the contact details and accomodations information to your family and friends. There is a strong chance that you may go somewhere with low network connectivity which will make it difficult for your family to contact you. Thus, you must tell your family and friends the exact location and the dates where you’re going to be so that in case of any unplanned disturbance in contact, they can reach out to you.
The ideal method of leaving your itinerary is to either hang it in your parent’s or significant other’s home if they’re not traveling or just write it all on a piece of paper along with the schedule of places you’re planning to visit and the expected dates and give it to the person who’ll be back in home the whole time you’ll be traveling, just in case they need to contact you in case of emergency.
Communicate Often With Loved Ones
Yes, we know you’ll say that you’re traveling to ease your mind and to leave all the worries and exhaustion of the people and the work back at home then why should you contact those people. Well the answer is quite simple: it is for your own safety reasons and for their peace of mind. We won’t suggest you talking to your friends and family members for hours, just send them a short text of where you’re heading next, you’re back from your city tour, or what are your plans for the day. This way they’ll know what you’re about to do next and they’ll be free from any worry that whether you got back or not, should they start to worry or not and so on.
Try sending regular peeks and updates back at home and keep in touch for short interval how ever you’re comfortable but for traveling solo, it is important to keep your digital trail active so that you’ll be easy to track in case of any mishap.
Make Backup Files on Documents
The most important and the most easy to misplace things that you’ll be packing with you are the documents, specifically your ticket, hotel reservation receipt, passport, IDs, and more. Around 80% of the time travelers both solo and with family tend to lose their important documents at random spots i.e taxi, bus, hotel, restaurants, etc. The most safe way to travel with it is to keep all the documents in a fanny pack and tie it around your waist when traveling as you need to show them at several spots aboards and if you know that you won’t be needing them then keep it inside the hotel along with other luggage.
Another thing you can do is to make a digital copy of all the documents and keep it with you in your USB or even on cloud backup software like Google Drive, DropBox, etc. as backup. Thus, even if you lose them you can show them in your laptop, mobile or in any computer without the fear of losing them. However, keep your initial focus not to lose them as you’ll have to face much hassle in the remaking of the originals.
Travel Insurance Can Rescue You
If you’re planning to travel a lot in the near future then investing in travel insurance can help you in many different ways. You won’t do it before but once you travel abroad, you’ll come to know how many extra charges and expenses you have to face. With travel insurance, you can easily manage all additional travel expenses and unexpected costs. Most of the time, with travel insurance you’ll often get discounts on many airlines and accomodations in different countries which you can use as an opportunity to travel more.
These insurances can assist you in covering your major medical bills and instant dental emergencies while you’re traveling. They even deal with the most occuring problems faced by travelers like lost luggage, flight cancellation, baggage delay, and much more.
Don’t Overpack
Make sure you don’t take your entire wardrobe with you while you’re traveling for enjoyment abroad. Not only because it would be useless as you won’t have the time to wear two dresses in one way but because it would be a hassle to drag around different parts of your luggage throughout your trip. Keep your baggage minimal with just a suitcase and a hand carry so that there would be less chances of them getting lost. It’ll help you being portable and would attract lesser audiences towards your luggage decreasing your chances of getting robbed.
All you have to do is count the days you’ll be staying and pack accordingly. Keep less makeup, although you don’t need to pack toiletries as it’ll be given to you in the hotel, yet you can pack it for precautions. Keep it simple and easily moveable.
Keep Your Money Scattered
When traveling you’ll have to be prepared for getting robbed at least once. Thus it is important to take precautions beforehand and for this you’ll have to divide your money into different parts along with your credit or debit cards and keep it in different sections of your bags. Most women store it in socks, secret zip in the bag or even in empty sanitary napkins, because these places are difficult to locate and pickpockets aren’t able to reach there.
Scare Away Creeps With Fake Stories
Women often fall into unwanted circumstances where they meet creepy strangers and freaks. Thus, you’ll have to make sure when traveling alone or feeling unsafe then start a fake call. If the stranger starts talking to you, give them the wrong information and don’t let them know that you’re a tourist who’s traveling alone. When they ask where you live just say somewhere nearby, when they ask where you work just tell popular restaurant franchises as there are many everywhere and so on. Try keeping minimal interactions with locals as long as you know they’re safe. Moreover, wear a ring on your wedding finger to reflect that you’re married.
Be Aware & Stay Vigilant
During your entire travel make sure the main eyes and ears are only yours so paying special attention to your security, and well-being can have a strong effect on you. Try knowing all about what’s happening around you. For instance, in the event that you’re paying attention to music outside, don’t wear both your earphones, so you can remain vigilant. At the point when you are solo you want to actuate every one of the senses especially that sixth one.
