It’s always interesting to read a book about the region you’re traveling through. Having someone else’s experiences as a companion on the road gives you that extra layer of knowledge and insight. When I set off on my first solo trip, to Australia, I took a copy of Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country/Down Under, then Marching Powder by Rusty Young accompanied me to Bolivia. But compelling as they were, what I really wanted were more solo travel narratives written by women.
On return to England, the search began for women with a story to share, to contribute to an anthology of travelers’ tales. What started as one tweet escalated into hundreds of enquiries and submissions.
A Girls’ Guide to Traveling Alone was open to absolutely everyone, not just published writers. After all, every traveler has a story they love to tell. It was a tough process, but the editor and I finally narrowed it down to 23 stories. Here, 10 of those women share their thoughts on why they choose to travel alone.
1. Lizbeth Meredith
“I’m more optimistic and fulfilled than I’ve ever been.”
Then I decided to do the unthinkable; travel alone. It was liberating to book a ticket to Laos from Alaska. Traveling alone meant that I didn’t have to defer to anyone else’s wishes, and that I could mind my budget without apologizing.
Now, more than ten years later, I’m more optimistic and fulfilled than I’ve ever been. I finally stopped waiting for circumstances to align to realize my dreams, and that’s spilled over into other areas of my life.
2. Amy Baker
“I do it for the sense of empowerment.”
3. Orla Lehane
“Learning to be open to the kindness of strangers.”
Sometimes it’s for practical reasons. Not everyone wants to, or can, put a rucksack on their back and trust, sitting in Istanbul, that they will, somehow, arrive in Beijing.
The interaction with locals. Watching the differences between us melt away. Learning to be open to the kindness of strangers. In Iran, fellow train travelers shared their food with me. In Russia my compartment companion insisted upon making my bed for me. She was missing her daughters. They had waved us off in Mongolia. Waking during a taxi trip through the desert in Uzbekistan I found the driver and a fellow passenger gently covering the window, worried the desert sun would be too much for me.
Nothing else compares.
4. Jennifer Barclay
“I usually go a little further off-piste.”
5. Ashley Macnie
“Without that three-year period of solo-travel, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
6. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
“You discover that you’re capable of far more than you ever thought.”
Traveling alone also forces us to confront our weaknesses. Whilst traveling solo down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, I had no choice but to learn how to fix my motorbike, navigate and get myself out of trouble. Had I been with other people I would have no doubt leaned on their knowledge and strengths, thus never giving myself the chance to find out what I was really capable of. And believe me, when you travel alone, you discover that you’re capable of far more than you ever thought.
7. Rebecca Hall
“Traveling with friends can be testing.”
I think that’s the problem with traveling with friends; you’re thrown together 24/7 (which you wouldn’t usually be in your every day life) and it can be testing: X wants to go to the museum whilst Y wants to go to the beach. I find when I travel alone I speak to more people and find that locals are intrigued by a solo female traveller. Oddly, this makes me feel safer, as I’m looked after.
8. Lauryn Massey
“I don’t have to be held back by anyone else’s expectations or temperaments.”
9. Lu Barnham
“People see you as more of an open book, and that can lead to some fascinating encounters.”
10. Jules Sanderson
“I continue to learn new truths about myself every time.”
In hindsight, I think I was really trying to pin down the kind of person I was. As I began to grow out of those teenage years where fitting in is so important, it struck me that I could no longer remember what genuinely bought me joy. Traveling alone allowed me the time and space to rediscover those things, without having to worry about anyone else’s opinions or judgements. Seven years later I’m still traveling solo and continue to learn new truths about myself every time.