Solo woman exploring the Faroe islands

Skeptic glances are a regular thing when I say that I love traveling alone, especially exploring the outside, being in the nature. My personality does not allow shallow prejudices, so spending time on debunking anything, particularly the ugly stereotypes, in my eyes is not a wasted time.

First – let’s clear out that nasty stereotype about the Scandinavians being notoriously antisocial and preferring isolation, or at least shake the existing view of them. From what I saw so far, for over 15 years since my first contact with the Nordics – the Scandinavians, especially Norwegians, are very social, adore gatherings and meetups, and show interest in any possible human contact. I am, of course, talking about the younger generations, aiming at the fact that everyone, even the Croatians in pension can be reclusive and prefer their own peace.

The locals in the Faroe islands took it to a whole another level, so much that I was really surprised by it – the locals that I have met are spectacularly chatty and verbal, open in communication (meaning: asking a whole bunch of questions, even those ones which I would not ask as I would consider them to be in the “none of your business” drawer, but I don’t mind them myself) and I am under a clear impression that I was there both very safe and that I would in case of an accident of any sort get help in a second. I am not easily threatened by others; I also believe that relentless and utmost respectful behavior opens every possible door and so far it worked extremely well and brought me a lot of safety and support when I travel all by myself.

The Faroese were super proud about their country while we were discussing it, and complimenting nature’s beauty made them blossom in a second. They have shown enormous interest in places I have visited before we spoke, so when I started listing out these places, they were all quite shocked by the volume of seen-so-far places and my knowledge of the place I decided to visit.

What they particularly liked and applauded was the fact that I came there alone, planned and did many of these excursions by myself. That, itself, is not something which should be praised on a such scale, as the islands have a good public transport infrastructure and the only thing you do need is to have an idea what you need to see, walk and explore. It is very easy to navigate along the Faroe islands, there is no challenge in it.

I always get asked about traveling alone (meaning: without a man), followed by implications that I am supposed to be scared for my life. I don’t like to live in the shadows of fear, and I care very little about the people who do, and even less about their opinions. The Scandinavian countries are probably the safest ones in the whole world and I cannot recommend enough to give a shot for excursions such as these ones I am doing.

Scandinavian men of all ages are extremely considerate and usually show a huge respect for a solo traveling woman and will really show the intention to help, if needed. I have never felt threatened by any of them, not even a bit; on the contrary, I was under the impression that they treat me with a lot of respect and regard. This is a cultural thing; I cannot imagine even being catcalled, not to mention anything more aggressive or in ya face. This is how the scandinavian men are raised. And for this we have their mothers to thank for.

If you are a woman, thinking about visiting Scandinavia with intent to explore it alone, and are pondering about this issue – I hope that this article will be a tiny candle of positive thinking in the dark skies of prejudices, hearsay stories, incidents from the newspapers, and stories which our grandmas used to scare us.

Not everyone is here to harm you. Know where you going and good luck!