Solo woman traveling tips, tricks, suggestions and tidbits which are empirically proven to be useful

When I was younger, I never thought I would be traveling alone to unknown places, to have the luxury of exploring them, and enriching my life with incredible experiences. At a certain point in my life, this possibility added a peek in a truly special universe which was unknown to me beforehand. I am very thorough and organized, extremely serious about my personal safety and learning curve oriented. I leave nothing to chance. I believe that preparation brings joy, not pressure, and to be able to apply in practice the strategy developed for the trips comes with even more joy.

Here are some observations and suggestions on how to stay safe as a solo traveling woman, away from home.

Think solo. Think, behave and act as if there is no one for you to rely upon, and you have only your resources to operate with. For example, bring what you can carry yourself. Train yourself to have less, at least for shorter trips. Women pushing around 4 massive suitcases expecting that someone will drag those suitcases instead of them often end up doing the unnecessary extra work. Sometimes the only person you can rely on is yourself.

Aim at arriving during daytime. A solo woman in an airport looks like a glaring red target and screams for attention. Taxi drivers swarming you while intending to rob you for 200X price per ride are a very usual sight; it can only go worse from there. Have a clear idea how to reach the hotel and remember that you do not owe anyone any friendliness. I took photos of license plates when I felt that it made sense, and I cared very little about how it looked like.

Tone down. Flashy items attract attention; understated appearance reduces risk.

Relax. Not everyone is going to rob you. 99,99% of people are minding their own business, even though they see you, scan you and assess who you could be. That vicious and deranged 0,01% who crosses your physical and psychological boundaries not worrying about consequences is something you have not so much impact on (I am wishing an adequate punishment for every single of them). Try to focus on the positive and do what you actually can to reduce the unfortunate events to the minimum.

Do your research. Be sure you are entering a country which has no issues with solo women traveling and is considered to be safe to begin with. You need to prioritize your own safety at every given moment.

Be respectful. Understand where you are going, and act accordingly. A mosque is not the Coachella festival. Neither is a temple, church, museum… You get the idea. This goes beyond religion – certain places with historical importance strictly demand dignified behavior and there is no need to attract attention to your disrespect. This also applies for taking photos, selfies, and other activities. The dress code is not some pretentious crap invented to annoy the visitors – srsly – don’t be a self-absorbed idiot.

Gear up. According to the weather conditions try to prepare yourself for the environment you are entering. You will be ridiculed and mocked for walking to Preikestolen in a pair of flip flops, but you are also risking an injury. Don’t be that tourist.

Think digitally. Enable uploading your photos to the cloud and sync them often between the phone and the cloud. Share your live location with someone you trust. If someone actually does harm you, make sure that this person will pay for his deeds. Leave a digital trace, make the investigation easier for the police.

Be spatially aware. Avoid immersing yourself in music coming from earbuds shoved deeply in your eardrum. Be vary of people passing by, vehicles, sounds, noise – and act accordingly. Staying sober in every sense gives you a chance to respond clear minded to incidents.

Don’t overshare. Avoid at any cost to explain in detail where and when you will be during your stay, or share your entire exact weekly plan. Not everyone is a criminal who will wait for you near some historical building you casually mentioned, but it’s good to be reminded to simply be cautious.

Rethink SoMe activity. When you are at a certain place, which is tagged or trending, avoid releasing your actual location to the public. You cannot fathom the agendas which people around you may have. I have been posting before pics from hiking locations but always waited a day or two to do that, when I am far away from these places.

Leave. If anything feels off, say “thank you” and walk out, be it an excessively “friendly” jewelry seller or a slight creepy B&B owner. Have a list of backup hotel/hostel rooms just in case something goes off. Re-book, report and protect yourself.

Hope. Yes, hope. Hope that all the info you have gathered makes sense in reality and it is not just a theoretical wamble damble. You cannot control everything – you can only control yourself.