5 Safety Tips For Female Solo Travelers

Good Safety Tips For Female Solo Travelers

Traveling alone as a woman can be an empowering and exciting thing to do. Adventure holidays are particularly great for solo travelers as you’ll have plenty of group activities to keep you going.

But at the same time, it’s important that you not only take the right travel kit with you but that you understand some of the potential safety challenges that come with solo female travel. It’s not about not having fun and going on a real adventure, but about being safe and smart whenever you can.

Choose your destination and travel well

Think about where you’re going and how that will impact your safety planning. European destinations like Croatia are generally safe for female travelers, whereas some other places around the world might be less so.

It’s important to arrive safely — your arrival is often one of the most stressful and least safe parts of your entire trip.

Think about the time of day you arrive — you want to arrive in daylight to minimize safety risks as you find your final destination.

Always be careful about sharing exact accommodation details with strangers. It’s an innocent enough question, but you might want to keep this information to yourself if you don’t know who’s asking…

Opt for professional tours and establishments

It can be easy to get swept up in the beauty and atmosphere of a place and just head out into the wild ‘with a local’, but professional tours and adventure operators are a much safer option, especially for women. Heading out into the wilderness alone with a stranger is rarely a good idea.

Any activity like rafting or hiking that involves going out in the wild is best left to professional tour guides. They will have all the necessary safety procedures and insurance to cover you if anything goes wrong, and you’ll often be in a large group of like-minded people. Not sure which tour company to trust? Read online reviews and speak to other travelers in advance for honest feedback if you can — travel Facebook groups and Twitter is great for this.

Plan for a worst-case scenario

Freely following your wanderlust is empowering (especially for women), but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also have a plan B in place for when things don’t go quite as planned. You don’t have to be a pessimist, but you need to be prepared.

If things go badly wrong, or you find yourself in some trouble, having a worst-case scenario planned out beforehand can help you save time and reduce stress:

1. Insurance companies can help out during emergencies so make sure you have comprehensive cover and your insurer’s contact details to-hand
2. Make note of local emergency services and make sure you know what to say. Speak to tour guides or operators if you’re unsure, and always flag any safety concerns with them first
3. Have airline and travel company details on hand. Have copies of key contacts somewhere other than your phone in case it goes missing — syncing them to the cloud and having a backup paper copy is probably safest
4. Keep any medical notes somewhere visible (people with diabetes carry a necklace, for example) in case you have to get emergency treatment. Tell others of any allergies and carry allergy information on you.

Discuss your plan of action with your friends and meet up with other women travelers so you can form a safety net. It’s easy to find people on social media or in a hostel when you arrive. Look out for any other solo travelers.

Only use licensed taxis

Taxis can, unfortunately, be a huge safety risk — it’s relatively easy for people to ‘pose’ as taxi drivers and then lock the doors once you’re in, or even just drive you around and make you pay for an exorbitant bill. Luckily, most places have massively cracked down on rogue taxis and as taxi safety awareness has increased, more and more places have put measures in place to educate and protect tourists about local taxi safety.

Here are some taxi safety trips:

1. Don’t be alone in a taxi if you can help it
2. Try not to transport valuables in a taxi
3. Only use licensed taxi apps or numbers. Hotels and tour operators are a safe place to book travel and can point you in the right direction
4. Take a subtle photo of the license plate of any taxi you use just in case.

Watch your drinks

Going out for a drink (or four) is a common holiday activity, and you certainly shouldn’t feel the need to constrain and stop yourself from having fun.

That being said, clubs and bars can attract people who are looking for victims. The main things you can do to remain safe is to avoid bars and clubs that are in isolated areas and make sure you always have a safe ride back.

When you’re out, watch out for each other’s drinks. Make sure you see your drinks being mixed and can identify the ingredients.

Let loose and have fun, but stay with somebody you trust and don’t leave others on their own.

Enjoy your solo adventure trip with these safety tips to help you stay smart!

Written by Hollie Jones 

Author bio:

Hollie Jones is an expert lifestyle blogger who lives for writing. Hollie’s drive, passion, and background come from the arts and media sectors. You can read her latest blog posts on Hollie and the Ivy, where she shares tips and advice about her passions while having a lot of fun along the way.