Is it safe to travel alone as a woman?
Is it safe to travel alone as a woman? I won’t lie, this is a difficult question to answer. Purely because it depends on multiple factors such as where you are going, what precautions you take, how aware you are etc.
In the short answer I’m going to say yes. Only because I think we can’t always rely on others to go out and live. If you have no one to go with, then I’m a believer that you should go. You only have one life right, so make the most of it.
Anyway, back to the question in hand, is it safe to travel alone as a woman? I’m going to provide some reasons on how to make it safer.
Just an fyi, these comments are purely based on my experiences of solo travelling as a woman and the precautions I take. Remember that each country and city is different.
1) Stranger danger
I could be stretching, but as a woman we are often taught to be very aware of our surroundings, especially when it comes to strangers. This also applies when you are abroad. This means not telling people you are here alone, being aware of where you are and trying to stay in busier areas rather than quiet ones. Of course you may want to make friends whilst abroad, but use your common sense when doing so. Most people may make friends with people in their hostels and tours.
2) Groups
If you’re travelling alone and want to stay alone that’s fine, just obviously be cautious like I said before. However, if you are open to the idea of mingling, then tour groups are a good way to do this. You can either find tours from hostels or from online websites. Just make sure you read the reviews.
3) Theft
Like any place, theft is a plausibility. Make sure your expensive items are not on show too much and try to not to leave any items out at restaurants, especially when sitting outside. Also be careful for phone snatchers. I don’t know what this is like in other countries, but In London it’s a bit thing, so any country I now travel to I’m very cautious about. Basically just be very careful with your belongings.
4) Night time
You might be someone who doesn’t mind walking alone at night in your hometown, but I’d say this is a big thing to be careful about, especially if you barely know the area. For example in Naples I didn’t feel overly safe walking alone in the day due to multiple reasons, so I would make sure I was back at the hotel before it turned dark. However, in Madrid I felt very safe walking alone as there were loads of people out during the day and night. I was also quite close to the metro station and in touristy areas so this could be why. All I’m saying is just be careful and maybe don’t walk at night in a secluded area.
Conclusions
Going alone anywhere can be dangerous, even in groups you could still run into danger. But you just need to be cautious on what you are doing, who you are speaking to etc. I do think it’s okay to travel alone as a woman as soooo many women do it. You just need to be a bit more cautious and maybe more aware of the negative possibilities that could happen whilst abroad.
