Can I Really Solo Travel to Far-Off Places?

Solo travel is one of travel's greatest joys - it allows you to focus on your surroundings rather than on yourself and opens you up to the world, whatever your travel destinations.

This is a growing field - you'd be amazed at the number of women taking to the road by themselves. Sometimes everyone on the road seems to be a woman going solo.

Study after study confirms not only an increase in the number of women traveling alone, but that we are actually enjoying it. It's so popular that it's now the topic of TV shows and plenty of books (the Art of Solo Travel, a wonderful and super-practical e-book for novice travelers, is my favorite).

All kinds of women travel solo - and they travel in all kinds of styles. Some, like me, prefer backpacking, while others are more into flashpacking. Some women toe the luxury line while others prefer to live like a local.

If you're a woman who travels light, you'll probably enjoy my printable Bare Minimum Packing Checklist - it's the list I use to pack when I travel. I bet you'll find at least three things on this list you wouldn't have thought of bringing with you!

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Smart travel strategies and tips like learning to use Google Maps and iGoogle to stay in touch, deciding whether to take your laptop, finding a ski resort job, finding free accommodation anywhere in the world, traveling safely, and calculating your carbon footprint - all of it written specifically for women who travel solo (and of course - no spam, ever!)

So what do solo women on the road have in common?

We certainly have plenty of questions!

What about safe travel? How do we avoid unwanted male attention? Or avoid getting lost? How do we deal with solo dining, learn about cultural etiquette, or cope with cultural differences? What if travel burnout strikes? Is putting down roots an answer?

What about managing travel loneliness? How do we find female travel companions if we don't want to be on our own all the time? What about travel with kids - can we take them along even if we're planning on going solo?

And what if we're on the road for a long time... will we be hit with reverse culture shock when we return home? How about a few good international travel tips for first-timers?

There are plenty of reasons women can - and should - travel solo

Solo travel for women means... more freedom to get off the bus when something catches your eye... being able to change your mind and your direction... being more open towards others... being more spontaneous... taking risks... fewer compromises...

There are plenty of wonderful sides to solo travel for women:

• You'll often get special treatment - I can't count the number of times I've been given preferential seating on a bus because I was a woman traveling alone
• You'll meet more people - in countries where solo travel for women is rare, your solo status will awaken interest and curiosity
• You'll become more self-confident when there's no one to blame or complain to - life just is
• You'll be more approachable. Think about it: isn't easier to walk up to a woman and ask for directions than to a group or a couple?
• You'll do what you want, when you want, even if others wouldn't think it's the right thing to do
• Solo travel teaches you perspective - things you would have considered disastrous back home become mere inconveniences to be dealt with, not cried over
• Flexibility means you'll be able to take advantage of unexpected opportunities - like the traditional Balinese marriage I went to after meeting someone at a bus station
• Your language skills will get a quick brush-up if you're on your own with no one to turn to - a phrase book and wildly gesticulating hands usually do the trick and you'll learn something along the way
• With no one to talk to incessantly, you'll have time to sit with yourself, and get to know yourself.

I'm sharing this with you because I've experienced it first-hand. In Zanzibar two women who worked together in Ethiopia were vacationing on the island - they were parting ways, Rosie heading to South Africa on a bycicle, and Sam returning to Addis Ababa. We exchanged addresses, not really expecting to see one another again.

As I neared Ethiopia, I dropped Sam an email (still a rare occurrence in those days). I was a little more than surprised when her car met me at the airport, and she put me up in her charity's house for several weeks. I had a wonderful time in Addis - courtesy of someone I'd met on a Zanzibar beach! If I'd been with a group, we'd never have met up and I certainly wouldn't have been hosted.

Another time, in Burma I hired a horse and cart to visit the ruins of Bagan and struck up a conversation with the driver. He was the town photographer until he was 'relocated' to another part of town, his house confiscated by the government. He was given a few sacks of cement and bricks to rebuild a house - obviously not enough.

He sold his camera to house his family.

Without a camera, he was no longer a photographer, and began driving to earn a living. He invited me to his house to meet his family, and I was made aware of a slice of Burmese life I never would have seen otherwise. Had I not been alone, the dangers and fears of meeting with foreigners means this would not have happened.

And lets face it - solo travel doesn't really mean you're on your own all the time, quite the opposite in fact. It just means you make your own decisions - but anyone can come along for part of the ride.

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