I do however believe that woman do get around travelling much easier than men. I myself would feel a bit suspicious picking up a male stranger and giving him a ride, than not being suspicious at all with a female a ride.

Chivalry is not dead, some men still believe in being gentlemen.

One point that hasn’t really been mentioned as much is that men are able to be more relaxed and trusting when it comes to interacting with others than women, which really improves the travelling experience. Like Natalie said, whilst women may have more great offers, often you have to turn them down if you have to do them alone so as not to risk your safety.

For example, if you’re a man couch surfing, you may get fewer offers than a woman but they’re likely to be genuine offers, rather than someone setting a trap for you. I would never stay alone with a man after some of the stories I’ve heard, including when I was training to be a journalist we had to do some court reporting as part of the course. One of the trials I witnessed was a rape trial involving a solo female traveller (I think from Hong Kong) and a male couch surfing host here in the UK, which many people consider a “safe” country.

I’d also say that some men seem to underestimate how horrible it is to be groped (or worse) and the frequency of it happening. I can’t speak for everyone, but it can be traumatic and happens to a huge amount of female travellers. I’m sorry if that seems obvious but some people don’t seem to have grasped that. Depending on the experience it can be enough to put you off a whole trip or country (as it did to two of my friends this summer in completely separate incidents).

I’m really happy for women who don’t feel like safety aspects affect their travels, but certainly after things that have happened to my friends in the past I am extremely cautious. I like travelling alone but I wish it was safer!

I hardly think that the ‘voilent acts’ that women are speaking about here are the type that you see inside a bar or out on the street. One would assume that they are referring to rape, and given the nature of rape it is perhaps not something that you are going to personally encounter, and is not the kind of story that one shares over a beer or two with any passing traveler.

Whilst it is true that occasionally women can use their sexuality to ‘help them get a hand up’, this use of sexuality also comes with its own set of problems. Dave seemed to suggest that women with their ‘petite smiles’ flirt their way into gaining discounts, but frankly any solo female traveller with her head screwed on would not even dream of doing this, as arriving alone a country as a woman makes you especially wary of being seen as a sexual object. Being a Westerner already creates a bad image of us, we hardly need to further ingrain prejudices against us.

Dave, you speak of female solidarity, but I think this is really pushing the boundaries of misogyny. The idea that women should share more of a bond than men is just ridiculous. It seems as though you are trying to say that we are all alike, but that men are all unique and different. There are only a handful of countries in the world where women could be considered equal members of society, meaning that the differences between solo women travellers and local native women are often extremely broad. Finding common ground with a woman who spends all day in her house looking after her children is just as hard for solo female travellers as it is for male ones. Which brings me to my next point…in many countries, women are confined to domestic duties, and it can actually be very hard to meet local women when travelling. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling through South/South East Asia and have almost always found this to be the case. It is easy to meet local men because they are out on beaches selling things, out in the bars drinking, etc etc. The women, however – well where on earth do you find these women? The only way you might meet one would be if a man invited you back to his family home. Now if you were a man you would probably say “oh yes! fantastic! I’d love to meet your family!” but if you are a woman and a strange man invites you back to his house…well that’s another story. What if he is lying about his family? What if he actually wants to take you somewhere and rape you? How can you defind yourself if something happens? Of course bad things can happen to men too, but its no secret that you are stronger than us women. For us to go anywhere with a strange man requires quite a leap of faith.

That being said, I do believe there are certain advantages of being a solo female traveller. Dave you may be right with the idea that social integration is a little easier. I certainly get approaches a lot as a woman traveller, and I rarely ever feel alone. And you’re right, you do have to try harder to prove you are not a threat if you are a man.

All this being said, the setbacks do not outweigh the benefits of being a solo female traveler. I always travel alone and I am proud to say I have done it. I think that as long as you play it safe, traveling alone as a woman paves the path for other women to help find strength and equality, and shows women that we can do anything just as well as men.

Whereas travelling females meet locals all the time and get invited to all sorts of activities (parties, trips to the beach), travelling males do not.

Any adult man that is travelling knows how loneliness feels.

Local females are not interested in meeting foreign males because the latter are not staying (ironically, this is what female travellers makes so popular among local men).
In countries like Italy, local males lock out foreign males because of competition.
Travelling females aren’t interested either in their male peeers because -most of the time- they are targetting local men.

Meanwhile the solo male traveller is often looked upon more suspiciously. Local women will stay clear, often times due to cultural necessity.

Local women aren’t allowed to pursue and court men because it is a part of their culture. They allow men to pursue and court them first. It’s tougher for men to be sought after. Instead, you hear of solo or group male travelers pursuing local women and kidnapping them, especially married, engaged, or committed women and then risking violent attacks from the husband, fiance, or boyfriend.

Solo women are not seen as threatening. They are welcomed into houses more often. They get invited to weddings and so on without hesitation.

It’s easier to invite women than men. Men, on the other hand, are harder to invite. If local people invite them, they react very negatively and it emasculates them. They want to do the inviting instead.

Also, on the safety note, I think age makes a big difference. I’m 22, was an exchange student in South Africa for a year in High School, have traveled around the Caribbean extensively, and have backpacked Europe. I have witnessed numerous violent acts, most of which occurred between people below the age of 30. All of them were also between men. I think that the safest (statistically speaking) classification of people would be men above the age of 30. Next would be women above the age of 30. Then would be women below 30, and last would be men below 30. There are women, I feel, who had it much safer than I did.

I backpacked Europe solo. My friend Lauren backpacked with her cousin. I think women, depending on how aware of their surroundings, have a hand up just because of what men will do for women. Lauren met a lot of guys, and was always with men to protect her if something happened. Me, being solo, made a few friends here and there, but Lauren basically had a bodyguard anywhere she went.

We have to face the facts that although women are at greater disadvantage traveling alone, often times they do not remain alone, and a women traveling with a man is safer then just a man.

We didn’t have any problems with guys, we just said that we are married; we have a lot of fun outside. We visit one of the “Kenyan local pubs and it was so different than in tourist pubs. There were no “money girls” and “boys”. On safari there was a problem with peeing. We usually ask driver to stop and we went behind the car. When we were traveling together we look like tourists that are looking for fun and pleasure. I can say that traveling whit Maya was really better, people were different to us, they didn’t see just the bag of money in us, but also the person.

We have to go to airport in Mombasa, for going back to city we ask some taxis for ride, they were too expensive so we went walking. After half an hour one of the taxies stopped and asks us, if he can drive us to the city for free. Because we were a little bit scared we didn’t went with him. We walk to the center and then we went by matatu. Later we meet again these taxi driver and we find out that he cames from Europe. We became friends.

In Dubai I felt a bit neglected. I went with my husband. I don’t have experience of traveling alone in Dubai. Dubai is a wonderful city but in my point of view is separated on two parts, men side and women side.

Traveling alone or with friend? By my experience you feel more authentic, genuine country or place if you are travelling alone or with girlfriends.