I just got back from my first trip as a solo female traveller. My first since I met my husband some 30 years ago, on a solo trip to Egypt. I travelled extensively with him, and then, once the kids came along, we took them to over 50 countries, including years of full-time travel as a worldschooling family. Today my kids are grown up, they’re young adults. They still travel with me, most recently in early 2026, my son and I took an extended trip in Southeast Asia , but this trip was just for me. I went alone, solo, for the first time in forever. Let me tell you about it.
Solo Female Travel
Was I Nervous to Travel Solo For The First Time in Years?
I wasn’t really nervous about my return to solo female travel after so many years. I wasn’t nervous about safety, nor about stuffing up travel arrangements. I was concerned that I would miss my kids and that the experience of not having my usual sidekicks would be a very lonely one.
Travel anxiety is a very real thing, and I used to suffer from it badly. Particularly during perimenopause. But in the last few years I’ve kicked senseless anxiety to the kerb. I’m not even scared of flying today, and I was, big time. Do you remember those flights into Lukla? I do. If you plan to travel solo as a woman, I would stongly suggest conquering your anxiety first.
For me, ditching anxiety involved meditation, magnesium, B vitamins (NOT folic acid) and a higher vibration. I’m good. I hope you are too.
As a very experienced traveller, most international destinations are familiar, no fears there. I was only visiting Singapore and the UK on this first solo trip, two very easy places to be, the UK being “home” to me. This trip was from Australia: 2 flights, 6 hours and 12 hours, with a very long layover in Singapore. 41 hours door to door.
Is Solo Female Travel Lonely?
It depends on you and what you’re doing, but no, I wasn’t lonely. I did find that in the first few hours, arrival at the airport, checking in, grabbing a bite to eat, I missed the usual companionship. I was texting my family group with updates, not that the kids bothered to reply. My husband did, and I was grateful.
My partners in crime and I normally grab an adult beverage at whatever airport bar we happen to be in, it’s fun. It feels like the start of the trip. A new adventure.
So, on this trip, solo, I did the same. I ordered a red wine and a sandwich and got myself set up in the bar with my book. It was a terrible sandwich and terrible red wine, and that’s what prompted the first conversation with another solo female traveller.
This was how things went for the whole trip. Everywhere I went, there were solo women, of a similar age, very keen to talk. It’s almost impossible to be lonely once you join the solo female travellers. We have each other’s backs and we like to talk.
I guess we’re the empty-nester generation, the over-50s and early 60s. We’re starting new eras of our lives after dedication to parenting, family life or partnerships.
Solo Travel Organisation Success
I had everything booked and well organised before I left home.
- Flights
- Hotels
- Insurance
- eSIM
- Car Rental
- Event Tickets
Everything was booked, confirmed, mostly paid for, with tickets in my Google Wallet and printed on paper before departure. All of this helps with peace of mind.
On such a long trip, it helped me to break the hours of tavel down into chunks and try to enjoy each one for what it was, without worrying about the next. I was mentally ticking tasks off.
- I checked in at the airport with no dramas.
- Customs was fine
- I enjoyed a drink and a chat while waiting to board.
- The first 6-hour flight was comfortable, and I enjoyed food, movies and my book.
- It was great to see Singapore’s Changi Airport again and just “be in” Singapore.
BUT THEN…
The Accident – Solo
As I exited the plane, busy stuffing my travel pillow into my backpack, I failed to look where I was going. My left foot went down a gully, tossing me painfully and with a total lack of grace onto my right hip. My already injured right hip.
This wasn’t good. While everyone was feeling sorry for the old lady sprawled on the floor, I knew I’d done some damage. It could have been much, much, worse, but it was bad enough.
Adrenaline and not wanting to publicly break down carried me to my airport hotel for that night. A 25-minute walk, in a lot of pain. Still, I didn’t really feel alone or in need of my usual support persons. I was solo, and I was going to do this.
Never have I been so grateful to see a soft bed, a hot shower, and plenty of pillows.
We normally sleep on the floor at Changi Airport, but just 24 hours before departure, something had told me that this time I should book a room. It’s expensive, ridiculously expensive, not our usual travel style at all.
This is the hotel I booked, in the beautiful Jewel at Changi. I couldn’t have got through that night on the floor.
My injury and bruises made things tricky, but I coped. Driving was fine, planes were OK, walking was pretty hard. I still think I got off lightly.
Visiting my naturopath for acupuncture and therapeutic massage was a priority and worked wonders the first day after I got home.
In my 58th year, I developed a bad hip. It’s muscular, it’s painful, and it comes and goes. I never expected old age to incapacitate me, and it came out of the blue. If you want to travel, do it while you’re younger, as we did. Don’t leave it to retirement. I’ve always been pretty fit. I was doing Park Run every week just 2 or 3 years ago and training for a marathon in Hanoi. But right now I can barely walk and that really spoils your sightseeing. I certainly couldn’t trot off to Everest Base Camp now. Luckily, that bucket list item is already ticked off, I was 52.
Could you save this to Pinterest? Thanks
Solo Female Travel Safety
My biggest worry as a solo traveller is somebody getting into my hotel room at night, when I’m alone. It could be via the window or the door. I won’t book ground-floor rooms for window safety, and I carry a door wedge & alarm to make getting through the door more difficult.
Even when I travel with my husband, he normally puts a big backpack behind the door. It’s a simple precaution.
Other than that, I just went with my gut feeling and read reviews carefully. You can tell what sort of people the owners are and if you will be safe in a hotel if you really do your research.
I will be sticking to familiar places mostly. I don’t think going anywhere new or very adventurous will be in my plans, but in places where I’m comfortable- Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, I have no worries about travelling solo. I’ll even use favourite hotels I’ve used before where possible. As I did with the airport hotel at Heathrow, we use it fairly often. Familiarity is reassuring.
I don’t need to go out in the evenings, so dark streets at night won’t feature. On this trip I had to walk home alone at 10 pm twice. It wasn’t my favourite, but it was fine. I didn’t see any need to stress out or worry.
Enjoy The Luxury of Solo Female Travel
On my last morning away, I arrived at Heathrow Airport, found an extremely comfy chair and ordered a light breakfast. I messaged my family, “I feel like a Queen!” And I did. There’s something very luxurious about just pleasing yourself, no worries, nobody else to think about, no moods or lower-vibration grumpiness to drag you down. Just you, being your regal self.
On the flip side, some dinners in my hotel room were extremely meagre. I was so busy with my conference in Eastbourne, that a bag of crisps had to do sometimes. But that was OK. If I’d had my eternally hungry boy children with me we would have had to find a restaurant and spend a lot on food that I didn’t really need nor want.
The luxury to not have to eat out is also one to savour.
This travel blog has been around since 2012, almost 15 years. It’s my business and was my love. I haven’t been very active lately, while farm life took priority and AI took over the search results, but I think that as I enter my solo travel era, things will get more interesting. For you and me. We all age, and life phases inevitably refashion. So why not sign up? You should only receive notifications of new or heavily updated posts going forward. Thanks for being here, and I hope we can connect in the comments. If I can help any of you to travel solo, I will. Just as I always have for families with kids seeking a worldschooling or nomadic lifestyle I have now rejoined Instagram after 1 year off socials, but consistency and being chronically online just aren’t me. Thanks.
If you'd like to hire a car during your stay, use this car rental comparison tool to find the best deal!
We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance.
Try Stayz / VRBO for an alternative way to find rentals on homes/apartments/condos in any country!
This post has really started me questioning how I view myself. I would never previously have called myself a traveler, certainly not in the way that Alyson is. Although I have visited many places around the world, sometimes for relatively extended periods, such as Thailand or Cuba for a month at a time, South Africa for 6 weeks etc these have all been at the instigation of my husband and we travelled together. Left to my own devices, my ”travel” history may have been quite different.
But as I come to ponder on being solo I find that I have journeyed quite a bit alone.
As a 21 year old I headed off to France alone in my little Mini to spend a year there teaching. Obviously everything was set up in readiness but I knew nobody there prior to going. Even the year before I had made an even longer journey solo in my car to another part of France to spend time babysitting for a French family I knew. French was my thing and later in my 20s I spent another 3 months in France, staying with friends, but going up by train and car to Paris most days toting my portfolio around. All of that in the times before the internet or even mobile phones. So one was really more alone then and had to rely on one’s wits and preparation. In recent years most of my travelling has been between my two homes in Spain and Wales, so I am very familiar with both places and the routine of the journey.
As someone who has not had children, I have probably been alone more of the time than many and I find I enjoy it. Even now, just going to the shops alone is a joy. I put on my own music or just think and enjoy being in my own head. Not everyone may feel the same especially if solo travelling is new to them but I would encourage everyone, women in particular, not to fear it. It can help you to regain a sense of self which for women can get swallowed up in life with a family/partner. Just a quick flight/train journey, to see a friend or family for example, can show you your power and independence in the world. If we are always with others, we can delegate responsibility. Alone, we figure it out! The world is not as dangerous as we imagine. Most of what we fear is fear itself.
100%. But, reading this, and from what I know of you not being a huge fan of travel, I can see that our motivations are different. My travel is to be in the place, see all of the things for myself, explore the world, and that’s something internal in me and supports solo. I think you are maybe looking towards the social experience more? As you mention knowing nobody. Knowing nobody is one of the attractions, I dislike people knowing my business, long to be a stranger exploring a new land. Anyway, thaks for the extremely long comment! I need to put my time and money where my words are and book in some more solo trips. All the best. A
I love that you’re so honest about the stuff that you worry about and how you deal with it. I’ve been thinking about travelling on my own, just small stuff as my main goal in life right now is peacefulness, and as a woman there’s lots to think about. This is the kind of blog that actually helps. Do you find you have a lot of free time where you don’t quite know what to do? Are evenings long or can they feel a bit empty? I’m not a huge people person and find it quite demanding. How do you find a balance?
Good points, Lizzie. On this trip, I was with my dad, my brother, at the conference (until 10 pm) or in a hotel room, gratefully tired after an amazing day. So no, I didn’t have any of those long evening feelings. My days were much fuller and busier than they are at home. I relished the alone time. I love listening to podcasts so I’d put one on, have a shower, put on my brand-new cotton night shirt, do a bit of self-massage and stretches, apply oils and just chill out. Blissfully. At home, I normally go to bed not long after sunset, so the longer evenings in the UK meant I was up later by default. No, I didn’t have any of the issues you describe. I think generally, when you travel, your days are much fuller, and I’d recommend an organised event or tour to help keep you busy for at least part of your trip.
Nice to see you back Alyson! Lovely to read your honest opinion on solo travel as a woman in your 50’s.
I actually had a solo trip.recently-one night in London for a concert haha. I can tell you it was very, very weird for me, even though I met up with much younger friends for the concert and one of them ended up staying with me in my cousin’s apartment.
I honestly felt like I’d lost a limb not having my daughters with me 😂
As you know, I’m a people person and love chatting with strangers but I am getting better at enjoying my own company.
I have lost a bit of confidence and developed more fears but I think that started when I became a mam-there’s not just me to think about.
I feel you on the aches and pains, it seems to happen overnight doesn’t it. Then you catch yourself in the mirror and think who’s that LOL. But I am embracing the freedom that comes with being this age-not giving as many f**ks and somehow becoming happier with who I am.
Lots to discuss but I’ll leave it there for now. Looking forward to following along. 😊
What was the concert? You’ve had 20-odd years of highly intensive mam-ing. It’s your time now. Enjoy!
It was BigBang, they are a Kpop group and it was their 20th anniversary tour. Had a fantastic night.