“You travel alone? Aren’t you afraid?”

I cannot count the number of times I have been asked this question. Without exception, the person asking is a woman who would love to do what I do. Sometimes they are single, sometimes these women are married to men who have no interest in travel, but in every case they are afraid to venture out on their own. I tell them that travel is not dangerous, that people everywhere are the same, that we are “One Human Family.”

But traveling solo requires more than an ability to trust in the goodness of humankind. It requires research to become familiar with the city and/or country you intend to visit and it’s even better if you can connect with someone who lives there prior to your trip. Enter my favorite online travel tool, Journeywoman.com. This fabulous web site, designed especially for women who want to travel solo, offers a Read the rest of this entry »

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that I am a fearless solo female traveler. The bad news is that I am a fearless female traveler. I used to be fearless to the point of taking foolish risks, until a few years ago, when I was camping on the island of Kauai – my tent was slashed while I slept in it and all my stuff was stolen. Fortunately, I was not harmed, but it was traumatic – this occurred about a year after 911 and it was nearly impossible to get a hotel room without any ID, credit cards, or money, not to mention that I lost my camera, keys to the rental car, glasses (without which I could not read a menu or drive), cell phone, passport, etc. The experience taught me a lot of lessons, the most notable of which was to never ignore my inner voice. I KNEW I shouldn’t have been in that campground – it was full of negative energy – but I ignored what my gut was telling me because I wanted to “wake up to the sound of the waves.”

Following that disastrous vacation, it took a monumental effort to let go of my fear of traveling solo. Before leaving for my next vacation I made exhaustive preparations, created lists after list and layers of backup safety precautions. It took about a year, but the fear subsided and I am back to being a fearless traveler, albeit a much wiser one, and I decided it was worth sharing my hard-won wisdom in the following list of precautions I take when traveling: Read the rest of this entry »