Tips for Staying Safe as a Solo Female Traveler

“You’re so brave!” I’ve been solo traveling as a female for over a year, and I get this reaction all the time. I don’t feel brave when I do most of the same things day-to-day in a new country that I would have been doing at home anyways.

I understand why people say it, but I think a major part of that is a lack of knowledge about safety and crime in other countries. I can’t even count the number of people who don’t know the reality of Eastern Europe, and many who think there is a still a war going on.

Use Your Street Smarts

Maybe if you don’t speak the language, there could be some sort of conflict, but that seems incredibly unlikely… as long as you don’t act like an idiot.

Use your street smarts. You’ve made it everyday in your life this far. If you’ve ever walked to your car in a parking lot at night, that’s brave. Solo female traveling doesn’t take any more bravery than things we do already that have us holding our keys and pepper spray… if anything, I had that fear less while I traveled Europe. I would also like to preface that my solo experience is entirely related to Europe (Eastern and Western) and USA travel thus far. When that changes, I’ll update further.

Here are some words to live by: do NOT make yourself look like a target. I can only speak from my personal experience, but I made sure I looked alert. I never had 2 earbuds in, especially at night. I walked with confidence to every destination, like I had a place to go and someone expecting me. I didn’t use my phone while walking unless I was on the phone with someone (another safety trick). I was always aware of my surroundings, and that’s one of the most important things in my opinion.

Be Prepared

There are some things that you can’t plan. A delayed flight getting you in after midnight, missing receptions hours at your hotel, losing your passport (or getting it stolen), oversleeping your flight or train or bus. These things happen, and they’re going to happen. Everyone gets anxiety from this. There is no “perfect traveler” that let’s any of these thing roll off their back with no stress (unless they’re really rich… then maybe they do).

You can prepare for things like missing reception hours, call and let them know the delay so they can accommodate you. You can keep your passport in a special case so it doesn’t get stolen, or put airtags in your bags so you can find them (I’d recommend removing the sound or finding ones that don’t make a sound). I had an airtag in each of my bags, so if I was ever worried, I know I could find them… even for a lost bag.

Prepare for the plane. If you’re checking any luggage, make sure your necessities are inside your carryon, especially toiletries and medications. If your luggage gets lost, at least you’ll have some of what you need and everything else you can buy if absolutely necessary.

There is also financial and health related preparation that is incredibly important if you’re leaving the country, and that is travel insurance. I opt for SafetyWing as my travel insurance of choice since they cover all the things I need, lost luggage, delays, emergencies, disasters, and of course all things health. Since I’m still based in the US, I just use their nomad insurance, but if I go full-time then I would switch to their recently added nomad health plan which covers further like dental, vision, vaccines, and even maternity.

Most importantly, if you have anything you want to keep safe, keep your valuables as close to your person as possible. I personally prefer a fanny pack, and I wear it under a jacket and I keep the pouch across my chest. I have not gotten robbed yet, so it’s worked for me quite well so far.

Make sure to look into apps that help you stay safe while traveling as well. My family uses Life360, but there are many options that work well for travelers.

Little Specifics to Keep You Safe

I also need to include the obvious, pack preparation. I’ve already discussed the importance of a sick kit, but you can’t forget regular injuries like bandaids. I like to have keys with me for safety (since you aren’t supposed to have a knife or mace in a lot of countries). Preparation is half the battle, and you won’t be afraid if you know you’re ready for what’s coming.

Make sure that you tell your friends and/or family about your trip. I recommend sharing your location with anyone you trust so they can find you in case anything happens. Also, when you’re doing something you aren’t 100% about, like meeting new friends or going to an unfamiliar place, let someone know. It doesn’t matter that they’re in a different countries, or hours away, someone is better than no one. Splurge on that data plan, rather than sticking to Wi-Fi so that your family can track you in case something happens.

Test Out a Mini Trip

I did several tester trips before I started more intense solo female traveling. I’d recommend that anyone who is scared do this first. My bravery came entirely from doing these trips, a Europe trip was a no brainer afterwards.

Here’s some examples of tester trips that I did & how I made myself more comfortable:

• Booked a week-long trip to Seattle (across the country), included a car rental and a national park hike. I would like to mention that the hike scared me and I didn’t finish it because I was worried about being alone, and didn’t feel prepared enough to make it all the way up under the circumstances. It’s okay to cut things short or change your mind on plans. The point is that you made it, you don’t need to conquer everything at once.
• Drove to Tennessee and back. I did a long haul trip the 18 hours there with one overnight. I needed to know that I could rely on myself to stay awake and alert for long drives. I chose my hotel around dinnertime so I had a place to settle down before it got dark.
• Cross country roadtrip for 6 months. I planned this entire trip before I got in the car. I wanted the certainty and security that everything was going to be all set, so I made it as such. Of course, you can’t plan any hiccups on the way, you can iron those out as you go. I tried not to drive at night, and if I did, I made sure that my destination was somewhere that I felt safe going into at night. I never, I repeat never told anyone that I was traveling alone. If anyone asks you, your boyfriend is in the car, or coming to meet you. Safety first, connections later.
• Solo Europe Trip for 5 months. Now this was the big one that I was planning for, so certainly not a tester, but I made no plans, so that if needed to come back at a moment’s notice, I could. I also started my trip with a friend, so I could feel safe from the familiarity before I went out to venture alone.

Did I Feel Safe?

It’s time to discuss how it felt to be a women solo-traveling in these different places, so I can help provide you with some comfort. First off, after touring the US, scared to walk in parking lots or anywhere at night, it was strange to have that feeling lifted in Europe. I never felt unsafe in Europe. It felt most comfortable for me in smaller towns rather than big cities, but even so, everywhere I went, I wasn’t worried about getting abducted or robbed.

If you keep your wits about you, you will feel safe. And solo travel turns into group travel really quick. I met so many people in my first month, that almost everywhere I went after that, I had a friend to reach out to.

Countries I Visited and Felt Safe

• England: London (Bethnal Green, Kensington, and Westminster), Bath, Wantage, Maidenhead
• France: Paris, Nice, Martigues, Verrières-Forez, Merlebach, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux
• Italy: Milan, Lake Como, Sanremo, Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples (6/10), Cherasco, Mozzate
• Spain: Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, Javea, Ibiza (7/10)
• Ireland: Dublin (7/10), Kilkenny, Galway, Cork, Dingle
• Bulgaria: Bansko, Sofia
• Greece: Kavala, Marathopoli, Athens (7/10), Rhodes
• The Netherlands: Groningen, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Noordwijk
• Belgium: Brussels
• USA: Most states were a bit questionable, but just keep your wits and be wary at nighttime. Be extra careful in big cities, like LA, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, etc.