Women Who Travel Alone Are Sharing The Safety Tips They Swear By

When it comes to traveling, I’ve been to several places around the world over the last few years.

As I continue to travel and explore the world, I am continuously concerned about my safety when traveling solo. That’s why I’ve reached out to the rest of the women on the AllEars team to share the tips we swear by when it comes to traveling safely. 

No matter how many times I’ve done it, I still get nervous when it comes to traveling solo. It’s hard not to at times! You hear lots of stories online that can be scary and create anxiety around the thought of going anywhere alone. (Thank you, Liam Neeson and the movie Taken specifically.)

Our entire team travels constantly, those on and off camera! From solo trips to Disney World and Disneyland to heading to Hong Kong and Tokyo, we have been across the globe and have picked up a trick or two along the way. While we want to see and do everything, our top priority when traveling alone as women is safety. (Frankly, everyone should be concerned about being safe!)

Starting off first, be vigilant! Keep your head on a swivel at all times. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a new country or at the mall in your hometown; you always need to be aware of your surroundings. That means no mindless scrolling or listening to music as you walk from destination to destination.

I know, we all love to check TikTok every 5 minutes (and I’m super guilty of that), but the more distracted you are, the easier a target you are. If you have headphones in, you might not be able to hear when someone is walking up to you. Next, we always make sure that someone knows your location. Personally, my husband, mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and friends all have my location, so they know where I am no matter what.

I utilize Find My Friends on my iPhone, but I have also used Life 360 in the past just to make sure that trusted people in my life knew I was safe and where I was supposed to be. I also let them know when I’m supposed to arrive at my location and when I’m checking out. If it’s a longer flight, I also make sure to share my flight tracking number with my family as an extra precaution.

It’s also important to share your Uber or Lyft ride details with people when you’re in a car alone. You can have your friends or your family track your specific ride just for peace of mind. These ride-share apps also have safety features that will ask you if you’re okay if your car veers off the path or stops for too long. I’ve been in cars that had to take detours because of unexpected wrecks, and the app will send me a notification asking me to confirm my safety, which I really appreciate.

Uber also recently introduced a new feature that will allow women to select women drivers specifically. According to Uber, the new feature is called Women Preferences. Its features are “designed to give women riders and drivers more choice, more confidence, and more flexibility when they use Uber.” These new features are being tested in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit for now, but we are really hoping they expand to new areas soon.

When it comes to where we stay, our entire team shared the same sentiment. Make sure you read LOTS of reviews, and if you’re staying at an Airbnb, consider only staying at locations that have a female host or a couple. When reading reviews, make sure that you’re reading reviews from women and their experiences at each location as well. Yes, other people can write helpful reviews, but women tend to understand what safety precautions we’re looking for and can reiterate if a location has what we need.

Another major tip is to not post anything online that would share your exact location. While we do love a good Instagram post, including anything like your exact hotel, hotel room number, any future plans, and more can put you in a dangerous situation. Many people on our team go the extra mile and don’t post at all until they are home from their trips. If you’re being extremely cautious, that is definitely the route to go!

Next, never ever admit that you’re traveling solo! This one is one that’s a tough habit to learn, but we highly encourage you to do so. If people strike up a conversation with you, just say that you’re meeting someone soon or that your friend is in the bathroom. I’ve even gone so far as to fake a phone call when I was uncomfortable in a situation and traveling alone. It might feel strange at first, but there’s safety in numbers (even if those numbers aren’t real.)

I also like to keep pepper spray or other self-defense items when I can, but you can’t always bring them with you. Disney World is a great example of a place where we’ve traveled alone and had to leave our pepper spray keychain at home. That’s when we consider how to use other items like our Owalas if ever necessary. (Those water bottles could definitely be a weapon if needed!)

We also love to utilize fanny packs or other small bags that go in front of our bodies when traveling solo. Sure, they might not seem as cute as a Loungefly at times, but it’s infinitely safer to keep your important items with your name and information close to your chest, where it is much harder to grab. Pickpockets are everywhere, and while they might not initially be after your personal information, they might get it when they grab your wallet or passport.

If you’re driving yourself, always hustle to your car (stay off that phone) when leaving a location, and be sure to check under and behind your seats. Be sure to lock your car as soon as you get in, and if you’re really uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to ask for security to escort you to your car. We’ve done it before, and we will happily do it again if it makes us feel safe. Keep your head high when walking, too, even if you don’t feel confident, just fake it for those walks alone. 

Finally, no matter what, our ultimate tip is to trust your gut! The entire team agrees on this point that if you feel unsafe, even if there’s no tangible reason to feel that way, remove yourself from the situation. Trust your intuition and yourself. There have been many times when our gut has told us something was off, and we have decided to trust it. No one knows you like you know yourself, so be confident in what you feel.

At the end of the day, we love solo traveling! It’s offered us so many experiences and helped us grow as people. We love seeing the world and would hate to miss out on it, but we also want to make sure we can continue to travel as safely as possible. As always, be sure to keep following AllEars for more travel tips and tricks.

Tips about Air Travel

What are your best solo travel tips? Tell us in the comments! 

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