Safety Do’s and Don’ts for Solo Female Travelers

Because my very first travels were solo and began years ago, whatever safety rules I may have adhered to in the beginning have become somewhat become absorbed into my psyche and, therefore, a little difficult to extract and express. I have pulled out several of them, though, and compiled them into the following list. Whether you’re a single woman embarking on a series of solo flights to Amsterdam or a year-long journey around the world, I hope you can benefit from this list of Do’s and Don’ts for solo female travelers like me.

Do - Store hotel’s and hotel desk clerk’s phone number on your mobile – Save your hotel and one or more of the employee’s numbers on your phone before you head out to explore. This can give you an excellent means of finding your way back to your hotel if you get lost and a great safety net if you become uncomfortable and need some assurance that where you are or what you’re experiencing is okay or, if it’s not, how to get out.

Don’t – Believe all the hype – Some Western media outlets seem intent on making people afraid of traveling to certain other parts of the world. Please don’t believe their hype. Travel and find out for yourself that the world is safe!

Do – Walk Tall – Look like you know where you’re going and you’re unafraid rather than being tense and looking over your shoulder, and you might just have locals thinking you’re an expat rather than a tourist.

Don’t – Believe that all deserted areas are unsafe – If you find yourself somewhere all alone, you may feel uncomfortable but you’re likely more safe than you could believe. I once walked around a nearly deserted fort in Bahrain’s desert all alone and ended up running into a single British woman who was doing the same. If we hadn’t explored this fort because it was empty, we both would have robbed ourselves of an amazing and photogenic time.

Do – Ask your hotel/hostel about safety – Ask hotel staff about the safety of the area where you’re staying as well as where you’re going. They can give you accurate insight to the places you want to explore. Also be sure to ask them where you shouldn’t go. At my hotel in Doha they told me not only how to walk to the bus station nearby but also assured me that it was perfectly safe. If not for their assurance, once I arrived and found hundreds of local men sans women, I probably would have left. With their words in my head, though, I got on the bus and traveled cheaply – and perfectly safely – to the other side of town.

Don’t -Say you’re alone – Traveling by ourselves may sound great to you and me, but in some parts of the world women traveling alone are not common. Simply tell any man who may ask that you’re married or have a boyfriend who’s just around the corner and they probably won’t ask you anything else.

Do – Stay in heavily trafficked areas, especially after dark – Going off the beaten path will lead you into some incredibly fascinating places, but be safe about it. I walked on very lightly traveled street from a spectacular souq in Bahrain back to my hotel one night last winter. I was uncomfortable, yet lived through it without incident. If I had it to do over again, though, I would have taken a taxi.

Don’t-My most valuable piece of advice – Don’t be afraid!

Thumbnail Safety photo by calignosus