Solo but Not Alone: The Surge in Female-Focused Travel Experiences

From curated tours to community-led groups, women are finding new ways to explore the world on their own terms. Solo-female-travel expert Mar Pages tells us how to get in on the adventure.

By Phoebe Neuman

Traditionally, narratives about solo travel have fallen into one of two clichés: soul-sucking business trips taken out of necessity or over-the-top, soul-searching excursions à la Eat, Pray, Love. But an explosion of interest in solo travel post-pandemic—Google searches for “solo travel” have tripled since 2020—has started to change all of that. And women, across all ages and demographics, are decidedly leading the solo-travel charge. Travel advisor network Virtuoso recently reported that 71 percent of its solo travelers are women, and travel brands of all stripes are launching experiences that cater specifically to this new cohort of women traveling on their own.

A prime example? Luxury tour operator Butterfield & Robinson, which launched four new group itineraries designed for women, by women, in September. “Each activity, hotel, and restaurant has been chosen through a female-focused lens,” explains Christina Cain, who, along with fellow director of sales and trip design Kristi Elborne and the company’s local experience designers, carefully crafted each itinerary to give guests a truly unique experience in destinations like Canada, Spain (where women will hike the Camino de Santiago), Cambodia and Vietnam, and Italy. “From a day spent at a women-owned private boutique winery in Umbria, Italy, to learning about women’s independence in northern Spain and partaking in female-led surfing in Tofino, British Columbia, these destinations showcase the talents of women around the world,” Elborne adds.

One of the pioneers of this type of not-so-solo women’s group trip is Mar Pages, founder of Solo Female Travelers. Originally a Facebook group (which today has nearly 400,000 members), Solo Female Travelers was one of the first companies of its kind to host trips specifically geared toward making traveling alone more accessible for women all over the world.

Full-Time Travel recently caught up with Pages on a marathon travel day from Spain to Australia, to chat about all things solo travel.

FTT: You’ve traveled by yourself all over the world. Where was the first place you traveled solo?
MP: In 2001—a long time ago, this may be dating me!—I spent the summer in London by myself. I can’t remember what possessed me to go. I was just 20 years old, had no money, and spoke very little English (I’m from Spain), but it was one of the best summers of my life. It also changed my life completely. I took English classes and got exposed to a truly multicultural city, which was so different to how Spain was. If there’s a city where the whole world lives, it’s London, and experiencing that on my own for the first time unlocked a desire to discover more that I still have today.

FTT: What do you love about solo travel?
MP: For me, it is the freedom! Being able to do what you want, when you want, is priceless. When I travel by myself, I love that one day I can get up at 5 a.m., do some work, and then do some exploring. On another day, I can do nothing at all. Either way, I don’t have to worry about what other people want to do.

I also love that traveling by myself allows me to really put my values front and center. When we travel, we have the opportunity to make a change, and when I travel by myself, I’m able to really prioritize supporting the businesses that align with my values. For me, that looks like finding truly sustainable, non-exploitative outfitters and supporting female-owned businesses wherever I can.

FTT: Why do you think solo travel appeals to women in particular?
MP: I think other women are drawn to traveling by themselves for the same reason I am: freedom. We run a survey about solo travel every year, and this year freedom and flexibility were the top reasons why our respondents said they traveled solo.

Obviously, everyone likes that kind of freedom. But I think for women—who so often carry the weight of households around the world and are constantly responsible for more people than just themselves—the ability to do what you want, when you want, when traveling solo, is extra important.

FTT: What advice would you give to someone who wants to travel by themselves for the first time?
MP: My biggest piece of advice—and the advice I see given over and over again by other solo travelers in our Facebook group—is to research and be prepared. Most first-timers are anxious about things going wrong. So I find having a plan B and a plan C for how you’ll handle something like your phone getting stolen or your hotel being overbooked can go a long way toward making yourself more comfortable when traveling on your own.

I also encourage women to remember that we do so many things on our own every day! We eat by ourselves, take public transportation, and walk around city streets. You’ll be doing the exact same things while you’re traveling by yourself, you’ll just be somewhere new. You’ve got this.

FTT: How do you combat loneliness or boredom while traveling solo?
MP: I’m quite extroverted and I love talking to people, but one of the reasons I enjoy traveling by myself is that I’m my own best friend. Friends come and go, work comes and goes, but you’ll always have yourself! Getting comfortable being alone and with your own thoughts is really powerful.

Beyond becoming your own best friend, the best way to combat loneliness or boredom while traveling solo is to stay busy and find things to do where you can organically meet other people. Even if you don’t go on a group trip like the ones we put together at Solo Female Travelers, you can find accommodations and activities that are group-based. Cooking classes are great because they’re social by nature.

FTT: On the flip side, are the women who join the trips you organize ever nervous about traveling with a group of people they’ve never met before?
MP: Yes! One of the most common questions we get from people who’ve never traveled with us is, “Tell me about the other guests in the group.” Mostly, we get questions about the age of everyone else who will be on tour, but honestly, that is the least important thing. The women who travel with us are usually between 30 and 60, but on every tour, there will be someone older and someone younger, and we find that our guests have no problem making friends across ages.

What really matters is that the women who travel with us tend to have the same mentality and openness toward life. They’re curious, want to hear other points of view, and are willing to discover and learn more. We see women make lifelong friendships on nearly every tour we operate, and have actually started to run private tours for groups of women who met on previous trips and want to travel together again.

FTT: What is a common misconception about solo travel?
MP: Solo travel doesn’t mean single travel. Most people assume that solo travelers are vacationing alone because they have to, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. About 60 percent of the women who travel with us have families and partners back home and want to travel by themselves to let go of their responsibilities for a little bit and do the things they love to do.

A lot of the women who travel with us—regardless of if they’re single or have a partner, family—do so simply because they want to meet new friends. Maybe their existing group of friends doesn’t value travel in the same way they do, or can’t travel for one reason or another. And, as I mentioned before, these trips are a fantastic way to meet women whose values align with your own.

FTT: What are some great destinations for first-time solo travelers?
MP: If you’re worried about traveling by yourself, start small with a weekend away in your own country! That will take away some of the unknowns that can be stressful about traveling alone—which can help you get used to doing things by yourself without having to navigate a language or major cultural barrier.

If you’re looking for something bigger, Western Europe is one of the best destinations for first-timers. Most of the countries have great tourism infrastructure, which makes it easy for you to find activities, meet other travelers, and do the things that you love. Plus, you’ll almost always be able to find someone who speaks English, which can go a long way toward making first-time American solo travelers feel more comfortable.

East Asia is also a great destination for a first solo trip. Singapore is good if you want something very safe, organized, and easy to navigate. If you’re up for a little bit more adventure, Thailand is also a great destination for traveling by yourself.

FTT: What's on your solo-travel bucket list?
MP: My bucket list is never-ending! I feel like it gets longer every single day. I’m currently planning a trip to Papua New Guinea for next summer, which I’m really excited about. I was supposed to go back in 2020 to celebrate my 40th birthday but had to cancel it due to the pandemic. Now, it’s turned into a 45th-birthday trip, and I’ll be going in August next year during a big tribal festival.

Two other trips that are high up on my bucket list—and ones that we’re currently working on launching with Solo Female Travelers—are Antarctica and Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. I’d also love to explore the arctic islands around Greenland, like Svalbard [the Norwegian archipelago], to see the northern lights and polar bears!