Women's Solo Travel:
Tips & Inspiration

At Travel With Joy TV, I help women build confidence and safety skills for solo travel — whether it’s a weekend road trip close to home or a dream flight to a place that's been on your bucket list. If your heart’s calling you to make this year your most exciting yet, here’s a practical, actionable six‑step guide to turn your good intentions into incredible experiences like I had last year.

Women are pursuing their education, having exciting careers, and contributing powerfully to their communities volunteering making a positive impact. So many don’t need a partner to provide for them -- they can pay their own bills. So for many, the pursuit of love through dating apps, and investing precious time to carefully craft their profile only to deal with endless swiping is no longer worth it. Women try to chat with men who don't ask any questions about the women in return, go on dead‑end dates where men want to "keep their options open," and carry very unbalanced emotional labor supporting men who offer little in return. They understand relationships just don't deliver what they want. Instead of raising what feels like a man‑baby looking for his mother replacement or investing energy into relationships that drain rather than uplift, women are turning their focus back to themselves — and to pursuing their interests which often include traveling to new places for experiences they've been putting off for too long.

Let’s be real. Few will talk about what happens after the hard thing. After the divorce. After the diagnosis. After the loss of your spouse or other close loved one. People expect you to bounce back, move on, and smile again — like you didn’t just survive a storm that changed you forever.

Whether you’re single following a divorce, empty nesting with the kids off to college and careers, widowed thinking about the travel dreams you had that haven't happened yet, or simply craving a deeper connection to yourself exploring new places and new experiences, solo travel isn’t just possible — it’s powerful. Here’s why.

Let’s be honest—waiting for "extra money" to show up doesn’t usually work. Sure, if you get a holiday bonus you can decide to use that to kick-start your 26' solo travels. But if not, let’s get proactive.

I faced a recent awful threat to my health this Fall, when a "routine" mammogram turned into repeated callbacks for additional screenings with ultrasound and even biopsies. Everything turned out ok thankfully, but the pure panic I felt for weeks reminded me of how quickly our health can change. And how it should not be assumed. We're all a heart attack, car accident, or diagnosis away from a very different life as I know all too well.

Microadventures are especially powerful for solo women travelers, because they give you the chance to build confidence in small steps, get experience being alone going on your own, and reconnect with your sense of freedom — all without having to explain your itinerary to anyone.

As a stage 4 cancer survivor myself, I know firsthand that life after cancer is not the same. Your priorities change. Your definition of “someday” changes. You become deeply aware that time is a gift — and you stop waiting for permission to enjoy it now. That’s why many more women cancer survivors are turning to solo travel as a powerful way to reclaim their lives, heal on their own terms, and write their next chapter with boldness and joy.

The beautiful thing about solo travel is that there’s not only one right way to do it. But for many women, the hardest part is knowing where to begin. That’s where I come in. As a solo travel coach and speaker, I help women just like you — busy, caring, accomplished women — find their way back to themselves through safe, fulfilling solo travel experiences.

One of the most freeing aspects of traveling solo is: you don’t have to coordinate your schedule around anyone else. No one else’s calendar dictates your adventure. When you travel with friends or family, there’s always the juggling of everyone’s commitments, moods, budgets, and desires. Solo means you schedule based on you.

Here’s what I want you to know: you don’t have to start with what you’ll do. You can begin by asking, what do I not want to do? Uncovering the “don’t wants” helps you rule out, narrow in, and eventually gravitate toward what you will do — and it sets you free from comparison, decision paralysis, and fear of “wasting time.”

Re-entry after solo travel can feel overwhelming — even deflating. You go from being the main character in your own story to suddenly juggling everyone else’s needs again. But it doesn’t have to feel like crashing back to Earth. Here are a few practical ways to make your return smoother, gentler, and more joyful.