Solo travel rising above gender bias

Adventure and courage is the cocktail my blood is made of, I distinctly remember it was April 25th, 2018??- 100kms from Bandar Abbas, Iran that I had an accident

Yes, it was the driver’s recklessness who decided to ignore his navigator (me).

Yes, the land cruiser I was traveling in, was a total write-off.?

Yes, I was the only one hospitalized, the driver got away scratch-free.?

Yes, the convoy of our SUVs did not realize that the sweep car was missing till 15 km, it was only when a concerned Iranian chased and informed them about the accident.

This was the first 24hours of a 21-day road trip from Dubai to Casablanca covering 12000 km where I was the only woman who signed up for this trip with complete strangers.?

You should have seen the look on my fellow travelers' faces at the hospital, they were only worried that their ambitious trip was coming to an abrupt end. No, that did not happen. In fact, on the contrary, I was among the three people who concluded the trip successfully as per schedule with a neck brace.?

Globally, there were 54 million women travelers in 2014 and 138 million in 2017 according to the World Tourism Organisation! These figures undeniably show that women are as adventurous and that this trend is set to increase.

40 percent of all single-member overnight trips in India were by women. The report titled 'Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India' provides interesting data on women traveling alone in India.

After two years of Covid, last week I went on a solo trip to the Himalayas. Traveling solo is very liberating as much as it is amusing when people cannot handle the fact of a woman traveling alone and opt to give you (unasked) company at restaurants or offer you an (unasked) ride. There is always too much curiosity starting from the receptionist, bell boy, manager, and fellow guests and not to forget the driver and guide.?

“Where is your husband”

“Your family didn’t come along”

You get to see - horror, disdain, intrigue, and sometimes plain pity on their faces.?

At times like these, I pray to God to grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change…..or I would need bail money.

It becomes even more exciting if you wish to travel frugally as in not wanting to stay in 5-star properties. Well, considering not many such properties exist in Tier 3/4 cities of India.?

On one extreme, women encountered people who like to make them, their business, and on the other extreme, people who are ultra pious with deeply ingrained cultural bias, who don’t believe “respectful” women can be travelling alone. If a woman is wanting a room booked alone, something is “wrong”.

I lost count of how many hotels turned me away because I asked for a room for a “single female guest” in the middle of the night.

And then, there are the not-so-monetary considerations, some solo travelers report that hotels tend to give them the least favorable rooms, despite not being fully booked at the time, I have had the luxurious experience of staying awake all night next to the noisiest diesel generator room.

This is 2022. Not 1922.?

This post is dedicated to all women solo travelers.?

May you stay courageous and adventurous. May your trips inspire other women and may traveling solo become such a craze that property owners realize that offering a safe environment and experience is good for their business.