From the words of travellers, the finding seems unanimous.
To taste solo travel is to adopt it, so much the experience of freedom is total.
Roaming the cities, the countryside, letting yourself go to meet... For some, going alone is obvious, almost a form of obligatory passage to follow your desires.
However, the clichés are tenacious.
Whether a woman can explore the world on her own, without feeling intimidated or threatened, continues to raise questions.
In an ideal world, the question of security - or insecurity - would not influence the will of some to take to the open sea.
Leaving would not be a rebellious or courageous act.
It would be the simple manifestation of a curiosity.
We are not there yet.
However, backpacking is a more feminine activity than one might think.
In 2021, the Tourlane travel agency, which specializes in tailor-made travel, indicated that women had booked 54% of its structure's solo trips over the past four years.
The observation is clear: more and more women are taking to the road.
And why not you ?
Our tips for getting started.
Read alsoSolo Christmas: the surprising end-of-year holiday trend
Learn from the experiences of other travelers
Nelly Bly, journalist and frequent traveler, became a major figure in the United States, even having her face printed on stamps.
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For a long time, travel literature was mostly about male points of view.
With intrepid explorers, ready to take all the risks to complete their expedition.
However, examples of female explorers abound: Nellie Bly (journalist who in 1889 undertook a solo world tour in 72 days, beating in passing the tour de force achieved by the famous character of Jules Verne, Phileas Fogg), Alexandra David-Néel (who in 1924 was the first Western woman to reach Lhassa, the capital of Tibet) or more recently Sarah Marquis (adventurer who did not hesitate to travel through the most hostile territories on the planet).
As many journeys as Lucie Azema cites, in her book
Women also travel.
Emancipation by departure
(Ed. Flammarion, 2021).
The journalist (1), herself a long-distance traveler, undertook a whole research work for this book.
“To read a lot of women who travel is to trivialize the fact that they exist.
This contributes to their representativeness
, ”explains the author to
Figaro
.
This women's literature which also makes it possible to address subjects that have been set aside so far, such as the management of periods in certain territories but also the fear of aggression.
These feedbacks are all tools that can help them to overcome their fears.
Thus, the blog Dare to travel alone and its variation in Facebook group of the same name, both produced by Mélanie Couillard, content creator on the Internet, help those already launched as those who have not yet dared.
“I wanted to build a caring community.
Women find themselves around several issues, such as security, the fear of being alone, the organization of their trip or the budget they will have.
, introduces us to the foundress.
Other groups, like We are backpackers!
on Facebook, also offer to gather around an exclusively female community.
Trust your instincts
“My personal rule is this: would a man ask the same questions as me? If the answer is no, then you have to go
, ”says Lucie Azema.
“Trusting yourself means bringing the trip into the realm of possibilities
,” continues the author.
For some, this faculty is not innate, it results from a long journey.
Travel is one of the ways to acquire it.
“We rediscover a feeling of freedom.
We will get to know each other and do activities that suit us
,” adds Mélanie Couillard.
Cultivating your instincts also means knowing how to apprehend your future environment and the people who find themselves there.
A faculty that can be nourished, paradoxically, with preparation!
For example via a good collection of information upstream, but also on the spot.
“My bias is that there is no country more dangerous than the others.
It is necessary to become familiar with the habits and customs of a territory.
You can get information from youth hostels, hotels or tourist offices to find out which places you should not go alone.
Certain reflexes are also to be had, like the fact of not having precious objects on oneself
, ”explains the founder of Dare to travel alone, who notably traveled alone in South America.
Don't be afraid of loneliness
Loneliness is in no way a fatality.
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It's not always easy to find yourself.
The fear of returning to your hotel room at night, of eating in a restaurant, of not being able to share what you discover... If loneliness is frightening, it is in no way inevitable.
It can even become a traveling companion, encourage you to discover a little more about yourself and go beyond your limits.
To apprehend it, Mélanie Couillard recommends like others the
“method of small steps”
.
“Beforehand, you have to try to go to a restaurant or the cinema alone, then leave for a weekend not far from home.
We go further and further and longer and longer.
This allows you to know if you appreciate solitude and letting go
.
Some times may be difficult.
But contrary to what one might think, this loneliness will be more chosen than suffered, as Lucie Azema reminds us.
“When we travel alone, there are always people who come to talk to us.”
There are many meeting places: guided tours, tourist activities, youth hostels or public transport.
Do not hesitate to use social networks, where groups allow travelers to discuss with each other, but also to organize meetings.
The NomadSister site, formerly known as La Voyageuse, offers for example a 100% female couchsurfing formula.
Travelers come into contact with hosts previously validated by the platform.
For those who would like to leave as part of an organized trip, several agencies offer formulas exclusively reserved for single women.
Read alsoVoyage: a hosting platform intended only for women
go to another
It's hard not to mention the issue of security, so deeply rooted in the collective imagination.
Be careful all the time, don't let yourself be careless... The diktats are numerous, sometimes exhausting.
“Little girls are socialized by fear.
We learn not to trust things anymore.
If there is no longer a legal ban on traveling for women, restrictions are being created, under the guise of benevolence”
, analyzes Lucie Azema.
However, the trip is nourished by the encounters that can be made there, fortuitous or organized.
“You have to leave room for the other for the sake of otherness, but also of empathy.
It also allows you to detach yourself from the idea that the other is a danger
, ”she continues.
It is not a question of evacuating the idea of bad meetings.
They can happen.
But they are more often the exception than the norm.
For those who have tried it, the solo adventure allows you to assert your instincts and gain self-confidence.
And some tricks allow nice encounters, such as learning a few words in the local language, but also getting off the beaten track, when possible.
Free yourself from the gaze of others
"The gaze and pressure of others can be difficult to manage," observes Mélanie Couillard.
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"You are very brave", "Isn't it too dangerous?", "And your children?", "And your husband?" travel plan.
Because depending on the destinations chosen, the reaction of those around you can slow down certain desires.
“The gaze and pressure of others can be difficult to manage.
A woman told me that she couldn't allow herself to take time for herself.
It is sometimes very complicated to get rid of this logic
, ”decrypts Mélanie Couillard.
She thus notes that the profile of female travelers calling on her advice varies drastically, between women aged 20 to 35 and those in early retirement.
The in-between period, marked by motherhood for many, is often an empty period.
“The figure of the father who goes on a trip has always existed.
We must explain to young women that leaving does not prevent them from assuming their motherhood
, ”said Lucie Azema.
Do not fall into the cult of performance
There is no big or small trip.
Only what matters is what you want to achieve.
“The part of dreams, but also of fantasy, is important: this is where it all begins.
You have to dream up the places”
, emphasizes Lucie Azema.
As such, Instagram has shaken up practices... sometimes in the wrong direction.
“It's important to take a step back from your Instagram practice.
Travel is supposed to be a place where you are much freer
,” says the author.
“However, Instagram is putting forward the notion of performance.
There are failed trips, it happens.
Sometimes you get bored while traveling and that's okay."
Read alsoHow Instagram has changed our travel habits
Jump without looking back
Arrived at the end of the article?
All you have to do is grab your bag and go!
(1) In October 2022, Lucie Azema published her second book: The use of tea, a sensitive story from the end of the world (Ed. Flammarion, 2022).
