You can blame it on the pandemic, perhaps. But people – especially women in general and American women in particular – in recent years have begun to look at travel in a new way. No longer waiting for their partners, family or friends to take the leap and join them in heading out on a new adventure, many women these days are happily going it alone in droves, with advanced tech aiding them along the way.
Take the private Facebook group Solo Female Travelers, which co-founders Meg Jarrad and Mar Pages launched in 2015 with a few hundred members. Their plan back then was to “connect kick-ass women who loved to travel solo,” as Jarrad tells it.
Today it numbers nearly 350,000 participants from across the globe, with Jarrad (from Australia) and Pages (from Spain) offering over 25 solo female traveler trips each year; small, women-led and women-only tours booked via their SFTTours.com spinoff. Those tours, ranging from Australia to Europe to Tanzania and beyond, are guided by women and focus on supporting local, female-owned businesses along the way.
Their group is one of many connective social media solo-travel assemblages that share advice, information and encouragement in this burgeoning sector of the travel industry. Pinterest notes that in 2024, for example, searches for “solo traveling” there have increased by 145%, while a booking.com recent 2024 traveler survey shows a whopping 59% plan to travel solo in the coming year.
It’s not just women – men are certainly going it alone, too, as that survey shows; and people of all ages are planning to leave literally everything and everyone behind, with some staying not too far from home and others circling the planet for new explorations. And as Jarrad explains, “We do an annual survey of our group, and more than 80% agree that solo travel is a choice, and the lack of a travel companion or partner is not a key motivator. They travel solo because of flexibility, enjoying a break from routine, personal growth and relaxation.”
“The lack of a travel companion or partner is not a key motivator. [We] travel solo because of flexibility, enjoying a break from routine, personal growth and relaxation.”
— Meg Jarrad, Founder Solo Female Travelers
SOLO TRAVELERS FLEX THEIR MIGHT
This ever-increasing contingent of travelers who are determined to go it alone are causing a seismic shift in the world of travel. There are so many who are embracing this idea of solo freedom, of doing just what they want, when they want to on a trip, that they have collectively begun to force a shift in the traditional paradigm of how travel providers (think tours, cruises and even hotels) treat solo travelers.
It’s most obvious in the cruise ship world, where solo cruising has always been assessed a single-supplement cabin fee, often forced to pay close to the same price as the double-occupancy price. That has been one of the first things to fall, as cruise companies big and small rethink that policy.
Patrizia Iantorno, chief commercial officer for Swan Hellenic, the luxury cruise line that takes adventurers to far-flung destinations around the world, says the company is leading the way in accommodating solo travel. “We’ve seen an increase in solo bookings over the last few years, because our boutique ships create a safe, sociable community, where making new friends to share the experience with is easy. To further encourage solo travelers, all Swan Hellenic cruises set aside a certain number of cabins with no single supplement,” she explains.
And numerous other cruise lines are following suit in different ways: Norwegian Cruise Lines offer cabins specifically built for solos (inside, ocean view and balcony) with no double occupancy fee and have added the “Studio Lounge,” a gathering spot designed for single cruisers; and since 2016 Holland America Line has offered specifically built single cabins on select ships that carry no extra fees.
In 2024 Avalon Waterways River Cruises are waiving single-supplement fees on both their European and Mekong river cruises and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises are offering a similar incentive on select sailings this year, a trend that is building across all sectors of the cruising industry, on ships both very big and very small.
Uniworld cites a recent 31% increase in solo guests, which indicates just how many travelers are turning to the freedom of seeing the world alone. Specialty travel companies are even focusing on targeted age groups and genders: FTLO Travel offers group trips for solos ages 25-39; Flash Pack has trips for lone travelers ages 30-49; JourneyWoman helps women over 50 go it alone; and Solo Traveler offers solo trips for anyone.
And while solo traveling isn’t quite perfect yet – think waiters who might ignore solo diners, bartenders who are slower to serve women of a certain age, safety concerns (especially for lone females), or assumptions from others that “solo travel” means “lonely travel” – this new kind of traveler has arrived and is here to stay. So … where are you going next on your own?
- Jenny Peters