Veronica McCarthy writes:

As a freelance writer, writing comes naturally to me, while traveling does not. Until a month ago, I had spent the majority of my life living in different sectors of the greater Los Angeles area with the occasional weeklong travel adventure. A trustworthy companion always accompanied me on these weeklong jaunts, as I had never wanted to breach the ‘traveling alone’ world.

After a summer of heartbreak and health scares, I decided to disrupt my travel pattern by shipping myself off to Amsterdam, Netherlands, for the fall months. I stumbled upon an advertisement for an apartment swap so I now wake up to European church bells instead of the crashing waves of Venice Beach. Read more

If I was feeling the wanderlust and didn’t know where to start,
this book would surely answer more than a few questions:
Wanderlust and Lipstick:
The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo

Beth Whitman enthuses about the joys of independent travel for women, of being open to new people and places and of finding yourself along the way. Her book is laced with enticing stories of women who have taken off into great adventures , experiencing ‘the sheer joy of these heightened experiences’.Travel is marvellous and energising, as well as sometimes scary and confusing. For the novice traveller, Beth Whitman offers everything from packing lists, to itinerary suggestions and handy healthy tips.Even for an experienced traveller there are some ideas, like uploading your photos to flickr as you go, creating and managing a blog to save those endless individual emails home and pre-printing a list of address labels to send home beautiful postcards.I enjoyed the section on love, romance and sex while travelling. Recently we hosted a German woman who was having a glorious holiday romance with a local – great for both of them! However Beth gives sage advice about letting coffee be the drink of seduction rather than alcohol. One of her comments about New Zealand was inaccurate- she asserts that you can just pitch your tent on someone’s farmland- not a good idea at all. So maybe follow her other advice with caution. A great book to read, to make you start giving up café lunches and luxury goods, to open that travel account, then begin reading other more country-specific books. Bon Voyage.

Ceridwyn Parr

 

Wanderlust and Lipstick:
The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo

published by Dispatch Travels www.dispatchtravels.com Dispatch Travels is devoted to publishing travel books for women with the express purpose of encouraging them to stretch their travel boundaries and to pursue their dream journeys.

I have just added a whole lot more tours for women to India onto the Women Travel the World Tour Calendar. There is so much choice from some wonderful companies, you can do a tour, and add some extra stays to explore by yourself once you have gained some confidence.  As a woman travelling on my own, I find this a great way to travel.  Join a small tour where I can get the feel of a country and then branch out confidently to explore on my own.  There is now a choice of 17 tours in India on the Tour Calendar on Women Travel.

Read more

Traveling through the colourful Indian state of  Rajasthan you might find your eyes watering:  women saunter through the streets in vivid saris, farmers sport large bright turbans, elephants are painted in rainbow colours, and even the cities are known for their different shades – Jaipur the pink city, Jodhpur the blue city and Jaiselmer the golden city. Read more

I have had an email from someone looking to share a cabin:

with a likeminded woman on a cruise going from Southampton to Auckland in 2011. It is expensive and as you know, singles are penalised by tour companies, particularly on cruises, where we have to pay excessive supplements. Do you have any idea where I can meet a woman who would like to join me. Perhaps a website, or an organisation I can join?

I found this site had some good ideas of links and advice http://www.women-on-the-road.com/female-travel-companions.html

Does anyone else have suggestions?

“Where are the men?” This was clearly the unspoken thought of many who watched the five of us toss the ropes and maneuver our Barge through the locks on the Canal du Midi in Southern France. We were the only crew of women on the canal and when on the last day we steered our way through the famous seven locks at Beziers, the crowds that come to watch this spectacle gave us a round of applause for our efforts. Read more

I have just come across this great website which has lots of info for the solo woman traveller on a budget. Women on the Road.

Leyla who has put together this site says: Most backpacking information is geared to men. We women are lucky if we get a tiny mention here and there just for ourselves. But we’re different!

We need to be more careful at night, we have to fight off more unwanted attention, or travel may just be more challenging for us.

Why am I telling you this? Because I’ve been around the world several times and I still haven’t had enough. My longest backpacking trip at the age of 43 was supposed to be for a few months – but I was gone three years.

There are links to pages on ethical travel, budget accommodation, pilgrimage routes, volunteering and more. This is a great site for women with a yearning to travel, but on a budget – a budget not just to save money, but to live close to those you will meet and to be involved in the worlds you travel through.