Solo Female Travel Safety Tips

Traveling on your own, especially as a woman, can feel a bit daunting. Over my years of solo traveling, I’ve come up with a few tips that really help me feel more confident and settled before I get on that plane/train/car/ship! Let me fill you in on what’s helped me so far.

Act As If

Walk with a sense of purpose, even act like you’re kind of angry to put people off. This is kind of like the acting “as if“ method: You act the way you want to come across, and eventually, you will actually feel that way, too. Not that you want to feel angry necessarily, but powerful!

When I find myself feeling a bit scared or timid I try to stand up straight, look around, and walk quickly and confidently as if I’m sure of where I’m headed. Just changing my physical demeanor usually makes me feel less afraid.

Hide Your Purse

Wear your purse across your body, and make a practice of keeping your wallet/passport closest to you in a zippered compartment of the purse. If possible, wear your purse strapped across you UNDER your jacket or sweater to make it harder to get to, and maybe hard to even see. I will keep my wallet/passport in the compartment closest to me always and make sure that it’s zipped always.

Bring Your Friends With You

Regarding feeling lonely: before I started this blog, when I would go on solo trips, I got into posting a summary of my day on Facebook for my friends and family to see. I would post pictures of the most interesting or funny things that happened during the day with my commentary. Having people comment on what I was posting really made me feel like I wasn’t alone, like I was sharing this experience with all of my family and friends! It really made it fun. I had many people say they enjoyed seeing the daily updates and “virtually going on the trip with me”.

Note of caution: be sure you are only sharing info like this to your trusted friends and family. Do not share your current info if your social media account is not Private! You don’t want some weirdo to see see where you’re staying currently!

Along these same lines, I’ve had lots of fun Facetiming with friends while visiting cool sights and even going to meals “together”. If you use your earbuds, you don’t have to speak any louder than you would to someone actually there. On a solo trip to New York City recently, I showed my daughter and her roommate how things were looking from the top of the Empire State Building live. I also planned a “dinner date” with my daughter and had a fun time introducing her to my NYC waiter. Especially if you’re going to be away on a long solo trip being able to “have lunch/dinner out” with someone from home can really boost your spirits!

Let Your Friends Stalk You

Use Find My Friends on your phone or another similar location tracking app. Turn it on and share it with your trusted family members and friends. This is just another way to make you feel less alone and safer.

Lie

Lie freely about not being alone if it makes you feel better. Get a second key when you’re checking in. Say you’re just waiting for your friends or your husband to arrive. Sometimes I’ve done this, and it does make me feel a little bit safer in case some weirdo is eavesdropping. You can also pretend not to speak the language if you don’t want to talk to someone. Also, put that big cubic zirconia ring on and pretend you’re married!

Share Your Itinerary

If you have a detailed itinerary or any itinerary, be sure that your family and friends have a copy of that as well. When I went to New York City on my own for five weeks, I made sure I left my family at home the contact information for the apartment company I was renting from and for my old high school friend, with whom I was going to be meeting up, just in case I disappeared off the face of the Earth. That way could get in touch with somebody who was actually there on site for help.

Even if you don’t know anyone in the place you’re going to visit, making sure someone at home knows where you will be staying and how to reach that place feels good.

Catastrophize

Before you leave, go ahead and do some catastrophic brainstorming! Jot down a list of all the bad things you can imagine happening and try to come up with a solution or plan for what you would do in each instance. Get that taken care of, and then try to trust yourself and just deal with what’s right in front of you as it comes. Some ideas for how you can prepare in advance:

• If you’re an American traveling outside the United States register with STEP (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program). Here is what you get when you sign up:
  • Get real time updates about issues in the country you’re visiting. When you sign up you’ll indicate which countries you will be in on which dates. You will then get an email notification if there is an issue regarding health, weather, safety, or security in that country during your trip. I signed up for this recently when in Italy and England, and I received notifications of protests being planned at certain locations while I was there. I could avoid the commotion and plan other routes / activities for those times, which was nice.
  • Also, if something really awful happened (think war or natural disaster), registering here would let the local US Embassy know you are there! (Talk about catastrophizing!)
• Look up the emergency phone numbers for the country you are going to and get them entered into your phone in advance.
• Make sure you have International medical insurance coverage. You can check with your insurance company. I read the fine print on my Chase MasterCard and found that I was covered for international medical insurance and travel insurance, and there was a number I could call for emergency help from Chase if I needed help finding an English speaking doctor, etc. Of course, you can also buy international medical insurance.
• Make photocopies of all of your important documents/cards you are bringing with you. (Passport, credit cards, drivers license, insurance cards) Leave a copy at home with a trusted family member and bring one copy to keep in your luggage. That way, you will have all the numbers and information if any of those documents get lost or stolen.
• Bring an extra lock for your hotel room door. This lock below has made me feel more at ease when staying in slightly creepy places!

Be A Lert

We need more Lerts. ahaha! But seriously, along with looking like you know what you’re doing and/or looking mean, be alert to what’s going on around you. Don’t wear headphones/EarPods; it’s too easy to stop paying attention when you’re grooving to your hip tunes or yucking it up at a podcast – Not to mention being hit by a car or cyclist!

Phone Words of Advice

• If you are looking at your phone, be sure to look up frequently. You want to keep constant tabs on your surroundings. Has Charles Manson just gotten on the subway? You would only know if you looked up from your phone.
• If you’re standing on a sidewalk looking at your phone, get out of the way of foot traffic and away from the street. This way, you won’t tick people off by blocking their way nor get your phone grabbed out of your hand by a cyclist theif (a common crime in London and Rome)!
• Download a map of the area you’ll be in (with points of interest marked) to your photos- that way, even if you lose signal, the map will still be there.
• Even better, use your Map app’s audio directions to guide you with your phone put away . Put 1 earbud in and let the navigation tell you where to turn. You’ll look confident about where you’re going (even going down little side allies).

Be like Scarlett O’Hara and Mr. Rogers

Go ahead and rely on the kindness of strangers! I firmly believe that most people are kind and decent. Chances are very high if you really need help, people will be there for you. Obviously, there are exceptions to this, and common sense is your best friend!

Always “look for helpers.” In an airport, in a museum, on the subway, or any dodgy feeling spot, as you enter glance around and identify your potential helpers and your exits. Who appears to be someone who you could go to for help? (Maybe a woman? Maybe a family? Maybe a worker?)

Ride Sharing Tips

Use a male-sounding Uber/Lyft name, and make sure that the driver asks for your name. Take a photo of the car, including the license plate and the driver’s info, and immediately text it to a friend. (The Uber/ Lyft apps likely have features to do this, but making a show of doing so yourself would be noticed by the driver).

Always, always double check that the license plate matches what the App says it will be. Two times before (once in New York City and once in Chicago) I had a random car pull up in front of me, acting like they were my ride! The first time it happened, I actually started to get in the car, but realized something was wrong when I didn’t see the usual navigation system on the dashboard! The second time I checked the license plate, saw that it didn’t match what Lyft told me to expect. I walked away, telling the guy, “You’re not my ride,” as he tried to convince me to get in anyway. Ugh! Scary.

Please let me know if you have any great tips in the comments! Thanks for reading!

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