The Rise of Solo Travel Among Women and What It Really Means
- Tanmaya Bagwe
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
For years, we thought of travel as freedom — something that looked effortless, spontaneous and thrilling. Mountains blurred past train windows, cities became fleeting backdrops, and movement itself seemed like a metaphor for life. But when a woman decides to take that journey alone, it comes with a very different reality. Solo travel for women is not just about seeing a new place, but also about navigating fear, safety, independence and the freedom to experience the world on her own terms. And despite the many calculations that come with it, more women today are choosing to step out alone than ever before.
According to recent travel reports, India has seen a significant rise in solo women travellers, with a 135 per cent increase between 2023 and 2025. Globally, too, women now account for a major share of solo travel searches and bookings, signalling a cultural shift in how women are approaching mobility, freedom and individuality.
What was once considered unconventional, and often even discouraged —due to safety concerns—is increasingly becoming a defining experience for women across age groups. The idea of solo travel begins with the simple need to take a break, but in adulthood, coordinating breaks with a close one can often be a tough ask. Hence, the idea of a solo vacation comes to mind to break away from mundane work tasks, following a routine, or the emotional burden that often follows major life transitions. A solo trip, then, is rarely just about the destination but instead about a return to oneself.
For many women, the first solo trip does not begin with a dream destination but with a need to breathe. Sometimes it comes after months of burnout, after the monotony of routine, or during a phase of life that feels emotionally heavy. This was true for journalist, Mansi Shah. "My solo trip begins as just a break, but somewhere along the way, it turns into something far more personal, almost like a reset." Mansi's first solo trip took place in 2021. “During the pandemic, I was dying to get out of the house and wanted some time off,” she says. She left for Goa, worked from there, spent time with herself and met people she would never have encountered otherwise. “It changed something in me, and since then, solo travel has become my preference,” she says. The journalist also highlighted how it positively impacts confidence. “It builds a strong sense of confidence in your ability to handle yourself,” she says.
Image Credits: Mansi Shah/IG
At the same time, she does not romanticise the experience. Her response brings the practical reality many women instinctively carry when they travel alone. A few essentials Mansi always ensures she has easy access to are transportation, cash, and phone connectivity, be it for calls or WiFi. network.
For others, a solo trip stems from curiosity and a desire to stop waiting. Sanjana Goswami, the digital creator behind the Instagram page Under My Pink Umbrella, followed by over 60,000 people, describes her first solo trip as both liberating and overwhelming. Her platform has long been known for documenting travel, lifestyle and visually rich moments from around the world, which makes her perspective especially relevant to how younger women view solo travel today. “I started travelling solo out of a desire for freedom and curiosity about the world. But, I also wanted to experience places on my own terms without waiting for others,” she says. Her first solo trip to Denmark pushed her far outside her comfort zone. “The trip made me far more independent and self-reliant,” she shared, adding further that it helped her understand herself on a much deeper level, away from familiar environments. “Overall, it has been a huge part of my personal growth.”
However, she is also conscious that travelling to unfamiliar regions like Central and South America are marked by conversations around safety and unfamiliarity. Despite having heard how unsafe some countries in these regions were, the experience taught her resilience and, as she beautifully puts it, “the beauty of uncertainty.” That lesson, perhaps, sits at the heart of solo travel itself.
There is a huge transformative factor of arriving in a place where no one knows you. Every choice becomes entirely your own. From what you eat, where you go, how long you stay, and whether the day is structured or spontaneous. In lives where women are so often conditioned to adjust, accommodate and account for others, that sense of autonomy can feel almost radical.
For travel, food and lifestyle journalist Prachi Joshi, founder of digital platform Delishdirection, solo travel was about learning that there is no perfect way to move through a day. Her page often documents food trails, travel stories and city discoveries, making her someone who understands movement not just as tourism but as lived experience. “When I travel alone, every decision is mine in a very literal way — what I eat, where I go, when I leave, when I stay,” she says. “At first it felt like an unsaid pressure of getting it right, but somewhere along the way, I realised there isn’t a right version of a day.”
Image Credits: delishdirection/IG
Prachi adds, “I learnt to go with the flow, and rely more on my gut rather than my meticulous planner,” which beautifully reflects how solo travel often becomes an exercise in trusting yourself. This learning often becomes the most powerful part of travelling alone. Beyond the logistics and itineraries, solo travel teaches women how to be with themselves. It teaches them to trust instinct over a carefully curated plan.
Championing Solitude
This idea of learning to be with oneself comes through beautifully in Nishtha Vohra’s experience. A digital creator and creative strategist, Nishtha often shares stories around creativity, movement and lived experiences. Her voice brings positivity to the conversation around solo travel. “Akele safar karte karte, main apni hi sabse achhi dost ban gayi,” she says, which in English translates to "While travelling alone, I became my own best friend."
Her first solo trip to Himachal Pradesh began almost unexpectedly when no one was free to accompany her. But that did not stop her from wanting to explore the gem. “I was terrified, but I went,” she recalls. “I still feel that fear every time I step out for a trip, but now it doesn’t hold me back; it empowers me to move forward."
Nishtha recalls a particular moment from one of her trips, when she sat alone in a café in Himachal Pradesh for nearly ten hours with nothing but a cup of chai, her favourite Bollywood playlist and the clouds drifting past the mountains. In that moment, she realised something that changed her relationship with solitude: “Being alone isn’t loneliness, it’s presence.”
A similar perspective comes from Ambika Anand, a content creator and media consultant who worked at NDTV for two decades. Her solo travel experiences have taken her across Europe and beyond. For Ambika, solo travel was deeply tied to observation and learning through solitude. “It has taught me how to spend time with myself and find joy in eating alone and learning through observation,” she says. Her time working in Geneva at the International Labour Organization in 2024 became a particularly defining phase, during which she travelled extensively across Europe. “I travelled a lot in and around Europe, observed many things, explored multiple art exhibitions and made a new set of European friends,” she shares.
What stayed with her was not just the movement between cities, but the shift in perspective that came with it. She speaks about learning to respect people’s boundaries, privacy and the way nature was woven into everyday life. “It showed me that weekends should be spent refreshing one’s mind and gave me a brand new perspective every Monday.” Her response adds another layer to this conversation — solo travel as a way of widening not just geographical horizons, but emotional and cultural ones too.
The Checklist
Of course, this freedom does not exist without reality. For women, solo travel often comes with an invisible checklist that begins long before the trip itself. Which neighbourhood is safest? Will there be phone connectivity? How late is too late to return? Who has the live location? These are calculations that many women make instinctively, often shaped not just by caution but by past experiences that force you to be more prepared than you initially thought you needed to be.
For some women, that awareness is shaped over time, often through experiences that change the way they approach travel altogether. This is something that comes through in the journeys of Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay, an independent travel journalist.
Image Credits: themoonchasersofficial/IG
She recalls an early experience that stayed with her — falling extremely sick on a bus journey back from Himachal Pradesh, alone and unprepared. “That was a very nerve-wracking moment,” she says. Travelling overnight with no medicines and limited help around, the situation quickly became overwhelming. It was also the moment that shifted how she approached solo travel, turning preparation from an afterthought into something instinctive. Over time, her understanding of solo travel moved beyond surface ideas of confidence. “Self-discovery… doesn’t come at first because initially you are afraid of what the experience has to offer,” she says, pushing back against the idea that it instantly transforms you. Instead, she describes it as something that builds gradually, across multiple trips, shaping both awareness and self-sufficiency.
That mix of awareness and openness comes through many women’s solo travel experiences. Nishtha shed light on these concerns, speaking about disappearing network, language barriers, sudden weather changes, and even losing her way on a forest trail. Sanjana, too, speaks about the balance between planning and spontaneity. “I usually research destinations, accommodation, and transport in advance to feel prepared. I always share my itinerary with someone I trust and stay aware of my surroundings. At the same time, I leave room for spontaneity.”
There is also the larger shift in perception. Sanjana points out how social media has played a huge role in normalising women travelling alone. “More women are embracing independence and breaking traditional expectations,” she says. And yet, she is careful to add that there is still progress to be made in safety and societal mindset. And perhaps that is the real story here.
Solo travel for women is not merely about tourism, destinations or social media aesthetics. It is about what happens internally when a woman realises she can trust herself. It is about learning that solitude does not have to mean loneliness, that fear and freedom can coexist, and that leaving a place can sometimes mean arriving at yourself. As Sanjana puts it so beautifully, “confidence builds with experience, not before it.”
Maybe the one thing we can learn is that sometimes, to reach somewhere, it is important to leave from somewhere. For women today, solo travel is increasingly an act of leaving: not just a city or routine, but the expectations, fears and permissions that once kept them still.
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