Staying Safe While Traveling Solo
As part of our Women’s History Month series, Cinneah (the founder of Flynanced) and I co-hosted a series of incredible roundtable discussions with some of our favorite women in the personal finance space with the goal of fostering rich intersectional conversations around money.
Something that might hold women, especially Black women and women of color, back from traveling is concern around safety. Society bombards us with messages that tell us we aren't safe everywhere. These can be further compounded by friends, family, and partners who also fear for us when we're traveling, especially when we're alone.
We asked Meriam, a high school educator and founder of Melannial Money, to share some ways she’s practiced safety and self care while traveling solo. Here’s what she had to share. (You can watch the full recording of the roundtable discussion, Creating a Travel Abundant Lifestyle, here).
Planning Trips for Your Travel Style
I've traveled solo to a lot of places. I moved abroad to Japan for work by myself for eight months and traveled solo in Thailand, Europe, and in the U.S.
Here are a few things to think about before traveling:
I do basic research on the destination to make sure that it's safe. I read blogs, particularly blogs from solo woman travelers
If you are just starting to travel by yourself, I recommend choosing somewhere where they speak English or where English is widely spoken (and that’s true for a lot of big cities in Europe) You can also start by traveling domestically.
Take a little road trip or get on a train to feel it out and see if solo travel is even something that you want to do. Some people are not okay being alone and that's fine! Find your travel style.
Safety Tips
Once you've decided on a destination, you want to make sure that somebody knows where you are at all times. What do I mean by that?
For me, two people (my mom and sister) basically know where I am at all times. I send them my flight information, information about where I’m staying, and what times I’m supposed to depart and arrive. I check in with them when I arrive and at least once a day with one of them.
Something to note is many of the places I’ve travelled are actually a lot safer than the United States. We may not think of it that way because this is our reality but it’s true. I have never felt so safe as when I lived in Japan. I would walk down the street by myself at night with headphones in - and that's something I would never do in America. Here I feel the need to be alert at all times.
If you meet people abroad, don’t let them know where you're staying. You don't know those people. They're not your friends.
Don't be flashy. One of my friends has a really big engagement ring. She just leaves it at home.
Only carry enough cash for the day and stash the rest of it in the safe with your passport. This actually saved me when I was in Cuba. I traveled to Cuba with a friend who spoke Spanish very well. I wouldn't have traveled there by myself because my Spanish is not that great. When I went, there was no wifi and no credit cards. I had a lot of cash on me and I actually lost my wallet - I think it was stolen - on the first day I was there.
Make copies of your passport. I'll carry the copy with me, but I won't carry the passport with me when I'm out and about. If you lose your passport, you can get it replaced but it's going to be expensive and you're going to have to extend your stay (another expense)
Be aware of your surroundings and your possessions. Keep your stuff in your room.
As far as meeting people goes, I've stayed in hostels. Not a lot of women of color do stay in hostels, but I've met some cool people. Facebook groups can be great to meet people. I used those in Thailand. When I was in Chiang Mai, there was a huge Black expat population there. You can use groups to meet other solo travelers as well. If you’ve never met someone before, please make sure you meet up with them in public during the daytime.
Some of our families aren’t familiar with traveling, so checking in and laying out all of the things you’re doing to keep yourself safe will help them. All you can do is just tell them what you’re doing to keep yourself safe.
Next Steps
Watch the full recording of the roundtable discussion, Creating a Travel Abundant Lifestyle, here.
Follow Meriam on Instagram at @melannialmoney
About Meriam:
Meriam is a high school educator and financial literacy advocate on her way to financial freedom. Since July 2019, Meriam has paid off $30,000+ of debt and created Melannial Money to hold herself accountable. It has now grown to a space to teach other millennials how to budget, crush debt and build wealth. She loves talking all things money and even teaches Personal Finance to high school students as her day job.