Today, the concept of a woman traveling alone is not as revolutionary as it has been in the past. In fact, many women prefer to travel alone because it allows them to more fully explore the interests that others in their life (husbands, boyfriends, or even children) don’t share. There is a tremendous amount of triumph, furthermore, that comes with the independence of solitary travel.
“Travel etiquette” is paramount for a woman, because the more respectful and less conspicuous she is in a foreign environment, the more safely she will be able to navigate to and from where she needs to go. Therefore, a woman traveler in particular should invest in extensive research about her location of choice before she even books an airline ticket to ensure that she can follow local custom as closely as possible. For example, she should wear what other women of that area are wearing to avoid attracting attention. She should also generally trust her instinct, as a place that she feels is “threatening” probably is so. For instance, if you are walking along an urban street in an unfamiliar area and a crowd of males in the distance seem dangerous, don’t hesitate to act on your fear and walk in a different direction. Though at times women may let themselves get “carried away” by fear later proved to be irrational, it is better to take precaution than to join the statistics of women attacked and raped in countries each year.
No amount of travel etiquette, however, will make it safe for women to travel alone in some countries. Separating the “safe” from the “unsafe” is fairly straightforward; countries in which the status of women is advancing alongside that of men usually accommodate female travelers better. Solitary women travelers, for example, should avoid much of the Middle East including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Omen.
Also, tourists of any gender shouldn’t visit countries with turbulent political situations. Iraq would fall under this category. The political instability means that women especially would be at risk, because the laws that might usually compensate for a woman’s biological vulnerability aren’t being upheld.
An exception to the “rule of the Middle East” would be the United Arab Emirates. As the country opens itself to western infiltration, the status of women has improved considerably. Therefore, women traveling by themselves will be tolerated to a much greater degree than they would elsewhere.
If you are a woman planning to tour a foreign country by yourself, and you’d rather not stick to a conventional, western country where you would be safest, consider finding a male partner to travel alongside. When possible, your paths could diverge to allow you both to pursue separate interests, but whenever you needed the protection his gender alone offers, he could give it without any expense to himself.
Fortunately, the plight of the solitary woman traveler is consistently decreasing. Though not the current situation, it will be safe for a woman to travel anywhere without an escort in the near future.
