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Tag Archives solo travel

10 Places to Visit For the First Time Solo As A Black Female

I am always asked what countries are safe to travel as a black solo female. If we are real with each other, being a black female in this world can be extremely hard sometimes. So, it always makes sense when I’m asked what countries are safe to travel solo for the first time! I recently spoke on Travelling Perceptions & Safety: Why I don’t Allow the Experiences Stop me From Seeing The World?

As I said in that post and will say again … the media often likes to label black females, particularly in certain countries, that I won’t point out. We are often labelled as prostitutes, or even worst ghettoized for the colour of our skin. The melanin can be hard for them to handle sometimes.

When I travel by myself I never feel like I’m on my own. I have never really understood why, but I believe it’s because I always end up meeting someone on my solo travels. That’s not to say that I don’t emphasise with people that travel solo for the first time. I can imagine if you haven’t travelled solo before, it can be quite daunting. There are several countries or even places you can visit solo as a black female.

My cousin suggested that I write a post on places black females feel safe to travel too. So as I do. I have tapped into 10 black female travel bloggers, who share places they themselves felt safe travelling too! If you are a black female seeking to travel solo for the first time, I’m sure this post is for you. 

The melanin can be hard for them to handle sometimes.

10 Places You Should Travel Solo For the First Time As a Black Female Traveller

1. Char of Memoirs and Musings says – Dubai

Dubai is safe because the crime rate is low. You won’t find much petty crime here because it’s not a walkable city. Unwanted attention does exist but it’s more common in Deira and Bur Dubai. I’ve been to Dubai twice solo and not had any issues! ???

2. Aitza of Petitely Packaged says – Porto

As the second-largest city in Portugal, Porto offers a friendly and vibrant atmosphere. From wine tours in the Douro Valley, hiking at a nearby national park, hopping on a boat, or simply eating one’s way through the city their countless activities to meet people or get lost on your own in Porto. The public transportation is easy to navigate and English widely is spoken, so even if you find yourself unintentionally lost you likely won’t need Google to translate.

3. L of Franglais27 Tales says – Paris

Central Paris is rather compact and so it is easy to navigate by foot which makes it relatively safe for a solo woman traveller. Plus, there are lots of museums, galleries and other sights that are easy to visit or cinemas as well. There are also neighbouring cafés and restaurants in most locations meaning that it would not involve a long journey if venturing out in the evenings. You would just have to be as vigilant as you would be in London when travelling alone.

4. Elisha of Elisha Jade says – Shanghai and Bejing

I felt super safe in Shanghai and Beijing. Whether I was riding in the back of a tuk-tuk at 4 am or jumping on the metro, the Chinese metropolises were very secure. It is a surveillance state so you do trade off privacy for that sense of security.

5. Chi of Thoughts Of Chi says – Prague

I believe that Prague is safe due to it being a popular destination for tourists so it’s rare for you to feel secluded during a solo trip. Also from my trip, the attraction staff are very accommodating for solo travellers in terms of taking pictures of you and giving you in-depth talks about the city in general.

Also, the fact that there are a ton of attractions to go throughout the city and the transport links are reliable and easy to use.

6. Tay of TaytheTravelista says – Cartagena

I recently took my very first solo trip and as nervous as I was I couldn’t have made a better choice of destination – Cartagena. The people are extremely warm and welcoming and although they don’t speak much English, the love is felt! The streets are ALWAYS full of people, so you never really feel “alone”; and Uber/taxi makes it very easy to get around the city.

Cartagena is also very budget-friendly, so paying full price for things you’d normally split with a friend isn’t a big deal. Not to mention, Cartagena is pretty popular among solo travellers so the likelihood of you connecting with other solo travellers is extremely high. Just an FYI – you will fall head over heels in love with the place!!!

7. Joyce of Diy With Joy says – Phucket

I travelled to Phuket, Thailand for the ultimate solo birthday trip and purposely chose to stay in Patong for the first half of my trip as this beach resort town is famously known for its bustling nightlife, variety of activities, markets and plenty of restaurants. Although I was by myself, I never really felt alone because I met a lot of friendly faces from around the world and the Thai locals made me feel welcomed into their country. I felt really safe venturing out at night, often strolling through the night markets and had my first solo nightlife experience in Phuket which was surprisingly amazing!

8. Ri of Ri The Blog says – Colombia

I thought Colombia was safe because there was constantly police around everywhere (granted its Colombia they could be corrupt cops). The people seemed so relaxed about their belongings and that that to me was a sign that the city didn’t have problems with petty crime.

9. Tateendah of Footprints and Poetry says Tanzania

I found Tanzanians really friendly, no one catcalled me either in Dar Es Salaam or Zanzibar which is very rare. I didn’t book any tours and the resort I stayed in the capital helped me to arrange them, in Zanzibar they even walked me to the beach for my prison island tour.

Someone even offered to go with me to the South Island (as they were also going there) so I can get on the right public transport but I couldn’t stay that long. People were open to conversation if they spoke English, from the restaurants to the taxi drivers. The only issues I had was trying to convince people I don’t speak Swahili.

10. Victoria of The Stylish Trotter says Japan

I went to Japan solo but meeting people was a breeze with Couchsurfing & I felt so safe. This country is one of the most safest countries in the world because it is indeed safe. Transportation is accessible & easy. People are very cordial in Japan and you don’t feel people staring at you because you are a foreigner and black. It’s a win-win all around in my book.

Oh and one more! It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t suggest one of my own countries right?

Adebola of MyBreakingViews says Singapore

I think ya’ll get tired of me speaking about Singapore. It was the first country I travelled too as a student and to some degree as a solo traveller. As a student, I ended up living there with no trouble for 7 months! Honestly, Singapore has been the most welcoming country for me as a black female! I went back again this year after six years and couldn’t believe how welcoming it was. I wasn’t bothered when I walked around the city by myself.

P.S Get yourself some durian and tell me what you think? hahaha

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What I Learnt on my Solo Travel to Vegas

If I were to say to you that I travelled from Los Angeles to Vegas on my lonesome by bus, would you believe me? Being the traveller that I am, I’m used to taking solo flights across country by myself with the small exception of someone always waiting for me on the other side. This year, I decided that I was going to attend Coachella with some friends who live America, who would then have to go back to their respective homes after the weekend festivities – unfortunately for my dear friends, Americans don’t get the best annual leave entitlements.

One thing I knew for sure though, after an 11-hour flight, a weekend just wouldn’t be enough for me and I wasn’t about to go home that quickly. I decided to stick around and travel solo to Vegas.

From then on, I knew I was going to have to do some travelling alone….

Now don’t get it twisted, I can admit that I may have been slightly dramatic about it at first, I had so many thoughts rushing through my head like, “isn’t it weird to travel by yourself?” or “what good is travelling if its not a shared experience?” let me not forget my personal fave, “who’s going to take my pictures?”which actually didn’t turn out to be too bad, who would’ve known the world had so many budding photographers, believe me when I say they did better than some of my closest friends (I know my friends won’t take offence LOOL)

There is something truly special about traveling alone, I feel like I had enough me time to think through a lot of things, things that would be beneficial to myself, and others around me. It was a refreshing experience and I would like to share the seven things I learnt whilst travelling solo.

When you’re travelling with friends, you tend to spend too much time on entertaining each other rather than socialising and meeting new people. 

Travelling solo brought new confidence within me as I had to encourage myself to speak with the locals, I found that people tend to be more open and friendly when you tell them you’re from abroad and travelling by yourself, they would suggest cool and funky places I should visit during my time there.

Disclaimer – I wouldn’t suggest telling everybody that you are travelling by yourself, remember stranger danger, and not everybody is your friend. Use your discretion wisely.

5 Reason to Travel Solo

Do what you want to do, when you want to do it

Sometimes with friends, you aren’t able to do everything you would like to, as you would also have to take into consideration their wants and needs, which could prove to be difficult to coordinate in a short space of time. There seems to be an endless amount of planning (boring!) then you have those with the ‘assigned/ unassigned’ roles, you have your leaders, your followers, and the unbothered’s who just go with the flow. Travelling alone made me be all of those at once. It was amazing, when I wanted to go home, I went home; I went wherever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to, it was just GREAT!!

It’s empowering

When you travel alone, you can’t rely on someone else to read the map or carefully organise your day, you must do it all.  And it’s easy. you will find out very quickly at every step, that you can rise to the occasion. You have no choice. By making your own plans and caring for yourself, you’ll find you come away stronger, more confident and self-reliant.

Alone time is good for your soul 

Alone time is so therapeutic, naturally, I am an introvert and so is my boyfriend. We have always agreed that this sometimes can be a negative trait. At home, I’m a very distant person, that sometimes it can feel like it’s you against the world. However, when you are alone in another country, you can have time to really connect with yourself away from the bullshit reality that we live day in and day out. It forces you to search your soul. Then come back home with dreams you never knew you even had, its like a deeper spiritual feeling.

New friends are not that hard to come by

Being in America with a British accent really worked to my advantage. It can sometimes be intimidating speaking with new people but if you never try, how will you know where your conversation could lead you. On my way to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas, I met a lovely lady and her mother who took me under their wing for the day. We had such a great time and I don’t regret plucking up the courage to speak with them. I have now met someone who I am very much likely to carry on speaking to for years to come.

Thank God for Social Media

My friends always knew where I was, we made sure to have quick check-ins. Despite being in different countries I knew that if my friends didn’t see an update on social media for more than 48 hours they would begin to worry; a definite plus was that I was in an English-speaking country so no language barriers, and being Daddy’s girl. My dad who also lives in the states was always checking up on me, making sure I wasn’t getting up to no good.

You were born in this world alone, you will die alone, so what’s stopping you from exploring the wonders of this world alone

It may sound a bit harsh but I mean this in the nicest way possible, I feel like people need to remember that you cannot rely on anybody but God and yourself. One of my realisations whilst travelling solo was that I was going to be fine by myself, and guess what I was, I met some beautiful people that I would now consider lifetime friends.

So GO ahead, take the leap, It’s time do real things by yourself, for yourself; If you have a place you’ve wanted to go. Don’t know anyone to go with, look no further, just do it, by yourself and travel solo.

What about yourself, would you ever travel solo, where?

Leave a comment in the description box, and let me know about your experience.

Also Read: How Did I Travel To 15 Countries In 7 Months??

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