Travelling solo and overcoming fear
Travelling the world as a solo female can feel daunting, scary, and even something that isn’t possible for you. As a 27yr old woman who has been to 30 countries, I hope reading my stories and experiences can inspire you to find courage through fear and take the steps of seeing this magnificent world.
Throughout my twenties, I have travelled all around Australia, Europe and Central and South America and experienced some of the best days of my life. It had been 4 years since I had left Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic that put our worlds at a standstill. This current trip that I am still on has seen me explore Indonesia, the Philippines and Costa Rica completely by myself. However, with eyes a little more open and a mind a little wiser, it has been interesting and exhausting to navigate some of the negative aspects of travelling as a young, solo woman.
For me, one of the hardest and most frustrating experiences was the constant catcalling and staring from males in each country. The feeling of unsafety this triggered was a conversation another woman and I could strongly relate to. The fundamental feeling of seeking safety in these moments saw our body language become timid, our voices softer and that ‘friendly’ smile every woman knows. In many of the places I visited, the male gaze, inappropriate comments or unwanted attention were a daily occurrence.
This may not be an experience every woman has had, but for me, sexual objectification has been something I've experienced from men since a young age. And at the tender age of 27, it stirred an intense rage inside of me and I knew I couldn’t let these experiences deter me from seeing the world.
It takes a certain bravery to walk along this world as a solo female. From the constant stories the news feeds us, we have grown up hearing stories of women being abducted, raped, and murdered in our backyards and all over the world. These stories build real fear into the souls of women and can prevent us from wanting to explore outside our comfort zones.
Fear manifests all around us. It comes from the people closest to us, in words such as “That country is really dangerous, I don’t think that’s a good idea”, “why don’t you travel somewhere closer to home”, “you’re crazy”, “Aren’t you scared?” “What if this happens, what if that happens?”. Fear is engrained in our society with the over-availability of misinformation and words from people with little experience.
But to live a vibrant life, we must make sacrifices of various sorts. Fear and societal traps and cages are always waiting; too small lives into which women can be lured or pushed. It’s both a privilege and a choice to follow your intuition and live out your wildest dreams. For me, it wasn’t an option to let fear swallow the dreams I had to explore the world and experience the duality of this human life.
No woman can afford to let her creative life hang by a thread. The paths we take to break away from expectations and opinions can only pave even stronger paths for our sisters and future daughters to walk along. I would never tell another woman to forget her deepest desires and ignore the path her intuition was trying to lead her, therefore, why would I do this to myself?
Despite the negative aspects mentioned before, travelling the world by myself is an experience that I will never regret. These past 7 months have gifted me with an incredible sisterhood based all around the world, it has taught me lessons in resilience and connected me closer to nature. It has allowed me a chance to really sit and get to know myself and what I really am capable of, a powerful gift that will serve me for the rest of my life.
With this said, travelling the world isn’t a venture that every woman must or will want to take. But I want you to really dig deep into your soul and if the dream of seeing and experiencing this world makes your heart jump, I urge you to sidestep the enticements of comfortable societal cages and leap into making your dreams a reality.
There is a quote by Thomas Jefferson that says, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done”. When you allow yourself to jump off the cliff of fear you get a chance to experience just how magical this life can be.
By Grace Melita
