Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips
Equipping Women over 50 to Safely Travel in Confidence
Is fear holding you back from traveling because you don’t have anyone to go with? Are you concerned about being a woman traveling alone? Not sure how to prepare for a solo trip? Do family and friends think you are crazy for even considering solo travel in this day and age?
In this podcast, you will become equipped to travel safely by yourself. You’ll learn things like tactical travel tips and how to prepare for a trip, and how to overcome the fear so you can discover the transformation that travel can bring. My mission is to see more women over 50, empty-nesters, discover how travel can empower them. If you want to enjoy your next travel adventure solo, then start your journey here.
Hi Sister Travelers, I’m Cheryl, solo travel advocate and coach. I spent nearly 20 years putting my family/children first and felt guilty about even considering solo travel at the time. After my divorce and transitioning to an empty nest, I began to rediscover my passion for travel, built confidence in myself, and started to explore again. I have experienced life-changing adventures through travel and I want the same for you.
If you are ready to find freedom through travel and build your confidence while safely navigating new places, then this podcast is for you!
Pack your bags, grab your plane tickets and check one more time for that passport. It’s time to explore the world!
Email: adventuresredheadrambler@gmail.com
Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips
Road Trips Reimagined: Why Solo Car Travel Might Change Your Summer
Freedom calls from the open road, and summer's the perfect time to answer. This practical guide to solo road trips unlocks the joy of spontaneous travel when expensive flights or elaborate planning isn't an option.
Feeling the wanderlust but haven't made summer plans? A solo road trip might be your perfect adventure. Whether you have just a day, a weekend, or a full week to spare, hitting the highway offers unparalleled freedom and flexibility. The beauty lies in simplicity - choose a destination within your preferred driving distance, clear your schedule, and go. Your destination might be centered around a festival, a hiking trail, an antique shop, or simply a city you've always wanted to explore.
Don't let accommodation worries stop you. Beyond traditional hotels, today's solo traveler has numerous options: Airbnbs for homey comfort, camping for nature lovers, or newer female-focused networks like the Host a Sister Facebook groups or the Her House app (which offers background-checked hosts for $25 annually). Safety remains paramount, especially for solo female travelers, so prepare your vehicle thoroughly before departure. Pack essentials like a first aid kit, portable jump starter, tire pump, plenty of water, and a food cooler to save money and provide flexibility in remote areas.
The true magic happens when you embrace the journey itself. Allow time for unexpected discoveries, take breaks when needed, and download entertainment and maps before departing. There's a special kind of meditation that happens on solo drives - time for reflection, prayer, catching up on podcasts, or simply singing at the top of your lungs with no one listening. Ready to feel that freedom? Stop making excuses and start planning your solo road adventure today. I'd love to hear where the road takes you!
Join the Virtual Travel Summit-Infinityland June 7 & 8, June 14 & 15
Sign up: https://toinfinityland.com/travel-summit
ROAD TRIP PACKING LIST:
Instagram @solotraveladventures50
Facebook community: Solo Travel for Women Over 50
https://www.facebook.com/groups/860865768609200
Leave a review:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/solo-travel-adventures-safe-travel-for-women-preparing-for-a-trip-overcoming-fear-travel-tips/id1650161410
on the road again. I just can't wait to get on the road again. I love myself a road trip and hopefully all your may events, such as graduations, weddings all that is hopefully behind you and you have some spare time to plan your own road trip Now. Last week's episode I talked about if you didn't have summer plans, how one of the things you could do was actually go on a road trip. So I want to talk specifically today how to plan a road trip and to get yourself prepared and encouraged for doing just that.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Solo Travel Adventures. I'm Cheryl Esch, your travel coach, who loves to get on the road again, and I do plan to do that in July. But I want to help you plan your next road trip, or maybe it's your first road trip. I encourage you to consider road trips because they are actually something very easy to do. They can also be done very spontaneously. So if, say, you didn't plan anything, any kind of trip coming up and you really want to get away, but you know flying last minute can be rather expensive, so hopping into your car if you have a car, that is, if not, train travel is also beautiful way to travel. But I'm specifically talking about getting on the road in a vehicle that you are driving, and I'm encouraging you to do this solo, especially if it is a last minute decision for you.
Speaker 1:So how do you decide where to go? Well, I want to have you just decide if you're going. First of all, clear schedule and decide when. So, pick a day, pick a weekend, or even a week, if you have it, doing one day or weekend is perfect. It's not too stressful as far as the planning is concerned. So, determining where to go, how far do you want to drive? Ask yourself that how long do you want to be in the car? Is there some place you have always wanted to go to that is within driving distance? I would even make a list of places and then map it out and see how far each destination is, and that might help determine where you're going to go. For example, maybe you don't want to be driving in the car more than two or three hours a day. That may determine where you end up. It also determines, for example, getting out of Texas takes several hours. So if I were to tell myself, oh, I don't want to be in a car more than three hours, I'm not getting out of Texas. To be honest. Well, unless I'm going north to Oklahoma, then I would get out of Texas. So it really does determine. It depends on where you live, first of all, and how far do you want to travel. Maybe you don't like being in a car, but I love being in a car because there's so much time to reflect and think, catch up on podcasts and audiobooks and, you know, listen to some great music and just sing at the top of my lungs when nobody else is around or listening. So those are just some reasons I love a road trip.
Speaker 1:I think there's a freedom involved in taking a road trip as well, and so maybe you've never done a solo road trip and this could be your opportunity right here, to decide to go and take a one day, a weekend or even a week long road trip. So, yes, determine where you're going. Sometimes, determining where you're going might actually be based on an activity that you were interested in. For example, I know many people will travel, will take a road trip because they have a. There's a festival that they want to attend, and so they drive there. It could be a music festival, it could be an arts festival, it could be a Renaissance festival, something of that nature, something that entices you, that you have interest in. There's other festivals hot air, balloon festivals, interest in there's other festivals, hot air balloon festivals there's so many opportunities to, as I said in last week's episode, you know doing local adventures.
Speaker 1:Well, you could take it one step further and still consider those local type of ventures. But is it what? Is it two hour drive from you? Possibly? Yeah, for example, there is a great Renaissance festival here in Texas. There's a few. Actually, I could go to two different cities, but one is about a two hour drive and one is about a three and a half hour drive. So you know those kind of things.
Speaker 1:See if there's something that interests you. Is there an antique shop you want to go explore? In the next town? Over Hiking, is there a hiking trail that you're interested in? But it's, you know it's a few hours away from where you live.
Speaker 1:Possibly, take the time to you know, see if this could turn into a road trip. Maybe you just want to explore a new city, and these are all great reasons and reasons to take a road trip. You know, having that in mind, having that end point in mind, that purpose of why you're going on a road trip is always nice, but sometimes I just take a road trip just to take a road trip. But typically there is an endpoint and you know a destination that I'm striving for and there's a reason I might be going to that destination. So the next thing you want to do, once you've determined where you're going, how long, how far is it going to be, when is it Clear your schedule.
Speaker 1:You'll need to make accommodations, of course, and even though it might be last minute, there are still many opportunities, different ways of accommodation, different types of accommodations. There are, of course, hotels. You might check Airbnbs. Those are typically I don't. There's some that require at least a weekend. They won't do just maybe one night. So just be aware of that. You can go camping, whether you'd like to camp, whether it's in a tent, there might be some cabin camping available where you're going or car camping If you feel comfortable doing that. That saves a lot of money.
Speaker 1:There's also host a sister. It's actually on Facebook. You can reach out to people on that Facebook page and see if a sister will host you in their home. Now there's a couple. There's host a sister US only. There's host a sister 50 plus and then I believe there's one in probably some other countries as well, but there's also a brand new app that I just came across.
Speaker 1:I just finished reading a book, um, called sherbert skies, and it's about a young girl who does a solo adventure, but she has now developed an app called Her House and it is where females will host other females, and it is a membership. It's an app. It's $25 a year US dollars. However, the nice thing about the app is that she does require, if the person is hosting you, that they are background checked so you feel more secure and you feel safe staying in that person's home. Throughout her travels, she actually stayed. Her name is Tess. She stayed with many people in their homes, but I found that, as a female, we often want to feel safe in our surroundings, so she developed this app so you can check it out. Um, it does require you to uh have a membership to search out places, but also those Facebook places. Just be aware those are not vetted, so you will have to do your own vetting.
Speaker 1:Um, maybe you have a friend or a family member in the place where you'reting. Maybe you have a friend or family member in the place where you're going, or a friend of a friend, right. Often that's a nice way to find accommodation. So there's always ways around it. So do not make that your excuse for why you won't take a road trip. We all need to do one of these in our lives, at least solo. Now we get to.
Speaker 1:Next is packing packing essentials. When you are packing for a road trip, obviously you have your regular stuff, but there are some essentials that you want to keep in mind. I do have a road trip packing list that I will try to link in the show notes for you. But just to go over some of that, obviously, making sure your car is ready for a road trip, you know, are your tires good, is your oil changed and that kind of stuff. Is there anything that might need to be fixed? That would be something that you want to make sure you don't want to break down while you're on a road trip. I've had that happen, so you don't want to be there. So some other essentials, obviously and I'll make sure I include this in those show notes. You know, first aid kit. You want to pack a blanket, bungee cords, garbage bags, mace or bear spray, bug repellent, sunscreen, maps. I recommend also multi-tool pocket knife, a portable jump starter. So this is, you know, if your battery dies, you can actually jump your own vehicle without having another vehicle, which I found much safer because if it happened then I wasn't relying on somebody else or waiting, but I also didn't have to worry about who was going to stop and help me possibly right and jump my car and there are lots of kind people out there, trust me, but this just made it easier. A portable air pump for your tires. It also has a tire gauge with it, obviously, lots of water, as I mentioned. Phone chargers, power bank, all those chargers that you might need right Now.
Speaker 1:I also pack food with me. When I do a road trip, I try to pack a cooler. This saves money. You're welcome to eat out, but I always pack snacks. But I also pack a few meals that are things that I can, you know, eat on the road, whether it's sandwiches or some sort of bean dip, something that is kind of quick and easy, and I keep it in a cooler and I try to bring food that might last me about two days on the road without cooking, and then I'll sometimes bring stuff to make if I find that I might end up somewhere where I could use a stove, but always pack food, always pack water, protein bars. All that kind of stuff is important when you're on a road trip Because there might be miles before you see places to eat, depending on where you're going. But once you're on the road, I want you to have fun.
Speaker 1:So some suggestions is to take your time. This is your trip, this is your time. I would say allow plenty of time for exploration. Don't worry about getting to your destination. Make sure you kind of you know, make sure you allow time. As far as buffers Say you're taking a three hour drive, but you know, give yourself four or five to get there, giving your time to stop. You see something exciting along the road. Please take your time. Don't be so rushed to get to your destination. This is when I have found the most exciting things in. When I've done road trips is the unexpected things I hadn't planned. Those have always been the most memorable.
Speaker 1:I also like to allow for rest stops, stopping and stretching, walking. I personally I tend to not have a very strong bladder and so really every hour and a half I personally need to go to the bathroom or get up and stretch. So if you tend to like. Be okay sitting for a long time. Just make sure you're giving yourself enough rest stops and you know breaks for yourself. You start to feel tired. Please pull over. Be flexible Overall. Just flexible in your timing, flexible in your plans. They may not work out as you had hoped and be open. Be open to new opportunities that you might see along the way. Now. I would also recommend, before you hit the road, downloading any podcasts, audiobooks, music or maps beforehand, because, again, you may not, you may get into dead zones with your you know cell phone usage and you want to have that available to you, especially any kind of maps and GPS.
Speaker 1:So where are you going on your road trip this summer? I would love to hear. I am actually headed to Austin, texas, over July 4th weekend here in the US and I have some fun things planned. I have my sister and a friend live in the area, so I will be visiting them and I'm so excited. I haven't been to Austin in a long time and I will share some of that stuff later. But it's a road trip. It's about almost a four hour drive and but I love that time in a car by myself where I can do some reflection, I can be praying, I could be listening to things podcasts, like I mentioned. I like to catch up on those when I drive or when I'm flying, but it's a wonderful time and there's such a freedom. I feel so free when I do a road trip and I want you to feel that same freedom and have that opportunity. So don't make up excuses. I really would encourage you to take a road trip sometime soon and if you haven't planned anything for summer, this is a great way to just kind of get out of town for a little bit and explore and have your own solo adventure this summer.
Speaker 1:Well, sisters, I'm going to be on a virtual travel summit and it begins this weekend, june 7th and 8th, and then June 14th and 15th. So I will be speaking on June 15th in a panel for women, talking about solo travel for women. So I hope you will listen in. You can register and I again will leave the link in the show notes. It is by. It's called Freedom Fest and it's by Infinity Land is hosting it. Wonderful lady, it is pay what you can type of virtual travel summit. So, as you register, just keep that in mind, just helping to incur the cost of what Infinity Land has done. I hope you can listen in, not just to my time, my panel, but there's going to be 35 plus speakers talking on travel, lots of things, nomadic life everything that you dream of about travel will be on there. So go ahead and click the link and get yourself registered right now, because that is coming up. All right, sisters, we'll go have that road trip adventure and I want to hear where you went.
