<< Feature Articles >> Suggestions for women travelling alone

Submitted by Runemage on Sunday, 27 August 2017  Page Views: 2256

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Tyrebagger submitted by hamilton : Christmas Eve on a day of snow showers and sunny spells. Accessing Tyrebagger involved negotiating country paths deep in virgin snow, but it proved so worthwhile. A long sunny spell illuminated the Stone Circle to perfection. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Trying to access some of the more isolated ancient places can sometimes be a bit unnerving if you’re a woman travelling alone. One of our members took a year out to travel on a solo tour of the UK, long before the internet made communication, and in some ways safety a lot easier to cope with.

I’ve often thought how wonderful it would be to visit a more isolated site, maybe to check for any alignments at sunset or sunrise, or just to experience the atmosphere at a site outside the usual daily popular visiting times. I’d love to stay at a site overnight and see what inspiration it brings.

Being a woman, these things have always made me hesitate, and whilst it’s highly unlikely that anything would happen to me as a lone visitor, I’m very conscious of the fact that women travelling alone are a pretty rare species, even nowadays.

There’s a big trade-off between solitude and safety and I do sometimes think it would be good to have some female company to share the experience. Meeting other women who share the same interests, particularly quite niche interests like visiting ancient places off the beaten track has always been difficult. On the Megalithic Portal, we are a fairly small group and we live all over the UK, mainland Europe and the world, so meeting up to go and explore sites together isn’t always an easy option, although you are always welcome to ask in our forum.

There are lots of social meet-up apps for people with varying interests, but they often involve joining established groups and fitting in with what they want to do. What I’m looking for is a way to enhance my solo travel with the option of finding new female friends in the area who want to visit the same places as me, at the same time as me.

The internet has widened social communication so much, but as all lone women know, meeting up with strangers online can be dangerous, there’s no way of checking the person you propose to meet will be the person on the website. A web search will find you a few sites for women who like to travel, some help them find other women who are either living in their chosen destination who would be happy to show them around, or are like themselves visiting the area to see the sights and find the more off the beaten track places. For example, one of the more established ones is 5W which seems to cater for more mature members, but it’s not exclusively for women and has fees to join and continue membership.

If you’re in a younger demographic or looking for a travel buddy for gap years, solo jaunts and adventures, one free app called Tourlina is proving popular. It is exclusively for women and is purely for travel friendship meetups. Due to their registration criteria you can be assured that women you could meet have been screened by the team who designed the app, so it feels lot safer than just meeting social media contacts. They have a worldwide network, so no matter where you're travelling to, perhaps to visit an ancient site which is a challenge to get to, you can use the app to connect with other women (local or fellow travellers)who will be in the area when you are travelling.

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Re: Suggestions for women travelling alone by Anonymous on Monday, 28 August 2017
Often l walk alone, to me being solitary is powerful, and what my soul needs. I usually say a protection or ask the angels to guide me.
And tbh l haven't felt afraid in my walks. I plan ahead, let someone know where l am going, although my plans are always flexible
The media have so much influence on people, creating fear based thoughts. I don't listen or read unless l need info for my work. It's freer that way
I recently read about a woman who hitchhikes all over the world and has never had a problem, people are friendly and honest. Don't let the fear win l say
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Re: Suggestions for women travelling alone by AngieLake on Sunday, 27 August 2017
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Interesting article Rune. I travelled alone in Britain from 2001 onwards (more so in the first couple of years), but always managed to find a B&B for the night. Funny, as I'd bought a tent intending to camp out on my travels, but after just two nights' practice in a proper campsite at Croyde in N.Devon, I knew I couldn't do it, as I was listening for noises all night! A bit different than sleeping in a tent with your family. Felt very vulnerable.
However, I did have a great time, and the distances travelled allowed time to visit many interesting stone circles, etc., and dowse them. I bought a good B&B list book, and used that quite often to find accommodation when ready to stop each night. Usually got lucky, and often got a better room cheaper, as it was quite late and no couples were likely to turn up then.
In 2001 I'd booked a very reasonable annexe to a farmhouse near Skaill Bay in Orkney (Mrs Poke), and (doing the long journey in stages) spent a lovely week exploring, passing the Stones of Stenness and Brodgar every day, not to mention Skara Brae which was in walking distance.
The only place I do recall being in at midnight was Callanish/Calanais... I'd met a couple at our B&B breakfast in Ullapool on my way back down the west coast who said they were catching the ferry to Lewis, so I went too, and gave them a lift. At Stornoway Dennie rang Mrs Morrison at the bungalow closest to the stones, and (being a Monday?) we were lucky to get a night's B&B with her and her husband. After an afternoon visiting the stones (and Dennie filming me dowsing on my camcorder) they'd planned to go up to the circle in the night, but probably decided they had something better to do [!] as I was left to make up my mind if I should go alone. Mr Morrison assured me I'd be quite safe, and it was only about 100 yds up the lane, so off I went. In July in Lewis it was not properly dark at midnight, and there was only a chap with a camper van who we'd spoken to earlier by the gate, but I had the circle ALL to myself. It was so magical. It almost seems unreal remembering it. I didn't try to take any photos or film nor did I try dowsing... just standing there experiencing the atmosphere under those towering stones as starry night approached from the east and the golden glow of sunset still illuminated the darkening western skies.
Next day I left Dennie and his Danish girlfriend there, and after visiting Harris, went back to the north end of the island and found a massive room with super people at Aignish. (Arriving late, un-booked, is often lucky!)
I found the ferry journeys to Orkney and Lewis (and Ireland) exciting and uplifting, it is such a lovely way to visit those places, the way the ancestors would have travelled, rather than going by plane (which I hate).
Ireland was quite an adventure, but I had been once in 1999 with friends so I had some idea what to expect. Went there about 5 times in early 2000s. (Mostly travelling with nowhere booked in advance, and getting lucky, and sometimes stayed with a friend as a base for the last few days. At the time of 9/11 in New York I had rented a bungalow for a week, so visited the US Embassy in Dublin to see the floral tributes. I heard about the tragedy as the news broke, at Kildare Cathedral, so went straight back to the Holy Well to say a prayer for the victims. So many Irish were lost, too.)
Edinburgh was a problem once, but I got a very late room at a pub in Currie on my way out. Otherwise, pretty good.
Stonehenge is great on your own, just browsing around and people-watching, etc. Last visit (amazingly 2012?) was at the Motel at Countess roundabout services, though I'd stayed at a B&B in Chiseldon one year [2005?] when there was a fabulous full moon lighting my journey to Stonehenge and hanging over the circle all night, but on other times just drove up and back next day (100 miles each way). That was a magical day, having spent the afternoon dowsing Dragon Hill, Uffington, then Waylands Smithy, with the beautiful walk along

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