“So you travel . . . only?” asked the woman sitting next to me in halting, but intuitive English, as we sat in the packed compartment on a train speeding through Moroccan farmland. We were the sole unveiled, accompanied women in the car.
I enjoyed this story about solo travel in Morocco, a place I'm not sure I'd have the courage travel alone.
Read more: Alone, a Western woman sees the sights
Solo travel has its pros and cons. But so does travel with friends or a partner, as a story in an Australian newspaper points out.
Yes, there's comfort and safety in traveling with someone you know. But at the same time, "Being around the same people constantly can be a source of frustration," wrote Courtney Taylor.
She takes each situation – traveling with friends, traveling with a partner and traveling solo – and writes about "why you'll love it" and "why it will drive you crazy."
Read more: Choosing to travel with friends, partner or solo
In a story about 29-year-old Shannon O'Donnell's solo travel around the world, O'Donnell talks about risks, her family's concerns about her safety and her rules for staying safe. She says she has been "aggressively groped" three times in her life.
In Jordan. In India. And in Los Angeles. The kicker is, "in all three instances I had men and friends nearby and it didn't stop the harassment."
The incidents didn't define her travel experiences, she said. But they did remind her that societies' view of women, "has a long way to go."
Read more: The Truth about Travelling Alone as a Woman, from an Australian website
Photo: Beatriz Posada
Boldly Go Solo 
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