Solo travel: Almost no male solo travelers

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Solo Travel For Men

While I never tire of talking about solo travel, I am irritated by the media focus on “solo female travel,” as though there is some requirement to divide travelers into different groups. What about solo travel for men?

Surfing the Internet or reading newspaper headlines, you would think that it is only women who travel alone – or only women who need tips and advice on how to do so.

It doesn’t make sense to me.

Solo Travel for Men: A Male Perspective

Update: There are no solo male travelers

Google searches for “solo travel” have increased by 223 per cent in the last decade, with women representing around 80 per cent of all solo travellers.

The stigma of solo travel and why it can be bad for your mental health

According to media stories, women travelers are oppressed, unsafe and cannot travel: Solo travel?

Yet about 90% of travel stories are written by women, and about women engaged in travel.

Looking around online finds lots and lots of stories of women solo travelers:

A separate report from Road Scholar, which offers educational travel for older adults, says up to 85 percent of the company’s tour participants that travel solo are women.

More on the lack of solo male travelers here: Do Men Travel Solo? – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking

Women dominate global travel and dominate solo travel

Indeed, women’s dominance of travel is both startling and decisive. In the U.S., women dominate leisure travel by a 63% to 37% ratio over men. Worldwide there is a similar skew, with 64% of global travelers being female, versus 36% male, according to RV and Playa.

Why Do Women Like To Travel More Than Men? (forbes.com)

Or may be 85%, by the Roads Scholar report, above.

Then there is this which suggest men are psychologically messed up:

Psychologist Lisa Marie Bobby says the relatively low rate of male solo travel has a lot to do with how men relate to their partners. Men, she says, do relationships through activities. Their way of bonding with another person may involve playing video games or going bowling, whereas women bond through conversation and often by simply passing time with one another. So when men think of traveling, they think to do it as a pair or group activity. She adds that men also aren’t the most proactive. “Sometimes, when left to their own devices, men don’t do things,” she says.

Why women solo travel more than men | Vox

Another story spin:

If you saw a man traveling alone, people will think that this person is strong and capable of living on their own. Traveling for men is a sign of strength, independence, and freedom. To conquer new places. Men do not need to prove themselves; traveling is seen as a natural capability. It enhances masculinity, echoing traditional roles where men moved around, hunting.

Conversely, for women, solo travel often raises questions: ‘Why are you traveling alone? Don’t you have a boyfriend or husband? Kids at home? Do you know anyone in the places you are traveling to?‘ Answering these questions can deter solo travel, implying everyone’s concern. Often, it’s assumed she travels because she lacks family responsibilities, not to explore. If you will answer all these questions, you may not go anymore. Just stay where you are. It seems that explaining your intention for traveling is like everybody’s concern. At the end of the day, people will assume ‘she traveled because she has no child nor husband to take care of,’ instead of ‘she traveled because she wants to explore or see more of the world.’

Solo travel: gender perceptions and personal growth | Meer

The travel media avoids men. This is bizarre. And not good for the travel media’s business or for the travel industry.

16 FAQs about Solo Travel for Men

(The above website has since been deleted – here is the quote from the original essay)

7. Why is so much online content about solo female travel and not about solo male travel?

It can seem that a lot of online content about solo travel is focused on solo female travel. It is, and rightly so: countless excellent female content creators have explored and opened up a world of travel content specific to the needs of solo female travellers. I love to read this content, much of which is helpful to solo travellers of any gender.

It’s my view that the niche of “solo male travel” has been slower to develop and I’ve written about it in the article: the problem with solo male travel. Plus, I think there ARE specific issues that solo male travellers need to be aware about. While I’m talking about previous articles, I’ve highlighted 10 crucial tips that I think solo male travellers could use. I hope you find those useful. In summary, I think there’s a rich seam of information about solo male travel that it’s important to draw out.

In some of his other writing, he argues the travel writing industry – in seeking new niche markets, has chosen to focus on “Solo women travel” and “Solo LGBTQ+” travel. Solo straight men travel has ended up on the cutting room floor due it not being a sufficient special niche. A niche focus is helpful to marketing of the travel industry – which, with the data showing there are many more solo women travelers than solo men travelers – means focusing on solo women. On the flip side, with so many fewer men traveling solo, the industry is leaving an entire market niche untapped.

He also writes:

There is an opportunity here for the industry and for content creators like me. If the niche of Solo Female Travel has shown us nothing else (and it really has shone many powerful lights), it is that Solo Female Travel is an overarching category, comfortable with a wide range of sub-categories. If Solo Male Travel can release any residual oppositional forces about who gets to be part of this group, there’s a rich seam of possibilities here and not just for the industry, but for our brothers whoever they might be.