{"id":4094,"date":"2024-10-17T15:23:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T22:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/?p=4094"},"modified":"2025-11-09T11:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:12:00","slug":"solo-travel-there-are-almost-on-male-solo-travelers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/2024\/10\/17\/solo-travel-there-are-almost-on-male-solo-travelers\/","title":{"rendered":"Solo travel: Almost no male solo travelers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Solo Travel For Men<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>While I never tire of talking about solo travel, I am irritated by the media focus on \u201csolo female travel,\u201d as though there is some requirement to divide travelers into different groups. What about solo travel for men?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surfing the Internet or reading newspaper headlines, you would think that it is only women who travel alone \u2013 or only women who need tips and advice on how to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It doesn\u2019t make sense to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/solotravelerworld.com\/perspectives-on-male-solo-travel\/\">Solo Travel for Men: A Male Perspective<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Update: There are no solo male travelers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Google searches for \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/solo-travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">solo travel<\/a>\u201d have increased by 223 per cent in the last decade, with women representing around 80 per cent of all solo travellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/aTaVd\">The stigma of solo travel and why it can be bad for your mental health<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>According to media stories, women travelers are oppressed, unsafe and cannot travel: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/2025\/10\/29\/solo-travel\/\">Solo travel?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet about 90% of travel stories are written by women, and about women engaged in travel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking around online finds lots and lots of stories of women solo travelers: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.com\/news\/features\/four-award-winning-female-travelers-share-their-favorite-solo-travel-destinations\">Four Award-Winning Female Travelers Share Their Favorite Solo Travel Destinations | TravelPulse<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelagentcentral.com\/your-business\/road-scholar-report-married-women-traveling-solo\">Married Women Are Among Most Common Solo Travelers: Stats | Travel Agent Central<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsday.com\/long-island\/li-life\/solo-travel-dfjvh8dm\">Solo travel becoming more popular&nbsp;\u2014 and seniors, particularly older women, are getting in on the trend &#8211; Newsday<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/03\/opinion\/letters\/women-travel-solo.html\">Opinion | When Women Travel the World Alone &#8211; The New York Times (nytimes.com)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meer.com\/en\/81032-solo-travel-gender-perceptions-and-personal-growth\">Solo travel: gender perceptions and personal growth | Meer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2024-04-13\/solo-travelling-abroad-women-experiences-tips\/103608696\">Travelling solo? Three Australian women share their experiences and tips for going it alone &#8211; ABC News<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/travel\/article-13856645\/Female-American-solo-traveller-Europe-safe-unsafe-Eve-Kovac.html\">I&#8217;m an American female solo traveller&#8230; I love Europe but there is one country I did NOT feel safe in | Daily Mail Online<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelandleisure.com\/best-black-friday-personal-safety-device-deals-2023-8386515\">17 Personal Safety Devices for Solo Travel From $7 (travelandleisure.com)<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelandleisure.com\/best-personal-safety-devices-for-travel-amazon-7967255\">14 Best Personal Safety Devices at Amazon (travelandleisure.com)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/travel\/article\/women-only-trips-are-on-the-rise-but-what-is-their-future\/ar-AA1A9rVy?cvid=23ef2f99b8ab4ef687d457ace43061b6&amp;ei=21\">Women-Only Trips Are On the Rise. But What Is Their Future?<\/a> This lengthy article notes its mostly solo women-only travel now, but then says non-binary and trans individuals might be excluded and they need to be &#8220;inclusive&#8221; (except to actual straight males). Do these writers read what they write?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In this updated list, I found 16 out of the first 18 stories retrieved by Google News are about women traveling &#8211; only 1 on the list was about a solo male traveler: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/2025\/10\/29\/solo-travel\/\">Solo travel? \u2013 Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roadscholar.org\/blog\/travel-solo-with-a-road-scholar-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">separate report from Road Scholar<\/a>, which offers educational travel for older adults, says up to 85 percent of the company\u2019s tour participants that travel solo are women.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>More on the lack of solo male travelers here: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/2024\/09\/20\/do-men-travel-solo\/\">Do Men Travel Solo? \u2013 Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Women dominate global travel and dominate solo travel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Indeed, women\u2019s 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&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rvandplaya.com\/travel-statistics-by-gender-facts-trends-to-know\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RV and Playa<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/michaelgoldstein\/2022\/12\/08\/why-do-women-like-to-travel-more-than-men\/\">Why Do Women Like To Travel More Than Men? (forbes.com)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or may be 85%, by the Roads Scholar report, above.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Then there is this which suggest men are psychologically messed up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>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<\/strong>. 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. <strong>She adds that men also aren\u2019t the most proactive. \u201cSometimes, when left to their own devices, men don\u2019t do things,\u201d she says<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-goods\/2019\/1\/18\/18188581\/women-travel-alone-men\">Why women solo travel more than men | Vox<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another story spin:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>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. <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conversely, for women, solo travel often raises questions: &#8216;Why are you traveling alone? Don\u2019t you have a boyfriend or husband? Kids at home? Do you know anyone in the places you are traveling to?<\/strong>&#8216; Answering these questions can deter solo travel, implying everyone\u2019s concern. Often, it&#8217;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\u2019s concern. At the end of the day, people will assume &#8216;she traveled because she has no child nor husband to take care of,&#8217; instead of &#8216;she traveled because she wants to explore or see more of the world.&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meer.com\/en\/81032-solo-travel-gender-perceptions-and-personal-growth\">Solo travel: gender perceptions and personal growth | Meer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The travel media avoids men. This is bizarre.<\/strong> And not good for the travel media&#8217;s business or for the travel industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thisisplanetpatrick.com\/16-faqs-about-solo-male-travel\/\">16 FAQs about Solo Travel for Men<\/a> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>(The above website has since been deleted &#8211; here is the quote from the original essay)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. Why is so much online content about solo female travel and not about solo male travel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s my view that the niche of \u201csolo male travel\u201d has been slower to develop and I\u2019ve written about it in the article:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thisisplanetpatrick.com\/the-problem-with-solo-male-travel\/\">the problem with solo male travel<\/a>. Plus, I think there ARE specific&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thisisplanetpatrick.com\/issues-for-solo-male-travellers\/\">issues that solo male travellers need to be aware about<\/a>. While I\u2019m talking about previous articles, I\u2019ve highlighted&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thisisplanetpatrick.com\/10-crucial-tips-for-solo-male-travel\/\">10 crucial tips that I think solo male travellers could use<\/a>. I hope you find those useful. In summary, I think there\u2019s a rich seam of information about solo male travel that it\u2019s important to draw out.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In some of his other writing, he argues the travel writing industry &#8211; in seeking new niche markets, has chosen to focus on &#8220;Solo women travel&#8221; and &#8220;Solo LGBTQ+&#8221; 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 &#8211; which, with the data showing there are many more solo women travelers than solo men travelers &#8211; means focusing on solo women. On the flip side, <em>with so many fewer men traveling solo, the industry is leaving an entire market niche untapped.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also <a href=\"https:\/\/treksolo.co\/what-is-solo-male-travel\/\">writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>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\u2019s a rich seam of possibilities here and not just for the industry, but for our brothers whoever they might be.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yet another media story about solo women travelers. Men do not exist. In fact, it appears the travel media industry truly hates men &#8211; this is bizarre. It gets worse &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,25,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-background","category-globally-experienced","category-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}