10 Best Books for Fearless (or Hesitant) Female Solo Travelers
Solo traveling as a woman is a bold endeavor. As much as we all wish certain dangers could be removed from the world, we also understand the risks and realities women face when traveling alone. But life is meant to be lived and lived to the fullest.
Female solo travel is an increasingly popular topic because the women who have braved the open road, a new country, or a new adventure on their own, typically come out on the other side more enlightened, experienced, and courageous.
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” — Susan Sontag
But don’t just take our word for it. Read it in the words of 10 different female solo travelers who braved some part of this big, wide world on their own and not only lived to tell the tale — but were changed by their adventures.
Kick off your wanderlust with the 10 best books for fearless or hesitant female solo travelers!
Best Books for Female Solo Travelers
10) Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents
Elisabeth Eaves' memoir is unlike any other travel book you’ve read. It's not your typical “I went on vacation and this happened!" Instead, she focuses heavily on relationships with people that she met along the way while still taking plenty of time for adventure - from trekking through jungle landscapes to navigating chaos and back home again! Her writing has an enchanting quality about it and you’ll find yourself yearning by the end of the page to travel the world.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: Wanderlust
9) Meeting Faith: the Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun
When a young woman from the largely white Yakima Valley arrives at Harvard University with dreams of becoming an international development worker, she finds herself adrift and decides to explore her options. She journeys through Southeast Asia before finally settling down in Thailand where she writes The Forest Journals, which document life inside Wat Phra Singh Temple — a mountain temple with its surrounding forests. The silence at the temple is even more isolating and mystifying than trying to find her place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But Adiele finds herself through a sense of purpose she can't shake off or ignore anymore.
Where to find this book for female solo travelers: Meeting Faith
8) The Valleys of the Assassins
Stark’s travels into the rugged mountains between Iraq and Iran are chronicled in her book, The Valleys of Assassin. Her writing is vivid as she recounts tales of fate that led to her having little control over what would happen next or how long she would be able to last before succumbing to obstacles — like being nourished by milkable meat during her journey through dangerous grounds. Imagine being a single woman in the 1930s and exploring places few others would dare to go. That's what Stark did, despite being trained as both an academician with credentials from Harvard University (BA) or Johns Hopkins Medical School (MS). Her travels took her all around Middle Eastern countries in spite of the fact that she should only have been able to travel freely after marriage!
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: The Valleys of the Assassins
7) Eat, Pray, Love
In her 2006 memoir, the novelist and journalist Elizabeth Gilbert chronicled a journey across Italy, India & Indonesia following her divorce. She's a self-confessed lazy traveler who tends to stick out like a sore thumb but can make friends with almost anybody — this defining characteristic makes travel easier for anyone looking to immerse themselves in new cultures and amongst new crowds! Her travels have a magical quality; everything she wishes for or desires seems to come true without any hassle at all, which makes it quite an enticing read.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: Eat, Pray, Love
6) The Nomad: The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt
Isabelle Eberhardt was a freedom-loving woman who lived life on her own terms, even when it came to how she looked. When Isabelle turned 27, she wasn't recognized as female anymore in Geneva because of traditional Swiss culture which suppressed women's liberation movements such as suffrage or divorce law reform. This prompted her to move abroad for work opportunities, ultimately landing in Algeria with no companionship and a few masculine traits one might expect from an Eastern European male traveler. The adventurous 27-year old set out into uncharted territory — the Sahara Desert — dressed as a man with a full beard and mustache.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: The Nomad
5) Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
This heart-wrenching memoir about one woman’s journey to find herself takes place over 1,000 miles of hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail. When she was 26 years old and had just lost her mother, who happened to also be an inspiration in life for this project, the author penned this cathartic work. Its themes include grief, however, what shines through each page are Strayed's raw emotions. She hikes with weighty personal and physical baggage while reflecting over past experiences as well present-day struggles — all while attempting to resurrect and heal her broken spirit.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: Wild
4) Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback
Robyn Davidson’s book, Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback is an account from her journey through the Australian desert to its coast with four camels and one dog in tow. Along this path she fell deeply in love with what challenged her body, mind, and spirit more than anything else she had experienced before; learning strengths she never knew existed.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: Tracks
3) A House in the Sky
When Amanda Lindhout was just a teenager, she started saving every penny so that she could travel around the world, eventually picking up languages and exploring different cultures. But it wasn't until 2008 when this adventurous Canadian lady traveled to war-torn Somalia where things took an unexpected turn for her own safety — while also showing her frontiers not yet explored in herself and the lands that lay before her. She was even kidnapped by pirates!
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: A House in the Sky
2) A Handful of Honey
Annie Hawes is on an adventure to find a small oasis town deep in the Sahara Desert. Sounds easy enough? Traveling through Morocco and Algeria, like her answer for everything was "yes": yes, I will eat that; yes, I will go there. Finally, at long last after many adventures, including one where they discover their Saharan paradise (but also learn more about themselves), Annie arrives home safe and much wiser. The treat of this adventure travel memoir is the writing itself.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: A Handful of Honey
1) Paradise Road
A restless child of the 1960s, Marilyn yearns for love, hippiedom, and escape from her mother’s control. At 14, she runs nearly a thousand miles away to Vancouver, British Columbia, eventually landing herself in a Catholic home for troubled girls. At 16, she’s emancipated, navigating adulthood without a high school diploma, and craving a soulmate. When she falls in love with Jack, the grad student living next door, life finally seems perfect. The two embark on a cross-continental bicycle trip, headed for South America, but before they reach Mexico, Jack dies. Utterly shattered, Marilyn does the hardest thing she can imagine: a solo bicycle trip, part tribute, part life test. She conquers her fears but goes wildly off course, chasing her heart as she falls into a series of tragicomic rebounds. Two itinerant years later, a chain of events in Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains leads to a peace she never expected to find.
Where to get this book for female solo travelers: Paradise Road
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