Are you comfortable with women travelling alone?

Um, yes. That there is a threat of rape is the issue, not women traveling alone.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I guess that is what troubles me. If a female friend says, I am going to (random unruly place) do I admit I admire her ambition, but try to talk her out of it? Or keep my mouth shut?

I often travel alone in California, and a couple of years ago I took a trip to Sweden alone, basically. I was always in an airport or other public place and never in fear of anything.

I suspect the number of women travelling in relation to the number we read about in the news is probably 100 to 1 in favor of safety.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought I don’t think people should constantly assume threat of rape so it’s nothing to admire if a woman wants to travel alone. Nor should you talk anyone out of traveling.

If they are willing to and careful, sure.

The threat is about the same in Oregon or Sweden or Spain. I wouldn’t talk anyone out of it for fear. It is just common sense, and woman have that in spades over men.

Of course I’m comfortable travelling alone. If not, I would never travel. I know how to be safe though and I’m always aware of my surroundings.

Do I have an alternative?

@janbb :: Live in Saudi Arabia?

If a woman friend told me she was going to Saudi Arabia alone, I would admire her, and feel an obligation to explain to her it was a bad idea. Hence the q.

My wife and a girl friend went to Belize and while there met a woman who was travelling alone. Her boyfriend had backed out on her but she decided to go anyway. They spent a couple of days travelling together and then she continued on her way.

I can say that both my wife and her friend were quite surprised, and pleased, that she had, what they called, the balls to travel alone.

Personally, I admire them because I think it takes a lot more courage for a woman to travel solo than a man. That is the world we live in but thankfully it is changing albeit slowly.

I have traveled alone often and in some VERY dangerous cities. Nothing bad ever happened, the key is to be smart about it, careful, and respect the local custom- I can’t tell you how many women I have seen inappropriately dressed in conservative countries where your’e not supposed to show cleavage, camel toe, and side boob on the street.

I should wait for a male escort before visiting places I want to see? You must be joking.

@glacial do as you are told, woman.

JK!

Well sure. I mean, it’s fairly dangerous to walk out to my car at night alone…but I manage, you know?

In other words, “yes” this is a sexist holdover.

The thought that it is more risky for women to travel alone always crosses my mind and it sucks. What about hitchhiking? I have a male friend who hitchhiked alone though Europe, but I wouldn’t do it alone. I think it sucks that the world is like this. But I have a deep yearning and desire to see the world and what if I can’t find a perfect companion? I don’t want to let that stop me, but the fear is there.

I’m not comfortable with it and that sucks. It should be the same for my niece as my nephew. But it isn’t. Fucking world.

I drove from Michigan to Albany, NY by myself. Does that count?
I was totally fine with it. Everybody else freaked out.
The only issue I had was that my phone wouldn’t charge while I was using the GPS on it, so I had to stop at a Loves in PA to buy a real GPS. My debit card wouldn’t work because the bank noticed that there were a lot of out of state charges on it and they froze it. I was so stressed I started crying. The super nice lady at the store told me that all I had to do was call the bank, it had happened to her before. 1.5 hours later I was back on the road. It’s funny now, but at the time it was awful.
Oh…. And I drove through hurricane Sandy on my way home. It was worse in Ohio than it was in NY. Oy! That was scary.

I think it’s not really sexist, it’s a natural male protective thing. Women are murdered, raped and otherwise abused here in the US so why not travel?

I don’t base my concerns from the sex of a person alone, but by varying degrees of other circumstances. I’ve always been somewhat protective of my younger sisters, but I get just as concerned when my teenage nephew decides to go to the playground alone, or when one of my male buddies tells me he’s going to a rather hostile dive bar for a quick beer.

My argument isn’t that we should not be concerned about the safety of the vulnerable, but the drastic ways that society treats males in distress vs women. I was rather sickened by that one show a couple of years ago (I forgot what it’s called) where they had a woman and a man pose as homeless people. The event was staged, and the aggressors (a group of teens) were actors too. The kids harassed the homeless guy in a crowded public area, and only one guy came to his aid. When the woman was harrassed literally half the town stopped.

What I find sick (yes sick) about this wasn’t the fact that more people came to the woman’s aid than the man’s, but the fact that his safety was of such little concern to others on such a high level when compared to the woman. No wonder so many males grow up being hostile, for we plant the negativity in them. As a person who’s stuck up for both vulnerable men and women my entire life, this macho culture makes me sick.

@Paradox25 Oh yeah, I get that and I’ve seen it, too. The seem to expect more of a man as opposed to a woman.

Here in my city, the mean boys in school used to throw bars of soap really hard out of a car at the homeless men, but never the women. Sometimes the homeless women are raped or beaten here, but they never call the cops, because the cops don’t really care either. It’s very sad.

If she believes she can handle herself like a man then I say let her go. If she ends up getting broke like a shotgun and rode like a mountain bike I guess she picked the wrong place to travel or the wrong time or just had plain old misfortune (some all it bad luck).

Ugh. Just…ugh.

There are people I am so glad I don’t know in real life.

I’m very protective of all the people in my life. And then I’m reminded why.

@KNOWITALL I agree with mens’ rights activist Paul Elam when he states that if men were treated with as much compassion as women are, than by default most women would be better off, and safer for it. Many mens’ rights activists and antifeminists tend to be their own worst enemies.

Maybe I’m a big baby but I absolutely wouldn’t travel alone.

@Valerie111 Hey, if you’re not comfortable don’t do it. Some guys, predators, can pick up on the uncertainty.

^They may even take you down dark hallways :)

Hey, I resemble that remark. Here’s a bird for you. GA.