Freedom & Inspiration: What Elaine Lee Loves Most About Solo Travel
- Elaine Lee has traveled solo around the world twice, making her an expert on the pros and cons of exploring by yourself.
- She details the highlights of solo travel and explains that traveling alone doesn’t have to be lonely — there are plenty of friends to make and things to discover along the way!
- For Elaine, travel is a source of healing, especially as a Black woman.
When I travel alone, I’m able to fully release the illusionary control I have on my life and relax into its deeper rhythms. I am able to feel life’s prompting and follow it. Therein, I find the courage to play with my fear of the unknown, especially when visiting new places and trying new things. My motto for this kind of solo vibration voyaging is: “The universe rewards acts of faith.”
Traveling solo, I can really tune in to my location and “rock wit’ da’ riddam” of the place. I’m sure that I learn the languages, terrain, currencies and customs faster than I would have if I had had someone else to depend on.
Solo travel also gives me the time, space and opportunity to truly recalibrate, set new goals, refuel, stop and begin again by giving me the opportunity to focus on and prioritize my own healing and joy.
Creating Connection as a Solo
Traveling alone leads to some amazing personal encounters. I’ve heard solo travelers being referred to as “rolling confessionals” because many people feel safe sharing their innermost secrets with strangers they figure they may never meet again. I’ve been continually amazed with the deep connections and openness I’ve experienced with other travelers and locals during my solo travels.
When I tell women that I have traveled around the world by myself, they usually say to me, “I could never do that,” “I could never get enough money together,” “I could never take that much time off of work” or “I’d be too scared.” I understand where those feelings come from, and at the same time, I know that travel is more accessible, affordable and less threatening than they perceive it to be. Through my freelance writing, books, website, social media and role modeling, I enable women to experience travel as I do, as a form of empowerment, survival and renewal. My successful solo travels allow me to be an inspiration and role model for other women who either can’t find travel partners or for women who just want to go it alone.
Life Lessons Learned Through Solo Travel
Three of my favorite lessons are:
- I am never alone for very long, unless I want to be.
- Outside of my comfort zone is where the magic happens!
- Sisterhood is powerful.
At age 38, I met a group of globetrotters who inspired me to navigate Mother Earth, but I couldn’t find anyone with the time and money as well as similar interests — so I decided to go it alone. I had never seen or met a Black woman who had traveled solo around the world, so I was totally terrified, but one of my gal pals reassured me that money is a replenishable resource, time is not, and that I must take the plunge. So off I went and soon learned what a friendly place the world was and that I was never alone long, unless I wanted to be. I found that within 24 hours of arriving in a new location, I would meet some interesting local or traveler to pal around with.
Community on the Road
In a world as fascinating as ours, there seem to be endless ways to stay engaged with people and activities while staying safe on the road. I have created a travel life that allows me to completely skirt the boredom and loneliness that many solo travelers complain about. As a salsa dancer, I have ready-made communities all over the world. My other motto for solo travel is, “Find your people!” Whatever makes your heart sing, you can almost always find folks in that area that love to do what you love, especially now with social media as a resource.
As a solo traveler, I rarely go to a country where I don't have a local contact. Usually that person makes sure that I have a smart travel plan and arranges for me to meet friends, or they connect me with a local expert. I usually start each adventure to a new city with a half-day exploration to get my bearings. When I’m traveling, I often check out open mic scenes, festivals, farmers markets and flea markets. They are great places to have fun and meet people.
A Lifelong Love of Solo Travel
My very first solo adventure was to the Bahamas at age 23, and I learned early on that sisterhood is really powerful. I found that when women see that you are traveling alone, they often offer to help. I met a woman on the beach in Nassau who invited me to join her on her return to Exuma the next day and stay in her home with her husband. The next day, I joined her on the mail boat and off we went to the island. It was a magnificent cultural immersion. She and I made bread together daily for dinner, she arranged for me to give a talk at the local elementary school, several local women taught me the art of basket weaving and her husband often took me to play dominoes with his friends. Yes, outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens!
If a first-timer is worried about traveling alone, it might be a good idea to start by traveling to a safe, English-speaking country, such as Barbados or Canada. After they’ve had a successful experience, then they can try something more complicated.
At age 73, after two solo adventures around the world and visiting most of the 70 countries I’ve traveled to on my own, one thing I know for sure is that it’s important to be comfortable with solitude, learn to enjoy your own company and most importantly, trust your instincts. When the hairs on my arms say, “Laney, don't go there,” I listen, trust and obey.
Finding Purpose in Solo Travel
I fully understand the blessings and challenges of traveling alone. After completing my first adventure around the world in 1992, I was surprised and saddened at how few Black women solo travelers I encountered, so I decided to create a book for us entitled “Go Girl: The Black Women’s Book of Travel and Adventure” (1997) and its sequel, “Go Girl 2” (2024). I’m grateful and gleeful that my pioneering book was one of the seeds of the modern Black travel movement.
The ability to travel is one of the best ways, if not the best way, to be freed from the cloak of racial oppression. It can be a "Balm in Gilead" that we can gift ourselves to counter the ill effects of living in a society shaped by racial hierarchy. Racism is alive in African American communities across the country. We have the highest rates of divorce, diabetes and obesity as well as higher rates of heart disease, mortality and infant deaths compared to other racial and ethnic groups. It’s important to acknowledge that this does not imply biological inferiority, but is the direct result of our enslaved past, racism and lack of access to quality health care. These harsh realities are an open invitation to find new and exciting ways to bring more peace, joy and fun into our lives. Exploring the world can be one way to do just that.
Elaine Lee is an attorney practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also a freelance travel journalist and editor of “Go Girl: The Black Women’s Book of Travel and Adventure” as well as its sequel “Go Girl 2.” To learn more about her work, visit www.ugogurl.com and/or elaineleeattorney.com.