THE SOLO TRAVELLER
Your world. Your way.
Your world. Your way.
Photographer Yakobchuk Olena
JUST LANDED
When Jen Willis was a little girl, her grandfather gifted her a brooch – a small ice axe and mountaineering boots. “A little seed was sown, and a dream began to grow – that one day I would climb a mountain,” Jen recalls. Just weeks after standing on the summit of Mount Everest, adventurer, educator and author Jen reflects on resilience, identity, uncertainty, and the long path that carried her there while living with Multiple Sclerosis.
A Q&A with Jen Willis | 9 June 2026
Inspirations
Perspectives
For years, travel agents were treated as a relic of a pre-internet age, with review sites, booking platforms and search engines expected to make them largely redundant. Yet while technology furnished us with unprecedented amounts of information, it could not answer one of the most important questions we ask about our journeys: “Who can I trust?”. It still can’t.
By Michael Webster | Published 6 June 2026
Perspectives
After leaving a successful corporate career during a period marked by anxiety and depression, Bianca Caruana spent years travelling alone through different countries and cultures, searching for something she could not quite define. What began as a journey across borders gradually became a deeper exploration of identity, belonging and the transitions that shape our lives.
A Q&A with Bianca Caruana | Published 4 June 2026
Cultural immersion
One hundred years after her birth, Marilyn Monroe remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring figures. As Los Angeles celebrates her centenary throughout June 2026, visitors are invited to explore the places, stories and legacy of a woman who helped shape one of the most recognisable public personas in modern culture.
Marilyn Monroe in still from the 1954 film River of No Return, published in the 1953 issue of Modern Screen.
By Emily Clarke | 2 June 2026
Risk, Readiness and Respect –
A Confidence and Safety Series
Over nine years guiding hikers in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, Tarik J has watched the same patterns emerge time and again. In this conversation, Tarik shares what solo travellers most commonly underestimate about Mount Toubkal, why preparation matters more than confidence, and how the mountain often reveals far more than physical endurance alone.
A Q&A with Tarik J from Samra Voyages | 31 May 2026
Risk, Readiness and Respect –
A Confidence and Safety Series
Darren Edwards has walked thousands of kilometres across Australian terrain, from well-marked trails to remote and less-defined environments. Darren’s approach to hiking safety is less about fear and more about attentiveness: recognising change early, reassessing honestly, and understanding how small decisions can quietly shape what happens next.
Part 1 of a two-part Q&A with Darren Edwards, Founder of Trail Hiking Australia and the author of ‘Small Things Don't Stay Small: A Practical Guide to Safer Hiking in Australia’. | 27 May 2026
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Risk, Readiness and Respect –
A Confidence and Safety Series
This is the second part of a two-part conversation with Darren Edwards exploring how hiking incidents develop on the trail. Rather than focusing on dramatic mistakes or simplistic conclusions about solo hiking, Darren examines the small decisions, subtle warning signs, and gradual shifts in awareness that can quietly shape outcomes long before a situation becomes critical.
Part 2 of a two-part Q&A with Darren Edwards | 29 May 2026
SPECIAL
FEATURE SERIES
Curated multi-part features and conversations
Beginning 26 May 2026, this ‘Confidence and Safety’ series examines the realities of hiking and trekking safely as a solo traveller, from preparation and planning to awareness, judgement, and decision making on the trail.
A Confidence and Safety Series
Photographer: Alberto Menendez | iStock.
Most explored this week …
Based on the total page views from 29 May–5 June 2026
NEWS AND UPDATES
Links to official travel advice and updates
Australia
United States of America
United Kingdom
Canada
New Zealand
Europe
EXPLORE …
Confidence and Safety
Solo smart, aware, and in control. Thoughtful strategies for travelling solo boldly, wisely, and well.
Health and Wellbeing
Practical guidance for solo travellers to help you stay centred on the road – mind, body, and soul.
Inspirations
Honest and insightful solo traveller stories to inspire your next adventure.
The first 24 hours in an unfamiliar city is always invigorating. From airport halls to the first steps outside, our senses sharpen as we navigate new light, air, smells, and rhythm. We invited members of our international community of solo travellers to share their insights into managing the sensory overload that is ‘Arrival’.
When Goddess Retreats Founder Chelsea Ross couldn’t find a holiday that she wanted for herself, she created one.
Damien Kelly, a 67-year-old retiree, is cycling solo and unsupported across Australia, driven not by distance but by purpose – honouring young lives lost and supporting a foundation built in their memory.
Destinations
Where to next? Discover places that move you, challenge you, and change you, one solo step at a time.
With a long-standing reputation as a classic safari destination, Kenya is emerging as one of the world’s most welcoming and culturally alive destinations. From the capital Nairobi’s year-round festival scene and women-led conservation to a quietly confident food movement, this is a country redefining what meaningful travel looks and feels like.
Departures
Meet the people behind the scenes who have walked the path you may be considering exploring.
Coach travel offers solo travellers the opportunity to move and connect slowly and rediscover the gems along the way. Yvan Lefranc-Morin, an industry insider and experienced solo traveller, shares why coaches remain one of the most generous ways to see Australia and beyond.
Point of View
Travel visionaries answer our ten quick questions about travelling solo.
David’s wanderlust and desire for adventure was ignited at the age of 12 when he embarked on his first international flight, and since then, his passion for travel has only grown. Having ventured to destinations like Colombia, Ecuador, Greenland, the Arctic, and Antarctica, he is well-versed in uncovering new paths and exploring extreme landscapes.
Field Notes
Our curated solo traveller destination snapshots, ‘solo smart’ tips, insights, treasures, and listicles are distilled, direct, and ready when you are.
Perspectives
Thoughtful observations from solo travellers … with no filter.
Tools and Tech
We look at the tools and technology that support solo travellers in practical and meaningful ways.
Here are 10 questions about travelling solo that might be floating around your head, with practical advice to help you move from dreaming to doing.
Stepping away from the algorithm is not an act of rebellion, but of paying attention to the genuine independence and freedom we find when we stop following pre-lived journeys and start trusting the road instead.
From dorm-room guidebooks to data-driven planning, travel tools have evolved. But when efficiency becomes the goal, what becomes of our innately human curiosity and instinct?
DATELINE
First published 5 November 2025
To mark the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth (21 April), The King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace is hosting the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of the late Queen’s fashion ever mounted. Through approximately 200 items, ‘Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style’ charts the remarkable story of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The exhibition runs until 18 October 2026 at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London.
Queen Elizabeth II on Princess Margaret’s Wedding Day, Cecil Beaton, 1960. Image © Cecil Beaton/Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Transitions
Where the ‘business’ of travel meets the soul of our solo journeys.
For British-born, Kathmandu-based Naresh Dahal, travel is his business and his passion. “I often find myself travelling solo, exploring trails, ancient monasteries, and rivers, and even though I am a luxury travel operator, for me, travel is deeply personal, a way to feel present in each moment.”
Fellow Travellers
Celebrating the voices and journeys of solo travellers from around the world.
Anissa was 17 when she took her first solo trip. “I’d been working since I was 15 to save up for it, and I remember it being so much fun. My second solo trip came at 54, and it was a revelation. That trip to Egypt, standing before the pyramids, was a lifetime in the making and a ‘Bucket List’ dream finally fulfilled.”
Plus one …
We travel solo because we love the freedom, but sometimes the occasion calls for company.
Solo travel does not have to mean isolation. Sometimes a shared experience can quietly enrich the road ahead in unexpected ways. Often, the insights we learn about others and ourselves can also inform new directions and destinations we might not have previously considered exploring.
Waypoint. Your journey. Your choice.
Our monthly solo traveller eNewsletter includes insider offers, thoughtful travel finds, and stories that move, crafted especially for those who travel independently and love the world deeply.
