The Radical Act of Solo Female Travel & Volunteering

One of the more radical things a young woman can do is to trust her own ability to the fullest, not minimizing her own effort, not counting herself out early, or assuming that she is incapable by default. For me, trusting my own ability and thinking that I might be capable meant opening the door to solo traveling, meeting new cultures, and getting to know new flavors and people, cities, lakes, mountains, religions, smells, and ideals.

…But Isn’t Solo Travel Dangerous?

We’ve long been under some universal understanding that solo travel equals danger, particularly for female travelers. Women who travel on their own are often branded as either completely nuts or naive dare-devils.

Historically speaking, women have been convinced that traveling solo is not manageable; the risks outweigh the rewards. But as we move further into the 21st century, where women worldwide are losing hard-fought basic rights over their bodies and lives, is there really anything more radical than believing in yourself and venturing out on your own?

Traveling alone as a woman is by no means easy. I am not going to say that it’s all sandy beach bars and perfectly lit rooftop terraces basked in golden afternoon sunlight and constant smiles.

It’s gritty, it’s raw, it’s demanding, and it’s at times so fatiguing that you’ll break down in a hostel lobby because you dropped your wallet on the floor, the receptionist is asking you something in a language you don’t understand, the AC on the night bus was so cold that you’re still freezing, and oh my god, you are so tired. We’ve all been there.

During my travels, I’ve had to learn to listen to my body, find authenticity in tranquility, and slow down. It’s so easy to get swept up in the travel haze, wanting to check off some imaginary boxes of must-visits.

This can have you hopping from city to city, never really having the chance to immerse yourself in new cultures, which is, in my opinion, why we hit the road in the first place. It’ll also run down your travel budget way faster! Taking some breaks and having two weeks instead of two days in a city will save you some hefty transportation costs.

That’s another argument people usually use to dissuade you from exploring the world: money. Leaving your country and stable income behind is, of course, not cheap, but it doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive. “Okay, you can say that, but how?” you might ask.

The answer lies in a minor compromise: Are you ready to slow down and get a local experience for little to no money in exchange for some of your time? If yes, then volunteering is for you!

“Learning to live in a new country, being a part of a community, and being able to learn a completely different way of life are just some of the things I’ve learned volunteering across the world. My favorite experience was volunteering at a language cafe in Busan, South Korea, and helping Korean people practice English one-on-one. It’s changed my life.”

What Is Volunteering?

Volunteering – or work-exchanging – during your travels is a relatively new way for people to travel without having to save up a hefty budget. A work exchange means you’ll work a couple of hours a day, perhaps with a day or two off, in exchange for room and board. In return, you usually get a shared sleeping space and one to three meals a day, depending on the host.

You can work with everything, from reception work at a hostel in Greece and as a bartender in Berlin to doing maintenance work at a farm in New Zealand and helping stranded baby turtles reach the ocean in Costa Rica. My point is that if you’re ready to sacrifice some of your time, you’ll get to live lives utterly foreign to your own, almost for free.

You’ll get to work with incredible people while learning about other cultures and ways of life, which is very valuable in today’s society when we’re often told of the differences that divide us as people. And not only that – you’ll save all that money you were going to spend on food and accommodation, and you’ll be able to travel longer!

“I started my journey determined to discover new places and succeeded! However, these places embodied and reflected all the people I met along the way.”

I can say with conviction that discovering volunteering has completely changed the trajectory of my life. At nineteen, I lived in Italy, struggled with working permits, and nearly broke in the process.

By twenty-one, I’d learned how to feed chickens and care for avocado plants in rural Costa Rica, fix a broken washing machine in Panama, and cook a proper paella in Northern Spain. I wouldn’t have gotten these lessons and knowledge had I not gone volunteering and met local people eager to share their culture and passions with me—for free!

It feels, at times, almost too good to be true. I’m traveling around Spain and Portugal after two months in Barcelona and have now found myself in the middle of nowhere, Asturias, helping out at a Bed & Breakfast.

For about an hour of daily cleaning, I get a bed, food, and access to mountain bikes and surf equipment for free. It feels like one of those spam emails you get, calling on you to “click the link to get a free vacation!” that’ll get you nothing but even more spam emails. Yet, here I am, watching Fernando, the neighborhood cat, scratching his fur along the bark of the orange trees, perched in front of a postcard-worthy backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean.

How to Get Started with Volunteering

Sounds nice, am I right? If you want to get in on the fun, head over to Worldpackers.com, a worldwide website with volunteering opportunities. A yearly membership will set you back $50, but I’ll tell you a secret: I have never paid that money. As a budget traveler, that just seemed excessive; Fifty bucks? That’s like, what, a week of accommodation?

Not. Instead, I’ve compiled a happy-go-lucky personal letter with information about myself and previous experiences. I have then sent hostels and camps an email asking if they have any volunteer openings. Using Worldpackers is preferable since you can track your requests in the app, and hosts are obligated to get back to you in four days after reaching out, but contacting hosts directly works just as acceptable, and hey, you’ll have saved $50!

“I no longer feel observed or captured. I dare to feel more and more and show the world that I have the freedom to choose between good and bad. We’re all human beings, and I can’t forget that we’re living our lives right here, right now”

Read More: Behind the Scenes of Workaway: Lessons Learned Volunteering on an Italian Farm

Solo Travel and Loneliness

“Won’t it be lonely?” is another question I’ve gotten from solo travel and volunteer-curious people I’ve met. Sure, it can get lonely, but there are ways to deal with that. For example, my friend and I went together during my first ever volunteering. We were volunteering at a Surf & Yoga retreat in Fuerteventura, Spain, and I was endlessly grateful that we got to share that experience with the two of us.

We’d wake up in our glamping tent of a home, do yoga, and hang out together while preparing breakfast for the guests, getting a rare opportunity to connect, talk, and be silent together. It’s unbeatable. After about a week, we had already become friends with the chef, the yoga teacher, and the receptionist, and suddenly, we had a little community that still makes Fuerteventura feel like home, even now, a year and a half later.

Going with a friend is a great way to take the first step to making it that much more accessible, but I can promise you that making friends won’t be an issue at all. People who travel, especially those traveling alone, tend to be very accepting, curious, and, above all, welcoming. Getting to know people is easier than you think, and solo travel is a great way to develop a broader sense of what type of people you’ll want to spend time with when you’re back home.

However, like anywhere, there’ll be people you’ll get along with perfectly and people you would rather die than spend another day with – that’s life. But the beauty of volunteering is that you’ll have to get over it, get over how different you are, how you can’t seem to find shared interests or common ground, and work with each other nevertheless. It’s a skill you’ll be grateful to have later in life when paired with a boring coworker at work or being seated between your in-laws at a wedding, I’m sure.

“I’ve always wanted to volunteer in a hostel during my solo travels and finally did it this year in Panama. It is the best way to stay in a place you love longer without spending too much money on accommodation. You get to live as a local and have a routine, which can be hard if you travel for a long time. I would 100% do it again, but I will ensure the balance of volunteering/personal time is enough.”

Read More: How to Pack Light for Any Length Trip Abroad

What to Avoid when Volunteering

There are some things to look out for when scrolling through Worldpackers in search of your first volunteer experience. I usually follow the same set of rules as when apartment hunting: “quaint but charming hostel” means small motel, “rural eco-farm in development” means 1: bring bug spray and 2: you’ll be sleeping outside, and “social party hostel looking for experienced bartender” means that they’ll accept anyone with a heavy pour and a pulse.

Avoiding bad hosts isn’t tricky; make sure to read the reviews carefully and that you’ve established the amount and nature of work to be done to prevent miscommunication. My best tip is to listen to your intuition; it’s usually right!

The last thing I’ll leave you with is that there will always be reasons not to go. There will always be people out there, people close to you, who’ll talk and talk about the dangers of solo traveling and the costs. No one can decide to go but you. You’ll have to do the most radical thing a young woman can do: trust your intuition, your knowledge, your capability, and do it either way.

Show compassion towards yourself at the more challenging moments, when you’re missing home, scared, or lonely, and have faith in yourself to figure it all out either way. You might be the first woman in your bloodline, in your entire ancestral lineage, to do what you’re doing right now.

You’re prioritizing and choosing yourself, and as a reward, you’ll grow to become a more knowledgeable, free, and authentic person. That’s worth every debate, challenge, and misstep.

Read More:

Author Bio: Klara Larsson is a solo traveler and writer out of Gothenburg, Sweden, who’s search for new experiences has taken her all around the world; from her native Scandinavia, to both South and Central America, on trains all throughout Europe, and to the colorful Middle East. With a passion for volunteering and budget travel, Klara aims to inspire young people to take the step and go traveling!