Society tells women a very specific story about aging. It tells us that once the children are grown, the career is peaked, and the hair turns silver, we are supposed to fade quietly into the background. We are supposed to become “invisible.”
To that, I say: Good.
Because while the world wasn’t looking, I was booking a one-way ticket to Lisbon.
If you had told me at 25 that my most adventurous years would begin at 55, I would have laughed. Back then, travel was a chaotic mix of heavy backpacks, cheap hostels, and anxiety. Now? It is silk scarves, direct flights, and the kind of deep, resonant confidence that only comes from living five decades on this earth.
I started this journey because I realized I had spent thirty years being a “we.” I was a wife, a mother, a daughter, an employee. I was the Chief Caretaker of Everyone Else’s Needs. When my youngest left for college and my marriage shifted into a new season of independence, I looked in the mirror and asked: Who am I when nobody needs a snack?
If you are reading this, you are likely asking the same question. You are looking for a solo female travel blogger for women over 50 not because you want to know the top 10 Instagram spots in Bali, but because you want to know if it’s safe, if it’s lonely, and if you are crazy for wanting to go.
Let me answer the last part first: You are not crazy. You are just finally free.
The Superpower of Age: Why 50 beats 20
The travel industry is obsessed with youth. It markets gap years to 20-somethings and cruises to 70-somethings. It ignores the vibrant, powerful demographic in the middle.
But here is the secret I have learned: Traveling solo in your 50s is infinitely better than traveling in your 20s.
1. The Budget Shift
I remember sleeping in train stations in my 20s because I couldn’t afford a hostel. Today, I know the value of a high-thread-count sheet and a concierge. As mature travelers, we often have the financial freedom to prioritize comfort and safety. We don’t have to choose the red-eye flight with three layovers to save $50. We can book the private transfer instead of navigating the confusing bus system at midnight. We have earned the upgrade.
2. The “No” Muscle
This is our greatest asset. Young women are often socialized to be polite, even when they are uncomfortable. They smile through creepy encounters because they don’t want to make a scene.
By 50, that “politeness” filter has largely evaporated. We have a Ph.D. in trusting our gut. If a situation feels off, we leave. If a taxi driver is rude, we get out. We walk through the world with an authority that commands respect rather than invitation.
3. The Cloak of Invisibility
While many women fear becoming “invisible” with age, in travel, it is a superpower. In many cultures, older women are revered as matriarchs. I am rarely hassled by men on the street the way I was in my 30s. instead, I am approached by local women who want to chat, or shopkeepers who want to share a recipe. I am seen as safe. This allows me to move through foreign cities with a freedom and ease that younger women are often denied.
Redefining “Adventure”
As a solo female travel blogger for women over 50, I often have to deprogram my readers from the standard definition of “adventure.”
Adventure does not have to mean bungee jumping in New Zealand (unless you want it to).
At this stage in life, adventure is about immersion, not adrenaline.
My version of adventure is renting a small apartment in Rome for a month and learning how to cook artichokes the proper way. It is sitting in a cafe in Buenos Aires for three hours with a book, watching the world go by, without feeling the guilt that I “should” be seeing a museum.
When we were younger, we traveled to check boxes. We rushed from monument to monument to prove we were there. Now, we travel to feel.
We embrace “Slow Travel.” We know that our knees might not love a 10-hour hike, but our souls love a 2-hour lunch. We value quality over quantity. We would rather see one cathedral deeply than five cathedrals quickly.
Tackling the Fear: The Practical Stuff
I know what you are thinking. This sounds lovely, but I’m terrified.
The fear is real. But fear is just a lack of data. Let’s look at the three biggest hurdles that stop women our age from booking the ticket.
1. Safety
“Isn’t it dangerous?” my friends asked when I went to Morocco alone.
Here is the rule: Arrive by daylight.
I never, ever land in a new city after dark. I always pay extra for a flight that lands at 2:00 PM. This gives me time to find my hotel, get the lay of the land, and find a place for dinner while the sun is up.
I also research the “walkability” of a neighborhood before I book. I want to know that I can walk to a pharmacy, a grocery store, and a cafe safely.
2. The “Table for One” Terror
Dining alone is the number one anxiety for solo travelers. We are conditioned to think eating alone means we have no friends.
Reframe it. A table for one is not a punishment; it is a throne.
Bring a journal or a book (Kindles are great, but a physical book signals to waiters that you are content). Sit at the bar—it is the best place to chat with the bartender or other locals. And remember: No one is looking at you with pity. They are likely looking at you with envy because you are eating your pasta in peace while they argue with their spouse.
3. The Single Supplement
The travel industry loves to penalize us for sleeping alone. Many tours charge a “single supplement” fee of 20-50%.
However, the tide is changing. As a solo female travel blogger for women over 50, I constantly curate lists of tour operators who waive this fee. Or, I negotiate. You would be amazed at what a hotel will do if you simply email them and say, “I am a solo traveler, can you offer a rate for single occupancy?”
Solo vs Lonely
There is a vast difference between being alone and being lonely.
When you travel with a partner or a friend, you live in a bubble. You talk to each other. You look at each other.
When you travel solo, you are forced to turn outward. You are open to the world.
I have had deeper conversations with strangers on trains in Japan than I have had at cocktail parties at home. I have been invited to weddings in India and family dinners in Italy, simply because I was alone and approachable.
And if you crave community, it is there. I often join small day-tours (like a cooking class or a walking history tour) to get my “social fix.” There are also incredible companies now dedicated solely to small groups of women over 50. You can be solo, but together.
The Permission Slip
Here is the truth: You have spent your life waiting.
You waited for the kids to grow up. You waited for the finances to stabilize. You waited for the “right time.”
The right time is now.
Your knees are good enough. Your bank account is ready enough. Your spirit is hungry enough.
Don’t let the fear of the unknown steal the joy of the Second Act. The world is waiting for you, not as a mother, not as a wife, but as you.
So, I’ll ask you the question I ask myself every time I open my laptop to look at flights: Where is the first place you want to go, just for YOU?
