WHERE ARE ALL THE BLOKEs?
The stats tell us that somewhere between 70 and 85% of solo travellers are females. There's lots of stuff on the internet about this phenomenon. From what I read the recent popularity of solo female travel has been driven by Insta posts that have hashtags like #solofemaletraveler #sheisnotlost #dametraveler and #girlswhotravel. However, there's apparently a lot more to this than Instagram. The literature says it's driven by women of all ages seeking empowerment, asserting their independence and in the case of older women, seeking a sense of freedom they feel they gave up when holding down jobs while raising families. Do some research and you'll come across a trove of information on the phenomenon.
I do quite a bit of solo travel and I've encountered lots of these solo women. Stay in hostels or any accommodation that provides a sense of community and you'll soon see that the numbers I quoted above are not far from the truth. You'll also see an over representation of women in the over 50 age bracket. This isn't all about Gen Z girls working to break down the patriarchy!
Since the end of Covid, I've jumped back into solo travel. I had a 25 year break from heading off on my own and three years ago I took some tentative steps towards seeing if I still had what it took. Funnily enough, I pretty quickly realised I enjoyed it more than the first time around. I'm not entirely sure why I am enjoying it so much. I'll leave that topic for another day.
However, as a male of a certain age, I'm struck by the lack of blokes out there on their own. Almost no young blokes, no middle aged blokes and no old blokes. Although if you go to certain places in South East Asia you'll notice that white middle aged men, usually wearing Birkenstocks and socks are over represented, but that's another topic altogether.
At every level solo travel should be something that's easy for men. First and foremost we have much less to worry about in terms of personal safety. That alone should make the gender balance of solo travel a 50 50 outcome. There's apparently some stats that say men are more likely to be victims of crime than women when travelling, but I wonder how many of those crimes are a consequence of high risk taking behaviour by a certain cohort of the species.
Like any lazy researcher, my first port of call to try and get a hold on this topic was AI. So what does it tell me?
Apparently, men don't like appearing 'uncool' (this fear of looking uncool clearly doesn't apply to the long socks and Birkenstocks brigade) which is an image that men associate with solo male travel. I have also read that men prefer group settings, they find the planning process burdensome and men are less likely to initiate any type of activities than women.
As a member of the brotherhood, all of this is totally depressing. We are living in an age when bro culture and manosphere influencers tell us that men are victims in a world that has been overtaken by woke chicks. The guys who sit around feeling sorry for themselves and taking advice from losers like Andrew Tate and the like might be better served buying a return ticket to the other side of the world rather than sitting in a dark room gaming whilst sucking on a bong and watching porn.
I know from personal experience, that solo travel has made me less afraid of the world. It's also forced me to mix with people from outside my demographic. Given that the vast majority of solo travellers are independently minded women (read woke in the language of Sky News), it's apparent that these girls don't represent a threat to global stability or the western way of life. Likewise meeting people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds reinforces the idea that most of us are rowing the same boat. Sure there's a few castaways out there trying to sink the boat, but they are the minority.
It pays to remind yourself on a regular basis that most people are inherently good. When I took my first post covid trip three years ago, and my first solo trip in decades, I arrived in London on the Heathrow Express. I was more than a little anxious and inadvertently put my debit card into the wrong slot in the ticket machine. This is morning peak hour on the Tube and I've now possibly lost my card and I'm holding up what seems like half of London who want to recharge their Oyster card. A woman at the machine next to me reached into her bag, pulled out a pair of tweezers and retrieved the card. I still think back to the experience every time something goes awry when I'm on my own. I've completed four more solo trips since that one and I have a myriad of great experiences that couldn't have happened unless I was travelling solo.
It's hard to get feedback on this blog, but hopefully as some people read this post they might put together a few thoughts about why men travel less than women and, in particular, why so few men go solo.
If you're thinking about taking the jump into solo travel, I can assure it's much more exciting and stimulating than watching a cabaret show on a cruise whilst sharing stories with your new best friends from Florida about your upcoming joint replacement surgery. Mind you, I have no lived experience of the above scenario, but I can only imagine it's hell on earth.
You can find lots more of my travel blogging here
https://www.travellerspoint.com/users/djscooterman/
