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Speaker 1: You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast. Mamma Mea acknowledges

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Speaker 1: the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast

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Speaker 1: is recorded on. Hi. I'm Claire Murphy and welcome to

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Speaker 1: the summer series of Mamma MIA's twice daily news podcast,

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Speaker 1: The Quickie. Since the world reopened to traveler's post pandemic,

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Speaker 1: more women are choosing to go solo on adventures around

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Speaker 1: the globe. But where are the best places to go

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Speaker 1: as a solo lady traveler? And what do you need

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Speaker 1: to know about visiting certain countries without someone by your side?

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Speaker 1: Today we speak to two travel experts, one who specifies

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Speaker 1: in solo travel and the other who's done a solo

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Speaker 1: round the world trip herself. We learn from those in

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Speaker 1: the know how to get into the world on our own.

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Speaker 1: The world of travel is experiencing a significant shift right now,

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Speaker 1: with more women than ever choosing to embark on solo adventures.

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Speaker 1: It's been steadily growing over the past decade, fueled by

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Speaker 1: a combination of increased financial independence, a design for personal growth,

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Speaker 1: and the empowering message that women can and should explore

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Speaker 1: the world on their own terms. It's something Julia Roberts

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Speaker 1: told us all about when the movie of the wildly

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Speaker 1: popular book Eat Pray, Love came out all the way

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Speaker 1: back in twenty ten.

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Speaker 2: I am going to Italy.

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Speaker 3: Italy. Why Italy?

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Speaker 1: What did you have for lunch today? I don't know

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Speaker 1: so exactly.

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Speaker 2: I used to have this appetite for food for my life,

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Speaker 2: and it has just gone. I want to go someplaces

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Speaker 2: where I can marvel at something, language, gelato, spaghetti, something.

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Speaker 3: You're talking like a college care Well, you know.

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Speaker 2: I've been acting like one since I was fifteen. I've

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Speaker 2: either been with a guy or breaking up with a guy.

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Speaker 2: I have not given myself two weeks of a breather

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Speaker 2: to just deal with you know myself.

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Speaker 1: That solo female travel is not just a passing fad.

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Speaker 1: It's a movement that's reshaping the tourism industry. According to

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Speaker 1: recent studies, searchers for solo female travel have increased by

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Speaker 1: over fifty percent in just the past few years, and

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Speaker 1: this surgeon interest has prompted travel companies to create tailored

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Speaker 1: experiences specifically for women traveling alone. Cassandra Cord is Around

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Speaker 1: the World specialist at Flight Center and an avid solo

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Speaker 1: traveler who decided to add a few stops on the

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Speaker 1: way home to visit her family in Canada. So, Cassie,

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Speaker 1: what motivated you to do your round the World trip

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Speaker 1: solo as opposed to maybe grabbing a friend or a

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Speaker 1: couple of friends to do it with you.

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Speaker 4: Well, we discuss, you know, friend traveling together. We never

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Speaker 4: got out of the group chat. So I thought, you know,

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Speaker 4: just got to do it. You can't wait for people

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Speaker 4: to come with you. But also the purpose of that

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Speaker 4: trip was to go home for Christmas, so I just

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Speaker 4: thought it would make the most of it and stop

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Speaker 4: two different destinations along the way because going to Canada

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Speaker 4: from Australia so far away, so I figured, you know,

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Speaker 4: doing a bit of traveling seeing family, it was a

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Speaker 4: good option.

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Speaker 1: Sounds ideal, all right, So talk me through the decisions

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Speaker 1: on where to stop. Where did you decide to stop

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Speaker 1: along the way, and why did you choose those destinations.

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Speaker 4: It's hard to do because obviously our travel bucket list

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Speaker 4: is always so long. Tokyo was always a place I

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Speaker 4: wanted to go to because I've met a lot of

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Speaker 4: people from there. They were always such lovely, kind, polite

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Speaker 4: people and you know, sharing their culture and their countries

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Speaker 4: and the food and I always wanted to experience it myself,

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Speaker 4: so I thought that was a good idea to do

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Speaker 4: a first stop in Tokyo for my stop in Asia

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Speaker 4: because it is needed on around the world ticket.

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Speaker 3: And I found that Tokyo was.

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Speaker 4: Extremely easy to plan as a solo traveler, so lots

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Speaker 4: of options of hotels, everything is so well connected with

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Speaker 4: public transport and extremely safe. Definitely definitely a command Tokyo.

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Speaker 4: If you're still a traveler and you're a bit nervous,

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Speaker 4: I know you've been there recently, did you exchange the same?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely?

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Speaker 4: Did.

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Speaker 1: It was exactly as you described. It felt very well connected,

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Speaker 1: like you were never stranded anywhere, and it was always

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Speaker 1: quite busy for people who are very helpful and very polite,

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Speaker 1: and everything's very organized. So for a solo travel it's

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Speaker 1: definitely ideal.

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Speaker 3: Oh that's awesome.

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Speaker 4: I found everyone was so helpful, everything is on time,

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Speaker 4: everything makes sense.

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Speaker 1: So where did you go from Tokyo?

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Speaker 4: So then from Tokyo, I went to Barcelona and I

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Speaker 4: did the six nights in Barcelona, which, to be honest,

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Speaker 4: probably wasn't enough.

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Speaker 1: I've heard so many wonderful things about Barcelona and Spain

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Speaker 1: in general. To be honest, Can you give us an

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Speaker 1: idea of what it was like for you on your

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Speaker 1: own in that city.

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Speaker 4: Yeah? Absolutely, I felt like Barcelona was just buzzing. There's

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Speaker 4: just such a fun vibe. Rather it's early in the morning,

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Speaker 4: there's so much to do to go explore, you know,

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Speaker 4: so many museums if you're you know, interested in architectures,

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Speaker 4: obviously with all of the buildings, you know that's gouty

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Speaker 4: design and build there's so much to do early in

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Speaker 4: the morning. And then if you love the nightlife and

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Speaker 4: the later activities, late dinners, drinks, there's just so many

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Speaker 4: things to do. So I felt like there's really a

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Speaker 4: lot of attractions and so many things to do for

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Speaker 4: different types of travelers. And I felt like Barcelona just

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Speaker 4: had something to offer for everyone.

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Speaker 1: All right, So from Spain to where.

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Speaker 3: To Montreal back home?

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Speaker 1: So tell me about Montreal. I know you're there and

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Speaker 1: you're with your family, so it's not quite solo adventure.

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Speaker 1: But what would you say to someone who was thinking

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Speaker 1: of traveling to Montreal by themselves.

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Speaker 4: Oh, I definitely recommended. Montreal is a very fun city.

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Speaker 4: There is a lot of things happening, especially seasonally. So

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Speaker 4: if you you know, love nature, for example, going during

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Speaker 4: the color changing season, so September October. If you're active

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Speaker 4: and you love going for hiking. If you get out

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Speaker 4: of Montreal a little bit, there's so many beautiful options

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Speaker 4: for that. You know, some really pretty hotels along lakes,

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Speaker 4: so very nature focused. People will definitely have lots to

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Speaker 4: do there. If you love this city, live city vibe.

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Speaker 4: In the summer. Montreal has so many festivals, especially music festivals,

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Speaker 4: so the quite famous Jazz and Blues festival. There's a

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Speaker 4: comedy festival as well. It's very multicultural, which I love.

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Speaker 4: You can experience, you know, various different food and there's

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Speaker 4: so many things to do. I would definitely recommend renting

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Speaker 4: a car and driving through the Laurentians, so to go

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Speaker 4: from Montreal to Ottawa, for example, there's a lot of

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Speaker 4: really fun things to do along the way. And I

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Speaker 4: don't know if you saw on social media recently, it's

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Speaker 4: popping up everywhere. There's a new sort of cabin that

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Speaker 4: you can rent and you can look at the wolves

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Speaker 4: or the bears.

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Speaker 1: Have you seen this, Oh no, so you've sort of

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Speaker 1: dropped into the middle of their territory so you can

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Speaker 1: view them safely.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, So it's at Park Omega it's called it's a

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Speaker 4: very famous, big park, very sort of conscious around how

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Speaker 4: they look after their animals, so it's not a zoo,

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Speaker 4: it's more of a park. So you actually drive through

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Speaker 4: and you can feed the deers and a lot of

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Speaker 4: different animals. You can give them carrots, so it's very fun.

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Speaker 4: And then they build cabins on that territory, so on

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Speaker 4: that land there, so you can obviously, yes very safely

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Speaker 4: view the bears or the wolves.

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Speaker 3: So that's a really.

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Speaker 4: Fun activity to do on your way to Ottawa, with

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Speaker 4: of course a stop at the Fairmount Chateau Montebello.

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Speaker 3: That would be my top tip.

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Speaker 4: Very beautiful hotel, and lots of activities to do on

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Speaker 4: site as well.

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Speaker 1: At any stage, did you feel because I think the

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Speaker 1: biggest thing about women in particular traveling solo is that

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Speaker 1: idea that you might find yourself in a situation where

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Speaker 1: you feel unsafe. Did you feel unsafe at any stage

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Speaker 1: on your travels?

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Speaker 4: I can only remember one time in Barcelona. It was

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Speaker 4: late at night and I was walking from you know,

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Speaker 4: one comedy club to another. There was a few people following,

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Speaker 4: you know, from a little distance behind, and I ended

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Speaker 4: up walking into a few streets that were a bit

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Speaker 4: darker than other streets.

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Speaker 3: So I got a little stooped.

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Speaker 4: For a sec just thinking, because you know, obviously it's

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Speaker 4: always on the top of your mind to be safe,

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Speaker 4: and when you're still look traveling and your female and

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Speaker 4: it's late at night, but I just my phone out

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Speaker 4: in my hands, you know, was kind of making quick

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Speaker 4: call to my girlfriend because by that time in Australia

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Speaker 4: their time, so just walking confidently, and then when I

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Speaker 4: had a chance, making a little detour just in.

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Speaker 3: The streets that are a bit busier and a bit.

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Speaker 4: More bright, I found that was an easy fix and

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Speaker 4: I felt quite safe.

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Speaker 1: What would you say the benefits were for you travel

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Speaker 1: by yourself as opposed to say traveling with a friend.

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Speaker 4: Oh, it definitely has pros and cons. The pros would

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Speaker 4: say is I can really do what I want when

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Speaker 4: I want, so there's no compromise to you know, making

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Speaker 4: sure everyone is happy. So I think solo traveling is great.

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Speaker 4: I can kind of make plans last minute and change

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Speaker 4: my plans and decide to go somewhere and meet some people,

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Speaker 4: go along with them, and just yeah, be a bit

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Speaker 4: more spontaneous.

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Speaker 1: What about the cons of solo travel. Did you find

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Speaker 1: it difficult to get around or is it just not

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Speaker 1: having someone else to kind of rely on to help

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Speaker 1: you in situations?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's more sharing moments with someone is

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Speaker 4: always fun. To be able to go back and say,

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Speaker 4: oh my gosh, you remember when we were there and

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Speaker 4: we did this, that was so much fun. It's not

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Speaker 4: the same when you tell people I did this thing

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Speaker 4: and it was so great. Look at this photo, you know.

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Speaker 4: I think that's the main thing, is just being able

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Speaker 4: to share those fun experiences with someone, which is why,

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Speaker 4: looking back now, I would have definitely joined a small

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Speaker 4: group tour to do more in the cities and just

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Speaker 4: kind of have a bit more of that social aspect.

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Speaker 4: It's not enough of a con to not do it again.

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Speaker 1: For many women, solo travel represents freedom and self discovery.

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Speaker 1: It's an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone,

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Speaker 1: challenge yourself, and gain a new perspective on life. One

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Speaker 1: solo traveler said that setting out by herself allowed her

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Speaker 1: to be selfish in the best possible way, saying, I

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Speaker 1: can do what I want, when I want without having

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Speaker 1: to compromise the benefits of solo travel are numerous. Women

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Speaker 1: report increased confidence, improved problem solving skills, and a greater

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Speaker 1: sense of independence. Many also find that it opens up

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Speaker 1: more opportunities for authentic cultural experiences and meaningful connections with

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Speaker 1: locals and fellow travelers. However, solo travel isn't without its challenges.

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Speaker 1: Safety concerns remain a top priority for many women. While

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Speaker 1: the vast majority of solo female travelers report positive experiences,

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Speaker 1: it's important to acknowledge that women often face unique risks

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Speaker 1: and considerations when exploring the world alone. Another potential downside

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Speaker 1: is the cost Single supplements can make solo travel more expensive,

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Speaker 1: as many accommodations and tours are priced for double occupancy.

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Speaker 1: Loneliness can also be a factor, particularly on longer trips

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Speaker 1: or in more remote destinations. Despite these challenges, though, the

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Speaker 1: solo female travel market continues to grow and travel companies

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Speaker 1: are taking notice, with many now offering specialized tours and

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Speaker 1: services catering specifically to women. Emma McCallum is the director

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Speaker 1: of Portmanteau Travel. Emma, what destinations would you recommend for

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Speaker 1: women who are just starting out in the solo travel adventure?

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Speaker 5: There are quite a few destinations that are considered better

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Speaker 5: I suppose for solo female travelers, mainly to do with safety,

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Speaker 5: but also to do with cultural acceptance and some as

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Speaker 5: well because of I suppose ease of navigation. I always

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Speaker 5: recommend around eight to ten fabulous places that I think

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Speaker 5: are really fantastic for solo travelers in terms of what

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Speaker 5: they can see and do, but also obviously taking that

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Speaker 5: sort of safety aspect into account. So things like self

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Speaker 5: driving in Iceland, especially on a Golden Circle, people seem

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Speaker 5: to absolutely love that. Maybe a European river cruise, trekking

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Speaker 5: through the Scottish Highlands. If you like walking and trekking,

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Speaker 5: then there's always some guided tours which are always super

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Speaker 5: super popular, things like guerrilla trekking maybe in nature hiking

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Speaker 5: holiday in Italy and the Dolomites. But then there's also

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Speaker 5: lots of different things closer to home, and obviously those

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Speaker 5: can be super safe because people feel more comfortable at home.

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Speaker 5: So there's so many different areas that people can travel

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Speaker 5: to on their own in this part of the world.

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Speaker 1: You've kind of touched on this already with safety and

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Speaker 1: cultural acceptance areas. Is there anywhere that we should maybe

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Speaker 1: avoid as a woman, if you're traveling solo.

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Speaker 5: I always suggest people of avoid places that they don't

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Speaker 5: know very well and they haven't searched very well. It's

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Speaker 5: very difficult to go to places whereby you're not absolutely

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Speaker 5: sure of the customs, and if you get something wrong

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Speaker 5: and you walk into a church or a temple without

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Speaker 5: covering your shoulders, it can be extremely embarrassing and not

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Speaker 5: really a very nice experience.

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Speaker 3: I suppose.

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Speaker 5: The other thing is if you don't know a place,

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Speaker 5: then always always grab a taxi, if in doubt, grab

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Speaker 5: a cab. It's much much better to keep yourself safe, especially.

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Speaker 3: When you don't know the area really well.

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Speaker 5: But it's about research really, It's very very important I

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Speaker 5: think for solo travelers to do an enormous amount of

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Speaker 5: research so that they can understand customs, culture and places.

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Speaker 1: To avoid Himma, why do you think there's been a

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Speaker 1: rise in women traveling by themselves? Because traveling solo is

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Speaker 1: not always the cheapest option, because you do pay a

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Speaker 1: little bit more to stay by yourself sometimes, and of

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Speaker 1: course you've mentioned some of the obvious risks to to

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Speaker 1: safety concern So why do you think more women are

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Speaker 1: hitting out out solo?

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Speaker 5: I think COVID has had a huge amount to do

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Speaker 5: with it. I think we all appreciate freedom and flexibility

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Speaker 5: so much more since all being cooped up. I think

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Speaker 5: it's made us appreciate the world. I think it's made

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Speaker 5: us open our minds to think about doing different things.

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Speaker 5: And I also think that through COVID, people thought a

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Speaker 5: lot about themselves personally and potentially personal growth and what

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Speaker 5: traveling on your own could do for that personal growth. Obviously,

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Speaker 5: convenience of traveling alone is great, it's flexible, it's based

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Speaker 5: only around, you know, dealing with dynamics, especially again with

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Speaker 5: people cooped up during COVID families of you know, four

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Speaker 5: or five sixty seven. However, many family dynamics probably made

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Speaker 5: people think I'm going to get away on my own. Also,

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Speaker 5: being solo means you're going to interact with locals a

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Speaker 5: lot more, certainly more than you would if you were

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Speaker 5: in a group or with your family. So that really

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Speaker 5: enriches experience and I think makes holidays really special on authentic.

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Speaker 5: But I guess the main reason there has been such

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Speaker 5: a surge is because so many people now work from home.

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Speaker 5: So the idea of a workation is something that people

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Speaker 5: are really excited about because they can be anywhere in

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Speaker 5: the world and work just as efficiently as if there

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Speaker 5: were somewhere else, which means people are thinking more about

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Speaker 5: traveling all the time.

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Speaker 1: Right, so we've seen more people pagging the laptop and

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Speaker 1: enjoying a destination as well as getting some workouts in.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, how good's life become?

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Speaker 1: That is really interesting. Now we've mentioned that obviously safety

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Speaker 1: concerns are something that we need to keep in mind

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Speaker 1: as solo female travelers, but I mean, we need to

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Speaker 1: keep that in mind wherever we are in the world,

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Speaker 1: even if we're at home. Let's be honest, but are

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Speaker 1: there other cons to traveling as a single person.

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Speaker 5: People generally don't like going in group tours on their own.

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Speaker 5: They don't like going on private tours on their own.

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Speaker 5: But it's very very easy to get over that once

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Speaker 5: you've done at once you realize how great it is

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Speaker 5: being alone and how much more you learn about a

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Speaker 5: place being on your own. Eating alone is another one

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Speaker 5: people really don't like. I remember not liking eating alone

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Speaker 5: for a long long time, and then I had a

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Speaker 5: job whereby I had to travel a lot, and I

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Speaker 5: was always eating alone, and I got to absolutely love it.

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Speaker 5: I got all dressed up, went down to the hotel restaurant,

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Speaker 5: sat in the bar, had a nice drink with my

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Speaker 5: magazine or book, and just try to embrace it. But

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Speaker 5: I think it's really nice if you're on your own

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Speaker 5: on a trip to enjoy the atmosphere and chat with locals,

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Speaker 5: try and get a feeling for the culture, immerse yourself

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Speaker 5: in it, because basically that's probably why you're there.

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Speaker 1: Ima. Just finally, you've done a fair bit of travel yourself,

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Speaker 1: what's an experience that you think you would recommend that

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Speaker 1: you've done personally for a solo woman out there in

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Speaker 1: the world.

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Speaker 5: It does come down to budget if you're asking for

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Speaker 5: a specific location or experience, but just to generalize it

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Speaker 5: a little bit so that it's not too focused on budget.

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Speaker 5: I would always always suggest some kind of trip organized

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Speaker 5: around animals or around nature and find some fantastic guide

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Speaker 5: through a lot of research, and I think that those

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Speaker 5: types of holidays are so fantastic in terms of cultural experience,

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Speaker 5: and if you've got a guide with you that's local,

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Speaker 5: you're going to feel so comfortable. I mean, my biggest

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Speaker 5: tip in the whole world would be the Galapagus, but

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Speaker 5: it's a very very very long way away, and nature

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Speaker 5: hiking holidays maybe in somewhere like Dolomites or even New

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Speaker 5: Zealand Alpine crossing trek in New Zealand, something that's great

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Speaker 5: to do. Again a bit of a larger budget go

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Speaker 5: on a specialized cruise, so for example with Galapagos or

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Speaker 5: Top to cour It is better anyway to go on

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Speaker 5: a boat. You do see a lot more and you're

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Speaker 5: going to get that safety aspect there being on an

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Speaker 5: enclosed place with lots and lots of staff around you

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Speaker 5: the whole time.

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Speaker 1: The rise of social media has played a significant role

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Speaker 1: in the growth of solo femme male travel too. Platforms

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Speaker 1: like Instagram and TikTok are filled with inspiring stories and

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Speaker 1: stunning visuals of women exploring the world alone, encouraging others

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Speaker 1: to follow in their footsteps. Travel bloggers and influencers have

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Speaker 1: become powerful voices in the industry, sharing tips, recommendations, and

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Speaker 1: personal experiences that help other women feel more confident about

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Speaker 1: traveling alone. Technology has also made solo travel more accessible

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Speaker 1: and safer than ever before. Smartphone apps can help with

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Speaker 1: everything from language translation to navigation, while social networking apps

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Speaker 1: designed for travelers make it easier to connect with other

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Speaker 1: solo adventurers or locals. As more women venture out on

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Speaker 1: their own, they're challenging stereotypes and breaking down barriers in

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Speaker 1: many parts of the world. Their presence is encouraging local

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Speaker 1: communities to become more welcoming and accommodating to solo female travelers,

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Speaker 1: leading to positive changes in the global tourism industry. However,

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Speaker 1: it is important to note that solo female travel is

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Speaker 1: not a one size fits all experience. What works for

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Speaker 1: one woman not work for the other, and it's crucial

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Speaker 1: for each traveler to assess their own comfort levels and

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Speaker 1: preferences when planning a trip. So happy travel planning and

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Speaker 1: let us know if you do decide to go on

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Speaker 1: a solo adventure. We want your recommendations to make sure

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Speaker 1: to send them through to the Quickie at momamea dot

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Speaker 1: com today you The Quikie is produced by me Claire

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Speaker 1: Murphy our executive producer Taylor Strano, with audio production by

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Speaker 1: Tom Lyon.