Because I Can, So I’m Going To: Solo Female Travelers and the Absence of Constraints

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Keri Schwab, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Experience Industry Management at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA

Abstract (150 Words)

Solo female travel is increasing in popularity. But much research on solo female travelers suggests that the many constraints they face make travel less of a beneficial experience, and is overall tiring and burdensome to negotiate. A post-structuralism, rather than critical feminism, examination of female travel suggests that it is a space of empowerment and agency, though research is still new and not exhaustive. This study sought to understand where solo female travelers locate themselves in their experience of travel and how they perceive constraints. By analyzing the words of women on an active solo female travel Facebook group, this study found ways in which women experience travel – free of constraints – and how they help others gain comfort with their travel.

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Because I Can, So I’m Going To: Solo Female Travelers and the Absence of Constraints

Solo female travel is increasing in popularity. But much research on solo female travelers suggests that the many constraints they face make travel less of a beneficial experience, and is overall tiring and burdensome to negotiate. A post-structuralism, rather than critical feminism, examination of female travel suggests that it is a space of empowerment and agency, though research is still new and not exhaustive. This study sought to understand where solo female travelers locate themselves in their experience of travel and how they perceive constraints. By analyzing the words of women on an active solo female travel Facebook group, this study found ways in which women experience travel – free of constraints – and how they help others gain comfort with their travel.