In this advice guide for solo female travelers, Beth Santos brings a healthy dose of humor to her realistic approach to approaching solo travel as a twenty-first century woman. Challenging some myths and stereotypes about single female travel with honest statistics, anecdotes, and strategies, Santo’s book fits with her organization Wanderful’s message and her own experiences traveling on her own. Readers who want to take the plunge into solo travel will be supported and challenged by Santos’s book and the message within its pages. Organized around a few basic tenets and building upon each other, the book is organized in a logical progression from wanting to travel to getting out into the world to do so. Santos is an engaging, creative, humorous, and realistic author, and she holds the reader’s interest throughout this charming, engaging, and motivating book. Santos has balanced holding the reader’s hand along the solo travel process with kicking them out of the nest and the comfort of avoiding solo travel, and this book is a great guide for the new and inexperienced traveler who wants reliable, sound advice. Santos’s book is an excellent exploration of the topic with some great tips and tricks for new and returning solo travelers around the world.

The perfect book for travelers of all kinds. Even though this is geared for beginnings, I found myself taking notes to use on my next trip. The chapters range from emotional bolstering to packing lists. It was really helpful, and I will definitely be bringing this on my next trip.

Thank you to the publisher for my e-copy.

I'm not totally sure what I expected here, but I'm pretty sure this delivered nicely. This is less a manual for travel advice and tips and more a suggestion book for ways to breakdown the mental barriers to traveling solo. I appreciated the frank discussions on ethical travel and the limitations of the very idea.

It isn't a memoir, nor a how-to book, which it clearly states at the beginning. I just opened this book hoping for a memoir though. It is still a good book, but it didn't really hit a note with me.

I wanted an empowering book for traveling solo, and this delivered ethat and more. This book not only would be helpful for a beginner solo traveler, but also for a somewhat seasoned solo traveler. Beth Santos made sure to incorporate all types of female travelers. I felt that it touched on topics for all types of traveler no matter where they are coming from (race, age, sexual orientation, etc..)

I know I only scratched the surface with my first read through of this book. I will definitely be reading this one again. Thanks for the inspiration!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for a review copy. All opinions are my own.

Review Score: 5-star, I loved it! Would definitely read/watch it again or highly recommend it to a friend!
Author: Beth Santos
Genre: Nonfiction, Self-Discovery/Change
Places Featured: N/A

Beth Santos isn’t new to the travel industry–she’s been a blogger, a podcaster, a speaker, a travel fest planner and the founder of Wanderful, a network for women travelers all over the world (full disclosure, I recently became a member of the group).

And one of the hottest topics currently in the travel industry is solo travel, especially solo travel for women. Many want to do it, but many are afraid of it…and part of the problem is that many just don’t understand it. Beth decided to combine her many years in the travel industry with her own experiences as a traveler to write Wander Woman: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World, Solo–a book that is kind of a study of the power of travel, kind of a how-to guide on traveling solo, and kind of a self-help book all rolled into one.

I loved it. I started reading it while actually on an airplane on my way to a new country and here are a few signs of just how much I loved it:
I kept quoting it and wanting to discuss it with my fellow travelers
I noted so many quotes from the book
I plan to give the book as a gift to several friends
I’ve already recommended the book to several people

Even though I’ve been traveling solo for 20+ years, I still found the book extremely insightful and helpful. She makes some great points on redefining travel, she encourages readers to just get out there and do it, and she reminds us about being a conscious traveler and being aware of our impact on the people, the environment, the culture, and the economics of the places we are visiting. She’s also very aware of how diverse travelers actually are and how that can affect travelers’ experiences (for this, she includes some great resources for travelers who are people of color, identify as LGBTQ+, are plus-size, or people with disabilities.)

She’s also honest about solo travel–it can be scary. It can be lonely. It can be frustrating. Things can go wrong. Your family and friends may not understand. You may not come back “a changed person” like Eat, Pray, Love promised you would. But she gives concrete ideas on how to move through those concerns and still learn from those “misadventures.”

Beth gets it. She gets the power of travel. She gets the power of solo travel. And she gets the power of sharing it with others–this book is the perfect way to do that. As she reminds us:

“Travel is not about how many miles you go, or how many passport stamps you acquire. It’s about how much you challenge yourself, how much you open yourself up to new experiences, and how much you let yourself rethink the way you look at the world.”

*I was given a version of this book for free in exchange for an honest book review. Thank you to @Netgalley and @GrandCentralpub.

Traveling solo sounds both scary and exciting to me. I was intrigued by this book and wanted to know if it would inspire me to finally get the courage to do some solo traveling. What I realized was that just because my solo travel doesn’t look like what my mind has thought it is, influenced by what is portrayed on social media, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t count. I have actually solo traveled many times—by plane, train, and automobile. They may not have been captured on social media, they may have been for work, or they may have been for only a few days—but that doesn’t negate them. With good tips and inspiration, this is a great book for those new and experienced in solo travel.

*Provided a DRC (digital review copy) from the publisher for review. All opinions are my own.

I appreciate that this was neither pure guidebook, nor memoir. It included a bit of both, as well as stories from other women, various travel resources, and suggestions or ideas. More than that, this book is part self help book, as an experienced woman solo traveler, a younger me would have loved this book to help me get out of my comfort zone and expand my life. As is, I'm saving some of her suggested journal prompts for my next trip, and I'll be looking into the wonderfully diverse list of resources and travel groups she included.

This would be an excellent travel book for a woman traveling solo, especially for the first time. Even as a well traveled (married) woman that rarely travels solo, it had some good advice I could use.

I love this book! I cannot wait to gift it to friends. Beth Santos has a great way with words and has built a book to allay any fears you have about traveling solo. This book is empowering, inspiring and the perfect amount of aspirational. Beth doesn't pull any punches and she addresses all of the fears and realities that face female solo travelers.

Beth breaks everything down and reminds us that a short trip is a great first step and just booking the flight might be intimidating but it's a perfect start.

I love her writing and her inclusionary terms and resources. I think this book will stand in for that trusted friend that can advise you!

The resources at the end of the book are endless. This is a great gift or a book you should read if you are ready to take that step. Pick up Wander Woman and start your own adventure!
#GrandCentralpublishing #WanderWoman #bethSantos

THIS IS THE BOOK I NEEDED. I am an avid solo traveler (or solo travel + my small child). At first I thought maybe this book would be too...beginner for me, but even the most beginner parts sparked new ideas for me. At the end of the book, the author talks about reentry after travel and how it can affect you (and maybe no one else around you knows you're struggling). I've NEVER been able to describe this feeling or find people who can explain it like Beth did. Whether you're new to solo travel or have solo traveled 500 times, this is a great book for you!

Engaging and informative. This is a recommended purchase for collections where travel books are popular.