If you’ve ever had the luxury of a long holiday you might be familiar with the longing feeling of wanting your own bed – and the relief of coming home to routine after an extended period away. For Odette Ford Brierley, it’s been 13 months since she had the experience of collapsing into her own bed.
The 28-year-old New Zealander has been travelling full-time for the last 13 months, primarily solo. It’s been the trip of a lifetime, across Europe, through Latin America, and even Antarctica. Along the way, Odette has learned a lot not only about the people and cultures she has had the privilege of experiencing but also about solo travel in general. As a solo female traveller, she is used to questions about how to keep safe.
She told The Express: “You do get a lot of questions about this, especially coming back from Latin America. People have a misconception about safety there.
“I think women feel unsafe everywhere and I think rightfully so. I think you’re more aware of your lack of safety when you’re solo travelling, particularly if you feel you look different to the locals because you will get stared at, and if you come from a country where that’s not normal, that will make you feel more uncomfortable.”
She recommends learning some of the language of where you’re going so that you can communicate the basics.
“You don’t need fluency – just learn a level where you can communicate what you need.”
One of the ways that she made herself feel safer was by understanding how people interacted in the cultures she was visiting – but with that being said, she did have some advice for other female solo travellers.
She said the best advice, while it may be obvious, was to ensure you are obeying all the laws of the country you are visiting, especially in airports.
She added: “I guess just don’t be stupid, like, genuinely.
“Just making really dumb decisions and really dumb choices, that’s what more frequently gets you in trouble.”
Odette said the basic principles of safety you would follow at home should be enough, coupled with wise decision-making.
She said: “Don’t go off with random people in the middle of the night, unless you know who they are. But I don’t think anything more unsafe happened to me travelling than has happened in my day to day life.”
For women, solo travelling can feel scary. The idea of striking out on your own can be intimidating but for Odette, it has been invaluable.
She said: “Nothing in life that’s good is not scary or is easy. Just do it. Go and travel and go outside of your comfort zone, because even if you end up going home early or late or whatever, you’ve still done something really special.
“You’ve gone and experienced a different culture, a different place, and that can only be beneficial.
“That can only broaden your horizons, and even though it’s scary sometimes, we have to do the scary things. We benefit from the scary things. We build resilience, and it’s great.”