Oneika Raymond sits down with solo travel expert Beth Santos, founder of Wanderful, a global travel community for women. Together, they talk about how traveling on your own can be an opportunity for personal growth and share expert tips on how to make the most of your solo travels.
Beth takes a mindset-first approach to traveling solo on your own terms, and recently authored a book that explores her philosophy: “Wander Woman: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World, Solo.” While traveling solo in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2009, Beth created Wanderful as a travel blog aimed to share the experiences of women traveling the world. Today, it’s a community of over 40,000 travelers.
Oneika learns about how Beth’s first solo trips helped shape her travel philosophy, and how solo travel has made her a more engaged mother and business owner. Beth and Oneika bond over solo travel as a form of self care amidst the many responsibilities of modern life.
Then, Beth and Oneika dig into their best advice for anyone looking to take a solo trip – from the one item you need to pack, to how to spend your first day on your own, to the questions to ask yourself to figure out where to go on a solo adventure. You’ll also get insider tips on how to meet people on your travels – because solo travel doesn’t have to be lonely.
Ready to book your next solo trip? Find your perfect adventure by checking out Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities. Marriott Bonvoy members earn points on every experience booked through the site.
To read full episode transcripts from About the Journey and see photos of each featured destination, head to About the Journey on Marriott Bonvoy Traveler. Starting this season, you can watch full videos of each episode on our Marriott Bonvoy YouTube channel.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Oneika Raymond: Welcome to About the Journey. I’m your host, Oneika Raymond, travel expert and member of Marriott Bonvoy.
In this season, we’re exploring how travel changes us for the better, allowing us to nurture ourselves, our relationships with family and loved ones, and even the world around us.
Now, as someone who has traveled to over 50 countries solo, I am super excited for this episode. We’re going to be talking about the power of solo travel. We’re going to be offering practical advice for solo travelers, uh, telling you where to go and showing you how you can really connect with locals and travelers along the way.
For me, solo travel is self care. And I feel as though as a woman it’s something every female should do. So I’m really excited to get into this episode and welcome our next guest. So stay tuned, buckle up, and we’re going to go on a ride.
Joining me today on About the Journey is solo travel expert, Beth Santos. Beth is the founder of Wanderful, a global community that helps women travel the world. She’s also the author of the book, “Wander Woman,” a solo travel guide. Together, we’re going to give you all the tools you need to set off on your own.
We’ll answer your burning questions. and break down the misconceptions you might have about solo travel. So make sure you listen through to the end of the episode because we’ll be sharing all our best solo travel advice.
Oneika Raymond: Hello, Beth. How are you doing?
Beth Santos: Hi Oneika! Good, good! So good to see you!
Oneika Raymond: This is awesome. I am so excited for this conversation. It has been a long time and I cannot wait to catch up.
Beth Santos: It has.
Oneika Raymond: We are going to be talking about a subject that is near and dear to both of us, which is solo travel.
Oneika Raymond: Solo travel is something that you’ve basically made your life’s work. Uh, so to begin, how did you get into it?
Beth Santos: Well, thank you so much for having me. I am absolutely thrilled to be here. My journey starts in a small country called São Tomé and Príncipe, which is a place that many people have not even heard of, let alone visited. It’s a small two island nation off the west coast of Africa, just off the coast of Gabon.
At the time, I was 22 years old. I had an opportunity to move there and it’s a really incredible country.
At the time that I was living there, there were about 150, 000 people, so very, very small, very small economy, but it just took me by surprise, and that was really one of the first times that I had been living completely on my own, you know, with no sort of external, other accompanying traveler or external programmer. I was just there. And I think the things that I realized while traveling by myself became so surprising to me, things that I had just never been made aware of in my, in my traveling life. And so I think that really sat with me for a while and really was the beginning of many solo travels to come.
Oneika Raymond: Not only are you the founder of Wanderful, you are also a published author. So congrats to you! You wrote an entire book on solo travel. So, so tell us a little bit more about it.
Beth Santos: I sure did. Yeah, so the book is called “Wander Woman.” The extended title is “Wander Woman, How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World Solo.” It’s a nonfiction book, it’s a manifesto, it talks about the messages that women are told about traveling alone. It gives tips and advice about how to actually go out there, but it also subverts a lot of the narratives that we’re told that it’s going to be lonely, that you have to be a certain way in order to do it, or in a certain point in your life in order to do it. And it really kind of breaks down why we feel that way and how we can step out of that and just have some of the best experiences possible.
Oneika Raymond: Mm. I love that. And there’s a word that, I always mention when I talk about, or when I think about solo travel, and that word is freedom.
The ability to do what you want. It’s such a beautiful thing. So given that now, you know, years later, you’re a mom of three, wow. [Laughs]
Beth Santos: Yeah.
Oneika Raymond: You are a mom of three. I’m a mom of one. So nowadays, how do you, or do you at all, right, prioritize solo travel?
Beth Santos: Absolutely. I think I have to. No, and I’m glad you asked this because talking about that first solo trip of, you know, being free and not having all these strings attached and being able to go …Yes, that facilitated that for me, but I don’t, I really strongly do not believe that solo travel is only for single people.
I, I really believe that all of us have responsibilities, all of us are in some way caring for somebody else, caring about somebody else. We have jobs, we have rents, but I actually think because of those things, solo travel is even more important. Because we do need to set aside time.
I think it’s thinking less about traveling because I have to and more because traveling alone nurtures me. It allows me to reconnect with myself. It allows me to prioritize what I want to do, my needs. And, also it’s not just about me, it’s about when you’re alone, you’re confronted with the world so much more fully because you don’t have the context of somebody else, you know, pulling you away to kind of have a moment with them. It is you and it is the world around you and you are immersed in it. And I think it is a really, really rich travel experience that everyone can benefit from having, even just for, for the point of like that complete immersion.
Oneika Raymond: Yeah, 100%. So I, I love this discussion. I could talk to you all day about this, but something that really struck me is you talk about your solo travel mindset. Now we’ve talked about that a little bit but you make, or you distinguish between traveling by yourself and traveling with yourself, which I find to be a really interesting concept. So can you explain to our listeners, to our watchers what that means?
Beth Santos: I’ll say, “Have you traveled alone?” And somebody might say, well, “I’ve traveled for a business trip.” And I’ll say, “Were you by yourself on your business trip?” “Well, yes.” Okay. You’ve traveled alone then, you know, like, you know, but we think, no, maybe traveling alone means I have to leave everything behind…
Oneika Raymond: You have to have a backpack.
Beth Santos: Yeah, have a backpack. Be, you know, hiking in Nepal by myself, not interacting with anyone.
And, and I think that is the “by myself mentality” of I am completely alone in my world, you know? And just doing the thing. But traveling with myself, I think there is an intention behind that. It’s saying, I’m not traveling alone because I have to, and sometimes I am traveling because I have to, but it’s actually okay to choose yourself too.
To say, this time I’m going to travel with myself. I’m going to choose myself as my company. I’m going to listen to my own thoughts. And I actually encourage, in my book, “Wander Woman,” I encourage people to bring a journal along and let that journal be your friend, be friends with your innermost thoughts and feelings and the discomfort of travel, which happens all the time.
Oneika Raymond: All the time.
Beth Santos: travel is uncomfortable all the time, and process those things and be with yourself in that moment and learn to enjoy that time, and actually just taking a moment and listening to, to you and watching how you react to something and internalizing that and understanding. I think taking yourself out of the busyness of life allows you to really reconnect with that person on the inside…
Oneika Raymond: Yes. Yes.
Beth Santos: …out of the context of your home environment.
Oneika Raymond: Absolutely.
Beth Santos: And so that’s what it is. It’s about making that choice that you are important, that you matter, that you are a great person to travel with and you don’t actually need somebody else to have an amazing travel experience.
Oneika Raymond: What you’re doing, what I’m doing is such important work, right? Because we’re, we’re showing people that travel can have so many different iterations. The transformative power of travel is a real thing. And you just really have to open up yourself to it and just kind of reframe the conversation, reframe the dialogue. So I absolutely, absolutely love that.
Oneika Raymond (to camera): You know, this has been such a rich conversation so far. But before Beth and I share all the solo travel tips that I promised at the start of the episode, I wanted to take a moment to share how Marriott Bonvoy can be a companion when you’re traveling with yourself. Now, Marriott Bonvoy offers activities and experiences all over the world, so you can turn moments into memories. And we love that [laughs]. Signing up for an activity through Marriott Bonvoy is a great way to meet new people along the way and deepen your connection to the culture of a place that you’re visiting. Whether you’re a foodie, a history buff, or an outdoor enthusiast, Marriott Bonvoy has you covered. Learn more at activities.marriott.com.
Oneika Raymond: Now, Beth, I am absolutely loving this conversation. But I would love to share some tips and tricks for our listeners, for our watchers so they can plan an amazing solo travel adventure and so that they can make the leap and make the most of their solitude.
Beth Santos: Yeah.
Oneika Raymond: So, what is one of your top tips, I guess, for traveling solo?
Beth Santos: You know, one of the things that I really love … so there’s, and you can find so many tips out there, right, of what to pack and what to do and how to get, you know, how to spend your day and everything. One of the things that I actually love to recommend is what I like to call a day zero.
So we all know what day one is. Day one is the day that you take off and go. Day zero is something that I recommend everyone, especially when you’re traveling alone, you plan into your schedule. And that is a day where you just show up and you’re just there. You don’t have any plans. Here’s the things that you do. You check into your hotel, you take a walk around your hotel, like literally inside the hotel. There are so many times that I’ve checked out of a hotel and then I’ve been like, oh my god, there was a pool here?
I didn’t even know! Like I was so focused on just getting to my room, I didn’t even look around me. And so then, okay, so explore your hotel. After that, go walk around the neighborhood. Have a sense of what is the area? Now this helps you in a few ways.
One, it’s going to give you information about where you are in case you need that for anything, getting back home, safety, whatever it is. The other reason is because when you’re by yourself, You don’t have the benefit of another person saying, “Oh, hey, did you notice that there’s a grocery store across the street? Let’s remember that for later when we need a snack.” You know, or, “Hey, did you see that people have tokens to use the bus system? Great, we need to find out where the tokens are.” You have to be the person to know where the grocery store is and to know the bus system and how to use it. I will say it could be a good day to take a walking tour if you want, or a food tour…
Oneika Raymond: Yes, that’s actually what I was going to suggest. Yeah, that’s always one of my top tips is to make the first thing on your agenda a walking tour, because not only will it familiarize you with the area, but you might actually end up meeting potential people that you can hang out with on the rest of your trip!
Beth Santos: You’ll learn all the hot spots. You’ll learn some of their favorite little holes in the wall, kind of like little hidden gems. But then also you can ask them questions, right? They’re from there, so you can ask them, you know, how do I say thank you in this language? Or what, where would you recommend I go to purchase this? Or what’s your favorite thing to do in your city? You know, all of those things are pieces of information that you can get. So absolutely having a walking tour is a great way to get to know the lay of the land early on.
Oneika Raymond: Let’s talk about destinations because I think when people are planning their first solo trip, uh, I mean, there are already so many things that they’re worried about. But also the world is really big. So where do you recommend solo travelers to go?
Beth Santos: I think we often forget that every person is so different and has different context into who they are, what they’re looking for, how they identify, how much they’ve traveled alone before, what language they speak. And so, my top list is very different from your top list. But I do have some concrete recommendations that I give … how much outside of your comfort zone are you looking to step here? You know because there are easier, I’m using air quotes as I say this, “easier” trips, you know, and there are harder trips. And a lot of that comes down to what is the distance I’m traveling?
You know, how much, how much time do I have to go away? What is the distance I’m traveling? How many time zones am I crossing? How tired am I going to be? What language do I speak, to go back to language? You know, being able, if you speak English, going to an English speaking country generally is going to be a little bit easier than going to a country where you’re having to navigate a second language. There are different things to keep in mind in that way, but factoring in distance, factoring in language, factoring in, is there a place that you’ve just always wanted to go to? That’s just inspired you or struck you. Or the other one I’ll say is thinking about a hobby that you have.
Oneika Raymond: Yeah definitely. I was gonna say runcations is a huge travel industry thing nowadays.
Beth Santos: Yes!
Oneika Raymond: A lot of people traveling for races, bucket list races. And the other thing I would say is, if you are attempting your first solo trip, if you’re new to solo travel, or if you’re just new to travel in general, is to go to places that have really well established tourism infrastructures. As a result, there’s a lot of information and resources available, not only online, but maybe even amongst your, your friend group, or amongst colleagues. So I think that is really important.
Well, you know what? I’m super excited to do a little bit of a speed round advice challenge because obviously you, you are the “Wander Woman.” You’re the best person to ask. So I’m going to ask you three questions about solo travel.
Beth Santos: Okay.
Oneika Raymond: And, uh, you’re going to give me the first thing that comes to mind. Are you ready? Alright, let’s do this. What’s your number one packing tip for heading off on your own?
Beth Santos: I love bringing a scarf with me when I travel alone. Not just, not an infinity scarf, it has to be one that can open up into a square. And there’s a reason for this. It’s because I believe that a scarf is the most versatile thing that you can bring with you. It can be a picnic blanket. It can be an actual blanket when you’re cold. It could be a scarf. It could be a headscarf if you’re going into a place where you need to cover your head or your shoulders.
It could be an impromptu skirt. You’ll find so many uses for it especially when you’re on your own and you don’t have another person who, oh I packed this, I can help you with that. Bring a scarf with you.
Oneika Raymond: It’s so funny, are we the same person? I literally wrote, I wrote a blog post on this years ago basically talking about carry on tips, and I said that I love scarves. As you can see, I have my, my headwrap on, which is also my de facto blanket. So great minds absolutely think alike.
Beth Santos: Love. Love it.
Oneika Raymond: Next question. What is your solo travel mantra?
Beth Santos: Yeah, so my mantra is a quote that I absolutely adore by Maya Angelou. And it is, “I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” It just means so much to me. I think, you know, that is, that is the goal. I think, to be … And I, and I don’t think that that means that you have to be comfortable wherever you go. Because I think discomfort is important, actually. It’s an important part of traveling and learning. But I think it means knowing yourself and being comfortable with yourself to a certain level where you can say, “I can show up anywhere and I can be okay with myself.” And I can know that I’m going to figure it out. I trust myself. I know I’m smart enough. I know I’m able enough. I’m going to figure my way through this and I can find that comfort with myself and that home with myself wherever I go. And I just love that quote. That’s my mantra.
Oneika Raymond: That really resonates with me as well just as a, as a Black woman. One of my, I guess, my goals in everything that I do within the travel media space is always at the back of my mind it’s to help Black girls like myself feel as comfortable or as at home traveling in places like Azerbaijan as they do in Atlanta, or feel as comfortable in I don’t know, Mongolia or Mauritius as they do in Miami. Because so often we psych ourselves out and we relegate ourselves to traveling to certain places because we feel as though other places are just not for us. We’re not going to feel comfortable there. But I do love the point that you brought up about, uh, discomfort being important because we only grow when, when we’re uncomfortable, right? So that’s, that’s excellent. I absolutely love that.
What’s the one thing you wish you had known before your first trip on your own?
Beth Santos: I wish I had known how many women were actually already doing it.
Oneika Raymond: Ahh.
Beth Santos: I think it blows my mind. When I first started traveling alone, I really felt like I was the only person in the world doing it. I really felt alone in that way. The way people talk to me as if I was doing something that was completely unheard of before. But it was funny because looking back now, people have been traveling alone for thousands of years. Women have been traveling alone for thousands of years.
Oneika Raymond: Thousands of years.
Beth Santos: It’s something that has existed and will continue to exist and let that be something that fuels you that you are part of this greater history. You know, that you’re not the first person doing it. You’re not the last person doing it. There is space for you here. And I wish I had heard that message that first time.
Oneika Raymond: Wow, that is so powerful. I love everything [laughs] that you said, and I think actually that’s a great opportunity for us to wrap up the interview. you are such a force. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you so much for everything that you’ve done. A lot of folks don’t have the history, but Beth and I go way, way, way, way back. So many years back, before the babies, before the books!
Beth Santos: Young wild, and free! [Laughs]
Oneika Raymond: Young, wild, and free, and it has been such an honor and a pleasure to see you grow, change, evolve, expand, uh, over these years, and always continue to be a champion of women, and just growth in general.
So thank you so much for joining us today and we cannot wait to see where your travels take you next.
Beth Santos: Likewise, it’s been a pleasure to be here. I’ve loved watching your journey, and I look forward to hearing and hopefully inspiring so many more solo trips to come.
Oneika Raymond: Wonderful.
[Music Cue]
Oneika Raymond: That’s all for this episode of About the Journey. Thanks so much to travel expert Beth Santos for sharing her stories and advice, which you can learn more about on Sheswanderful.com. In our next episode, we’re heading to New Orleans, where we’ll find new ways to preserve traditions as we explore the rich culture and history of the city’s Black community.
About the Journey is produced by Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, AT WILL MEDIA, mntra and me, Oneika Raymond. Our Marriott Producers are Robin Bennefield, Valerie Conners and Rachael Sulik.
Our AT WILL MEDIA producers are Kristy Westgard, Gale Straub, and Tina Turner. Mixing & Sound Design by Greg Deavens II with support from Andrew Holzberger. Original Theme Music by Zach Grappone.
For more travel inspiration, visit Marriott Bonvoy Traveler at traveler.marriott.com. I’m your host, Oneika Raymond. See you next time!
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