Why Do Women Travel?

Why Do Women Travel?

On International Women’s Day, we want to focus on women and travel. More and more women are traveling, whether alone or in groups, and here at Heritage Inspirations we’ve been contemplating what drives this female desire for travel.

It’s become a common theme in the travel industry – women are traveling more than men, and many tend to be doing it solo. A lot of factors probably play into this like increasing income and independence, bearing children later in life, and stepping away from traditional societal constraints. But, the deeper question is why do women pursue travel experiences and what is it they are a seeking?

Our experience suggests women want transformative journeys and look at travel adventures as a way to engage in transformation and self-actualization.

How does that look? Well, here’s our take on what we see women getting from immersive travel and what we think they’re looking for.

The Reasons Women Travel:

• Self-Care

Relaxation. Women use travel to extract themselves from the daily stresses and the daily grind. What better way to remove and unwind, then by taking the time to breathe, to exhale even deeper and connect with another land and culture, to taste local flavors, and to indulge in the elements of water, fire, air and ether?

• Boundary Pushing

Women live with strong conditioning and expectations, so travel allows for pushing beyond the normal societal controls of what women can/should do. A solo trip naturally pushes a woman to step outside their comfort zone, to sweat, and to feel invigorating elements like: the heat of the sun, the rustle of wind, the sound of leaves clapping, the ebb and flow of a river’s current, and the openness of the night sky.

• Cleansing & Healing

Imagine the combination of aromas like sage, water, high mountain air, or grandmother pinon and juniper and using them to catapult an awakening of the sensory glands. Or, participating in yoga, spa services, sweat lodges, etc. to literally pull the toxins from your body and expunge any negativity from your being. Travel often incorporates cleansing elements and opportunities to heal mental, emotional, psychic or physical realms by exposing us to high energy destinations, natural detoxing elements, and the soul expanding self-reflection necessary to bring the healing forces together.

• Soul Transformation & Authenticity

Travel presents a prime opportunity to tune into hard to see parts of self. It changes us, changes our awareness, our perspectives and it cultivates a hunger to “journey deeper” within ourselves to experience pure bliss. In yoga, Chitta Vritti Nirodaha is the “calming fluctuations of the mind, steadying the mind”. Traveling invites us to viscerally drop the mind into the heart and experience our truest self, ultimately nourishing those parts of our soul surface that metamorphose our constitution, our aura, and our essence.

• Gratitude Cultivation

There’s something about travel that is so enlivening. It forces a presence with strange new circumstances and place, a desire to take in every moment, an imprint of every detail, and a sharpening of being. We tend to wholly embrace and immerse ourselves in the instant and feel a resounding pleasure, and in that experience an intense gratitude vibrates and comes to life.

• Exploration of Intuition & Synchronicity

Travel means adventure and upliftment but can also lead to precarious situations and unknowns. It’s a wonderful opportunity to listen to your gut instincts to make determinations on where to go next or whether walking down a street feels safe. It’s also an enchanted space for synchronicity because right at the perfect moment, a stranger appears to steer you in the right direction or a person with the right information swoops in to answer a burning question.

• New Encounters & Relationships

Traveling alone means further engagement with the exterior world, it requires talking to strangers, chatting up tour group members, and asking probing questions of service providers. Journeying with friends and family, often times, mean insulation with known individuals and while it feels safe, it doesn’t push as much for exploratory extroversion and the magic of chance encounters.

• Tribalism

Occasionally, women may appreciate being with other women and escape men. Women talk differently with each other and feel less inhibited, especially in unfamiliar settings, and see traveling with other women as a refreshingly free dynamic to work out issues, talk about deep emotions and ponder the big challenges of life.

• Confidence Boost

Adventure, in any form, consists of risk and purpose. We challenge our bodies and minds to step out of comfort zones, explore new places and activities, make quick decisions, and try out new things. In that unknown terrain, consisting of purposeful action, we learn what we are made of. Leaving known boundaries pushes us toward expansion and self-knowledge, thereby increasing our self-confidence and expanding our understanding of ourselves.

Basically, women want something beyond the surface and look at travel as a means to improve themselves, dive deeper into their life experience, and cultivate mindfulness.

Women experience travel to not only improve themselves but to improve their engagement with life.

Here at Heritage Inspirations we gotcha covered. Our tours infuse cleansing, boundary pushing, exploratory sessions of self with others. It’s just as important to us that you have the chance to be nourished and be taken care of during your adventure of a lifetime. We want all fabulous ladies to actualize their grandest versions of themselves and contribute their brilliance to this amazing planet spinning through space.

Happy International Women’s Day, by the way dear Heritage Inspirations guests, and keep traveling!