12 Safety Tips for Females Traveling Solo After 50

Travel tips for females traveling solo are worth reviewing, especially with an emphasis for older women. Here is a collection of tips that we liked at my hotel company. Remember, a little white lie is absolutely fine if it adds to your feeling of security.

1. Driving alone at night?
Keep a woolly cap handy and pop it on, tucking hair in. It will appear in silhouette that a man is at the wheel.

2. Leaving the house
Avoid letting a driver know that the house is empty or mentioning how long you’re going away. Instead, inform the driver that your husband is looking forward to completing some home repairs during your trip.

3. In a taxi
Get in the habit of remembering the taxi medallion number and driver’s name until you leave the
taxi, looking twice to be certain you have all your belongings. Call your hotel to say you’re on the way so the driver can overhear you. And, don’t announce that it’s your first time in any given city.

4. Arriving at night
Keep the hotel phone number in your phone while traveling and, if arriving late at night by car, call ahead to ask someone to meet you at the front entrance to accompany you to parking.

5. Share your itinerary
Make sure someone has your full itinerary. If traveling abroad, officials suggest taking a copy of your passport in case of loss, as the replacement process will go much faster when you have a copy.

6. Making a hotel reservation
Register as Mrs. in case the hotel staff use your name during your stay. This way, it’s not apparent to anyone else that you are in a single room.

7. Checking into hotel
Front desk clerks are trained not to announce your name and room number as they slide your key across the desk. While a personal welcome may seem congenial, don’t accept that room. Explain that you would like a room number that is not potentially overheard by others in the lobby. It should be written down and passed to you.

8. Location of room
Hotels are quite used to having requests for rooms near elevators, away from stairways, so they hold some of these aside when allocating the day’s room assignments. If you do not care for adjoining rooms, make this clear.

9. Deliveries to your room
Hotels with bell staff will escort you to your room with your luggage. Avoid having your luggage brought up separately, as the moments after check-in and is the time you are most vulnerable to a knock on your door announcing luggage, flowers, fruit plate, or anything else which may not be a genuine delivery. Just don’t answer the door. Don’t ask the caller to leave a delivery outside your door and then open it a few minutes later. Ask room service to give you a call when a delivery is on its way from the kitchen.

10. Peepholes, locks, alarms
Use the door peephole and its cover. If there is no cover, stuff a piece of tissue in the peephole to prevent reverse peepers. Use all door locks when in the room to avoid a surprise entry by housekeeping or maintenance. Keep your shoes, phone, key and coat together in case of a quick evacuation fire alarm.

11. Use the hotel safe
To avoid theft and identity theft, keep your passport, tickets, phone, and laptop with you at all times, or use the in-room safe or the front desk safe.

12. All suites hotels
Get to know chains such as Embassy Suites with their circular atrium lobbies. There are no long corridors; entry to all rooms are in view throughout all floors and elevators are glass. All suites have separate living rooms, making it perfect for meetings.