Tips For Tours In Sicily & The Solo Female Traveler Network

Travel Expert Onanta Forbes has been touring around Sicily this past week so we'll get the highlights and insights from her on this week's show. And if your mom, daughter, sister, aunt or even yourself (if you're a female) has been hesitant to travel because you don't have anyone to go with and don't want to travel alone, The Solo Female Traveler Network might be the answer. We'll chat with the founder to learn more about it.

Transcript

Tips On Tours In Sicily

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman, travel expert Onanta Forbes has been touring around Sicily this past week. So we'll get the highlights and insights from her in a few seconds. And if your mom, daughter, sister, aunt, or even yourself, if you're a female, has been hesitant to travel because you don't have anyone to go with and don't want to travel alone, the Solo Female Traveler Network might be the answer for you. We'll chat with the founder to learn more about it later in the podcast. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes. OnandaForbes.com is her website. Hello, Onanta.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Hi, Randy. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I'm well, thank you. I've been looking at some of your uh pictures and video on Instagram and Facebook uh of your uh tours in Sicily. They look amazing, so tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

So this week um I explored the island two completely different ways, first by sea and then by rail. So both were able to give me some pretty different perspectives of this beautiful island. So if you spend any time near the harbor in Syracusa, especially around Ortizia where I am, you'll notice boat tours everywhere. Um they go on sunset sails, cave trips, large group excursions. There's something for everyone. So we chose a small tour organized through the local information office, and it actually ended up just being the two of us and the skipper, which was nice, almost like a private tour, right? Um because it's off season, uh, you know, the likelihood of that is good, very good. Um, and it was just interesting because it was an open motorized uh rowboat, but quite big, like it could handle probably up to 20 people, really, at the end of the day. Um uh and then there's no real booming microphones or no group commentary, it's just a very relaxed ride along the coastline. Um, it was lovely. He put on some soft guitar music playing in the background, so it really added to the ambiance. One thing I do um want to point out though, it's not got the OHS that we have in North America, so we weren't given um any life jackets. Um, and I can't swim, so hopefully he could and he could save me, but no, no issues along the way.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

That's weird.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

It is, but I I've been watching all these boat tours, and none of them have life jackets, so keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

They don't even have life jackets on board, like there's I didn't notice any.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

And there was one point we had to go under a very low bridge, so we have to actually have to drop to the floor of the boat, and I couldn't see any when I was right crouched down, so no. Um so the first when you leave, you go around like the inner harbor and you get to see where all the leisure boats are, as well as uh boats that they take out um for fishing, um, and then you exit. Um, and then you you basically go along the coastline. So it's a great way to see um the island, Ortizia, um, from the boat. You get to see uh war memorials, quite lovely, different churches. Um, one of the things that uh we were able to see on the tip of the island is called Castelo Manonis, and it rises like right out of the orange. It's very dramatic. It's like an orange, or not orange, but maybe honey colored buildings um against the uh blue skyline. This is where actually, if you watch the last Indiana Jones, this is where they film some of it. And they the guide actually said that some Netflix and Amazon um productions were filmed here. Um and then you got to cruise along um limestone cliffs and um you and then there's like uh sea caves that have been made over a long time with the erosion and the water um pounding against it. Uh quite interesting, like you get to go into some if the waves are right. Um, and it's it's and it it's quite blue because uh the light, the sunlight actually can turn the water into a very electric color blue. It doesn't even look real, but it's quite interesting to see. And then um we in the summer you can uh stop within your um departure for a swim. We didn't, of course, because it's just not the right. Yes, there's that, and it wasn't the right time of year. But uh yeah, good point. I can't swim, so can't we're not stopping. But uh, and then even um be just being out on the water and looking back at the old city walls, it it it feels different um from just walking the streets. You can kind of see everything in a bigger perspective. Yeah, yeah, it was really neat. It was neat, and it was actually relatively inexpensive. It was uh for about an hour, um, 15 euros per person. Oh, that's good. Not bad.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

No, and like a private tour, like you said, you were the only ones on the boat.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

That's right. Yeah, it was really quite neat. And you know, there wasn't there wasn't any huge wins, so the way there weren't massive waves that they had to handle or anything like that. Um, so it was very pleasant, yes. So a few days later, we swapped um the boat for the train and we headed north to Tearmina. Um, and the journey itself is quite beautiful. It's about two hours. Um, and then you get to see like sea views, you get to see the different um villages and and towns, um, and then you and then you're gonna get to see also Mount uh clips uh glimpses of Mount Aetna in the distance. And we had really good weather on that day as well. So we got to see Mount Aetna in different ways, and it's almost like seeing Mount Fuji if you were in Japan. It was quite amazing. Um, we did buy our tickets online um through Trent Italia. Um, we it's basically digital regional tickets, so they're auto-validated when we um enter the train, but you still get checked once shortly after departure and then once about midway through by a conductor both ways. So either have your tickets ready in hand or have a picture of it so that they can scan the barcode. Um, towards the end of the day, my phone started to die. Um, not enough battery. So it was good that my partner had his phone, and in case that um, you know, backup, or you might want to just print it if you're at a hotel or have access to printing, but you do need your tickets. Um, interestingly enough, on the return journey, um, police officers boarded and um they carry out random ID checks throughout the carriage. Um, it's it's it's very calm, very routine, and it's something that happens um quite normally in Sicily and probably even in Italy more broadly. Um the one thing is they they didn't ask um me and my partner for any checks, but they seem to be focusing on families, um like um with traveling with kids. So I don't know if you know trafficking isn't you know is something that they are taking very seriously, but yeah, it wasn't um individual, so per se. Um and if you are um using a paper regional ticket, you must validate it at the station before boarding. There's like green um insert, like you just kind of slide it in and it clicks. Um if you don't, fine start around uh 50 euros. Um even even if you have paid and you but you haven't validated. So yeah. So you it's pretty serious. They they take that very seriously. Um, so do take that um into consideration. Now going into uh Taomina is beautiful. Um, the town itself, it's like on top of a hill, like it climbs above you. So you'll either need to take a bus or a taxi, or you can, if you're a go-getter, you there's you can screw it, you have a determined uphill walk, but it takes 30 minutes and it is uphill. We took the bus because um we wanted to focus our energy in exploring. That's my my thoughts anyway.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Um I think that was a good choice. You don't want to wear yourself out.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

No, and you know, if the first time you're at the destination, suppose you take a wrong turn and you end up somewhere you're not supposed to be and you're not walking to the village. Right. Um so it was only two euros. Um they take cash or they take um credit cards, so it was easy um to move along. Um it it's uh it's a beautiful destination. Like you where you get let off, you um enter through like this uh like town gates almost. It's just a big, huge um arch in the walls um that you just walk through. And then the first thing that you see is a it's the main pedestrian street, and it's lined with shops and cafes and historic buildings. It's called Curso Umberto, and it's beautiful, it's it's busy, even though this is supposed to be off season. Goodness, there's a lot of people. There's a lot of cruise shore excursion people. Oh it and it's not just a couple of tours, it's a lot of them, and it's it's just amazing how many there are. Um, to the point that there it's you kind of get annoyed. So could you imagine summer? It'll be wall to wall.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

It'll be yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

And then what we did first of all is we went to um, it's called Teatro Greco. It's an ancient um Greek theater, and it's just a showstopper, like through like stone arches, you can see the sea and Mount Etna. Um, it's just gorgeous. And if you were on my social media, you you were able to see some of the pictures I took. We were able, it was interesting. Like we were just standing in line, waiting to get tickets, and there is a um English-speaking guide that comes and says, Well, do you want to come? It's a 30-minute guided tour, um, and it costs this much. And we said, No, we'll just manage it. And then I guess, you know, maybe it was just off season. She goes, she came back after, goes, How about you just do you pay for one person? I go, Okay. And it was so interesting. She told us about how the it it was, it looked like an amphitheater, but it really wasn't. And um, then you see see through the stone arches, the sea, and Mount Etna. You can watch different productions um while you're there, um, whether it's theater or ballet. Um, sometimes people rent it out for weddings and such. It's just a beautiful, um, beautiful place to go to in a must-see. It's a very much a highlight. And then you go to the Villa Comunial. It's a public garden, doesn't cost anything to go in, and has beautiful paths and flowers and elevated views over the bay. And what was very lovely to see was um on the trees, very old trees, there was uh little um signs in wood um giving tribute to soldiers that have fallen in the wars. So it was a lovely way as well to you know to see that tribute because you know in Europe, of course, they were more involved in the war than we were, in a sense that it was here, right? Um not to say that we were not involved from North America perspective, um, but um and they were also on the other side, like on the side of uh um Germany too, right? Yeah, so it's it's quite it's very interesting the very um how history plays out in Europe. And it's it's a different perspective that you should learn about and understand. And then we went to um there's a Piazza 9 April, it's a terrace, which really allows you to see the views of the coastline and Aetna. Um, there's also an opportunity you can take the cable car down to the beach. It's called Isla Bella, and it's like a tiny island um nature reserve, and it's connected to the mainland by um a narrow sand strip. In summer, it's really nice for swimming and sunbathing. Depending on the tide, you have to be careful because sometimes the water covers that strip. Uh, so it's it's quite um it's a it's a lovely area to go to as well or another place. Now, this is not a big area, so it's it's quite compact. Um, and it you know, take your time to go. It would, we only went for a day trip, but if you were exploring Sicily, I would recommend you stay there a few nights. It would be interesting. Um, just even to experience the various types of restaurants you could, the food there and so on. Now, Terramina has also become quietly a cinematic backdrop. Um, I don't know. Have you ever watched the White Lotus series?

SPEAKER_01 14:13

No.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

So uh season two was here. It was, yeah, it was in Sicily, and there's a four seasons here called San Domenico Palace. And um this is where they film certain seats here. Um before White Lotus, you could stay there for like maybe 500 Euros a night. After White Lotus, it's like 6,000 Euros a night. Hate to say that, but yeah. So they have different filming here. I'm a big Belmont fan, so I was able to see the Belmont Hotel that was that's here. Um, they closed for the season though, so they weren't open for me to walk around and check it out. Um, so and uh a place um where it would attract a lot of luxury travelers as well. So keep that in mind. Um, so I would I would definitely recommend it as an opportunity uh while you're in Sicily. Um again, you could take a tour and come up here or like what we did, we just took local transportation, um, you know, we Google what to see, what to do, and did it on our own. So the opportunity is available. You do need um a fairly good mobility because you are going up and down stairs, you're going on you know, gentle sometimes, not so gentle inclines. Um there's lots of, yeah, there's stairs and so on. So just keep that in mind. It's not undoable, but you just but make sure you have good walking shoes as well, yes, more than anything. So, what I thought I would um kind of wrap up our conversation with was just quick tips for Italian trains, because um, if you are in Italy, um traveling by rail is is easy, it's good, and it it's uh it's a way to manage seeing the the country. So we talked about validating your regional tickets, first of all. And then I would also compare train companies. So there's Trent, Italia, or Italo, um, and they may have different prices. Um, if you're looking to book a high-speed train or ticket, do it early because two to four weeks in advance is usually the cheapest. Um, and also one thing that I always tell my clients, even before I came here, um, and just Italy in general, they have random strikes. Um, they're called Chopperos. And um you should check for strikes because even when we're on the train um on our trip to Teomero, Termina, it was um announced that this Friday and Saturday they were going on strike from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. So, and that was just, you know, if I didn't hear that, I wouldn't have known it. And I'm thinking of going to Noto, and I'm thinking, oh, I'll just buy it online while you know these things happen. So they say to search um show per row tranny, t-r-e-n-i, and your dates for strikes because they're they do announce it online as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Well, at least they're polite enough to say when they're going on strike.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

That's right. And and I guess there's this different unions, different administration that can go on strike. So it's just not one entity, yes. Um, and then sit in your assigned seat on high-speed trains. Regional trains such as ours was first come, first served. We had no problem getting on it, and they were clean, they were comfortable. Um, so it was it was nice, but again, we're in off season.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yeah, I can just imagine what that's like, the chaos uh getting first come, first served seating in the height of uh tourism season.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Well, and our route was via Catana, which is one of the places that people can um start their trip in Sicily. So it's a very and it's three um different train stations in Catana that you go through. So it can be very busy because that's a main hub as well. So look look for your train number, not just your city on the departure boards, because that makes a difference because there are different like for us um coming, going and coming, we went through Catana, but there are trains that just go to Catana. So you might think, oh, it's going to Catana. I can get on that train.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

And then pack light. If you are like transiting between um different uh places, um, luggage space is limited, and some platforms require lifting your bags up steep steps. Even for me, what getting off the train, I have to really focus on getting off, like walking off um the train because you could trip or or not realize the depth of the step. Yeah, right. And then um, so and also you might want to ignore helpful in quotation, strangers at ticket machines. So use official uh machines or apps, and then check your seat assignment in the app right before boarding because seats can change, and you don't want to get in a scrap with somebody. No, you know, really on a train. Yes, yeah, and then download the right app. So there's Trentitalia, Italo, train line for price um uh comparison, and Trented for real-time updates. And I'm gonna apologize again, I'm probably not saying all these words properly. So um, but we'll always put it on my social media so that you can see exactly how it's spelled. So here, you know, Italian trains are fast, they're scenic, they're efficient, and once you know the rules, they're they're pretty straightforward.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Nice. Well, perfect. Wow, that's a lot of stuff. You've done a lot and some great tips in there. I want to go to Italy now.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

You should go to Italy like Italy, I mean. Yeah. Well, it for you know, the last couple days, it's becoming like a it destination um to go to and such. You just have to plan accordingly. And and what I I would recommend, like, yes, we're here for a long stay, but I, you know, it always looking at what if, what could I have done differently? I probably would have um moved around a little bit more. Like I maybe would have stayed here and then gone to somewhere else um on the island and stayed there and done this, and you know, um, so maybe I but again, you never know till you know.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Well, this is true. This is why you do things. So the next time, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

But it it like we're but that's why, you know, when you're staying in one spot, you find things to do, like the day trips and and so on, and and um it and it doesn't have to be um like all day, you could just go visit a castle for a couple of hours and that's that's spread it out over time because you're gonna be there for a while, right? Yeah, right. Uh that that's it exactly. So um that was week, I I well, we're not even done week two, but you know, we're into our week two. But uh yeah, so it was it's very interesting um uh here. Very, very lovely. No, like uh what I really would another tip download a Google Translate or some kind of translate app because very helpful. Oh, oh my goodness. Like you can verbally put in what you're saying, or they could do it so that you can communicate or write it in, but it's necessary.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Nice. Good stuff, good tips, great advice. People can uh see your images of the places that you were talking about on your Instagram, Facebook feeds, and on X at Onanta Forbes, and your website is onantaforbes.com. Uh it was uh real fun chatting with you, Onanta. I learned a lot.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Always, yes. You take care and ciao.

The Solo Female Traveler Network

SPEAKER_01 22:35

This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, the informedtraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You can also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at the informedtraveler.org. And you can check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informed traveler, or on X at Informed Traveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and reels from our adventures throughout the year and audio clips from our past shows. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our February issue is available now. Just go to our website, theinformedraveler.org, click on the newsletter button, and it'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month. So this segment is for the ladies only. Although, gentlemen, you're welcome to listen to. But if you're a female and have been hesitant to travel because you don't have anyone to go with and don't want to travel alone, the Solo Female Traveler Network might be the answer. So joining us now to tell us more about it is Amanda Black. She is the founder of the Solo Female Traveler Network. The Solo Female Traveler Network.com is the website. Hi Amanda. Tell me about the Solo Female Traveler Network. I gotta say it slowly, otherwise I'm gonna butcher it. I know what's it all about? I mean, the name says a lot, but what's it all about and how does it work?

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Well, first you can call us Sophie Travel, S-O-F-E Travel, because it's a mouthful for us all. Um, but we are a first and foremost a community for women who travel solo. We uh started about 10 years ago, so we're over half a million members strong, and it's free and it's awesome, and it's online. We also do small group trips just for women. So for those destinations that are perceived as less safe for women and you don't really want to go all by yourself, or those destinations that are more logistically difficult to go alone, we have those two.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Nice. Well, and I think this is uh truly is a uh female phenomenon, right? I uh like there could be men's travel groups out there, but I haven't heard of any. And it and it is a sort of a female women, I should say, are are more open to doing this type of thing. Is that what you found?

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Yeah, I think that women just have a certain a different set of concerns than men do. And when we travel, we have to worry about things like safety and cultural cultural norms and differences more so sometimes than men do. And also women just we just need girl time. So there's also that.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

I was thinking more of the girl time than some of the things that uh women have to look out for versus men. Uh and even with all those um barriers, I don't know what to use that word, but uh hurdles, I guess, uh women are still more open to meeting other women and and just doing things together for that girl time, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 25:49

I think so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

So tell me um uh some of the types of trips you've done. I'm I'm looking at your website, and yeah, they are not you know a shopping trip to Las Vegas. Not that there's anything wrong with shopping trips to Las Vegas, but you know, you're looking at uh some of the trips on here. Kenya, uh Tanzania, Zanzibar, Rwanda, there's a Halloween tour to um Dracula's Castle. So there's all kinds of really, really interesting tours. So tell me uh about some of them.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

We started with tours that were what I really wanted was to open up different corners of the world that felt less possible to travel all by yourself. I started out as a solo traveler and I traveled for years and years, and there really were some places that were more difficult than others by myself, and they would have been more enjoyable if I had had some people with me or had people to show me around and kind of guide a little bit. So that's what we started doing. It's it was really inspired by the women in our community who would say things like, Oh man, I really want to go to India, let's say, but I'm just I don't know if I can do it yet. I just don't know if I'm ready for that because India is a little bit more overwhelming. It's culturally very different, safety is very different, just a different place. So that's really how we started this for those destinations that I just wanted to open up the world to make it more accessible to all to travelers.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

And so what's been the feedback? I'm on like uh I get the impression that this is a growing trend and it's only gonna grow further, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:37

I I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

From URL, yes, I guess so. But I I think women get inspired more and um they're more open to to doing this uh where they may not have been maybe 10 or 15, 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yeah, I think that when we started 10 years ago, there weren't so many spaces for this. There weren't there weren't that many there weren't as many influencers like they are today telling everyone to travel solo. There weren't lots of groups for women to travel, you know, who wanted to travel solo. There wasn't a lot of support or buzz about it when I started the community, but very quickly, especially, especially about like right after the pandemic, it just really blew up. And so there now there's um multiple communities to get involved in. There's, you know, solo female travel is almost not even niche anymore. It's pretty mainstream. So I mean, it makes me it makes me so happy because it just means that more and more women are realizing that they can chase all these travel dreams that they've had.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

So, what are some of the questions that pop up when people sign up? Uh I'm sure there's a few that that come up more often than others. What what are some of the common questions or concerns or that uh pop up when people are are doing this for the first time?

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Safety is always number one. That's that's where everyone starts, really. And then another one would be how? Like, how do I plan a trip? How do I decide where I'm gonna go? How do I even you know at the very beginning, you're like, how do I book flights? Where do I go for that? So um, yeah, safety first, logistics second, and then it kind of goes from there.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

And so how does it work? Like if I'm looking on your website, which I am right now, the Solo Female Traveler Network.com. I sign up, it's free, and then I can just sort of search around through if there's any trips that I look, I see that are interesting, I just take it from there, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Sort of. So if you want to join our community, it's it lives on Facebook in a Facebook group. And that community is over half a million members, and that's really for any and every solo female traveler in the world. It's a place to ask your questions, to connect. If something weird happens when you're abroad, there's probably women in that group who are in that same city. Um, so there's lots of support. If you want to go actually travel, and you either don't honestly want to go alone, or you want to go to a destination that you don't feel comfortable yet going by yourself, or you just want to maximize your PTO and make tons of awesome new friends, then you go to our website and find one one of our destinations and sign up and we take you.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Cool. So you don't necessarily have to even go on a trip to make friends if it's a community group like that and you're, you know, uh in chat groups and things like that, just learning about just in different destinations and offering opinions and and I I'm I'm assuming there's probably a lot of expertise.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Yeah, I think it's a very different experience when you if you whether you travel all by yourself, like truly, totally solo, versus traveling solo but with a group like ours, it's just a totally different experience. So when I mean, and I n neither of them are better than the other. I think they each have a season in life, they each have a time and a place. But yeah, so I guess you know, we are kind of offering two different things. Our our community is is global and really powerful. And for everyone, whether you travel with us or didn't even know we offer tours, and then, you know, and then we have the tours that we offer, which are um small group. We go, we really have already done all the legwork. So I in some of those places I've spent months meeting the people and exploring the whole the whole country and really choosing very carefully what is in that itinerary. And so there are things in there that you may never find on your own, you wouldn't find on your own, and um connections with people and locals that I've made that would take you just as long. So you don't have to. You can come with us and um experience it that way.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

So do you have some general tips for single uh female travelers? I know we talked about safety a lot, and that's probably a general uh a big concern, but uh any just sort of general advice uh for us for female solo travelers?

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Um, I mean, I could go talk for hours about general. But I think you know, safety is usually the first one. So I think that for everyone, safe safety is the number one concern, right? Like you're choosing a destination, is it safe? It like you want to go travel solo, is that safe? So I think though that safety though, keeping yourself safe as a solo traveler at the end of the day is is really a skill, and it's not black and white. Is that country safe? Usually, with with not a with some exceptions, but usually the answer isn't really a clear yes or no. It's it's way more nuanced than that. So if you it's a skill, right? So so here are some general safety tips. One is always keep your phone charged, which may sound silly and obvious, but it's not. You'll be out taking pictures all day long, you'll be, you know, miles from electricity sometimes, but it's really important that you have a plan for when your phone battery gets low because your phone is your translator, it's your map, it's your connection to emergency services, it's uh following your location. Maybe you have people following where you are. So it's really important to keep keep your phone charged. Um, I would also say, and I made this mistake so often when I started traveling, um, book your accommodation ahead of time and make it your priority. Safe, comfortable accommodation is mandatory. There are so many times when I was traveling that I I'm very spontaneous solo traveler when I'm by myself. And I would book maybe my first night and then I would go figure it out from there. But I've while it was fun and a lot of times went well, sometimes things got weird. So and it's very avoidable. Read reviews, don't always book the cheapest thing just because it's cheap. Like make sure it's also safe.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

Um, so what are your tours like now? How like how big are the groups? Um, do you have a minimum amount of people before a tour actually goes? Uh that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Our tours are up to 14 women. And there are minimums. It kind of depends on the destination, usually four, maybe six, that something something like that. We don't often have we don't often have tours that run with a minimum. We're usually pretty, you know, solidly sold out. Um and really everything is taken care of. So when you go to our website and you look at the itineraries, everything is included. Lots of meals are included, which are detailed in the itinerary. And you buy your own flight from wherever you're coming from. You arrive on day one, we pick you up from the airport, and then we take you to the hotel to meet the group, and then we take you on an incredible adventure.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Mm-hmm. It sounds like an incredible adventure. What's been the feedback from some obviously, if your your um site is growing, um, people are enjoying what they're doing.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Yeah, we have lots and lots of repeat travelers who come on our tours. We have a traveler who has been on 11 of our tours now, and we have others who have been on seven, on five, six. Like we once you become a part of this community, especially in real life on these tours, it's it's so special that people keep coming back.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Well, people can uh definitely go on your website, uh, join up the solo female traveler network.com. I'm gonna say that very slowly. Uh you don't necessarily have to book a trip right away. You can just uh be part of the community. I'm I imagine that's that's the the biggest part of it, right? Is it's just the community itself and the sharing of information and and becoming friends online.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Yeah, the the community is really part of it, is the biggest part of it. And then our trips really bring that community into real life, into doing what we all love most.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

So no excuse for someone that's thinking, gee, I don't want to go by myself anymore.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

Amanda Black is the founder of the Solo Female Traveler Network, the Solo Female Traveler Network.com. Again is the website. It was uh fun chatting with you, Amanda. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

You too. Thanks, Randy.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is Randy at theinformed traveler.org. And if you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformed traveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.