Solo Female Travel With Strict Parents: My First Trip to Australia Changed Everything
I write about solo female travel from personal experience as someone who grew up with strict family expectations. I’ve visited multiple countries independently and share lessons for women like you who want to travel alone safely.
Traveling alone when you grow up with strict parents can feel impossible. Many women are told that solo travel is unsafe, irresponsible, or culturally unacceptable. But with preparation, communication, and confidence, it is possible to take your first solo trip.
In this blog post, you’ll learn how to travel solo with strict parents, build confidence, and take your first step toward independent travel safely.
Your Travel Roadmap
📍 In this guide, you’ll discover:
🏠 Growing up with two cultures that agreed on one thing: women don’t travel alone
✈️ How I went from “can I go to Berlin?” to moving to Australia
🧾 The safety plan that helped me convince my strict parents
🦘 What kangaroos taught me about freedom (yes, really)
🗽 Why New York doesn’t let you hide (and why that’s a good thing)
💫 The addiction I didn’t expect: chasing more versions of myself
🎟️ Permission to be the first (even if your aunt still asks about marriage)
How I Took My First Solo Trip Despite Having Strict Family Rules
I grew up in Germany with Eritrean parents, and those two worlds do not agree on much.
In my German classroom, we learned about responsibility, independence, planning for the future. At home, I learned something different: family is everything, the world outside is dangerous, and a good daughter doesn’t go anywhere alone.
Especially not a woman. Especially not alone. Especially not for something as “useless” as solo travel.
Meanwhile, my German friends were going on school trips to France and Italy, and I was over here like: “Mom, can I go to Berlin?” and she’d look at me like I’d asked to move to Mars.
Spoiler: I later moved to Australia. Which is basically Mars, just with better beaches.
If you’re trying to figure out how to travel with strict parents; especially as an immigrant daughter; this story is for you. Solo female travel felt impossible in my family. Here’s how I took my first solo trip anyway.
Growing Up Between Cultures and Dreaming of Solo Female Travel
Germany gave me order. Timetables. The sense that things should make sense. (Spoiler: solo female travel later taught me that things absolutely do not make sense, and that’s the whole point.)
But Eritrea… Eritrea lived in my bones. In the food my mother cooked, in the stories my father told about a country I saw but never lived, in the way family meant something deeper than I could explain to my German friends.
Also in the way my aunt would pinch my cheek and ask, “When are you getting married?” every single time she saw me. From age fifteen to present day. Some things transcend borders.
And between these two worlds, there was me. Trying to figure out which one I belonged to.
Here’s what nobody tells you about growing up between cultures: you learn to translate everything. Not just language… everything. You translate your friends’ expectations for your parents. You translate your parents’ fears for your friends. You become fluent in explaining, mediating, code-switching.
You also become fluent in saying things like: “No, in our culture we don’t do that,” and “Yes, in our culture we DO do that,” often in the same conversation, often confused yourself.
But the one thing I couldn’t translate? Why I wanted to leave.
Travel with Strict Parents: What My Family Believed About the World
My parents loved me. They still do. Everything they said came from that love… from wanting me safe, protected, close.
But here’s what love looked like in our house:
- 🌍 Travel is dangerous → The world is full of people who don’t look like us, don’t think like us, don’t have your best interests at heart. (Plot twist: most people are just trying to get through the day, same as us.)
- 👩🏾🦱 A woman doesn’t travel alone → You wait until you’re married, and then you go with your husband. (Joke’s on them: I’m still not married, and I’ve been to 59 countries. Take THAT, tradition.)
- 💶 Money is for survival, not adventure → Every euro spent on a plane ticket is a euro not saved for real life. (Real life, according to them: apartment, pension, maybe a nice vacuum cleaner.)
- 🏠 Home is where family is → Leaving means you don’t appreciate what you have. (Plot twist: you can appreciate your family AND appreciate seeing the waterfalls in Brazil. Wild concept, I know.)
I heard these messages every single day. Not as lectures, just as the background music of my childhood. The assumptions everyone operated from. The rules nobody questioned.
And for years, I didn’t question them either. Because who was I to argue? I was young, I was a woman, I was supposed to listen. And honestly? I didn’t know anyone who’d done what I was dreaming of.
Not one person.
No friend who’d backpacked through Asia. No family friend who’d say, “Yes, I did it, and you can too.” The message was consistent and unchallenged: people like us don’t do that. When you grow up with strict parents, solo female travel doesn’t just feel risky… it feels rebellious.
People like us. I still think about that phrase. People like who, exactly? Immigrant daughters? Women with melanin? Anyone whose name doesn’t bounce off German tongues easily? (Spoiler: mine still doesn’t. I’ve been corrected on my own name’s pronunciation more times than I can count.)
If you’re a woman of color curious about solo travel, I share safety advice and personal experiences in this guide.
Questioning Everything About Solo Travel and Family Expectations
But remember how I said I grew up between two worlds? That in-between space taught me something useful: there’s always more than one way to see things.
I’d sit at the dinner table listening to my parents’ fears, and somewhere in my mind, a small voice would whisper: “But what if they’re wrong?”
Not rebellious. Not loud. Just curious.
What if the world wasn’t as dangerous as they believed?
What if a woman alone could be strong, not vulnerable?
What if money spent on experience was actually the opposite of wasted?
What if that vacuum cleaner could wait?
I didn’t say these things out loud. I just held them quietly, like seeds waiting for rain. Or like that one avocado you keep checking every day, willing it to ripen. Same energy.
How I Planned My First Solo Trip With Strict Parents
I was 19, living in my German hometown, at school and working a job that was fine, seeing the same faces, walking the same streets, feeling the same walls close in a little more each day.
You know that feeling when your life fits you like slightly uncomfortable shoes? Not painful enough to throw away, but not comfortable enough to forget you’re wearing them? That was me.
And then, out of nowhere, an opportunity appeared: Australia. A work visa. The chance to live and work there, not just visit. My first solo trip was about to become my first solo life.
I applied before I could talk myself out of it.
When I told my parents, the reaction was exactly what I expected. Fear. Disappointment. Questions I couldn’t answer: Why do you need to go so far? What’s wrong with here? What if something happens to you and we can’t help?
I didn’t have good answers. I just knew… I knew that if I didn’t go, I’d spend the rest of my life wondering who I could have been.
Also, have you seen pictures of Australia? It’s beautiful. The beaches alone were worth the argument.
My First Solo Trip to Australia as a Woman From a Strict Family
I landed in Australia with one big suitcase and no idea what I was doing.
I remember stepping off the plane and feeling the heat hit my face, different from German heat, warmer, wetter, alive. The sky looked bigger. The air smelled different. Everything sounded like another language, even though everyone was speaking English.
And I thought: “I did it. I actually did it. Oh god, I did it. What have I done? No wait… I did it.”
That feeling, that first breath of I chose myself, I still chase it. Not in a desperate way. In a grateful way. Like remembering who you are after years of forgetting.
Also in a “I can’t believe I get to live like this” way that makes me text my friends photos of sunsets with zero context at 3am their time. Sorry not sorry.
If you’re also planning a long-haul flight for your first solo trip, I’ve shared long-haul flight tips specifically for solo female travelers here.
What Australia Taught Me About Solo Female Travel
Living in Australia was real life in a place where nobody knew me. I worked, I struggled, I figured it out. I learned:
🌍 That I could trust myself → When something went wrong (and things went wrong), I handled it. No parents, no safety net, just me. And asking. Lots of asking around.
- 🌍 That “dangerous” and “unknown” are not the same thing → The world wasn’t nearly as scary as I’d been taught. It was just… different. And different is actually pretty great once you stop panicking.
- 🌍 That I was capable of more than anyone in my life had imagined → Including myself. Especially myself.
- 🌍That kangaroos are real and they look so cool → As if someone created the animal design in a playful, carefree way and just went with it.
Australia opened my eyes. And light got in. Also sand. So much sand. Australian sand gets everywhere.
Then Came New York: Solo Travel Confidence Grows
After Australia, something had shifted permanently. I’d tasted what it felt like to choose myself, and I couldn’t un-taste it.
So I went to New York.
If Australia taught me I could survive, New York taught me I could do well alone. That city doesn’t let you hide. It pushes you, challenges you, asks you every single day: Who are you? What do you want? Why are you here? And why are you walking so slow? Move.
I didn’t have answers at first. But I started finding them. In conversations with strangers who became friends. In moments of chaos that became stories. In the realization that I wasn’t running from something anymore. I was running toward myself.
Also in hamburgers. New York hamburgers are a kind of amazing experience.
The Addiction I Didn't Expect: Why Solo Travel Changes You
Here’s what I discovered, somewhere between Australia and New York and the 57 countries that followed:
I’m addicted.
Not to planes or passport stamps or checking boxes on a map. I’m addicted to the feeling of more. More sky. More faces. More questions. More versions of myself I haven’t met yet.
That hometown in Germany, the one everyone expected me to stay in, it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t all. And once you’ve tasted “all,” you can’t go back to “enough.”
Plus, once you’ve seen a sunset in Santorini, your hometown sunset just hits differently. Sorry, German sunset. You’re lovely. You’re just not that.
What I Want You to Know If You're Where I Was
Maybe you’re reading this and recognizing yourself. Maybe you’re the daughter of immigrants, carrying expectations that weren’t made for you. Maybe your family thinks solo travel is dangerous or selfish or wasteful. Maybe you don’t know anyone who’s done what you’re dreaming of.
Maybe your aunt also asks about marriage every time she sees you. Solidarity.
I was you. I didn’t know anyone either.
But here’s the thing: someone has to be first.
Someone has to be the first daughter in their family to leave. The first woman to say “I’m going alone.” The first person to prove that the fears aren’t the whole truth.
Why not you? Your aunt will get over it. Eventually. Maybe.
The Conversation I Never Had with My Parents
But the truth is, they weren’t completely wrong. The world can be unsafe. A woman traveling alone does need to be careful. It makes sense to save money. Family matters.
What I wish they could understand is that these things don’t have to limit me. Safety and adventure can live together. Love and distance can live together. Being grateful for where I come from doesn’t mean I have to stop wanting more from where I’m going.
Growing up between two perspectives taught me that most things aren’t just one way. That includes me. That includes you. And sometimes it means accepting that changing someone’s long-held mindset is harder than I once hoped, even when I try to explain my own path.
How to Travel With Strict Parents (Step-by-Step)
If you’re serious about solo female travel with strict parents, here’s the framework that helped me take my first solo trip.
- 🧳 Start with short trips close to home
- 🛡️ Create a safety plan to show them
- 📍 Share your itinerary and contacts
- 💰 Build financial independence first
- 🧠 Accept that full approval may never come
Solo Female Travel Preparation Checklist
- ✅Travel insurance for medical emergencies, flight issues, and lost belongings. I recommend checking coverage options like SafetyWing for long-term or flexible travel protection.
✅ Share emergency contacts with someone you trust. Include hotel information, flight numbers, and local phone numbers.
✅ Notify your bank before traveling. This helps prevent your card from being blocked in a foreign country.
✅ Download offline maps and translation apps. Helpful if you don’t have internet access.
✅ Research local safety conditions and women-travel experiences. Look specifically for information about solo female travelers.
✅ Book at least one structured activity during the trip. Small group experiences or walking tours can help you feel more comfortable when arriving in a new city.
✅ Carry a backup payment method. Use two cards from different banks if possible.
✅ Keep copies of important documents. Store digital copies of your passport and travel insurance.
✅ Plan your first 24 hours after arrival. Know how you will get from the airport to your accommodation.
✅ Pack less than you think you need. Overpacking is one of the most common first-trip mistakes.
More Solo Travel Resources from This Blog
If this post resonated with you or at least made you laugh once, you’ll probably like these too:
📖How I Finally Stopped Being Afraid to Travel Alone — The exact mindset shifts that got me out the door (and why my heart still races at airport security)
📖The Truth About Solo Travel and Money — No, you don’t need to be rich. You need to be creative. And okay with instant noodles sometimes.
📖Is Solo Travel Really Just for Privileged People? — An honest conversation about access, advantage, and making it work anyway (with receipts)
📖A Solo Travel Guide for Women of Color — The safety questions, beauty standards, and experiences nobody else talks about (plus where to find good hair products abroad)
What I Wish I Knew Before: Solo Travel Advice for Women With Strict Parents
🌟 That fear lives in your body the same way excitement does → Learn the difference. If it scares you and excites you, that’s not danger, that’s a compass. If fear is the biggest thing holding you back, I wrote a guide on how to overcome solo travel fear step by step.
🌟 That “people like us” is a sentence you can finish yourself → You get to decide who you are and what you do. Nobody else writes that story. Not even your aunt.
🌟 That your parents’ fear is about them, not you → They’re afraid because they love you. But their fear doesn’t get to drive your life. (Repeat this to yourself. Put it on a sticky note. Tattoo it somewhere private.)
🌟 That you don’t need permission → I waited so long for someone to say “go.” No one said it. I had to say it to myself. Out loud. In the mirror. It felt ridiculous. It worked anyway.
🌟 That Australia, New York, and every place after will feel impossible right up until you do it → And then you’ll wonder why you waited so long. And then you’ll book the next trip.
🌟 That packing is a skill you will only develop through catastrophic failure → I once brought too many sweaters to Thailand. In thirty degrees heat. Learn from my mistakes.
🌟 That solo doesn’t mean isolated → Some of my favorite memories came from booking walking tours, and small-group hikes. It helped me build confidence while still having structure. When I arrive in a new city, I often check GetYourGuide to see what experiences are available. It’s one of the easiest ways to explore safely and meet other travelers.
Mini FAQ: Solo Travel Safety Tips and What Women Ask
🌍 Is solo female travel safe when you have strict parents?
🌍 Solo travel safety depends more on preparation than on whether your parents are strict. Many parents worry because they associate “alone” with danger. You can help reduce this fear by choosing safer destinations, planning your trip carefully, and sharing your travel details with someone you trust.💭 How can I travel alone if my parents are controlling?
💭 Building independence step by step is often more realistic than trying to change your parents’ beliefs immediately. Financial independence, safety planning, and clear communication can make solo travel conversations easier over time.✈️ How do I prepare for my first solo trip as a woman?
✈️ Preparation should focus on three areas: safety, logistics, and emergency readiness. This includes purchasing travel insurance, organizing flight details, researching your destination, and planning transportation from the airport to your accommodation.👩🏾🦱 Is solo travel harder for women of color?
👩🏾🦱 Experiences can vary depending on the destination. It is helpful to research how women who look like you are treated in the places you want to visit. Reading real experiences from women with similar backgrounds can help you travel with more confidence.🏥 Do I really need travel insurance for solo travel?
🏥 Yes. Travel insurance can help protect you from unexpected medical costs, trip cancellations, or lost belongings. I personally consider it an essential part of solo travel preparation.😬 What if I feel lonely while traveling alone?
😬 Feeling lonely sometimes is normal when traveling solo. It helps to have a simple plan: listen to podcasts or audiobooks, journal your experiences, or join small group activities such as walking tours. I often check platforms like GetYourGuide to find structured experiences when I arrive in a new city.🎒 How should I pack for my first solo trip?
🎒 Pack less than you think you need. Follow the “two times, one time” rule — if you wouldn’t wear something twice at home, don’t pack it. Remember to bring earplugs, keep a budget cushion, and consider carrying a backup payment method.🌱 How do I travel without feeling guilty about leaving my family?
🌱 Guilt is common when you grow up hearing that staying close to family is the only responsible choice. Try reframing travel as personal growth that will also make you a stronger and more confident person when you return home.
Final Thoughts – Last Stop Before Takeoff!
If you want to travel alone with strict parents, know this: it is possible. You are not selfish. You are not reckless. You are building a life.
Solo female travel is not about rejecting your family or culture. It is about building a life where independence and love can coexist. You do not need perfect family approval to start planning your first trip.
I get it. I was there once too. Stuck between fear and wanting, not knowing a single person who’d done what I dreamed of.
PS – Still overwhelmed By Solo Traveling? Here's the fix.
That’s exactly why I now offer 1:1 mentoring for women who feel the same.
If you’re ready to stop dreaming and start planning and if you want someone in your corner who’s been exactly where you are, I’m here.
Here’s what we can do together:
🎯 Figure out your first real solo trip (even if you have no idea where to start)
🗺️ Build a step-by-step plan that works for YOUR budget, YOUR fears, YOUR life
💬 Talk through the family stuff—how to have the conversations, how to choose yourself without losing them
✨ Help you trust yourself enough to take that first step
No pressure. No judgment. Just someone who’s been there, survived, and figured out that the world is so much less scary than we were taught.
Adventure on, I’ll see you on the road!
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Feven is a solo female travel mentor who has visited 59 countries, 7 continents and helps women travel with confidence. She creates resources to help women overcome fear and plan their first solo trip. Follow her adventures on Instagram.