Travel Girls You Must Meet on Your Next Trip

You’ve booked the flight, packed your bag, and mapped out the hostels. But the real magic of travel doesn’t happen in guidebooks or on Instagram feeds. It happens when you sit across from a stranger at a street-side café in Hanoi, and she tells you how she sold her car to buy a one-way ticket to Laos. Or when you share a dorm room in Lisbon with a woman from Chile who’s been living out of a backpack for 18 months-and she’s never once felt lonely.

These are the travel girls you must meet on your next trip. Not because they’re perfect, or even always adventurous. But because they’re real. They’ve been lost in Bangkok at 2 a.m., survived a bus breakdown in Peru, and learned how to say "thank you" in seven languages just to get a bowl of noodles. And they’ll change how you see the world-maybe even how you see yourself.

Who Are These Travel Girls?

They’re not influencers with sponsored gear. They’re not models posing on cliffs in Bali. They’re everyday women who chose to leave the familiar behind, not to escape, but to find something deeper. Some are recent college grads. Others are divorced moms, nurses on sabbatical, or teachers saving for years just to go. They carry worn-out hiking boots, mismatched socks, and notebooks filled with scribbled addresses of strangers who became friends.

You’ll find them in hostels from Prague to Phnom Penh. Sitting on the floor of a Marrakech riad, sharing tea and stories. Hiking the Camino de Santiago with a group of strangers who became family. Riding overnight trains in India with a bag of snacks and zero fear. They don’t wait for permission. They don’t need a travel buddy. They show up-and show out.

Where to Find Them

You won’t find them on Facebook groups titled "Best Travel Deals 2026." You’ll find them where the Wi-Fi is spotty and the coffee is cheap.

• Hostel common rooms-especially after 8 p.m., when the day-trippers have left and the real conversations begin.
• Group tours like G Adventures or Intrepid Travel, where small groups (under 12 people) create natural bonds.
• Local cooking classes in cities like Oaxaca, Hanoi, or Tbilisi. Women who sign up for these aren’t just learning recipes-they’re learning how to connect.
• Volunteer programs like WWOOF or HelpX. These attract women who want to give back, not just take photos.
• Outdoor meetups on Meetup.com or local Facebook groups: "Women Who Hike in Kyoto," "Solo Female Travelers in Lisbon."

One woman I met in a hostel in Cusco had just finished a 30-day silent meditation retreat in Nepal. She didn’t say much at first. But when she finally opened up, she told me she’d spent two years saving up for this trip-not to check off a bucket list, but to stop running from her own thoughts. That’s the kind of depth you don’t get from a tour guide.

Why Meeting Them Matters

Travel isn’t just about seeing new places. It’s about seeing new versions of yourself. And the women you meet along the way act as mirrors. They show you what’s possible when you stop waiting for the "right time."

Take Maya, who I met in a café in Medellín. She was 52, retired from her job as a high school principal, and traveling alone for the first time since her husband passed. She told me she used to think solo travel was for "young people." Then she realized: "I’m young enough to be scared. And brave enough to do it anyway."

These women don’t preach. They don’t tell you to quit your job or sell everything. But they live it. And that’s louder than any advice.

They teach you how to trust strangers. How to say "no" to a ride that feels off. How to eat alone without feeling awkward. How to cry in a foreign airport and still catch your flight the next morning. They show you that fear doesn’t disappear-it just gets quieter when you keep moving.

How to Start the Conversation

You don’t need a pickup line. You don’t need to be outgoing. You just need to be present.

1. Ask a simple question: "Where are you from?" or "Have you tried the empanadas here?"
2. Listen more than you talk. Most of these women have stories they’ve been waiting to tell.
3. Share something small about yourself. Not your whole life story-just one real moment. "I got lost in Rome yesterday and ended up eating pasta with a 70-year-old nonna."
4. Invite them to join you. "I’m heading to the market tomorrow. Want to come?" No pressure. No expectations.

One time, I sat next to a woman in a bus station in Guatemala who was reading a book on Buddhist mindfulness. I asked if she’d ever tried meditating on a train. She laughed and said, "Only when the engine sounds like a chanting monk." We ended up traveling together for three days. She taught me how to fold a sleeping bag in half the size. I taught her how to order a beer in Spanish without sounding like a tourist.

What You’ll Learn From Them

Here’s what the travel girls I’ve met have shown me, in no particular order:

• Money isn’t the barrier-it’s fear. The woman who traveled across Africa with $300 and a tent didn’t have more money than you. She just had less doubt.
• Loneliness isn’t the opposite of travel. It’s part of it. And sometimes, it’s the price of freedom.
• You don’t need to be "brave" to travel alone. You just need to be willing to be uncomfortable.
• Some of the best friendships you’ll ever have last less than 48 hours. And that’s okay.
• There’s no "right" way to travel. Some women sleep in luxury hotels. Others camp under stars. Both are valid.

One of the most powerful things I learned came from a woman in Nepal who’d been hiking for six months. She said, "I used to think the world was full of dangers. Now I know it’s full of people who want to help-if you let them."

What to Do After You Meet Them

Don’t ghost them. Don’t just exchange Instagram handles and disappear.

Send a message a week later. "Hey, I just ate the best dal bhat in Kathmandu. Thought of you." Or send a photo of something that reminded you of them-a street dog, a colorful market, a stubborn taxi driver.

Some of these connections turn into lifelong friendships. Others fade. That’s fine. What matters is that you showed up. You didn’t just pass through. You stayed long enough to be changed.

Travel isn’t about collecting stamps in a passport. It’s about collecting moments that reshape you. And the women you meet along the way? They’re the ones who leave the deepest marks.

Final Thought

You’re not going on a trip to see temples, mountains, or beaches. You’re going to meet people. Real ones. Messy, brave, tired, joyful ones. The travel girls you meet won’t give you tips on the best hostels or cheapest flights. They’ll give you something better: proof that you can be lost, scared, and still okay. That you can be alone and never lonely. That the world is bigger than your fears.

So next time you’re sitting in a hostel kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil, look around. The woman peeling an orange with one hand and texting her mom with the other? That’s your next teacher. Say hello.