These past few years, wanderlust has become one of the most popular trends in our generation. Social media pages such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest are full of images of people traveling and experiencing wanderlust–appearing so remarkable that you just can’t wait to go out there and have the same experience.
I personally have a super strong sense of wanderlust and because of this, I often seek traveling tips in my Pinterest page such the usual, “How to Pack” pins or the “How to Travel on a Budget.” As I continue scrolling down, I see a “How to Travel Solo as a Female” and I’m naturally curious about it.
I open the pin, which directs me to page with the title “Safe Tips for Female Travelers” and a list of tips appears. Some of the tips included: never mention you are traveling alone, carry a whistle to call attention and don’t travel to these specific destinations–and then it hit me. Why do female travelers always have to be afraid of traveling alone? At what point have we come in society where there are certain things or countries you have to avoid in order to be safe? This issue has become so common. When did violence against women abroad become so normal?
We live in a world in which the women have to be afraid of what will happen to them just by the simple fact of traveling alone–a world in which the company of men will supposedly give you a better security and peace but the worst of all, is the fact that we live in world where gender violence is so natural. The number of killings, sexual assaults and disappearing of women while they travel alone or with the company of another woman, is shocking.
Recently, two young Argentinean females, Maria Jose Coni and Marina Menegazzo, were found dead in Ecuador, while traveling by themselves in South America. As I read this article about the tragic story of these two girls, I felt a strong connection to both of them. They were about my age and had the same desires as me, which are to see new places and have new experiences.
I felt powerless and disappointed in our society knowing that they are gone while some are thinking “well, they shouldn’t have traveled by themselves.” Instead, people should be respecting the memory of these two women. Do women have to stop living, traveling and experiencing new things in life to be safe? When will we realize that this is not normal and and when will we stop this violence against women? When will we stop thinking and feeding stereotypes that males are strong and females are weak?
This article is dedicated to Coni, Menegazzo and all of those other brave female travelers that just had a simple wish to travel and experience the world.
Photo Credits:
Photo 1 – Diario Los Andes, Photo 2 – Los dibujos de Pola