Solo travel is more than a holiday. It's an act of self-investment. Solo travel in midlife is about creating space to reconnect with yourself, heal from life’s challenges, and discover what truly matters.
It can also be an opportunity to step outside the routines and expectations that have shaped your life for decades. In the quiet moments between destinations, you often gain perspective on where you've been and where you want to go next. What begins as a trip can become a powerful reminder that growth, adventure and reinvention are possible at any age.
TL; DR Solo travel after 50 can be a powerful tool for healing, self-discovery, and personal growth. Solo travel is more than a holiday. Whether you’re navigating divorce, the empty nest, burnout or other life transitions, travelling alone helps you build confidence, trust your instincts, and a chance to reflect on what’s next. The greatest souvenir isn’t what you bring home, but the person you become along the way.
Why Solo Travel Is a Form of Healing Travel
My own solo travel journey started way back in 2017 when I went on my first solo trip to Croatia and Italy for four weeks. I call it the trip that keeps giving, even years down the track. It was the start of me learning to tune into what I needed & how I wanted life to look. That initial trip stripped away all the noise of my daily life and gave me a chance to just be me. There was no huge lightbulb moment. No eureka. No big aha. Just a slow murmur that I was capable.
It was a chance to step away from daily responsibilities, to give me space to think. Although to be honest, I think it actually gave me space to NOT think. When I look back there was a lot going on that I couldn’t see. It would take years to unravel the dynamics I was living in. Looking back on that first trip, it was incredible to experience silence that wasn’t harmful, to experience kindness from total strangers, and to feel an internal lightness and freedom that back then I couldn’t explain.
Funny how I packed a small bag to keep me safe and to travel with ease, only to realise in more recent years that the invisible weight of emotional wear-and-tear was my biggest burden. Solo trips since have given me the opportunity to consider my choices and dynamics that needed to change or move on from.
Solo travel has helped me gain perspective on life transitions like perimenopause, midlife, the empty nest, divorce and healing from that. Solo travel gave me emotional breathing room. A chance to slow down, watch the world and feel my reactions to it.
A spectacular dawn. Puerto Natales. Chile
Learning to Trust Yourself Again
When you travel solo you start making decisions independently. You build confidence in yourself as you solve unexpected challenges or relish sweet moments of joy as you sit on a beach eating a local delicacy with a takeaway coffee. Every train I caught, wrong turn corrected, and conversation started became evidence that I was capable of more than I had given myself credit for.
Solo travel absolutely kickstarts your intuition. You are on alert for things around you, but that softens into knowing you’ll be OK and warning you when a situation seems off. Bringing that kind of thinking home has you reconsidering how you go about life. With that intuition muscle now being flexed I started to notice things that needed to change.
The Gift of Solitude: Finding Clarity Away from the Noise
The difference between loneliness and solitude is immense. You can be lonely sitting next to your partner, lonely in a room full of people, and completely at peace sitting atop a cliff overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The defining moment for me was when I realised I felt comfortable in my own company and started showing myself self-love.
Solo travel gives you the gift of time to spend on yourself. For journalling, walking and reflection. This is where the healing happens. Although it also happens as I hike up a 1000m steep and rocky incline to the top of a mountain pass. Focusing only on my breathing and where I would safely place my next step, my mind would clear. For me this was walking meditation.
Travelling alone gives you something increasingly rare in modern life: uninterrupted time to think.
Mountains are my happy place. Roy's Peak. New Zealand
How Solo Travel Helps You Rewrite Your Story
My greatest lesson from solo travel is that I can do hard stuff. I got on a plane by myself with a ridiculously small amount of luggage (5.5 kilos or 12 pounds) and travelled alone for four weeks. In my book, Dare to Travel Solo, I denied being brave, but in hindsight it was brave, gutsy and it did take a lot of courage. I thought I just wanted a break.
Major life changes like loss, burnout, divorce, retirement or navigating health issues have you reassessing life and the future. And that’s a good thing. You don’t go through big stuff and not change. Solo travel gives you the time and space you need to sit quietly with what the hell happened and now what you really want.
I love that when I’m travelling solo, I’m just Katherine. Old identities are not always shared. My story is mine to tell, or not. It’s a chance to rediscover passions and purpose. Travel introduced me to people who celebrated curiosity, adventure and trying new things.
Spending time around that kind of encouragement helped me recognise how powerful it is to be seen for who you are, rather than who others expect you to be. Somewhere along the way, I stopped being surprised when people believed in me.
Solo travel within a hiking group. Tour du Mont Blanc.
So where do you start with solo travel?
Starting small counts! It could be going to a movie by yourself. It could be renting a beach house two hours from where you live for a weekend, or a cabin in the woods for a week. Whether you walk on the beach or in the forest for hours, or curl up with a book, a reflective journal, or watch a mini-series. Doing what you want, answerable to no one, is the best part of all.
Or you could jump right in and do what I did and completely rip that band-aid off! Whatever you decide to do, is your choice. It needs to feel right for you. Don't compare your trip to others. We're all on different journeys. You do You.
The People You Meet Become Part of the Healing Journey
Solo travel does not mean you are alone. It does mean you choose who you engage with. Being open to others brings absolute gems of conversations that fill your heart or give you a sore face and a belly ache from laughing so much. I mix up my solo travel with group hikes, day tours, or city walking groups. It gives me social connection when I choose.
As a solo traveller you are not a threat to locals and other travellers. People are curious and conversations are frequently started with questions about who you are travelling with. Deeper conversations evolve as you spend more time with people. In my case, it’s while hiking. You learn about others’ lives, about their country, their economy, their politics, their dreams. And you learn how similar we all are no matter where we are from. And then there are those special moments of connection where you are truly seen.
Someone asked me recently what I do at night when travelling solo, as I mentioned I don’t generally go out after dark. This is often the time that I take to read blogs and Substack articles by woman I follow who share their philosophies on healing through travel.
Jenny from Orchids to Olives writes incredibly thoughtful posts on healing through travel. I love her experiences at wellness centres around the world. Jenny also has guest posts on the topic.
Robin from Wandering Aunt sees solo travel as a tool for self-discovery, empowerment, and stepping outside comfort zones. Robin is about giving yourself space to be mindful about your solo travels and setting intentions. I really enjoy her Substack articles for deeper thinking about solo experiences.
Annabel from Thrive Travel VIP (who I connected with through JourneyWomen when she saw I won the Solo Travel Wisdom Award this year) helps people navigate major life disruptions using a targeted framework, through changing your environment, trying new things, and completing one daily achievement.
I also love scrolling through websites that focus on female travel for over 50s and JourneyWoman absolutely hits the spot.
Hiking in Los Glaciares National Park. Patagonia.
You Return Home Different Than When You Left
When I returned home after that first trip, I thought I was exactly the same. Clearly, I wasn’t. A little voice was inside me… You can give this a go. You just travelled for four weeks by yourself. You are capable.
I did, however, want to minimise our house contents (you get that after travelling with so little). No one else in the house was interested. I learnt that you can only change yourself, so I set to clearing out my wardrobe.
Further solo travels have added to the resilience I built on that first trip. An increased self-reliance and self-awareness followed. Slowly, bit by bit I started gaining confidence in making huge life-changing decisions.
My life now on the other side of divorce is unbelievable. I’m doing things I never thought possible – talking at festivals, on radio and podcasts, writing a new book, hiking crazy mountains. I am the mistress of my own destiny. I listen to my gut and keep myself safe. The wellbeing benefits have me heading into a long life of peace, freedom and joy.
I often wonder, what if I never went on that trip? It’s a scary thought.
Selfies: The life of a solo traveller!
The Most Valuable Souvenir Is the Person You Become
As I recently sat at the top of a 4,750m (15,550 feet) mountain pass in Peru, gazing at the extraordinary expansiveness of the Cordillera Huayhuash, I was overcome with the silence and beauty of the mountains. Jagged, snow-covered peaks made me feel so small. There was no noise. Just sheer raw beauty. I soaked it in with no thoughts, just awe. As I turned to return to the group of the loveliest people and my two adult children, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude that I had done hard things to get to this point and continue to challenge myself and try new things.
Solo travel doesn't heal everything. But it creates the space where healing can begin. Sometimes the greatest journey isn't across continents. It's the journey back to yourself.
Altitude (or was that attitude) training. Huarez. Peru
About the author
Katherine Leamy is an award-winning solo travel writer, speaker, and author of Dare to Travel Solo. She inspires women to embrace independent travel as a pathway to confidence, personal growth, and reinvention. Drawing on her own experiences, she shares practical advice and encouragement for travelling solo at any age.
