Over the years, there have been many female explorers that have taken on the world solo. In the eighteenth century, Mary Wollstonecraft, a British novelist, philosopher and advocate of women's rights became a heroine with her way of travel. In the nineteenth century a British explorer called Mary Kingsley, travelled to West and Central Africa at a time when women did not take dangerous trips to exotic locations. Today in the twenty-first century, we're all doing it! For this month's solo insight, get ready to get inspired by our round-up of solo travel books. 

Solo Travel Books

A Female Guide To Solo Travel by Girl about the Globe

Empowering, inspiring and full of practical advice, this guide has all the information and advice you need for your solo trip. Whether it is your first time or you have travelled solo before, A Female Guide To Solo Travel will inspire, empower and prepare you for your solo trip. Sections include: Why Travel Solo including pros and cons, Plan Your Trip, On The Road, and Returning Home. Also included is a summary of each continent, the best countries to visit and how to get around. We think it's the most comprehensive guide for women travelling solo! (and yes we're biased).

* Buy a Female Guide To Solo Travel

Vagabondess by Toby Israel

To embrace Vagabondess is to embrace your spirit of adventure, curiosity, and growth and discovery. The author, Toby Israel, believes that all of this lies inside each of us and that for solo female travellers, the vagabondess is an attainable objective, not a holy grail. Toby has travelled through Africa, Asia, Central America and Europe and shares all her insights from over a decade of solo travel in her book.

* Buy Vagabondess here

The Solo Travel Handbook: Practical tips and inspiration for a safe, fun and fearless trip by Lonely Planet 

If you're a fan of Lonely Planet, this is the perfect book for anyone who needs a confidence boost to set off and travel solo for the first time! Packed full of tips and advice on how to make friends, budget, or pack, this handy guide will surely bring a smile to every traveller.

* Buy the Solo Travel Handbook

A Thousand New Beginnings by Kristin Addis

If you need some inspiration to travel to Asia, A Thousand New Beginnings is the tale of a 26-year-old girl who left her life, job and boyfriend to go solo through Southeast Asia. Kristin Addis is the founder of Be My Travel Muse, an amazing travel source for travellers. 

* Buy A Thousand New Beginnings 

Footloose & Fearless @ Fifty + by Denise O’Leary

This humorous book takes you on a solo woman’s journey through the Americas on one woman’s attempt to transform her life from middle age monotony by adventuring to Latin America. Staying in cheap accommodation along the way, Denise demonstrates the simple joy of diving in and not being afraid to try everything when you travel alone. Inspirational and empowering, this book is definitely a feel-good read for those thinking that adventure is just for women in their twenties.

* Buy Footloose & Fearless @ Fifty +

Stop Drifting, Start Rowing by Roz Savage

Roz Savage had a perfect life: a job, a husband and a little red sports car, but forward five years and she was divorced, homeless and alone in a tiny rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean… Roz became the first woman to have rowed solo across three oceans. This book is her inspiring tale of ‘one woman’s search for happiness and meaning alone on the Pacific. 

* Buy Stop Drifting, Start Rowing here 

Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa

Noo Saro-Wiwa was raised in England and was reluctantly dragged to Nigeria every year. When her father was murdered in Nigeria, she did not return for 10 years. However, in order to rediscover the country and culture her father so loved, she travels from exciting Lagos to Transwonderland, a decrepit amusement park. She delves into Nigeria’s history, politics, film industry, and corruption, as well as reflects on her travels. Her book is packed full with descriptions of the people she encounters, palaces and rainforests she explores, as well as passionate and witty reflections on her life.

* Buy Looking for Transwonderland

Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun by Faith Adiele

This awe-inspiring book is a mix between travel book, memoir, and coming-of-age story. Leaving her life in America behind, Faith Adele finds herself in a forest temple, meditating for 19 hours and living off one meal a day. Through her journals, we explore Western philosophy and what a successful and full life actually looks like.

* Buy Meeting Faith here

Go Girl!: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure by Elain Lee

A first of its kind travel book; the author says it best: “The first travel book for the sisters”. This book consists of a collection of essays on travelling while being black and a woman. Travel memoirs and travel books are often dominated by a white perspective, however, this book addresses issues and problems black female travellers might encounter while travelling, as well as motivating more black women to travel solo!

* Buy Go Girl! The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure

The Shooting Star by Shivya Nath

Shivya Nath is the author of one of India’s biggest travel blogs. At the age of 23, she quit her job, sold her belongings, and started her life as a travelling nomad. In her memoir, she recounts her adventures such as living with an indigenous Mayan community, hiking up remote Himalayan villages, as well as negative experiences such as being mugged in Costa Rica. Her life is packed full of adventures that are inspiring and motivates its readers to reflect on one’s life and connections.

* Buy The Shooting Star here

Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure by Monisha Rajesh

Packing up her backpack and her fiancé, Monisha embarks on a 45000-mile trip using only the best slow travel has to offer: the railway system. Boarding the most iconic trains such as the Orient Express, striking up friendships with passing strangers, confusing train times, and surviving mayhem, this book is an exciting and hilarious account of extreme train-travelling. Monisha’s other book “Around India in 80 trains” is a true solo-female travel book, for readers who would prefer to read about the highs and lows facing a solo woman using India’s most successful public transports.

* Buy Around The World in 80 Trains Here

What's your favourite solo travel book?