Last updated on August 10th, 2025
Solo travel moves into the mainstream, finally
by Carolyn Ray
It’s not every day (or decade) that a solo travel show featuring a powerful and influential woman over 50 debuts. So when “Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross,” launched this July, I couldn’t wait to watch it. The series, which has been highly promoted by the Roku network, follows 52-year-old Ross, the daughter of singing icon Diana Ross, star of ‘Blackish’, and CEO of Pattern Beauty LLC as she travels solo to Morocco, Mexico and Spain.
I must admit — when I first watched the show, I couldn’t totally relate to how Ross travelled. Five suitcases, luxury resorts, fashionable clothes, room service — that’s definitely not the way I travel solo. And as a woman who downsized to travel, owns literally nothing and rarely purchases new clothing, I find the overconsumption a bit jarring. I would love to see her take public transit, wander the streets without a camera crew and stay at hostels, as so many of us solo travellers do. But as I reflected on the show, I realized that Ross isn’t just entertaining us – she is ushering in the new reality of women’s solo travel — with a strong, confident and wealthy female lead. In doing so, she’s not only inspiring millions of women about solo travel but also breaking outdated stereotypes about women over 50, wealth and inclusion. Solo travel isn’t just for the young or the thrifty, it’s for everyone. It’s high time that the world paid attention to the unmarried, independent, empowered solo woman over 50, because she’s here and she’s only getting started.
Five things we can learn from the show
1. Don’t wait to invest in yourself
Many of us have parents or grandparents who grew up in the depression era. My nana used to pick up all my loose change and put it in my bank account. I was taught to save every nickel, not spend it — because you had to protect the future. To my knowledge, she only took one international trip after my grandfather died, with me, to our house in Florida when I was in my 20s. She scrimped and saved, so that our family would have (someday) money of our own.
When I turned 50, I knew I had to change my lifestyle and abandon my preconceived ideas of saving for the future. After a successful 25-year career and raising a daughter as a single mother, I knew I had earned the right to spend money on what I wanted. This meant travelling as much as possible. I sold everything I owned and downsized to a 500 square foot apartment in Toronto. I am not waiting for my so-called retirement to miraculously appear. I am going for it and travel most of the year now. If I want to take my daughter on a luxury mother-daughter trip to Morocco for her 25th birthday, I’m gonna to do it and invest in us, our relationship and finding joy together. Why wait? Tomorrow is not a guarantee.
“I took my first solo trip when I was 22 years old. I decided way back then that I wouldn’t wait to do the things I wanted to do or for my life to come to me,” says Ross. “I’ve been solo traveling ever since, now there’s just a lot more luggage!” (Source: Variety)
2. Solo travel is fun
While I could never afford Ross’ gorgeous designer clothes, the high-end hotels or the private limousine, I do envy it. I mean, really, who wouldn’t want to stay at the best hotels, dine at exclusive restaurants and wear the cutest shoes ever, wrapped with love in tissue paper! My luxury travel experience is limited (although I did revel in staying in the Owner’s Suite complete with two butlers on a recent press trip with Uniworld), but that’s not to say I wouldn’t love to travel this way.
Being a one-woman show with only two photographers is no joke. But Ross handles it with class and style, always laughing and smiling, even when she’s doing her own video selfies in the bathroom or ordering French fries when she doesn’t want to leave her hotel room. And then there’s the shopping, something any woman can relate to. Honestly, I would travel with her in a heartbeat. Wouldn’t you?
“I find that it’s [overpacking] a glorious luxury,” she says. “[But] I’ve never had any shame about it. I think I’ve had more shame around having so much luggage, but not about solo travelling. And I think that’s really part of what I hope people gain from the show… It’s okay to know yourself. It’s okay to know the things that work best for you. It’s okay to know how to take care of yourself. It’s okay to lean into that.” She adds: “One of the ways I’ve gotten over the shame of overpacking: my overpacking has never hurt anybody. It only brings joy. So do it. Pack it!” (Source: BBC)
3. Solo travel is about embracing your power as a woman
While the show looks glamorous, Ross also admits that solo travel can be lonely, scary and uncomfortable. This is the truth of independent travel, as our own founder Evelyn Hannon pointed out decades ago. It’s the reason she started JourneyWoman in 1994 – to build a community of women to support each other. For far too long, women have been told that travelling alone is somehow shameful – ‘oh, you must be lonely’ or ‘poor you, no one to travel with’. That’s ridiculous, and we’re over that.
Evelyn knew, as Tracee does, that we can’t give away our power as women. We must choose to step into our future with courage and ignore the naysayers. And the only way to shift perceptions and overcome fears is to bring them into the spotlight and talk about it, together as women, with honesty and candor. That’s how we create change.
“I really enjoy the luxury of being. I do a lot of doing in my life. And so there’s something about solo travel – the kind of solo travel that I do, because some people go on solo travel for adventure, some people go to meet people, some people go to sort of be away from their lives. The kind that I do really is about being, and I gain a muscle strength, which I liken to a baseball player that swings with two bats and then gets up to plate and swings with one. I feel like solo travel is a little bit like swinging with two bats, and I gain a muscle strength around the ability to hold my own self with confidence out in the world. I come back and you’re like, going to a party by yourself is no big deal.” (Source: USA Today)
4. There is more than one way to travel solo
Solo travel isn’t a new trend. Many of our readers have been travelling solo for decades.
However, what is changing quickly is the demographics. Today, many women are choosing not to marry, to get divorced or to travel alone. These demographics alone mean that solo travel is poised to grow from a niche industry to a mainstream one. In fact, our last study showed that only 24% of women 50+ travellers (those with passports and a propensity to travel) are married. The friction point is that the travel industry is completely organized around couples and families, not single women. This means that a woman travelling alone has to pay more — always — for costs that would have previously been borne by two people. Hotel room, river cruise, group tour — you name it, we pay more for the ‘privilege’ of travelling alone, despite carrying the full weight of life’s expenses as an independent woman.
Whether we travel completely solo, in a group or with our girlfriends, the point is that we, as women, are in charge. We are the decision-makers — deciding, planning, spending and travelling. That’s the important part to remember about solo travel. Just like the car industry had to embrace and adapt to women as key decision makers, so must travel do the same. The most affluent female traveller, according to JourneyWoman research, is a widowed or unmarried 65 to 75-year-old woman, who prefers to travel solo, spends over $10,000 a year on travel and takes more than three trips a year. How often do we see THAT traveller profiled in travel marketing materials?
Let’s stop debating what is or isn’t solo travel and focus on encouraging more women to travel solo. Let’s tell women they can do it. Let’s tell them they are strong and powerful. Let’s tell women to stop listening to society and instead, listen to their hearts. Let’s tell women to get on that plane, bravely say hello to someone in a foreign language and eat something we have never tasted. Isn’t that what lifelong learning and curiosity is all about?
“So often I look around and I’m like, why are there not more examples of owning your singleness and owning your childlessness with joy and with abandon, or also with choice?” she says during one of her many epiphanies. “Like, it can’t just be Joan of Arc or cat ladies. There’s gotta be something in between!” (Source: Salon)
5. Solo travel must be inclusive
As an advocate for women’s solo travel, I’m thrilled to see Tracee Ellis Ross’ solo travel show being broadcast by a mainstream network, particularly with such an empowered, candid and funny female lead. There’s no question she’s in a position of influence to inspire women to overcome their fears and get out and see the world, and isn’t that what we want?
She’s also got the power to change an industry that desperately needs a wake-up call. Our research shows that the women’s travel market in North America will double to US$519 billion by 2035. In the US alone, 66% of women 55+ are solo travellers. To my knowledge, this is the first show in North America that brings solo travel into the mainstream and features an exciting, talented, Black 50+ woman, something we should all celebrate. I hope that Ellis uses her powerful platform to inspire more women to get out there, live our best lives and help the travel industry to be more inclusive of everyone, not just families and couples.
How to watch the show: “Solo Traveling With Tracee Ellis Ross” is streaming on the Roku Channel here.
‘Are there things about me, my life and who I am and my identity that are going to leave me vulnerable?’ [Whether you say] I’m a woman, I’m a Black woman, I’m LGBTQ, I’m non-binary, I’m differently abled… Whatever those things are, research so that you make sure, to the best of your ability, that you know you’re not going to feel overly vulnerable in those areas. [Then], go enjoy yourself! (Source BBC)
Carolyn Ray
In 2023, Carolyn was named one of the most influential women in travel by TravelPulse for her efforts to advocate for women over 50 in travel. She has been featured in the New York Times, Toronto Star and Conde Nast as a solo travel expert, and speaks at women's travel conferences around the world. In 2025, she received her second SATW travel writing award and published her first book "Never Too Late: How Women 50+ Travellers Are Making the Rules" with co-author Lola Akinmade. She leads JourneyWoman's team of writers and chairs the JourneyWoman Women's Advisory Council, JourneyWoman Awards for Women 50+ and the Women's Speaker's Bureau. She is the chair of the Canadian chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), a member of Women Travel Leaders and a Herald for the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Sometimes she sleeps. A bit.
I’ve been a solo traveller for 25 years. For the most part i thoroughly enjoy it and ALMOST ALWAYS meet great people. The most annoying part of solo travel is the premium a lot of travel companies esp. cruises charge to Solo Travelers. It REALLY REALLY annoys me to pay supplements and frankly I just won’t do it. It’s 2025 and why is this still going on?? Build solo traveler cabins why doncha?? Adjust the price a bit … why is it taking so long to change the mind set??
Couldn’t agree more. We’re working to change that. It will also take solo travellers pushing back, but we have some plans for that too! Thanks Barb!
I’ve watched Solo Travel with Tracie Ross and like you there’s no way I would pack 5 suitcases with clothing I think I’ll wear.
I’m trying to pack lighter. I’m working on a hands free trip to Greece. One checked luggage and a backpack.
I enjoyed the realness of her show. Im glad she shows women a different way to travel and enjoy it just as much.
I hope she makes more episodes.
I love the idea of a tv show featuring a solo woman of a certain age travelling the world, and I found Tracee entertaining and a good sport. But the show itself — come on, folks, it was like a fashion spread in a woman’s magazine, all posing and consumption. Where’s the joy of actually being in a different culture, meeting local folks, and having local experiences? Please get this plucky woman out of the upscale resorts , shops, and restaurants for a hot minute, and let her wander the streets and meet some folks. Hopefully in a funkier place than those created exclusively for tourists. After Anthony Bourdain and even Somebody Feed Phil, this show feels like a pink ghetto. I have nothing at all against pretty clothes and fabulous shoes, luxury, or spas, and am happy to indulge myself. But there’s so much more to life than consumption in the international tourist zone. Please let’s not leave the culture, fun, and adventures to the men. I’ve been solo travelling for over 50 years, and I won’t even let mobility issues keep me home. We need to see a woman traveller who actually gets out to see the world, and not just experiences curated for consumption. Tracee, and all of us, deserve more.