Featured image: Let’s step into the future not the past | Photo by Shutterstock
This is our time as women to participate
by Carolyn Ray
Whether you’ve been out travelling or at home, you may have noticed some distressing shifts in how women are being treated in the world. These changes are not positive. In too many countries, we are witnessing the dismantling of women’s rights. In others, we see a relentless restriction of women’s freedom.
Unless the most vulnerable among us is free, none of us are free.
I believe that women have the right to be free from violence, make choices about their own body; be able to walk in public without fear and have the ability to go to school. We should have the right to own property, start a business, work at a job of our choice and be paid equally for it. We should have the right to vote freely, without anxiety about our personal safety. We should have the right to love and be with whomever we choose. The protection of these rights allows women to live the lives they want and to thrive in them. And when women thrive, the world thrives.
As travellers, we have the privilege to see more than most people. Our perspective is shaped by our experiences. Through travel, we witness first-hand the consequences of inequity, poverty and climate change. Our wisdom is what cultivates the qualities we share with others: kindness and empathy. Courage and civility. Gratitude and respect. Hope and passion.
But this all starts with participation. If we don’t participate, we are powerless.
At JourneyWoman, we want to hear your voice. For 30 years, we have invited women around the world to share their perspectives through the gathering of travel tips, wisdom and advice. Our editorial features are all written by women to ensure our voices are heard. All the businesses we highlight in our Women’s Travel Directory are led or owned by women. Our Women’s Speaker’s Bureau, Soul of Travel Podcast and Awards for Women over 50 are all designed to give women a voice and platform. Soon we will be launching a survey to get your perspective on solo travel and how the industry can better meet your needs. We’ve also announced a new book, intended to highlight the influence we as women have. All of these show that when women come together, we can make a difference.
We are a platform for women, by women.
Far too often, women stand on the sidelines, wondering what to do. We question our abilities, our power and our influence without realizing that WE are the ones we have been waiting for. As women, there is a universal connection that supersedes borders and nations. If there is one thing we can do right now, it’s to stick together. Support each other. Lift each other up. Understand the impact of our decisions on the world. To our sisters in the US, you have an important decision with your vote in the weeks to come.
This is our time. This is our time to use our voice and influence to help create a more just, safer world for everyone, traveller or not. The world needs you.
Please don’t sit on the sidelines. Let’s make our voices count.
Let’s not return to the past
Protesting violence against women in Gadhinglaj, India 2014 / संजीव बोंडे, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Carolyn Ray
As the CEO and Editor of JourneyWoman, Carolyn is a passionate advocate for women's travel and living the life of your dreams. She leads JourneyWoman's team of writers and chairs the JourneyWoman Women's Advisory Council and Women's Speaker's Bureau. She has been featured in the New York Times, Toronto Star and Zoomer as a solo travel expert, and speaks at women's travel conferences around the world. In March 2023, she was named one of the most influential women in travel by TravelPulse and was the recipient of a SATW travel writing award in September 2023. She is the chair of the Canadian chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), board member for the Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance (CHEA) in support of Black and Brown businesses, a member of Women's Travel Leaders and a Herald for the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Sometimes she sleeps. A bit.
Add to the list: we should be free to practice whatever religion we choose without fear of personal attacks, or general attacks against our religion !
Thank you for writing “Don’t Stand on the Sidelines.” No matter where we are geographically or politically, we must stand together for women’s rights!
I returned to the US last spring after a year traveling abroad. Seeing the growing turmoil in my home country, I’ve started using my biweekly Substack as a voice for democracy as much as a way to document my experiences as a digital nomad.
The worst thing we can do is nothing.
I was elated to read your message today! It spoke to my mind & my soul…thank you so much.
100%! Thanks, Carolyn.
Dear Carolyn, Thank you for your beautiful, eloquent and powerful words of strength and encouragement for all, all of us who collectively share the path for more, more you, more me, more they, them, us and beyond. The time is now dear sisters. Let’s unite to flip the world where light can take its humble and radiant place and offer us ALL endless possibilities filled with boundless love, freedom and compassionate connection!
Totally agree and Love this article so much! Thank you for sharing. When women come together we are a powerful force. We have sadly been suppressed in so many areas past and present, but it’s time to reclaim our power and champion ourselves ❤️
Totally agree. Your words truly spoke to my soul. Another suggestion is to encourage and promote activities designed to lift women in developing countries. My company, Travels with Talek initiated “Bras for Babes” to bring gently used bras – the most requested article – to women’s organizations in Cuba in awareness of Breast Cancer Month, in October. The initiative was very successful and we will go to Cuba to distribute the donations.
Too often women in midlife and beyond are marginalized, ignored or overlooked. But not anymore! We stand tall and proud during this election and feel the support of all our JourneyWoman sisters behind us. A rising tide lifts all boats.
Thank you for writing such an eloquent article! It’s so important for women to fully participate in this election and make sure that our freedoms are protected.
Thank you for leading the way with this piece. I couldn’t agree more. Were in this together.
To my sisters in the USA, I have met so many of you beautiful women on my travels. We, your friends from around the world, hope that you and your friends and families will stand strong, vote well and welcome a new style of leader for your country. Someone who believes in the power of women in their own right, not as pawns for men to control. So many times previously, you have introduced yourselves to me as “Hi, I’m Sandy from Florida and I didn’t vote for him”. Vote, vote, vote and please ease our minds, because if the USA has a Trump presidency again, Australia is doomed.
Totally agree I have a 19year old gay Granddaughter whom I’m extremely proud of she traveld to China for 3 months on her own this year , is very involved with woman rights and politics, she and others like her will hopefully make the world a much better place for girls,women everywhere. It’s about time !!
Thanks for using this powerful platform to put this issue in the forefront Carolyn. Being a traveler is far more than exploring another place – we can use our experiences to make a positive impact on where we travel and our own home. Taking action is key – let’s do this!
It is long past for women to be regarded as second-class citizens. In the West it is not so bad except for the attacks on women on the streets. We must not forget that in the early beginning of civilization women were in charge and life was peaceful. Then men took over as pastoralists and wars were started over who had the most livestock and that was the beginning of all the wars since then. When women were treated as babymakers, claners and cooks with no voice, they became, degraded.
It’s a frightful day in the U. S. but we stand together and work to turn the page. I’m exhausted from working all day and texting voters all evening. Less than two weeks to go so I’ll stand strong with my comrades to ensure our rights are preserved, strengthened and protected. We feel your support from around the world. Thank you.
Carolyn,
Thank you for this post! You describe how women’s rights and freedoms are being curtailed, and I am so relieved to have found this group. I’ll add that it is also hard to experience the cultural ways that women of a certain age (I’m 54) are unseen, overlooked, and ignored in daily life. And what a relief to be asked to weigh in on the travel industry that feels like it has been taken over by young people seeking the male gaze. Traveling solo some days, I enjoy being incognito and able to navigate the world anonymously. Still, in work and society, it is tough to be reminded daily that the default is male-oriented, whether that is online content or their voices being privileged. Melinda Gates was recently interviewed and described being wholly ignored in Gates Foundation meetings with VIPs, as they exclusively focused on her husband.
I cheer your mission—to inspire women to travel for their well-being, encourage travel by supporting women-owned businesses, and facilitate travel by providing women-friendly travel groups and excursions, as well as conferences and webinars to help women connect.