Last updated on August 26th, 2024
Inspiring solo travel for women for 30 years
Welcome to JourneyWoman: Leading Women’s Solo Travel Since 1994
Welcome to JourneyWoman, the world’s largest and most trusted resource for female solo travel. Founded in 1994, we are the world’s original solo travel publication for women, founded by the late Evelyn Hannon in 1994. Evelyn is regarded as the first travel writer to focus on women’s solo travel and influenced significant change im the travel industry. Evelyn inspired a sisterhood of women, a grassroots movement, to inspire women to travel safely and well, and to connect women travellers around the world. She passed away in 2019, but her legacy lives on.
Continuing Evelyn’s legacy
In 2019, JourneyWoman was acquired by Carolyn Ray, who was recognized by TravelPulse as one of the most influential women in travel in March 2023. Carolyn aspires to help women live the life of their dreams by embracing conscious, sustainable travel that empowers ALL women – from traveller to community. Since acquiring JourneyWoman, Carolyn has combined her passion for travel, women’s empowerment and experience as a marketing executive and entrepreneur to create the world’s largest resource for women who love travel.
We celebrate women’s wisdom and the joy of discovery that purposeful travel brings. With over 50,000 subscribers, we are the largest solo travel publication for women in the world, co-created with and representing the voices of mature women for almost 30 years. Together, we are inspired to make our world a better place.
“When our mother started JourneyWoman over 25 years ago, she unknowingly became the world’s first female travel blogger and built a sisterhood of women travellers,” said Evelyn Hannon’s daughter, Erica Ehm, Founder and CEO of Ehm&Co. “Not only does Carolyn share many of our mother’s values, we believe her passion for travel and her strategic mindset will enhance Journeywoman’s brand as a trusted source for women. We can’t imagine anyone better suited to extend our mother’s legacy.”
What is a JourneyWoman?
Being a JourneyWoman is a mindset. It’s not just about age or experience. As JourneyWomen, we take the first step into the future, with curiosity as our compass, seeking authenticity in every experience and being intentional about where and how we spend our hard-earned travel dollars. We know the world is watching — and learning — from us.
At JourneyWoman, we embrace four guiding principles: We Seek, We Learn, We Teach, We Act
We seek
We seek real life, not perfection. Significance, not simplicity. We pursue the wisdom of history, the beauty of culture, and the wonder in our world, found in moments both expansively big and surprisingly small. We are aware and accountable for the impact of our decisions on our shared earth and recognize that travel is a privilege, not a right.
We learn
We are curious. We get off the bus. We walk. We ask questions. We know travel isn’t about counting countries or marks on a map. We bring our whole, authentic selves to every encounter. We respect the world as it is and ask how we can contribute rather than impose our beliefs. We make every effort to support women-owned businesses when we travel.
We teach
We are teachers, role models and mentors, and we share our stories with intention and purpose. We learn from one another, respecting the diversity of our human experience. We seek to empower women and girls and contribute to local communities – when invited – through our actions and volunteerism.
We act
We advocate for positive change in ourselves and in others. We know that as women, we are travel’s most influential decision makers. We use our voices to inspire others to fulfill their purpose. We speak out when we witness inequity and influence others to treat each other and our world with love, gratitude and respect.
Women over 50 are the most important decision makers in travel
Women are recognized as the most important audience in travel, making 85% of all travel decisions. Women over 50 represent trillions in purchasing power and are the fastest-growing demographic in the world. In the past three years alone, the search volume for the term ‘female solo travel’ across all search engines has increased dramatically.
The pandemic has accelerated the urgency around travel: Gen X and Baby Boomer women have the time, flexibility and financial means to travel, and they’re not waiting any longer to fulfill their travel dreams.JourneyWoman’s 2023 study, “The Influence and Affluence of Solo Women 50+ in Travel”, shows that women over 50 are the primary decision makers in their households, spend an average of US$3,000 per week on travel and plan on taking two or more trips per year. However, our research also showed that 70% of women over 50 feel undervalued and ignored by the travel industry. Women also expressed concern about the lack of age-appropriate and diverse photography, a desire to see more appropriate terminology to describe older women and more emphasis on mobility and accessibility requirements.
“It’s time to relinquish the stereotypes and attitudes of the past and embrace the wisdom that these mature women bring to travel. Women over 50 are adventurous, curious and empowered to make their own financial decisions.” – Carolyn Ray, CEO, JourneyWoman, in Adventure.com (January 2023)
We are storytellers and changemakers
In addition to publishing award-winning travel editorial with our contributing writers, we create a safe, inviting place where women can research, learn and find inspiration to live the life of their dreams, with travel as a shared passion. Our Women’s Travel Advisory Council offers our readers expert views about issues such as human trafficking, animal ethics, accessibility, ageism and financial planning. We host a Travel Book Club, Community Calls and private Facebook group, to help women connect and share their first-hand tips and inspiring stories. In June 2023, we welcomed the Soul of Travel Podcast into the JourneyWoman family.
Our Women’s Travel Directory supports women-owned businesses in the travel industry
We also believe that women can and should support women-owned businesses, so we provide women with the world’s first and only Women’s Travel Directory. Our Directory features women-friendly tours, retreats, places to stay and small sustainable ships. This is the largest resource in the world for women-friendly and women-only travel and includes Accessible, LGBTQ+ and Indigenous tours.
In August 2023, we launched the world’s first Women’s Speaker’s Bureau to represent the voices of women over 50 in the travel industry. The JourneyWoman Women’s Speaker’s Bureau includes 16 founding members, including award-winning visual storyteller Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, Indigenous leader Brenda Holder, regenerative tourism pioneer Anna Pollock Tanzila Khan, accessible solo travel activist and and women’s safety and LGBTQ+ advocate Tracey Breeden. Women will share their expertise and wisdom in areas such as women’s empowerment, accessible solo travel, travel over 80, LGBTQ+ travel, and women’s safety, as well as topics related to midlife health and wellness, financial wellbeing, sustainability, transformational travel and animal ethics and conservation.
As a Canadian publisher, JourneyWoman gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada. Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.
