The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Women-Only Travel and A Holiday In Maui
One of the rising trends we're seeing in the travel industry is the popularity of Women-Only Travel, so on this week's podcast travel expert Onanta Forbes will join me to discuss the increase in the interest of Women-Only Travel. Plus, we'll check in with Dani Musse from Booking.com who recently returned from Maui. So we'll get some insight from her on her experience in Maui.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. One of the rising trends we're seeing in the travel industry is the popularity of women-only travel. So in a few seconds, travel expert Onanda Forbes will join me to discuss the increase in the interest of women-only travel. Plus, we'll check in with Danny Mucey from Booking.com, who recently returned from Maui. So we'll get some insight from her on her experience in Maui. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook and X at Onanta Forbes. Onantaforbes.com is her website. Hi, Onanta. Hi,
SPEAKER_02:Randy. How are you?
SPEAKER_00:I'm good, thank you. Let's talk about women's only travel or women's solo travel, however way you want to describe it. It's a growing trend and I think it's a good idea.
SPEAKER_02:It's huge. It's absolutely huge. And people, ladies, do it for different reasons. I looked at different surveys and 90% do it for freedom and flexibility. 86% do it to get away from routine and responsibilities. 84% challenge themselves. And 83% is for self-care and for me time. And I think it's a fantastic idea. I don't think individuals, male or female, should limit themselves because maybe they don't have a partner. Maybe their partner doesn't want to travel anymore or have no interest. So why stay home?
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. I was thinking the same thing. Like, for whatever reason, they don't have a partner or they have a stick-in-the-mud partner. They don't want to go anywhere. And as a male, I'm saying that. And I think it's more prevalent for women to travel on their own and do that sort of thing than guys would. Guys are just going to, you know, stay home.
SPEAKER_02:Right. And, you know, again, in another survey, they say that usually women are the majority– decision makers, even when you're doing it as a couple. So it just kind of makes It lends itself that if you are going to go, you're going to go. You're going to make the finances happen. You're going to explore through social media, which is huge as far as where you get ideas or research. I was just looking last Sunday. They have Sunday morning news on CBS, and there's this lady who has these major bucket list experiences that she wants to do. One's a 90-year-old, and she wants to drive a race car, and she was so excited. Yeah, you know, like, why not? Like, it doesn't just have to be NASCAR men drivers. But yeah, it's, it's a good trend. It's a growing trend. And it's something that I think people should consider. And there's lots of, you know, credible tour companies, whether they're land only or their crews that offer these and you're going to see more adventures to different destinations throughout the world. So interestingly, enough people are you know the most popular destinations for solo female travelers include iceland new zealand here at home in canada japan and several countries in europe like portugal spain and germany and they choose these destinations for their safety friendly locals diverse landscapes and activities and of course you know in a lot of places you have to look at um How our dollar does too, right? Because that always has a factor because we all have a budget.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I think too, you were talking about tour providers offering women-only travel adventures and they're often created by women. Like they're the ones that design and create the places to go and things to do, which is
SPEAKER_02:cool. Yeah, so one of those companies is Insight Vacations, and they just recently launched a women-only tour segment. It offers premium accommodations, all-female travel directors and curated experiences, and solo women comprise 45% of these tours. And so it's nice to have a tour that's led by a female director so that they can foster a supportive and empowering environment, and they can help travelers step out of their comfort zones with confidence because it's not always easy going to new destinations by yourself. And it also has really neat experiences. So like you can go to the Sacred Valley in Peru and you could um, you know, learn and, um, about ancient weaving traditions with the, with the women that are there, or, um, you could in Burano, Italy, you can be with a local artist or environmentalist and indulge in like a paint and Seco session. So it's, you're learning as well as, um, entertaining yourself and exploring. So I think that's really neat. And then as far as cruises, um, Sometimes cruising can be troublesome for solos, male or female, because sometimes cruises require them to pay a single supplement fee, which is can be full double occupancy rate so you're almost like you're being charged for two people but you know working with your travel advisor you can see which companies waive that single supplement fee occasionally and then um you know there's a company called you know whirl boutique luxury cruises and it's offering its first ever women's only cruise this year it's in august and will set sail through southern france with a comedian on board rachel dratch i'm not for But hopefully she's amazing. And so, you know, there's different special guests, too, that will be on board and that will be part of the adventure as well.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you make a good point about anyone who is single and is kind of, you know... pausing on travel or leery about traveling by themselves because it is a strength in numbers. So you're not really by yourself. You're by yourself, but not by yourself. You're with a group of like-minded people with often what you talked about with different themes. And if it is someplace that involves physical activity, well, you can, you're with the same kind of people. So with the same kind of physical activity, So you're not really left alone or feeling like an outsider or anything like that. They're very welcoming, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, absolutely. And I could give a personal example because years ago for one of my milestone birthdays, I wanted to go to India. And India is not a place that everybody wants to go to. So I decided that I was going to go. I was with a group and there was other single ladies, but there was also couples and so on. So I never ever felt like you can go on more than just a solo person trip
SPEAKER_03:because
SPEAKER_02:there's other trips available. And you know what? I think I enjoyed that trip most because India, as you know, we all know it, you either like it or you don't like it. But I felt like I didn't have to worry about the other person not liking it or not experiencing what I was experiencing in the same manner. So I can truly enjoy it for what it was.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. And yeah, we have to, you know, obviously, if you're traveling by yourself as a woman, and if you're not in a group, there are some safety considerations that you have to consider. But again, if you get someone who's a knowledgeable travel person, they can help you guide the way and make sure that you have all those things looked after, right?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Yeah, it's a fun experience. And I think people, I think especially after the pandemic and COVID, people just want to get out there. They know how it feels not to have that choice. So I think choice is really huge today with regards to just trying things.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And like you mentioned, some of the destinations, if you don't want to travel too far, you want to test the waters kind of thing, you can, you know, go sort of local within your own country within Canada or someplace that's not too far away and then branch out after you get more comfortable with doing those types of tours too, right?
SPEAKER_02:Right. And also the opportunities, you get to meet other people that maybe you'll travel with in the future. So I think it's also very social, making connections with local and You know, fellow travelers and it's like, you know, for some women, it's easy to build rapport. So you might find a future traveler to experience other things with.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. So no excuses now, right? Just because you've got no one to travel with, get out there.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. That's right. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Always good tips. Always good advice. Onanta Forbes is a travel expert. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and X at Onanta Forbes. And her website is onantaforbes.com. Good chatting, Onanta. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Always. Take care.
SPEAKER_00:This is the informed traveler podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, the informed traveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, you could also email me too, with any questions you might have. My email address is Randy at the informed traveler.org. And if you want to get up to date travel info through the week, or just see a few amusing travel stories and links, you can like us on Facebook at facebook.com slash informed traveler on Instagram. at informedtraveller or on X at informedtraveller. Plus, now you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our April issue is available now. And this month, we discuss some of the issues traveling to the U.S. right now. Just go to our website, theinformedtraveller.org, click on the newsletter
SPEAKER_03:button,
SPEAKER_00:and it'll take you right there. Or better yet, subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox. So continuing now, with our podcast, but once a month or so, we'd like to check in with Dani Musi, Area Manager for Canada with Booking.com to get some insight on a few of the destinations you can plan to visit with Booking.com. Well, Dani recently returned from Maui, so she joins us now to offer some insight on her experience in Maui. Hi, Dani. We haven't spoken in a while. How have you been? I've
SPEAKER_01:been great. Coming back from holidays and full of news to share.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, good. I'm glad to hear it. You were in Maui for your holidays. Mike, My first question is though, you're in the travel industry and did you ever turn it off? Do you actually ever go on holidays or is your travel bug radar always on?
SPEAKER_01:It's always odd. But this time in Maui, I chose something very exotic for myself that I chose to be off grid, which I've never done in my life. And I could not imagine I had it in me. I was on the top of a mountain with zero internet service.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, my. I
SPEAKER_01:went analogic for a week. Well,
SPEAKER_00:do tell. First of all, let's just do the basics. Where were you in Maui? Where did you stay and your experience then?
SPEAKER_01:I stayed in a hotel very close to the airport because I wanted the convenience of being close to supermarkets, grocery stores, and some urgent shops. everything that you really should have a car. And that I learned very fast. That was the best choice, which you can book your whole experience in the website. Couple clicks, you can get the hotel, you can get experiences, tours, and you can get the car. So I went fully booked with the whole week plan. I was more to this time because then I didn't have to worry about anything throughout my seven days. And I got an experience of a yoga retreat on the top of these mountains, off-grid, no internet. And I would treat myself with some tours throughout the afternoon. It was such an amazing time to completely disconnect.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that would be foreign to a lot of people. And I think a lot of people would feel uncomfortable at first, but then you realize, you know what, this is great. Not getting pinged all the time or having to answer an email or do whatever.
SPEAKER_01:It took me time. It took me time to actually be okay about not knowing, I mean, what's going on in the world and check if White Lotus is being released soon or not. It's always very nice to be without internet. But as soon as I got comfortable, and hey, it took me two hours and I was completely comfortable and understanding how to be present, the days got longer. I started hearing birds. I started being less nervous and being very present. I guess it's what they call being grounded. I
SPEAKER_00:guess, yeah. Yeah. Back to nature kind of thing. So now you mentioned that you stayed initially close to the airport and then you went up to a retreat. Is that how you did it? Was it overnight or was it day trips or how did that work?
SPEAKER_01:I arrived and I went to this hotel, a resort, beautiful resort on the beach. And I was about 15 minutes from the airport. I just wanted to kind of arrive and understand the atmosphere. And the next day I moved myself up to the mountains and I stay there in this very isolated retreat. And it was this beautiful cabins on top of the mountains, fruits all over. I would eat a tangerine out of the tree. And I would get myself down from the mountain for tours after the yoga mornings, which was very nice to do. And visiting the local villages around Maui, connecting with the local shops, lots of small restaurants that are owned by the locals and understanding more about the history. I did one tour a night. It was a luau. where you would sit around the fire and a local person would share stories about the history of Hawaii. And it would start at sunset and they would open the luau blowing this big, I guess, like horns, I guess.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:with beautiful sounds, like the sounds just kind of saying goodbye to the sun and hi to the moon, and we would all sit by the fire and hear these fairy tales, I guess, and myths about the history of Maui and the mountains and the volcanoes. It was so magical that I was like, oh my God, I feel like Moana right now, going into an adventure. It was really special. And it felt really nice to be close to nature and not in a way that I would just visit nature, but really like sitting on the grass and hearing the crickets and seeing time go by and the days got longer and the conversations got meaningful. And I slept like 12 hours straight because I had zero worries in my mind. It was a beautiful, a beautiful seven days.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I was just going to ask how well you slept because I think when you turn off all your devices, your mind rests as well. And so you sleep better. I
SPEAKER_01:slept great. I slept really, really nice. And, um, the days we would be visiting the villages, like you can go to Paya, which is on the North shore of Maui and it's the surf shops, health restaurants. And you just walk around having this nice coconut pineapple ice cream and you start talking to people and everybody's smiling and saying good afternoon and just chit-chatting about something that happened to them just the night before. And suddenly you start connecting and exchanging numbers and I was like, oh my God, so this is what meaningful conversations are. I went back to roots of enjoying, like, I'm from the 80s, so it really brought me back into the all-day travels when we would connect with the neighbor beside you on the beach and
SPEAKER_00:just...
SPEAKER_01:Making
SPEAKER_00:friends. Instead
SPEAKER_01:of texting them. Yeah, emoji. Wink, wink emoji. It was very, very interesting. And there was one tour specific that was when I got very excited. It was my first one. It was on the way. It's part of what they call the Road to Hana. which can be as long as a 12-hour tour, or you can just drive from point A to B and get it in three hours. But I stopped in half in this scenic drive, and I visited Twin Falls. And you do a little hike, nothing very heavy, and you end in this beautiful waterfall. You go for a little swim, and you can treat yourself with it. with a pineapple by the end. They have the truck selling pineapples. And while I was there, inside the falls and swimming, it's so loud that you can't really hear anything around you and you just hear the water. And it almost drives you to this trend because you get so into that moment because you can't really talk, you can't really hear what anybody else is talking around you and the water is so loud. And you just start like, appreciating the tones of green around you. And that was the first tour I did. And I was like, okay, I think I'm into a very special treat. Very nice.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it sounds amazing, and I think, too, like you mentioned at the beginning, with Booking.com, you can get peace of mind by booking everything from your tours to your car rental to your hotel to your air flights, all of it, and it's all in one spot.
SPEAKER_01:All in one spot, and you can have a very nice control of your budget, and you can pick good discounts and add as you see fit. I had like very last moment. I was like, oh my God, I've been eating all this pineapple because it is a big thing. I'm eating all this pineapple and I didn't go to visit any farm. So very last minute, square of the moment, I just booked myself really like 20 minutes. I booked myself a tour on the way to the farm for pineapple picking. And I treat myself with this. You go, you visit the farm and you learn about the history of taste. very large amount of pineapples on your way through the tour. And in the end, you can buy the pineapples that are properly sealed for you to bring back, in my case, bring back to Toronto. And it's very easy to book, very easy arrival there. The voucher was on my phone. It was like, okay, here it is. And I got into the tour very fast. And... I didn't go. This is a regret I have, I must say. In this place that I was in, the yoga retreat was the top of the mountains and we could see the ocean. And sometimes we were in this very weird positions for the yoga and somebody would just say, we would stop everything just to observe. And we would just observe it for five minutes or five seconds. And I didn't do the tour, which is a shame because I was like, oh, I saw, I've seen so many of them in the yoga room. But that's a regret or regret. That's my reason to go back.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:I definitely would recommend for those who are planning to go to Maui, make sure to add the whale watchings. That is something special.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Well, you can put it on your list for the next trip to Maui. It's always great to chat with you, Danny Mucey, Area Manager for Canada with Booking.com. You can do everything on Booking.com, your hotel, your activities, your car rental, your flights, and there's probably a few more things So you can do that. I'm not adding in there, but it sounds like you had a great time in Maui and actually was a vacation.
SPEAKER_01:It was a beautiful vacation. And I hope everybody can enjoy a little bit of the world.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for chatting, Danny. It's always a pleasure to chat.
SPEAKER_01:Always good to see you.
SPEAKER_00:Travel safe and be an informed traveler.