My Experience of Traveling Alone as a Woman in Africa
A hiking trip along the coast of Ghana
I hiked along the coast in Ghana. West Africa. Alone with my backpack. For five days. But it was part of a way longer trip. And six years later. I still have the same conversations.
Six years have passed since my first big adventure. People still say it was dangerous. And I still don’t understand why I did it. Where I went. What I did. How I did it. And they still say that these countries are too dangerous to visit.
Alone as a woman in Africa. White skin. Blond. Blue eyes. This won’t work. They said. I shouldn’t go. They said. It’s dangerous. They said. You’re crazy. They said.
They said I shouldn’t go
I was not supposed to go there. If I would have listened to my surroundings. To family members and friends. To those who have never visited the countries I traveled through. But they know it’s dangerous there. Because they read the news. They watch TV. And that’s why they said I shouldn’t go. But luckily I didn’t care what they said. I didn’t listen. And I just went.
I was 21. Just after I finished my Bachelor’s degree, I left my home country. To travel through some African countries. Without a plan. Without a tour group. For several months.
