Hi Reader,
The beginning of the year is the time to make travel plans.
I have almost my entire year of travel planned out with our tours and scouting for new destinations, but I may be able to fit in one more trip towards the end.
Where are you planning to travel to in 2026?
I hope it's somewhere amazing and you have the best time!
Meanwhile, January is a month we are devoting to recording podcast episodes for the new Solo Female Travelers Podcast. If you have any embarrassing stories to share with us, don't be shy, we will read one at the end of each episode. We can do so anonymously, don't worry. Submit here.
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π© On this week's email
- My travel plans for 2026, and the new places I want to visit.
- Why we are a Spanish company. I am from Spain, but Meg is Australian. I am a Singapore resident and our guests are from all over the world. Setting up the company in Spain was a well thought-out, conscious decision. This week I will tell you why.
My travel plans for 2026
I am starting the year slow, as is usually the case, but will soon be on the road again exploring lots of places for our new destinations, sharing our tours with our fun guests and taking some personal trips too.
January - Madrid
I am going to Madrid for a couple of days to attend a travel conference. This year, we have decided to finally attend some travel events starting with FITUR in Madrid.
This is the largest Spanish-speaking travel conference and it will be a great opportunity to meet some of our local partners and get to know possible partners for new tours.
February / March - Vietnam and Cambodia
I will spend a month in Vietnam and Cambodia scouting experiences and places for our new tour that will launch this year for 2027.
I will start in Ho Chi Minh and head north towards Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi and Siem Reap where Angkor Wat is. I will combine remote work with sightseeing, checking out experiences, eating at various restaurants and sleeping at many different luxury hotels to pick the perfect one.
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
March / April - Japan
Our first tour to Japan will coincide with the Cherry Blossoms, but we will return in June for summer vibes and in October for the changing of the leaves. While March is sold out, you can still join us in the summer or fall.
I have been to Japan many times before, but I am excited to return with our first group of guests so I can show them the parts that I enjoyed the most and introduce them to the many Japanese women who will make this trip special.
We will have a fantastic guide and translator, stay at luxury hotels and learn a bit more about a fascinating culture that has so much perspective to offer about life and respect.
β=> Join us in Japanβ
April - Valencia / Andalusia
I hope to be able to fly to Cordoba and Granada at the end of April, and maybe revisit Sevilla, to finish the scouting of our Andalusia trip which we plan to launch in 2027.
This is the year of prioritising self-care and mental health, so I am leaving this trip open to last minute decision based on how I feel after Japan. If I am happy to travel more, I will go, if I feel exhausted, I will defer the trip to later in the year.
Before that, I will be taking the high-speed train to Valencia for another travel conference. Arival is probably the largest tours and activities conference in the world and this will be the first time I attend.
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
May - Ecuador
I will spend most of May in Ecuador. I will join 14 guests on our first tour to this super diverse country. We will start in Quito and explore the heart of the indigenous communities, Otavalo, then head to the Amazon rainforest and end in the Galapagos islands. This will be a magical trip.
I was mesmerised and felt like I was dreaming at times during my scouting trip, so I know everyone will love it too.
After the tour ends I will spend another 10 days in the Galapagos checking out two other boats for our 2027 trips, since the one we are staying at this year is going to be upgraded into an ultra-luxury category which will make it too expensive.
I love luxury, but there is a price point after which extra luxuries add minimal marginal value to me, and are not worth it. I will be spending 5 days on one of the boats, on a slightly different itinerary to the one we currently offer on our tour, and also visit another boat.
β=> Join our Waitlist to find out when our 2027 Ecuador tour goes liveβ
June - Barcelona, Mallorca and Ibiza
In June, the entire SFT team will meet in Sitges, where I am from, for a team offsite and hopefully, a good time.
This will be the first time we are ALL together in the same physical place, saying that I am excited is an understatement.
Meg will be hosting our Greece trip in the first week of June, alongside Stella, and Anastasia will be the onboard photographer. They will all fly over to Sitges for almost a week and meet me and Jacobo, our developer.
Meg and I will have a few extra days together before I head over to the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza to sail and scout a new trip for 2027.
We have not seen each other in person since June of 2024 and it will be great to be together again.
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
July - Malta / Dubai
If you remember, I was just in Malta in December, but before we launch our 2027 trip, I need to return to experience the island country in the summer.
In the winter I got to meet many people and enjoy most of the island, but the water-based activities and the beach can only be experienced from April to September so I want to return in July before we launch our itinerary to check out the beaches and sea life.
July is not the best time to visit Dubai but a friend of mine is getting married there at the end of the month so I will fly over just for a couple of days to celebrate with her. This should be a very fun weekend and a good opportunity to see her and other friends we have in common. Cheers to love!
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
August - French Polynesia
This is a dream destination for many and a favorite honeymoon choice. The French overseas territory in the middle of the South Pacific packs a punch when it comes to postcard-perfect islands, white powdery beaches and marine life.
I will fly all the way across the world to spend 2 to 3 weeks there scouting our new trip. I am excited to spend a few extra days in New Caledonia after, on a personal trip, to discover this French territory near Australia.
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
September - Armenia / Moldova
In September, I will join our first tour to Armenia which starts in Tbilisi and is scheduled to be right after our Georgia tour.
This tiny but mighty country in the Caucasus stole a piece of my heart with its fierce determination to independence and autonomy and the amazingly strong and kind women. I look forward to meeting old friends and sharing conversations with our guests.
β=> Join us in Armeniaβ
After Armenia, I am thinking to pop over to Moldova, another small country that is close by and has direct flight connections with Yerevan. This could end up being a short add-on to our Armenia tour, or a personal solo trip, it will depend on how it all goes.
October - Uzbekistan / Turkmenistan
The heart of the Silk Road is an architectural masterpiece and one of the most beautiful countries in visit.
It is hard to compare its blue-domed madrasas, mosques and buildings to anything else, other than the equally beautiful buildings in other countries that were also part of the Silk Road.
I will spend some time in the country at the beginning of October to scout our new trip. I visited just before the pandemic and I am super excited to return.
I also went to Turkmenistan on the same trip, and may add an extension to the neighbouring country as part of the trip. This is a super unique country full of superlatives that was a lot of fun to visit.
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
November - London / Xmas markets
The last travel conference of the year will be World Travel Market which takes place in London every year at the beginning of November.
I have not been to London in many many years, and I look forward to returning to the city where I learned English, grew as a person and worked in Investment Banking. So many memories among the buzzing streets and rainy weather.
Towards the end of the month, I also want to return to Prague and Budapest to add new Xmas market itineraries for 2027. This would complement the existing Xmas markets tour we offer which is full of magic, but visit Vienna, Prague and Budapest.
β=> Join our Waitlistβ
December - Antarctica and Patagonia
I will end the year on our Antarctica trip which starts in Buenos Aires and ends in Patagonia. It will be a magical way to end the year.
We have very few spots left on our Antarctica expedition, a once in a lifetime chance of seeing the last continent onboard a small ship nimble enough to get through narrow passages and have us all on land at every stop.
We have reserved 40 spots out of the 108 onboard which means Solo Female Travelers will stage a take over of the ship. Not sure there have ever been so many women traveling solo onboard a vessel in Antarctica. Are we going to set a record?
After the expedition ends, we will head over to Patagonia to complete one of the greatest trips with 4 days enjoying life in one of the most remote parts of the world. Ice trekking over Perito Moreno Glacier, learning about ranch life and horse riding through the majestic landscapes.
Come join us, only 4 spots left!
β=> Join us in Antarcticaβ
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Why we set up the company in Spain
When we decided to set up Solo Female Travelers, we had a lot of options. Having lived in Dubai and Singapore, both of which are very favorable tax environments, and with Meg being an Australian citizen, we had a plethora of options.
We also considered some of the heavily digitised countries such as Estonia that offer an online-first corporate world, and countries focused on attracting foreign investment and international companies such as Ireland.
We eventually settled for Spain because the political and social environment felt closest to our personal and company values, even if the bureaucracy can sometimes be a bit frustrating and the tax environment is anything but favorable.
No country is perfect, and Spain is certainly not, but if we were going to have to pay taxes, as is logical and natural for most companies, we wanted to make sure they were contributing to a society whose values aligned with ours.
In the last 15 years, Spain has made big strides towards equality and gender policies, putting it at number 4th in the EU, only surpassed by France, Sweden and Denmark, and in the top-10 worldwide according to the World Economic Forum.
There is a Minister of Equality today, with its own budget and team whose exclusive concern is to help make the country better for all. This isn't just about gender, equality is seen as the wider sense of the word, including the LGBTQI+ community, people with disabilities, migrants, etc.
Parents have equal and mandatory parental leave when a child is born, companies must have equality plans, women can take time off if they aren't feeling well when they are on their period, and women represent 44% of Parliamentary seats. A minimum of 40% of the electoral candidates AND board members in publicly listed companies must be women.
Spain is also part of the EURO zone, and we needed to be based in a country with a major, stable currency, since we are a global company with tours around the world in their respective currencies.
Singapore and Dubai are both quite far from equality and many of what we consider universal women's rights are not available, so the gap with what Solo Female Travelers stands for was too large to bridge, even if we would have saved a very significant part of our taxes, especially in Dubai where Corporate tax is zero. The same applied to Australia, which also has its own niche currency that is quite volatile.
In summary, we felt that if we were going to start a company focused entirely on making tourism for equitable for women, through employment and training opportunities to help bridge the gap, we could not be based in a society where this was not a priority.
It would have been hypocritical of us to set up in a country where basic women's rights are not guaranteed, just to save on taxes, while preaching that we were a company with a social impact mission.
We believe in being coherent with our values in everything we do and with every decision we take. We walk the talk. Starting with the host country for our project.
Almost 6 years later, we still feel this was the right choice for us, even if paying high taxes is painful π
We know that those taxes are going towards funding a Welfare state that provides access to healthcare and education for all and a favorable environment for women to thrive.
As I said, Spain is far from perfect, but we still feel it was the right choice for us.
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Photo of the week
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Last week's photo
Congrats Antonia and Marisa for guessing this was taken in Barcelona, from the Tibidabo amusement park, on a winter chilly day when I decided to go check it out.
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This week's photo
Can you guess this week's photo? Hint: It's in a remote territory
In case you missed it
Interesting travel news, discussions in the group and other important travel updates:
- Trends in Wellness travel from Nat Geographicβ
- If you've been following along, I recently shared that the US Government was trying to get people to dress better by providing a dress code on flights. Here's a take from the Wall Street Journal on how that is going.
- Hawaii has increased its Tourism tax to help build Climate resilience. Read more.
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Have a fantastic end of the week!
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Solo Female Travelers Co-Founders
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