My favorites after 25 years of solo travel (Part 1) + Extraordinary journey around the world at 80
Published 21 days ago • 12 min read
Hi Reader,
Happy Tuesday!
I have just arrived in Brisbane, Australia after 2 days of flying, fortunately, partially in business class and all with Singapore Airlines.
I did not manage to sleep at all on the first 13h overnight flight, and then tried to stay awake on the second one because of the time difference, but fell asleep a few times. When I landed, Australia was going through the once every 5 years census day and we had to fill the form even as tourists.
"How many hours did you spend on unpaid house work last week?" was one of the questions. An interesting one I would love to see the answers for, even if it was self-reported.
I filled the form and crashed for 10 hours... so welcome to Australia!
Back to my trip, I am in Brisbane for just 3 days before my onward travel to New Caledonia where I have a week to explore and get to know this island better. YAY!
If you have any recommendations for New Caledonia, let me know.
On this week's newsletter:
Last chance to book the last spot on this year's tours: Only Armenia, Egypt and Australia are left.
My favorites from 25 years of travel, part 1. A reflection on the places, the people, the moments that have made me happiest, that I recall with the most warmth or that bring a smile to my face
On this week's podcast episode, I chat with 2 grandmas traveling the world in their 80s. Ellie and Sandy embarked on a trip around the world at 81, 1 year later than expected due to the pandemic, and have been going since, amassing an incredible online following and breaking stereotypes along the way. They have just published a book, have made many TV appearances and have thousands of followers on social media. Don't miss out this episode full of fun and joyful anecdotes.
Every time I meet someone who is familiar with my travel history, my job or my day to day life, I get asked the same question: What is your favorite country?
I don't really have an answer to this question, and I have even written a newsletter on the topic.
It is hard to pick a favorite child and it is also impossible to distill 25 years of solo travel into just one trip.
Instead, I have a long list of magical moments; moments that I remember with particular warmth and joy, and that stand out from the millions.
Here are my favorites:
Airlines
I used to fly Emirates every week from 2006-2010 and it was my favorite airline. The service was outstanding and because I traveled every week, I had a really high status that Emirates rewarded with constant upgrades.
I loved Emirates. 20 years later, Emirates remains a very good airline, but their lead over others has narrowed.
When I moved to Singapore, I realised Singapore Airlines was a step above the rest and above Emirates.
You will almost never have an issue with Singapore Airlines, and if you do, they will pre-empt it before it even happens.
Got a short connection? Someone with your name will be waiting when you disembark.
Baggage delivery is delayed by 10min? There will be staff by the baggage claim giving out smacks and drinks.
I have never experienced a technical issue causing a delay, or a flight delay of any kind for that matter. And I used to fly them every single week for years.
Service onboard is flawless, always with a smile, caring, thoughtful and kind. The food has improved dramatically and our meals onboard yesterday from Barcelona to Singapore were outstanding, with a peach mousse dessert that was straight out of a fine dining meal. We even got a personally written card from the crew.
Then there was that time I was flying to New York from Singapore on Business Class for work and I used my own miles to upgrade to Suites.
This is the category above First Class that Singapore Airlines has with private suites and a separate lounge. It was a 24h journey with two consecutive long haul flight from Singapore to Frankfurt then on to New York.
Hours and hours of caviar, lobster, champagne and anything I could think of. An experience that 10 years later I still remember vividly. With the time difference, I landed in New York at 9am, mildly drunk from the constant topping up of my glass of Don Perignon 🙈
The downside of Singapore Airlines? The business class seats on the long haul flights are super wide but have a weird footrest that forces you to sleep diagonally, and their flagship lounges at Singapore Airport are not as wow. The food there, in my personal opinion, could be better and is much better in other lounges, and the facilities are quite average. For a premium airline in their home turf lounge, they are beaten by Emirate, Etihad, Qatar Airways or even Turkish. Of course, these are all first world problems...
Hotels
I used to be a huge huge fan of Aman Resorts. Their invisible hand luxury is incredible. They know what you want before you even know, and anticipate your needs in a way that leaves you wondering how that is even possible.
With time, I have learned to see their kind of exclusive luxury for the ultra rich as a form of neo-colonialism and extractive tourism.
You pay upwards of $1,200 per night for a hotel in the global south but the majority of that gets sent back to the headquarters in Singapore? instead of trickling down to the communities they are set up in.
Senior staff are foreigner, you pay disproportionate international prices that are disconnected from the local costs and the majority of the profit, beyond community projects that seem designed for feel-good rather than meaningful impact, returns to shareholders.
This tourism leakage is something I no longer wish to contribute to, so while I still think Aman Resorts service level, food, rooms and idea of luxury is fabulous, I now prefer to spend my tourism money on locally and, where possible, female owned hotels that offer what I now value as luxury: a local connection, the ability for my vacation money to invest in the local communities that host me and a more collaborative approach to travel that is two-way and not just extractive.
I don't stay at chains these days if I can avoid it, and spend time looking for independently owned hotels that have similar values to mine.
Of course that is not always possible and there are times when I choose to stay at an Intercontinental Hotel because I really need to work and boutique hotels rarely have desks or gyms, two things I strongly value on a work trip.
My personal philosophy extends to our tours too and it is thanks to them that I get to research, try and stay at so many fabulous hotels.
Here are favorite hotels I have stayed at in the last year and that I loved:
Go Quito Hotel in Quito, Ecuador, we stay there as part of our group tour to Ecuador and the Galapagos and I really love the feel of the place. It is eco-friendly, extremely bright, has large rooms, a nice rooftop restaurant with delicious food, a fantastic gym and spa with an indoor heated pool and I just love it.
Jetlag means onsen time at 5am when the sun rises
Sun Urashima Yuki no Sato onsen hotel in the Mie prefacture which we stay at on our Japan trip is just so cool, so thoughtful and so wonderful. Their Japanese kaiseki meals are incredibly beautiful, I can't even begin to imagine the amount of effort and attention to detail that goes into creating 15 course meals where every detail is so pretty. Then there are the rooms, with super high end high quality amenities like all sorts of skin care products, comfortable kimonos and slippers to wear throughout the hotel and comfy beds. The sea views from each room are a killer too and the beautiful natural onsen, open 24h is a paradise. I enjoyed it at night and could see the stars with above me...
Tsara Komba Resort
Tsara Komba resort in Nosy Be island, Madagascar, which we stay at as part of the Madagascar tour is my definition of luxury. No AC, no glass on the windows, just the sea breeze lulling you to sleep. Breakfast with panoramic beach and sea views, colorful bougambilias and hibiscus flowers, the morning tide revealing crabs playing in the sand and kids walking to school. Then there is the opportunity to swim with turtles, whales and beautiful corals. This is my idea of remote paradise.
Munduk Moding Plantation Resort
Munduk Moding Plantation Resort in north Bali, Indonesia, which we also stay at during our Bali trip is breathtaking. Located up in the hills, it has views all the way to the sea below from the double infinity pool. The villas have stand alone bathtubs, gardens and balconies and are located in the middle of a wild coffee plantation. I really love views and this hotel has some of the most impressive ones I have ever seen.
Arctic Bath - the cabins are on the frozen river
Arctic Bath Hotel in the middle of the Swedish Arctic, right on the shores of a river, which we spend a night on during our Swedish Arctic trip. Some of the cabins are floating on the water, which freezes in the winter, and the spa has a plunge pool in the middle of the ice that you can jump into after a session at the 3 saunas. The land cabins have a glass wall floor to ceiling from where you can see the Northern Lights, and the fine dining Michelin recommended meals are inventive and extraordinary.
Arakur Hotel in Ushuaia, Argentina, is a wow hotel right above Ushuaia town, inside the national park, with incredible views over the bay which we stay at during our Antarctica trip. The outdoor heated pools and jacuzzi have the same breathtaking views as the rooms and the hotel is fantastic.
Zuri Zanzibar
Zuri Zanzibar, Tanzania, the luxury beach resort and spa we stay at during our Tanzania Luxe safari + Zanzibar trip. The stand alone room-villas are beautifully designed and surrounded by nature, including bush babies that call each other at night as they jump from tree to tree. The beach the hotel is on is the only white sand beach on the entire island and it is hard to decide between the infinity pool or the beach sun loungers and cabanas. The spa, set amid the jungle, is incredible and the food, especially for breakfast, is wow!
La Selva Lodge
La Selva Eco Lodge, located in the middle of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is an incredible place to be. Wake up to jumping capuchine monkeys and howling monkeys and enjoy fine dining meals using local ingredients. This eco friendly lodge that we stay at during our Ecuador trip is carbon-neutral and has a fenced off natural pool area in the middle of the lagoon you can take a dip in. piranhas and caymans swim in the waters around it, but don't worry, the strong net keeps them outside.
My all-time favorite hotels:
Aman Sveti Stefan
Aman Sveti Stefan, this ultra luxury hotel on its own island-village in Montenegro has to be one of the most impressive places I have ever stayed at. The fishing village was founded in the middle ages and it has several churches and chapels. It was taken over and turned into a playground for the wealthy during Yugoslavia times and renovated by Aman. each room is inside one of the former fisherman houses, one of the pools comes out of the church which was turned into a Yugoslavian casino, and the hotel also has a beach spa in the nearby Queen's summer palace where you can find more luxury rooms.
Gili Lankanfushi in the Maldives is a barefoot ultra-luxury, eco-friendly resort with overwater villas over a shallow lagoon you regularly see baby sharks in. This resort is incredible and of all the ones I have stayed at in the Maldives, takes the no1 spot because of how low key it is, which is my preference. Golden chandeliers and gauche luxury is not my style and even less so in an island country with swaying coconut palm trees. Gili Lanfanfushi is just perfect. Sunken dinners in the sand under the stars, trips to see whales, dolphins and swim with mantas, and a discreet personal butler which can unpack and repack your bags, bring you a drink or snack whenever you want and, for the solo travelers, even go around the hotel to take your solo photos. Needless to say, being able to get out of bed and walk down the wooden stairs and into the crystal clear baby blue ocean is a dream for someone who loves the sea like me.
Bisate Lodge
Many of the safari lodges I have stayed at through the years have been a dream. Bisate lodge in Rwanda is a standout. Located in the Volcanoes National park, home of gorillas. The designer rooms look like a bee hive and melt into the background. It's hard to forget this place. Hoanib Elephant Camp in the middle of the Namibian Desert has stand alone tents that are taken out of an interior design magazine. You land on the nearby strip and take daily game drives to spot desert-adapted animals like elephants, lions and more.
Bawah Reserve
Bawah Reserve in the middle of the ocean, part of Indonesia but accessible by private plane from Batam, another Indonesian island that you can reach by ferry from Singapore. This completely isolated luxury resort was just magical.
Shinta Mani Wild
Shinta Mani Wild, in Cambodia, is a luxury raw glamping hotel you arrive at by zipline after a drive from Phnom Penh. Designed and owned by Bill Bensley, he envisioned a hotel that would finance the conservation of the natural space it is located in. He purchased the forested land on sale from a logging company and set up the luxury hotel which finances the salaries of the rangers and the protection of the elephants and other wildlife that inhabit it. He saved the forests and wildlife from poachers and logging companies and created the hotel as a means to provide ongoing revenue. Needless to say, the luxury hotel designer did an incredible job of making each open plan and open air tent just perfect. Jump on the back of the motorbike of a park ranger to spend s day looking out for poachers and removing animal snares in the park. There is no better way to truly understand the challenges they face on a daily basis than by joining them.
Tierra Atacama, a luxury lodge in the remote desert region of northern Chile is the best way to explore the area. All excursions and meals are included and the rooms all have views over the rough expanse of the Atacama Desert. This was a trip I tool 17 years ago and still remember as if it was yesterday.
350 EUR / USD OFF last spots on 2026 trips
Cute cup at the Vienna Xmas markets
Get 350 EUR OFF if you book the last spot left on these tours:
1 SPOT on our Egypt tour from 30 October to 8 November and 1 SPOT on the 2 to 11 Apr, 2027 => BOOK EGYPT
2 SPOTS left (1 single room + 1 shared spot) on our Australia tour from 11 to 22 Oct, 2026, one shared and one single => BOOK AUSTRALIA
1 SPOT left on our Armenia tour 13 to 19 September => BOOK ARMENIA
To avail the offer, simply book the last spot on each tour page. The price has already been discounted.
Episode #19 - Around the world at 80 with the Traveling grannies
In this week's podcast episode I talk to Ellie and Sandy, two 85 year old friends who embarked on the trip of a lifetime at 81 and went around the world in 80 days.
They became overnight sensations and their fun loving personalities and their strong beautiful friendship have become the internet's most loving traveling nannas.
They now have a book, a huge social media following and a long list of stories to tell, many of which they shared with me.
The pajama man on a Russian train in Siberia, an unmarked car in Syria before the war broke out, and plenty more stories told with optimism, joy and the beauty of (almost) always saying yes.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review!! 🫶
Check out all the details of the podcast here, listen to any of the episodes and start following us [Solo Female Travelers Podcast] on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss an episode:
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Let me know what you think of this episode in the comments on YouTube, Apple or Spotify and leave a review so we can reach out to more women!
PS Every episode will end with an embarrassing travel story. Submit yours anonymously here.
In case you missed it
Interesting news and travel updates worth noting:
If you listened to episode 18 of the podcast you know that the maps we use are extremely inacccurate and show the Western world much larger than it actually is. Use Equal map to see the actual correct size of all countries.
This mini pig brings comfort to people experiencing homelessness. See here.
It may be time to book your holiday flights in the US already looking at how airfare prices are moving. See here.
Attack of the birthdayzillas: the people turning their big days into epic events – at huge cost to their guests. Read here.
The Gospel according to Anthony Bourdain. Have their fans misunderstood his message? "A sinner and a saint, Bourdain married aesthetics to ethics in a way that few in popular culture had managed before, and no one has managed since. And he did it all, it seemed at least, while respecting the highest calling of the consumer economy: He enjoyed himself." Read the piece here.
Seats.aero Chrome extension now shows you the number of award mikes needed to book a flight. Download here.
I hope you have a great rest of the week wherever you are.
Hugs from our global team
Solo Female Travelers C/ Europa 18 5-2, Sitges, 08870
