New Galapagos 2027 date ($1,000 OFF) + Airport discrimination + Happy Pride + The ethics of travel to Afghanistan
Published about 1 month agoΒ β’Β 9 min read
Hi Reader,
How is your week going?
I spent the weekend at my partner's best friend's wedding and it was a beautiful ceremony filled with love. We took advantage of the mountain location to take time off to hike and explore the area around which is beautiful.
In this week's email:
Happy pride month! π³οΈβπ
I have recently noticed quite a lot of discrimination towards me, as a woman, in airports, and I am curious to know if you have seen that too
Our second Galapagos luxury sailing launch was an absolute success and sold out in less than a week so we have added another date immediately before. If you missed out, this is your chance to snatch a spot with the same $1,000 launch offer
This week's podcast episode is a deep and meaningful talk with Fatima, former Afghan tour guide who had to flee the country when the Taliban took over and moved to Italy as a refugee. She has just graduated from university there and we talk about ethical travel in a country where women are as oppressed as Afghanistan. Does travel, and influencers portraying a normalised version of the country, do good or bad in this context?
I am from a small coastal town in Spain called Sitges that is a very well known gay destination and has been since I was a child. Pride is huge here and happened just last weekend.
Meg and I had a good time going out on Friday on her last night here. It has become a sort of tradition for us to go out at least on one of the nights when we are together which is not very often.
We hope you got to participate in the celebrations from wherever you are.
Our 2nd Galapagos sailing of 2027 is live - $1,000 Launch offer
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Our 2026 Galapagos sailing sold out pretty fast, and then we launched a sailing for December 2027 and it was booked out in less than a week so we have launched another date for Nov/Dec 2027 that will be the last one for the year.
This departure also has a launch offer of limited spots at $1,000 USD off, so don't wait up if you want to avail of one.
LAUNCH OFFER
Enjoy $1,000 OFF if you book one of the discounted spots on the Launch offer.
Fine print:
Offer is only valid for new bookings
Offer ends when all spots have been booked
Offer will not be extended, nor will more spots be added
Spots are available on a first come first serve basis
If Galapagos has ever been a destination you wanted to visit, this is your chance to do it in style aboard a new eco-friendly, female-owned, designer catamaran that is carbon-neutral and solar-powered. This is the newest boat to sail the Galapagos and went live only this last April.
To say that it is beautiful would be an understatement.
Expect gourmet fine dining meals, attention to detail, service that hugs you warmly, a great naturalist and spacious cabins and decks that feel like a floating luxury hotel.
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Here are the details:
Dates: 25 November to 2 December 2027, or 24 November to 4 December if you add the Quito extension, a city well worth visiting
Who: Maximum of 14 guests, and 2 single cabins
Crew: 11 crew members taking care of your every need
Dietary needs: All dietary needs can be catered for onboard
During the 8 days onboard, we will visit the best islands and spots in the Galapagos. I have recently spent 3 weeks there, plus 2 more last year, and have explores many of the islands. I can testify the combo in this itinerary is just perfect.
Islands visited: San Cristobal Island β EspaΓ±ola β Floreana β Santa Cruz β Genovesa β Santiago β Santa Fe β Bartholomew
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We will get to see almost all animals that call the Galapagos home, from white tip and hammerhead sharks to penguins, flamingos to large colonies or sea lions, sea turtles, lots of tropical fish, land and marine iguanas, dolphins, cormorants, frigate birds, red and blue-footed boobies, giant tortoises, petrels, finches, and so much more.
We will kayak, snorkel, swim, visit beaches, go on guided hikes, on dinghy rides and generally enjoy each spot from all angles.
Got any questions? Set up a call to talk to us live here.
Airport discrimination towards women
While waiting for my bag to be inspected in Quito
I should start by saying that I don't experience any discrimination based on my passport. Thankfully, I am fortunate to have very strong passport privilege that affords me visa-free access to most of the countries around the world.
My Spanish passport is regularly ranked at the top with visa-free access to 180+ countries. Considering how many difficulties many travelers face at the border, I feel extremely grateful to be this lucky.
However, this week I wanted to share other types of discrimination that women in general face, beyond limitations tied to a passport. I am sure that these are significantly compounded when you also have a weaker passport.
The below is based on observations and talks me and Meg has had through the years that I feel are unique to women and that men don't face. Have you experienced others or similar situations?
Assuming we will overstay our visa
Years ago, I traveled to Australia for a long weekend to meet with friends. Coming from Singapore, at a time when i traveled every week for work, the 8 hours to Adelaide did not seem deterrent to a longer weekend trip but the border staff thought otherwise.
They set me aside, inspected my suitcase in detail and would not believe that I had a very respected job at Google and was simply coming for the weekend. Surely, I must want to overstay my visa and illegally move to Australia, or worse, be trafficking with something, because, clearly, a short weekend to Australia was just not possible.
They demanded to see my return ticket which I had, see how I would finance my trip, and eventually called my friend who was picking me up to verify my story. My carry on was completely unpacked, my stuff sprawled around the counter. They fund nothing obviously, because I was indeed just there for the weekend and had every intention to go back to my well established life in Singapore, where I had lived for 5 years already and where I had a very well paid job.
I have reminisced about that experience for many years and I am certain that, had I been a man, they wouldn't have been as suspicious.
Assuming we are sex workers
Fast forward to 2025, and Meg experienced something similar in Hawaii where she spent New Year's Eve. They just would not believe she was going there for fun for a short trip, she must want to make money as a prostitute, or overstay her visa.
She was questions extensively, asked why her husband wasn't with her, or if he was ok with her traveling alone, questions I have been asked before too.
She met several people at the hostel she stayed at, and none of the men had experienced the same. Japanese solo female travelers, however, are routinely interrogated because of the booming overseas sex work trend in Hawaii. The same happens to many women from Africa visiting Dubai and I am sure in many other international flight routes.
Assuming we are drug mules
This has happened to me already a couple of times on flights to / from Bogota, Colombia.
Most recently, on my flight to Bogota from Quito, I was pulled aside at the boarding gate, as the flight had started to board, because my bag needed to be inspected.
I was escorted into the guts of the airport, to a room where bags were held just below the plane's belly, and a police inspector opened my suitcase to search for drugs.
I found the entire experience scary and disturbing, so when he asked how I was, I said I was puzzled and not quite understanding what was happening.
He then explained that of the 80 bags on the Quito to Bogota flight, 10 were also going onwards to Barcelona, and those who were from solo travelers were being inspected for drug smuggling.
I told him I was traveling for work, and had been in Ecuador for almost a month because I run a travel agency, and he then admitted that I did not fit the profile and, had he seen me or my passport, he wouldn't have pulled my suitcase aside.
Not sure that made me feel better, since it involved further profiling, but he specified they were looking for solo women who could be drug mules. I was traveling alone without a companion, so I fit the profile.
Something similar happened on previous flights on the Bogota route, where my bag gets extra inspected, dog sniffed, or checked, but on those cases it was not just me, but everyone onboard. The profiling in this instance is what was unsettling.
On this specific trip, I was "randomly" selected for further screening at every point. On my flight from Quito to Galapagos, on my flight from Galapagos to Quito and then on my final one Bogota to Barcelona. This was more me being further screened as I went through security checks. Every time, it was a "random" selection but it was too coincidental to be random. The checks were simpler, and involved a swap of my hands and clothes for drugs or explosives.
The recent experiences made me wonder how many more checks and discrimination women go through than men when traveling solo.
Would a man traveling solo be subjected to further profiling for being on his own? I somehow don't think so.
Researching online on others having similar experiences also sowed that what I have seen is far more common, and that traveling carry on and alone, also sets extra alarms. Not having a husband or children is extra suspicious, since it shows you have no ties.
All in all, solo women travelers are negatively profiled for various reasons. Have you experienced similar issues at airports?
Good to know
If you experience inappropriate behavior or feel you were wrongfully profiled, you can file an official grievance. In the U.S., you can submit a complaint through the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP) or the TSA Contact Center.
For European flights, if you face discriminatory treatment, you can report the incident to the appropriate national civil aviation authority or through the European Commission Passenger Rights framework.
Episode #11 - The Ethics of Tourism Under the Taliban
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This week's episode of the podcast is a deep and honest look into the ethics of traveling to Afghanistan, promoting travel there or the unintended negative impact of trying to promote women's efforts in the country on the women who work hard at it.
Is it the right thing to do? Does it help or harm Afghan people especially women? What happens when the harsh realities of living under the regime get normalised or sensationalised for promotion, virality or gain?
I talk with Fatima, who used to be a member of the SFT team when she became a refugee in Italy and who was one of the country's first female guides. When the Taliban took over, she had to flee and start afresh in a new country without her family.
She has been an Afghan girls and women's rights activist since then and continues her work with a secret school for girls, Alefba.
Check out all the details of the podcast here, listen to the episode and start following us [Solo Female Travelers Podcast] on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss an episode:
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