Hi Reader,
Happy New Year!
This is my first email of 2026.
There is something quietly magical about starting a fresh new year, with new intentions and the opportunity to change bad old habits.
It's also a great time to think if this is the year for your first solo trip, or to make that lifelong dream come true of visiting XYZ destination or taking up ABC challenge.
I was listening to the Freakonomics podcast where they were talking about how notable dates are a great time to set new goals and how the chance of sticking to them is greater that way.
In my case, 2026 is going to be the year for work-life balance. To try to find an equilibrium that is sustainable in the long term, and that allows me to take care of myself and recover the love for travel while making sure SFT and all our wonderful guests, get all the love it deserves.
When you travel as much as I do for work, you start to miss the serendipity of unscheduled days, of getting lost, of being an actual traveler rather than a travel professional.
I want to recover that child-like naivety of the first trips in 2026.
Wish me luck!
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π© On this week's email
- In a world filled with bad news, it is important to remember that lots of great things happened in 2025 too.
- When I had a corporate job, I was a pro at making the most of all the time off I had to take as many trips as I could. I learned to stretch 22 days of holiday into 50 days of travel. As most of the world is time constraint, this week I am talking about a website that will help you turn 15 days of personal time off into 48 days of travel. Yep, 48! Book that trip!
- Other important travel news such as the US extending its travel ban to more countries, other countries retaliating against the US by banning its citizens too, and a new super useful emoji π€
Good news of 2025
Among a flood of bad to terrible news we get bombarded with every day, I wanted to also remind you that a lot of good also happened in 2025.
- Giant pandas are no longer at risk of extinction, they are now only a "Vulnerable" species. After years of conservation, China has managed to protect them enough that they are still vulnerable but not endangered. See more here.
- The green sea turtle has moved from "Endangered" to "Least concern" in 2025. This is such fantastic news...peacefully swimming with these curious and fun creatures in Madagascar, so close we could touch them, was one of the highlights of 2025 for me. Read more about this win here. Here is a list of all the animals who recovered from endangered in 2025.
- India has doubled its tiger population to more than 3,600 in just over a decade. Another fantastic win for conservation. Read here.
- β£In the US, salmon have returned to their traditional spawning grounds, just one year after the historic removal of four dams along California's Klamath river.β£ Read here.β
- A law was passed in California in 2025 requiring bars to have drink lids you can ask for to protect your drink from the risk of spiking. You can also buy a similar drink lid on Amazon (here) to carry with you when traveling solo. More here.
- France imposed penalties and restrictions on ultra-fast fashion brands in 2025, particular on AliExpress, Shein and Temu. If you have traveled to developing economies, you would have seen the piles of used clothing in landfills. We consume far too much and buy stuff we don't commit to use, or throw away after wearing it a couple of times, so it doesn't look like we are always wearing the same. Influencers promoting daily changes of outfits, as if clothes were disposable, do not help. Fashion is also a massive contributor to carbon missions. I am not one to buy either high end expensive brands nor fast fashion, and I will wear my clothes until they are literally broken, then wear them at home or as pyjamas. You can see me wearing pretty much the same outfits on all of our tours. I don't follow fashion either. I recycle, reuse, and try to minimise my footprint as best I can, knowing that my frequent travel is a terrible contribution to carbon emissions as it is, I applaud France for this step towards reducing waste, even if the problem is so much bigger than this. More here. Jane Morelli's artistic representation above is a good depiction. Thankfully, the second hand resale market is also booming. Read here.
- A Maasai activist in Kenya, Dr. Dapash, filed a lawsuit against the Ritz Carlton and parent company Marriott for the opening of an ultra-luxury $3,500 a night lodge that is right in the middle of the wildebeest migration path between Kenya and Tanzania, in the Serengeti National Park. This lodge got a "one time exemption" provided by the Kenyan president to Marriott on the moratorium to new lodges approved in 2023 that would stop the opening of any more camps in the Maasai Mara due to overcrowding and negative impact on wildlige. While Dr. Dapash dropped the suit in December of 2025, the Court blocked the withdrawal citing the matter was of public and national interest and the original cause remained, so the case continues to trial. More here and here. From having been to Tanzania more times than I can remember, I know ultra-luxury camps have secured the best viewing spots right on the river banks, often blocking other tours from approaching their vicinity, even though this is a national park that should be open to everyone. Tanzania announced a new $250 nightly tax on visitors staying at lodges in the Great Migration area of the Serengeti starting this year making budget or even mid-range lodges suddenly twice or three-times as expensive, vis-a-vis the ultra-luxury for whom an additional $250 is just a 10% increase. Since the post-election violence, we are unsure when / if this tax will come into effect, but I love that activism shines a light on such issues.
- The Grand Egyptian Museum finally opened. The construction began in 2010 so it's been a long time coming but it was worth it. We visit it during our tour of Egypt and, while enormous, it is a real gem of Egyptian culture. The museum is right next to the pyramids making the visit even easier. Join us in Egypt!β
- Airport restrictions are loosening, finally...TSA announced passengers don't have to remove shoes anymore, in Europe, airport allowances have increased to 200ml instead of 100ml per liquid bottle in several airports. I saw that in Malta a couple of weeks ago.
- New wildlife sanctuaries were created in 2025 including new marine conservation areas in Australia, Greece, Colombia, Portugal and Sao Tome. And 79 countries signed the High Seas Treaty, committing to protect 30% of international water. Australia, UK and US did not join in. More here.
- The General Wildlife Law in Mexico has banned captive marine animals for entertainment. Animals will be moved to marine sanctuaries. More here.β
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Do you have any more news to share? Hit reply and let me know!
How to turn 15 vacation days into 48 days of travel
When I was a consultant or worked at Google, I became a master at maximising the time off. I would take 1 day off and combine that with 1 public holiday to take a 4-day break somewhere exotic.
I flew overnight, got there in the morning and had 4 full days, flying back out overnight again. I visited Djibouti and Azerbaijan from Singapore this way. I was much younger, and could go a day without much sleep.
With 22 days off and 10 public holidays, I could easily travel for over 50 days. Since I was also traveling for work, I would stay where I was during the week or travel to another nearby destination, and could use a work allowance to minimise costs, since I was saving on the cost of the flight back home.
I was an absolute PRO!
I have just discovered a website that does all the calculations for you and helps you personalise a calendar based on your location, the time off you get and the public holidays you can take.
βHoliday Optimiser is a gem!
For example, if you live in the US and have 15 days of personal time off, like most of you do, you can stretch that into 48 days of travel with only the additional Federal public holidays.
If you live in the UK and get 20 days of vacation, you can turn that into 55 days of travel with a mix of long weekends and longer holidays. 20 days would become 56 days of travel if you are Canadian and 54 if you are Australian.
=> Now you know you can take several holidays this year, come check out calendar of tours and see when you can join us!
Pro tip: Many of our tours are scheduled to fall on UK, US, Candian and Australian holidays. ON PURPOSE π
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Photo of the week
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Last week's photo
It was indeed taken in Bora Bora and I am very excited to be returning this summer to scout our next destination.
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This week's photo
Can you guess this week's photo?
In case you missed it
Travel news, community discussions and other important things to know.
- The US has added more countries to its Full Travel ban with full entry restrictions now imposed on nationals from Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Libya, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Chad, Tanzania, Laos, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, South Sudan, Syria and Palestine. More here.
- Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali add travel ban for US nationals effectively cancelling visas for any Americans wanting to visit. This is in retaliation to Trump's ban on their countries (see previous point) applying the common reciprocity concept that is often seen in visa systems.
- New emojis in 2026, this one specifically will be useful to say "a little bit" π€
- Cape Verde has stopped the issuance of visa on arrival for nationals of 96 countries (full list here) who will now need to obtain a visa to enter Cape Verde. US, Canada, Australia, and European passport or resident holders are exempt and can still travel without a visa (but need to pre-register before travel). More here.
- Bulgaria has adopted the EURO starting January 1st making travel much easier.
- What happens to lost luggage. Read here.
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Have a wonderful new year ahead!!
I hope to meet you on of our tours π
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Solo Female Travelers Co-Founders
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