💪 We're 500k strong = 🎉 500 OFF: Our biggest milestone yet

Hi Reader,

I want to start by thanking everyone for the outpouring of love and support we received from last week's newsletter.

I didn't expect it, and was even slightly concerned about how it could be perceived, but it was heart-warming to see so many positive responses. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts with us. We read every email and respond to all.

This week, we have HUGE news!

Drumroll please......

After 10.5 years, the Solo Female Travelers online community, will reach a major milestone this week -> 500,000 members!

🥳

It will probably be on Friday or Saturday this week, but we couldn't wait to announce the way we want to celebrate it with you.

We are offering a $500 / 500 Euro OFF on many of our tours, so more of you can join us on trips of a lifetime to somewhere you've always dreamed of going and, hopefully, we also get to meet you in person!

You'll find all the details further down.

📩 On this week's email

• The online community, in numbers. Half a million women sharing tips and advice on solo travel for over 10 years.
• Our 500,000 member celebration. This is truly mind-blowing, and incredible to think about. We want to celebrate with everyone, because SFT would not exist without you ❤️

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The group, in numbers

Many members make assumptions about the group and us, so this week, I wanted to debunk myths and share the real numbers behind the group.

• Start date: 15 July 2015
• Monthly posts: 1,500 approved and posted, over 2,000 rejected. We manually read and approve every single post, and we reject more than we approve. Why? Because members don't read or respect the rules. Largely, rejected posts are duplicates of existing conversations, generic posts like "what to do in Paris" or meet up posts to connect with other travelers. A big portion of rejections are also self promotion posts or spam. We waste 60% of our moderation time rejecting posts. If a member ignores the rules, we have a 3-strike rule after which we remove the member.
• Monthly comments: 30,000 to 40,000. These are also monitored by the team and we remove comments that go agains the rules often. Facebook does not give stats on this but I am sure it is a few hundred per month. The majority of what gets removed is spam or self promotion, though there are also disrespectful and rude comments. Because we cannot read every comment, we rely on members to "Report to Admins" what shouldn't be there so we can take action.
• Monthly interactions: 70,000 to 90,000. If there is a member who is constantly putting angry faces or laughing at the comments of other members, we also consider that rude and passive aggressive, and may remove the member.
• New members by month: 7-10K. We review and approve every member before they get added to the group. We do this manually, one by one, and daily.
• Number of people we block per month: 500-700. This is made of men trying to enter the group, or fake profiles probably created by bots or men.
• Mods / Admins: Meg and I are helped by Gaby in managing the group. It is monitored 24h a day, 7 days a week. Meg and I manage it round the clock in the weekends and Gaby helps us during the week. We have a couple of friends help very occasionally as back up, and our Operations Manager Anastasia may also lend a hand, but the vast majority of the work is done by the 3 of us. It has been like this since we took over the group at the end of 2019. Our team of Mods gets paid as this is a real job, not something you do when you can, voluntarily. We decided that we wanted to be fully committed to making the group a safe and promotion-free group so we took the job of moderation seriously. Our women-only group trips help fund the group's management.
• Where members come from: US: 30%, UK: 12%, Australia: 7%, Canada: 5%, India: 5%. Then follow the Philippines, France, Germany, Netherlands and Malaysia. Despite what some members sometimes say, we aren't a US group. The United States is the largest English speaking country so it's normal that it is heavily represented, but it does not make the majority of the group, and we love that we remain multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and global.
• Age breakdown: 45% of the members are below the age of 35 and 16% above the age of 55. Contrary to what most people think, we aren't a group for old people, nor are we a group for young backpackers. The largest ager group is 25 to 34.

Here is the Facebook group

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500 USD / EUR OFF our trips!

Now that you know everything about the group, let's get down to business :)

To celebrate that this week we will reach HALF A MILLION MEMBERS, we are offering $500 / 500 EUR off several tours.

You can see the list below.

• ​Bali: 20 to 28 June, 2026 || 29 August to 6 September, 2026 – Photographer aboard \ 3 to 11 October, 2026
• ​Japan: 13 to 23 June, 2026 || 13 to 23 October, 2026
• ​Madagascar: 20 September to 3 October, 2027
• ​Cuba: 12 to 20 December, 2026 || 28 December, 2026 to 5 January, 2027
• ​Oaxaca: 11 to 17 October 2026 || 8 – 14 November 2026 || 29 December 2026 to 4 January 2027
• ​Iceland: 25 October to 1 November, 2026 ONLY
• ​Australia: 11 to 22 October, 2026
• ​Antarctica: 13 to 27 December, 2026 or 13 to 30 December, 2026 with Patagonia extension
• ​Caribbean luxury sailing: 13 to 20 February, 2027

The fine print:

• Offer applies to new bookings made from the 4th of February at 10am CET.
• Discount applies ONLY to the above destinations, dates and select packages. The discounted packages will have a ($500 OFF) next to them in the drop down menu. If in doubt, message us.
• Bookings must be made with credit card on the website. Wire transfer bookings are not eligible to receive the discount. You can pay the balance by wire but must book on the website with your credit card.
• Offer ends on the 15th February at midnight PST. No extensions will be provided.
• This offer cannot be combined with other discounts or bonuses you may have.

SEE ALL TOURS

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Photo of the week

Last week's photo This is Elmina Castle, a World Heritage construction near Accra in Ghana. It was built in 1482 by the Portuguese first as a commercial structure where Portuguese exchanged goods, primarily gold, with a powerful local chief. Later on, it became the center of the Portuguese slave trade and the final port from which enslaved people from neighbouring countries were sent to Brazil. Only one person guessed it right, Jin D.

This week's photo

Can you guess this week's photo? One of my most favorite trips of all time.

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In case you missed it

Interesting travel news, discussions in the group and other important travel updates:

• Singapore will start screening (and banning) travelers at departure points and has issued new directives for what it considers undesirable travelers. More here.​
• New way to save when traveling? Find a local temporary boyfriend and let him take you on dates and show you around. More here.​
• Is being single a red flag for immigration? Read here.
• Tax on tampons in Europe. See map here.
• Germany closed down its last fur farm in 2025. More here.
• Cities with the highest cost of living. Unsurprisingly, the top 6 are all in Switzerland! More here.
• South Korea launches women only night bus. More here.
• Indonesia has finally banned elephant riding across the country. More here.

This winter, the weather in Europe has been totally upside down. We've had super cold and rainy weather in southern Europe and so much snowfall that Spain has become the snow capital of the world.... Go figure! Check out the snow ranking by ski resort below:

I hope you will join us in celebrating our 500,000 member milestone and that we get to meet you on one of our tours soon.

Have a lovely rest of the week!

Solo Female Travelers Co-Founders