Why Female Travel Stories Continue To Shake Our Culture
Women do all manner of groundbreaking things on a daily basis. We overcome prejudice, break expectations, and even take top spots in the workplace. Even when we play, we now have the ability to change the world. Take, for example, female travel in recent years. While once regarded as dangerous and taboo, some of the best female travel memoirs of recent years have changed the face of female travel as we know it.
Cheryl Strayed’s ‘Wild,’ for instance, has seen a whole new generation of women desperate to hike solo, while Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ taught us about self-acceptance, relationships, and the ever-pressing spiritual question: what is a yoga mala, and how on earth can it help us meditate? More recently, releases like Olivia Laing’s ‘The Lonely City’ have taken the female travel memoir one step further by looking at the loneliness and confusion that come sometimes accompany cross-continental explorations.
Each of these women and many more besides have made significant ripples in our culture and our hearts. But, why exactly are female travel stories so helpful for shaking culture on this broad scale?
They paint a picture of strength
Perhaps the most apparent benefit of these female-empowered accounts is that of the undeniable strength inherent in their female leads. The idea of women as emotionally weak is outdated as hell, and these power figures are proving why. Within the pages of Wild, Strayed shows more strength of body and spirit than many male travelers. Gilbert, too, paints a strong picture of female independence as she hops from one country to another without once needing a man to show her the way. In short, strong females in popular culture are an absolute must right now, and women who can traverse the world single-handedly definitely meet that mark.
They provide a new outlook on cultures across the world
For years, our idea of worldwide cultures has been dictated by male explorers. Now, women are painting an entirely new picture of the world and humanity. Annapurna Mellor shares her travel experiences with 17,000+ Insta followers, and states, ‘It is essential for women to have a role in the travel storytelling world. As a woman, you tell very different stories than men…’ Women are now able to share stories of humanity, connection, and love from even the most remote corners of the globe. That’s a pretty transformative trend to get behind.
These are experiences that can’t be silenced
Ultimately, power in female travel comes from the fact that these are experiences no one can silence. For too long, solo female travel were considered dirty words, but recent years have seen more women than ever going on vacation or embarking on full-blown travels alone. And, that’s because these top-rating travel female memoirs have shown that women don’t need to be afraid of leaving their home comforts. Instead, we can have some pretty badass experiences out in the wild, and even write home about them to keep changing the world in these small, but fundamental ways.