Travel 2023: Discover JourneyWoman, a Travel Community for Women by Women

Escape and find a purpose! In our February/March 2023 issue of Zoomer magazine, we featured “23 Reasons to Travel in 2023”. In this edition, we tap into the online community of focus on destinations that explore ways to create a network. Click on the link at the bottom of the story for more ideas and inspiration for your next trip.

 

JourneyWoman started out answering a basic human need — one of connection.

Canadian travel writer Evelyn Hannon founded the grassroots community for female solo travellers when she began to travel by herself and realized there were no resources written for women, by women. The people in charge of travel sections in the media were, for the most part, men. The articles they published perpetuated the idea that men lead all travel expeditions, and didn’t address solo women’s concerns like loneliness, fear, safety or camaraderie.

Hannon started printing a safety tips newsletter in 1994 and, in 1997, launched Journeywoman.com, the first website for women’s solo travel. Suddenly, women were talking about wanting the companionship of like-minded females and the opportunity to explore other cultures.

When I took over JourneyWoman as CEO after Hannon died in 2019, I had just donated or sold all my possessions to travel full time, shifting from a consulting career as the CEO of Interbrand Canada to travel writing. Full of energy and enthusiasm, I rebranded JourneyWoman, launched a new website in March 2020, and — wham! — the world shut down.

Serendipitously, the pandemic helped me discover the true meaning of community and the profound generosity and wisdom of mature women. My personal coach was Hannon’s daughter, Erica Ehm, a long-time friend, one of the first MuchMusic video jockeys and founder of the Yummy Mummy Club. Before Hannon died of cancer at 79, Ehm and I told her about my dreams for JourneyWoman. I’d like to think it helped her take her next journey, to know someone would care for her life’s work. 

JourneyWoman.com is now ranked among the top 16 travel websites in the world and has close to two million visitors a year. Our monthly newsletter has more than 62,000 subscribers and we’ve expanded to reach more than 100,000 women a month through social media platforms. Most of our readers are adventurous women, aged 50 to 90-plus, who blaze their own trail.   

 

 

In March 2020, we started weekly community calls over Zoom to build friendships among women around the world, during the pandemic. Our community members host a Travel Book Club that meets monthly on Zoom, as well as in-person meet-ups around the globe (12 so far and growing). In the last year, I’ve met JourneyWomen in London, Toronto, New York, California and Croatia. This is when virtual connections become meaningful, because there’s nothing like hugging a woman you’ve spent the last three years befriending online.

JourneyWoman is more than a website, it’s a mindset. We share our stories with intention and purpose. We ask how we can contribute to the communities we visit, rather than impose our beliefs. We recognize that travel is a privilege, not a right. And we inspire each other to live our best lives. That’s the power of connection – and community.  

A version this article appeared in the Feb/Mar 2023 issue with the headline ‘Create a Network’, p. 80.

For more ideas and inspiration for your next trip, go here. 

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