Published September 28, 2026 02:18PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This story discusses sexual assault and violence. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual violence, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline toll-free from anywhere in the U.S. at 1-800-656-4673.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t forget to always carry your I.D.\u201d,\u00a0 my mom said the first time I told her I was traveling somewhere solo. \u201cI\u2019m not flying somewhere to identify your body.\u201d My 18-year-old self just rolled her eyes. Nothing bad was going to happen to her.<\/p>\n
Nearly two decades and 75 countries later, my rose-colored glasses have gone from mint condition to shattered. In the last few years alone I\u2019ve been charged by a mama black bear while hiking solo in Montana and attacked by a knife-wielding stranger while hiking alone in South Africa\u2019s Table Mountain National Park. My mom got on that plane she used to joke about.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t complain. Returning with a broken version of her daughter beat flying home with a body bag.<\/p>\n
It took time and therapy to put the pieces back together. But once I felt whole enough, I started adventuring solo again. Things were different, of course. But it wasn\u2019t my desire to see the world that had changed. It was my relationship with risk.<\/p>\n
Solo Travel Inherently Comes With Risks\u2013Especially as a Woman<\/h2>\nThe author in the location of her attack.<\/span> (Photo: Leah Hoefling)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe man vs. bear debate\u2014where someone is asked whether they\u2019d rather encounter a man or a bear while in the woods alone\u2014went viral because it tapped into two legitimate fears.<\/p>\n
In August, a 27-year-old mother reported she was slashed by a stranger while hiking the Havasupai Trail near Grand Canyon National Park. The next day, a 28-year-old woman was hospitalized after an encounter with a brown bear<\/a> in Alaska\u2019s Chugach State Park. Alone, the trail runner had to self-rescue. Sally Grace Contarino, meanwhile, has been missing since June. The 26-year-old Australian tourist was traveling solo when she vanished in Las Vegas<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m about to hike up Lone Mountain,\u201d reads her last text to her friends.<\/p>\nWomen venturing solo is nothing new. The Bible tells the story of Hagar, a woman who fled into the wilderness roughly 4,000 years ago. Then there\u2019s Isabella Bird. In 1873, the 42-year-old globetrotter traversed 800 miles in the Canadian Rockies by horseback, during winter. Despite subzero temperatures and run-ins with unsavory characters and carnivores, she survived. The pull of the unknown has always pushed adventurers past the point most people would consider reasonable, but for solo travelers, especially those who identify as women, weighing the risks is more complicated.<\/p>\n
My Risk Mitigation Strategy: I Splurge on Safety, Not Souvenirs<\/h2>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/cdn.nationalparktrips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2184758371.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
A solo hiker in Yosemite National Park<\/span> (Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI can\u2019t show you all my passport stamps. A pickpocket swiped my passport in France. And I don\u2019t have a stamp from my solo trip to Transnistria in August. I knew the \u201ccountry that doesn\u2019t exist\u201d near Ukraine had a Level 3 Travel Advisory. But I wanted to see the region where my maternal grandmother\u2019s side of the family came from while she was still alive to hear about it. I also couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to ride a bike in the world\u2019s largest wine cellar in neighboring Moldova.<\/p>\n
While there, I shared my location with my mom and husband. Instead of more affordable and spacious AirBnBs, I splurged on a tiny room at a highly-rated hotel with 24\/7 security. I shunned public transportation and self-guided experiences. Paying a small fortune for a private guide and driver meant I didn\u2019t have money for souvenirs or the spa. But, for me, peace of mind outweighs magnets and massages. And while both times I\u2019ve been assaulted while traveling alone were in broad daylight, I tried to be in bed before dark.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t always mitigated risk, or even considered it. Old me didn\u2019t think twice about swimming alone at a remote beach in Nicaragua. That was the afternoon I learned rip currents can be faster than Olympic swimmers. She was so eager to cycle in Spain\u2019s Teide National Park that she drove there straight from the airport, leaving all her luggage\u2014including her electronics and $600 cash\u2014in her rental car. That was the trip where I made my first police report in a foreign language. And she didn\u2019t let her ancient Honda that was making unsettling noises keep her from taking advantage of a bluebird day in the Beartooth Mountains bordering Yellowstone. That was the day I learned tow trucks charge three figures for a long distance dispatch and don\u2019t always guarantee you a seat in the cab.<\/p>\n
Respect Risk\u2014Without Letting It Dictate My Life<\/h2>\n
Today, I respect risk without letting it dictate what I do. My keychain alarm\u2014it\u2019s more TSA-friendly than pepper spray, plus screaming was what scared away my attacker in South Africa\u2014is always within reach. Hiking doesn\u2019t happen without two cans of bear spray on my hip. Flights aren\u2019t purchased unless I can afford to stay in a neighborhood I deem safe. My phone and SOS-capable smart watch are always charged (and on me). And as much as I love to manifest, I plan for the forecast, not the weather I want.<\/p>\n
Finally, I never override my gut. Moments before I was attacked in South Africa, something about the stranger on the trail triggered my Spidey sense. Not wanting to appear rude, however, I continued toward the trap he\u2019d set instead of hightailing it out of there.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrusting your intuition is probably the best thing you could do,\u201d says Nicole Snell, CEO of Girls Fight Back<\/a>. Snell\u2019s Outdoor Defense<\/a> series teaches women empowerment-based self-defense tactics they can use while hiking, camping, fly-fishing, trail running, etc. When she tells me she\u2019s visiting Havasupai this fall I ask if the recent attack worries her.<\/p>\n\u201cStatistically, another attack like what happened to Alexis, isn\u2019t likely. It\u2019s awful what she experienced,\u201d she answers. \u201cAnd if I ran into something like that, I would feel confident with the skills I have that would get me out safely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an important distinction between something being possible and something being probable,\u201d agrees Katie d\u2019Autremont, a licensed clinical professional counselor. She uses a pool analogy with her clients. Could they fall in while walking along the edge of a pool? Yes. Will they? It\u2019s not likely.<\/p>\n
Weigh Your Personal Risk Threshold<\/h2>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_1880.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Author Katie Jackson on the trail in South Africa<\/span> (Photo: Katie Jackson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOne of my closest friends, d\u2019Autremont is among the first people I tell about an upcoming trip. Sometimes she joins me. This summer, though, she declined my invitation to Turkey because of the unrest in the Middle East. Still, she didn\u2019t try to talk me out of going. She knows I have a different threshold for risk, and I\u2019m capable of making informed decisions. \u201cThere can be something really empowering about trusting yourself to navigate uncertainty rather than waiting until the world feels completely safe,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause the reality is that it probably never will.\u201d<\/p>\n
It sucks that my life story includes being pickpocketed, mugged, and sexually assaulted. But at the end of the day, I\u2019m the author. Most chapters celebrate independence and an insatiable curiosity that\u2019s taken me to all seven continents. I\u2019m no longer the naive 18-year-old who rolled her eyes at her mom. I acknowledge the risks. Still, I don\u2019t wait until the epilogue to discover that the rewards far outweigh them.<\/p>\n
The man vs. bear debate\u2014where someone is asked whether they\u2019d rather encounter a man or a bear while in the woods alone\u2014went viral because it tapped into two legitimate fears.<\/p>\n
In August, a 27-year-old mother reported she was slashed by a stranger while hiking the Havasupai Trail near Grand Canyon National Park. The next day, a 28-year-old woman was hospitalized after an encounter with a brown bear<\/a> in Alaska\u2019s Chugach State Park. Alone, the trail runner had to self-rescue. Sally Grace Contarino, meanwhile, has been missing since June. The 26-year-old Australian tourist was traveling solo when she vanished in Las Vegas<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m about to hike up Lone Mountain,\u201d reads her last text to her friends.<\/p>\n Women venturing solo is nothing new. The Bible tells the story of Hagar, a woman who fled into the wilderness roughly 4,000 years ago. Then there\u2019s Isabella Bird. In 1873, the 42-year-old globetrotter traversed 800 miles in the Canadian Rockies by horseback, during winter. Despite subzero temperatures and run-ins with unsavory characters and carnivores, she survived. The pull of the unknown has always pushed adventurers past the point most people would consider reasonable, but for solo travelers, especially those who identify as women, weighing the risks is more complicated.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t show you all my passport stamps. A pickpocket swiped my passport in France. And I don\u2019t have a stamp from my solo trip to Transnistria in August. I knew the \u201ccountry that doesn\u2019t exist\u201d near Ukraine had a Level 3 Travel Advisory. But I wanted to see the region where my maternal grandmother\u2019s side of the family came from while she was still alive to hear about it. I also couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to ride a bike in the world\u2019s largest wine cellar in neighboring Moldova.<\/p>\n While there, I shared my location with my mom and husband. Instead of more affordable and spacious AirBnBs, I splurged on a tiny room at a highly-rated hotel with 24\/7 security. I shunned public transportation and self-guided experiences. Paying a small fortune for a private guide and driver meant I didn\u2019t have money for souvenirs or the spa. But, for me, peace of mind outweighs magnets and massages. And while both times I\u2019ve been assaulted while traveling alone were in broad daylight, I tried to be in bed before dark.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t always mitigated risk, or even considered it. Old me didn\u2019t think twice about swimming alone at a remote beach in Nicaragua. That was the afternoon I learned rip currents can be faster than Olympic swimmers. She was so eager to cycle in Spain\u2019s Teide National Park that she drove there straight from the airport, leaving all her luggage\u2014including her electronics and $600 cash\u2014in her rental car. That was the trip where I made my first police report in a foreign language. And she didn\u2019t let her ancient Honda that was making unsettling noises keep her from taking advantage of a bluebird day in the Beartooth Mountains bordering Yellowstone. That was the day I learned tow trucks charge three figures for a long distance dispatch and don\u2019t always guarantee you a seat in the cab.<\/p>\n Today, I respect risk without letting it dictate what I do. My keychain alarm\u2014it\u2019s more TSA-friendly than pepper spray, plus screaming was what scared away my attacker in South Africa\u2014is always within reach. Hiking doesn\u2019t happen without two cans of bear spray on my hip. Flights aren\u2019t purchased unless I can afford to stay in a neighborhood I deem safe. My phone and SOS-capable smart watch are always charged (and on me). And as much as I love to manifest, I plan for the forecast, not the weather I want.<\/p>\n Finally, I never override my gut. Moments before I was attacked in South Africa, something about the stranger on the trail triggered my Spidey sense. Not wanting to appear rude, however, I continued toward the trap he\u2019d set instead of hightailing it out of there.<\/p>\n \u201cTrusting your intuition is probably the best thing you could do,\u201d says Nicole Snell, CEO of Girls Fight Back<\/a>. Snell\u2019s Outdoor Defense<\/a> series teaches women empowerment-based self-defense tactics they can use while hiking, camping, fly-fishing, trail running, etc. When she tells me she\u2019s visiting Havasupai this fall I ask if the recent attack worries her.<\/p>\n \u201cStatistically, another attack like what happened to Alexis, isn\u2019t likely. It\u2019s awful what she experienced,\u201d she answers. \u201cAnd if I ran into something like that, I would feel confident with the skills I have that would get me out safely.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an important distinction between something being possible and something being probable,\u201d agrees Katie d\u2019Autremont, a licensed clinical professional counselor. She uses a pool analogy with her clients. Could they fall in while walking along the edge of a pool? Yes. Will they? It\u2019s not likely.<\/p>\n One of my closest friends, d\u2019Autremont is among the first people I tell about an upcoming trip. Sometimes she joins me. This summer, though, she declined my invitation to Turkey because of the unrest in the Middle East. Still, she didn\u2019t try to talk me out of going. She knows I have a different threshold for risk, and I\u2019m capable of making informed decisions. \u201cThere can be something really empowering about trusting yourself to navigate uncertainty rather than waiting until the world feels completely safe,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause the reality is that it probably never will.\u201d<\/p>\n It sucks that my life story includes being pickpocketed, mugged, and sexually assaulted. But at the end of the day, I\u2019m the author. Most chapters celebrate independence and an insatiable curiosity that\u2019s taken me to all seven continents. I\u2019m no longer the naive 18-year-old who rolled her eyes at her mom. I acknowledge the risks. Still, I don\u2019t wait until the epilogue to discover that the rewards far outweigh them.<\/p>\nMy Risk Mitigation Strategy: I Splurge on Safety, Not Souvenirs<\/h2>\n
Respect Risk\u2014Without Letting It Dictate My Life<\/h2>\n
Weigh Your Personal Risk Threshold<\/h2>\n