“Are you travelling alone?”

“Yes”

“What about your husband and kids?”

“I have left them at home.”

A complete silence followed for the rest of the drive and the curious taxi driver unsettled by my answer tried to concentrate on the road. His quietness wasn’t intentional; he was simply surprised and unsure of what to say next.

For a solo female traveller, the road isn’t just about destinations—it’s also about navigating these moments of disbelief.

A solo female traveller in India still attracts unfamiliar curiosity and sometimes when I get bored of giving honest answers to the same question, I try to spice up my answer, like this one. But they are always uncomfortable with my answer, whether it is an honest one or otherwise.

A single woman travelling and doing her own thing and happy in her own company is still new and uncomfortable to most people in my country.

I get it that I am part of a rare species of women, but it is almost 2026 so I sometimes get annoyed—not at the people, but at the repetition of the same assumption. Sometimes you feel that the world is changing at such a fast rate but then at times like these you feel it is not changing at all. And the more I travel, the more I am out there, the more I hope that societal discomfort around solo female traveller and single woman changes.

Surprisingly, I’m not alone in my quest for solo adventures.

According to IntrCity SmartBus, the number of solo women travellers surged 135% between 2023 and 2025. That means solo female travel isn’t just growing — it’s exploding.

Meanwhile, Thomas Cook’s 2025 Women’s Travel Trend Report shows a 17% rise in demand for solo travel among Indian women, with strong interest in adventure, wellness, and culinary experiences.

And according to a Skift research report, a trend reshaping the travel industry is the rise of solo travel in older women. This reflects a big shift in aspirations in women which is fuelled by the desire to be independent, self-discovery and freedom to explore the world on their own terms.

When I travelled to Japan, I met a solo woman traveller from Taiwan. Her eyebrows jumped up with surprise when I told her that I was a solo woman traveller from India, visiting Mt Fuji. She looked at me said – Wow you are the first solo female traveller from India that I am meeting in this part of the country. I tried to convince her that a lot of Indian women travelled solo. She kindly patted me on my shoulder and said that I was the first one she had met. I didn’t know whether to be happy or unhappy about that. But this interaction definitely left me pondering the global perception of Indian women as solo travellers.

But the curiosity about my single status isn’t confined to taxis or leisure trips—it often follows me when I travel for work as well. And sometimes some of these questions are baffling even to me.

Here’s a conversation I had when I was in another town for work a few months back.

“So, do you have kids?”

That was a direct first question when a new colleague was trying to know me.

“No, I am not married. Not that it is a prerequisite to have kids.”

“Ah okay” – he said. He was slightly taken aback; I think he was expecting a different answer.

“So, do you stay with your family?”

“No, I stay by myself.”

He looked at me curiously, analysing me, trying to understand me.

“Then what about food and all?”

Now I was taken aback because I didn’t think there was any co-relation to being single, living by yourself, and eating food.

“I eat like any other person.”

He didn’t have a follow up question after my straightforward answer, so we exchanged awkward smiles and got back to our laptops. Moments like this make me realize how ingrained traditional assumptions are, even in casual conversations.

But this was not the first time this had happened. When I tell people that I am single and I stay by myself, some of them ask me what I do about food. I have no idea what that curiosity is about. I have racked my brain but have never found any connection. Maybe they want to ask about something deeper, but instead they cautiously ask – what do you do for food? That is the only logical connection in my mind.

I wanted to check if I was the odd one who got asked this kind of question, so I checked with a single friend of mine. She also affirmed to have been asked such questions about food. According to her the reason for it was sheer curiosity and nothing else because they meet very few women who live on their own like us.

Anyway, I thought I should write about it and put it out there that we single people are like any anyone else. We eat, we love eating, some of us cook, some of us don’t. Food is nutrition, food is indulgence, food is soul satisfying. We like vada pavs as much as you like them or maybe some of us like it more.

So, yes, I am single and still eating and travelling and exploring. Despite the lingering questions and curiosity, let’s remember that we all share similar human experiences—regardless of our relationship status or whether we travel solo or with others. It’s time we embrace these experiences without judgement, whether you’re single, married, or anywhere in between.

Next read: How to plan your first solo trip