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Woman Shares How She Was Trapped In Her Hotel Room For 6 Days: “Found Myself In A Living Nightmare”
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Woman Shares How She Was Trapped In Her Hotel Room For 6 Days: “Found Myself In A Living Nightmare”

Woman Shares How She Was Trapped In Her Hotel Room For 6 Days: “Swarmed By Men”: Woman Goes Traveling Abroad, Has To Book An Emergency Flight HomeWoman Wants A Refund For Her Vacation As She Was Trapped In Her Hotel Room Due To Creepy Men“Trapped In A Hotel Room”: Woman Asks For Advice After Solo Trip Turns Into NightmareWoman Shares Her Horrifying Experience Traveling Abroad, Says It Was A “Living Nightmare”Solo Traveler’s Holiday That Was Supposed To Be Safe For Women Is A Disaster, She Wants A RefundWoman Can’t Leave Her Hotel Room Because Of Creepy Men, Wants A Refund From The Travel AgencyWoman “Trapped” In Hotel Room After Holiday In India Turns Into A Fight For SafetyWoman “Swarmed” By Men On Vacation In India, Hounds Travel Agency For A RefundTravel Agency Assures Woman The Destination Is Safe For Solo Female Travelers, Is Proven Wrong
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Traveling alone has its pros and cons. Unfortunately, going on a solo trip might not always be the wholesome experience you were expecting. Research shows that the majority of female travelers are worried about their personal safety. And the reality is that some countries are far more dangerous for solo travel than others.

An anonymous woman turned to the Legal Advice UK online community for advice regarding a trip abroad that turned into a “living nightmare.” She opened up about how she was accosted by men so often that she cut her vacation short and booked an emergency flight back home. Read on for the full story, including the advice internet users gave the woman.

Solo travel can be very dangerous in certain parts of the world. It’s important to evaluate the potential risks beforehand

Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)

A woman shared how a travel agent recommended her a region to visit abroad that turned out to be a “living nightmare” of a vacation

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Image credits: YuriArcursPeopleimages (not the actual photo)

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Image source: Straight_Magazine902

Certain world regions carry a lot more risk for female solo travelers. The danger can vary a lot depending on the part of the country, too

Image credits: Savvas Kalimeris (not the actual photo)

Statista reports that safety is a major concern for female solo travelers. Based on data collected during a 2023 global survey, 61% of respondents said that one of the main obstacles stopping them from going on a solo trip worldwide was personal safety.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest obstacles for 65% of respondents was the higher cost of traveling alone. 46% noted that another obstacle was not having someone to share the trip with, while 4% were worried about getting lost.

According to Riskline’s Female Travellers Safety Map, which looks at laws and customs, safety, and health and wellness, Europe is the most widely safe area for female travelers.

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Traveling in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand is also very safe. Female safety can vary significantly between countries in North America and Latin America. There’s also a lot of variation in larger countries.

“For instance, the travel experience in Mexico and Brazil could differ significantly between different states. That’s the case also for other big destinations like India,” Riskline states.

“On the other hand, most of the SSA [Sub-Saharan Africa] and MENA [Middle East and North Africa] regions are notoriously unsafer for women, due to political and social instability, ongoing conflicts, and lack of services and infrastructures that grant safe travel experiences.”

A serious issue is that according to the anonymous woman, her trip to that particular region was recommended to her by a travel agent. This raises a lot of questions about the reliability of that particular employee and the agency they work at.

Some internet users were concerned that the woman’s account was suspended after she shared her story

Image credits: Eric Ward (not the actual photo)

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It’s a matter of fact that there are countries and regions around the globe that are dangerous for all travelers. Meanwhile, others are particularly risky for women, especially solo travelers. Any agency worth its salt knows this and should issue the necessary warnings about the potential risks and guidelines for staying safe(r).

The OP also claimed that the travel agency kept ignoring her emails and calls regarding a refund for her tragic vacation.

The OP’s story went viral, garnering nearly 3k upvotes and over 600 comments. We were unable to reach out to the author for updates and to hear more about what she went through because her account was suspended soon after she posted her experiences online.

This suspension actually sparked a discussion in the media. Evie Magazine speculates that the woman may have lost access to her account due to Reddit moderators censoring her for going against the community guidelines and using ‘hate speech’ in her story.

The politically conservative magazine also notes that some comments where people shared statistics about harassment and violence around the world were (allegedly) also deleted by the moderators.

“By labeling the woman’s account as ‘hate speech,’ Reddit not only invalidates her experience but also perpetuates a false sense of security about solo travel to certain regions,” the magazine states.

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Why the suspension happened is impossible to confirm without first getting in touch with the OP, who can’t be reached because she’s suspended on Reddit. It’s a Catch-22 situation.

What are your thoughts on the entire situation, dear Readers? Do you think the woman is entitled to a refund for her vacation going so wrong? What are your experiences with solo travel? What risks do you take into account when choosing your travel destination? What advice would you give new solo travelers to stay safe abroad? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Here’s the advice some internet users gave the author, though they added that they’re ‘not a lawyer’ (NAL)

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

Ieva Pečiulytė

Ieva Pečiulytė

Author, BoredPanda staff

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I'm a Visual Editor for Bored Panda. I’m also an analog collage artist. My love for images and experience in layering goes well with both creating collages by hand and working with digital images as an Editor. When I’m not using my kitchen area as an art studio I also do various experiments making my own cosmetics or brewing kombucha. When I’m not at home you would most definitely find me attending a concert or walking my dog.

Read less »

Ieva Pečiulytė

Ieva Pečiulytė

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm a Visual Editor for Bored Panda. I’m also an analog collage artist. My love for images and experience in layering goes well with both creating collages by hand and working with digital images as an Editor. When I’m not using my kitchen area as an art studio I also do various experiments making my own cosmetics or brewing kombucha. When I’m not at home you would most definitely find me attending a concert or walking my dog.

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Marie
Community Member
2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are plenty of safe countries for solo female travelers, India is not one of them. It's somewhere near the top of the list of countries where women shouldn't set a foot. On the French foreign affair advice website, it's probably the only country with a chapter about the risk of SA for female travelers.

Bernd Herbert
Community Member
2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That website from Germany also warns specifically female solo travellers.

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KatSaidWhat
Community Member
2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While I do sympathise, if she had truly done her homework and research instead of just trusting the travel agency, she would know India is not a good place for single females to travel alone. I tend to travel alone and India is off that list, as is Egypt outside of Hurghada/Sharm for the very reasons she described. Got thoroughly harassed and followed in Luxor and Aswan - this was happening to a black girl in my hotel who kept being called Bob Marley anytime she went outside. It was better when we started going out together but we still got followed and surrounded, and in one notable incident almost sold off for camels. Don't trust travel agents, they want your money. Do real research, go on review sites and get traveller experiences before choosing a destination that might not be safe for you as a single female travelling alone.

Bookworm
Community Member
1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My thoughts exactly. Trusting the travel agent without doing your own research is pretty risky. Bare minimum, and something all international travelers should do, is check the state department's website to see what countries are currently considered unsafe for Americans (your country's equivalent for non-americans). Going to sites like TripAdvisor is a good way to see how things have been for recent travelers. Even if a travel agent went there you don't always know how recently. I think checking with the travel agent gave her a false sense of security. I also feel the agent was negligent in not advising her to do her own research also.

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Marianne
Community Member
2 days ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a horrible story! When I think where I could travel alone as a woman, India is likely the last place to come to my mind. It's a little weird that OP did not know that (or she did an that's why she confirmed the safety of the area more than once with the travel agency). I have no idea what the travel agency was thinking when they recommended her to travel to India alone.

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Marie
Community Member
2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are plenty of safe countries for solo female travelers, India is not one of them. It's somewhere near the top of the list of countries where women shouldn't set a foot. On the French foreign affair advice website, it's probably the only country with a chapter about the risk of SA for female travelers.

Bernd Herbert
Community Member
2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That website from Germany also warns specifically female solo travellers.

Load More Replies...
KatSaidWhat
Community Member
2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While I do sympathise, if she had truly done her homework and research instead of just trusting the travel agency, she would know India is not a good place for single females to travel alone. I tend to travel alone and India is off that list, as is Egypt outside of Hurghada/Sharm for the very reasons she described. Got thoroughly harassed and followed in Luxor and Aswan - this was happening to a black girl in my hotel who kept being called Bob Marley anytime she went outside. It was better when we started going out together but we still got followed and surrounded, and in one notable incident almost sold off for camels. Don't trust travel agents, they want your money. Do real research, go on review sites and get traveller experiences before choosing a destination that might not be safe for you as a single female travelling alone.

Bookworm
Community Member
1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My thoughts exactly. Trusting the travel agent without doing your own research is pretty risky. Bare minimum, and something all international travelers should do, is check the state department's website to see what countries are currently considered unsafe for Americans (your country's equivalent for non-americans). Going to sites like TripAdvisor is a good way to see how things have been for recent travelers. Even if a travel agent went there you don't always know how recently. I think checking with the travel agent gave her a false sense of security. I also feel the agent was negligent in not advising her to do her own research also.

Load More Replies...
Marianne
Community Member
2 days ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a horrible story! When I think where I could travel alone as a woman, India is likely the last place to come to my mind. It's a little weird that OP did not know that (or she did an that's why she confirmed the safety of the area more than once with the travel agency). I have no idea what the travel agency was thinking when they recommended her to travel to India alone.

Load More Comments
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