Dawn Simone has chronic wanderlust. Along with this, she has had persistent frustration when it comes to her travel plans, which have often been permanently put on hold because of having no-one to travel with. To fix this, she started up the Elle Voyage tour company, which connects women with this same obstacle and takes them around the world, from Morocco to Iceland.
While female solo travelling is becoming more and more popular around the globe, some women would still like to share their sense of wanderlust and life-changing adventures with others who just ‘get it’.
Simone did not travel for years because she had no-one to enjoy it with. Her first solo trip was when she was just 15 years old, when she spent time at a kibbutz, and she was immediately bitten by the travelling bug.
By the age of 21, she was a tour operator and went on to explore countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean.
She returned to the UK and travelled over weekends in-between being a single working mother. But, she wanted to wander further: ‘I longed to travel with other like-minded women who shared the same passion as me and who wanted to immerse themselves in the sheer beauty of the amazing planet we live in.
‘I knew there were hundreds of women just like me who had the same desires and hunger to travel, with the same frustrations of not having people around them to travel with. And, this is both how and why Elle Voyage was created!
‘For women like you and me, who deep down are wanderlusters, who want to discover every corner of the world possible with a group of incredible women where fun, laughter and joy are high on the agenda.’
When asked why the tour company solely offers women-only trips, Simone replied, ‘Sometimes when there are mixed holidays, the dynamics of the group changes, the conversations are different and some women find it harder to relax and fully be themselves. I also think that we normally stick to the same social class of friends and with female group travel you meet and form friendships with people you otherwise would never have met, which I think is priceless.’
The trips range from Iceland to Botswana to Peru. Each trip has been planned by women living in those countries and they keep the female traveller in mind. ‘On some of the trips we get to spend time with local women to see how they live, cook and work, which is a unique experience not available in a mixed group,’ explains Simone.
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The first tour is expected to set off in May 2019. Each tour takes up to 14 women around the world where they can see the sights but also have free time to explore on their own. You can share a room with another Voyager, or stay on your own.
Longer tours are between eight and 14 days at a set time in the year. For example, the trip to Morocco for 2019 takes place in June/July or September for 14 days. All tour costs are quoted in pounds and the packages vary in price and what is included. The trips start from R18,864.86.
Along with the Moroccan trip, the Voyagers will be travelling in Africa during a September trip to Botswana and Zimbabwe for 11 days. The trip includes stops at Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park, Chobe river, Ntwetwe Pan, and the Okavango Delta. They plan to add South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, and Senegal within the next two years.
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Feature Image: Wang Xi.
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