and demand for women-led tour groups is rising.

Stephanie Sy is back with a# closer look at the reasons## why women are drawn to solo travel and how# the hospitality in JULIA ROBERTS, Actress: I want to go# someplace where I can marvel at something.

STEPHANIE SY: Middle-aged woman# liberated by divorce jets out to## explore the world and find herself through travel.

JULIA ROBERTS: And I'm going# to end the year in Bali.

STEPHANIE SY: Between 2010's "Eat, Pr REESE WITHERSPOON, Actress: What have I done?

STEPHANIE SY: ... the books and films.

More and more women prefer# to explore the world solo.

A few years ago,## then-23-year-old Molly Furey# explored New Zealand alone.

MOLLY FUREY, Traveler: I got to go on# an incredible boat ride through Milford## Sound.

I went whale watching in Kaikoura,# once-in-a-lifetime k went snowboarding in Queenstown.# So there were a lot of things## happening that I'm not doing in my# day-to-day life here in Ireland.

STEPHANIE SY: Yes, she returned with# great adventures under her belt, but: MOLLY FUREY: I came back, and I# felt like people were expecting## me to have something interesting to say# about it.

I was kind o fact I didn't have some big epiphany or big# transformation or self-discovery to share.

The things that actually mattered or that I## actually learned from would# never show up in STEPHANIE SY: She later wrote# a piece for "I Failed at Solo Female Travel," noting that# what she learned on th how to shop, get gas, and navigate# a foreign country on her own.

BARBARA WINARD, Traveler: I was always afraid and# sometimes panic-stricken when I first started out.

STEPHANIE SY: Barbara Winard did what Molly# did in her 20s too, but at a time before solo## female travel was as commonplace.

Her# first solo trip was to Europe in 1970.

BARBARA WINARD: People would always# ask me where my husband was.

Wasn't## I afraid of traveling alone?

How# did my husband allow me to trav And I didn't have a husband at the# time, so I would make something up.

STEPHANIE SY: Now 75 and married,# she still takes solo trips,## but with many female travelers# doing the same, she's rarely alone.

BARBARA WINARD: I may go places by myself,# but I kind of have made a lot of friends who## love to travel.

So, I have alternatives# now.

When I first started traveling,## no one wanted to go where I wanted to go or# when I wanted to go, so I felt I had no choice.

STEPHANIE SY: One of the people Winard met in her## travels was Patricia Patton.

As sh e was already a pioneer.

World travel# pushed the frontier even further.

PATRICIA PATTON, Traveler: Travel has been# really helpful in supporting me and my desire## to live into the fullness of who I am, to# push into those margins and my boundaries.

STEPHANIE SY: She says its become more and# more socially acceptable for older women,## married, divorced or otherwise, to travel solo.

PATRICIA PATTON: Because so many of our mates# have made other choices beside us on something that maybe we want to do, I# think that women feel that they can relax,## they can create the kind of memories# that they want, traveling solo,## and that not disrupt the relationship,# because that's an antiquated idea anyway.

STEPHANIE SY: And technology has only made# solo travel easier, says University of## Florida tourism Professor Heather Gibson, who# began researching solo women travel in 1998.

HEATHER GIBSON, University of Florida:# When we first started our solo women## research back in the late 1990s, there# wasn't a mob things that many of the women spoke# to us about was fleeting loneliness,## for example, or needing to find a way# to share their experiences back home.

STEPHANIE SY: Smart mobile phones mean# not only communications, but maps, GPS,## booking accommodations are all at ones# fingertips, and social media, of course.

The solo female travel influencer has# also become travel agent and tour guide,## as in the case of Nabila Ismail.# She's been to 63 countries,## many of them alone.

In 2022, she set# off with the Dose of Travel Club,## planning group trips for mostly women of color# travelers.

Their last major trip was to Iraq.

NABILA ISMAIL, Dose of Travel Club: My idea# is to go explore places that we have either## heard about in a negative limelight# in the media or while growing up,## and just countries that people kind# of don't even have on their radar.

STEPHANIE SY: The 29-year-old# content creator also uses social## media to exchange travel advice# with her over 100,000 follow NABILA ISMAIL: It's helped me make my# friends while traveling and it's made## solo travel that much more enjoyable.

It# also kind of fuels my tr There's always something new being added to my# bucket list, based on what I'm seeing online.

STEPHANIE SY: There's a growing market# catering to solo female travelers like## Ismail and her followers, companies# like Air India introducing rows reserv for solo women travelers, Trafalgar# introducing a women-only set of tours,## or luxury hotel chains offering solo packages, in# addition to honeymoons or rather, "oney-moons."

And post-pandemic, some travel companies reported# that 85 percent of their solo travelers are women.

PATRICIA PATTON: I don't know if you have ever# walked past a mirror and seen your reflection## and not recognized yourself, but, often,# travel will give you that experience as well.

STEPHANIE SY: For Patricia Patton, years of# solo travel have helped form her identity.

PATRICIA PATTON: When I initially started# to travel, I realized that not everybody## lived the same and that I could decide, I# personally could decide how I ST EPHANIE SY: But whether for# adventure, well-being, or "Eat,## Pray, Love"-style epiphanies, it's clear women# ar For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.