The “Journeys” of Independence for Female Backpackers

‘Wish YOU Weren’t Here!’: Interpersonal Conflicts and the Touristic Experiences of Norwegian and British Women Travelling with Friends

“…Issues such as body image and concerns about the social stigma of solo travel have been shown to cause discomfort and selfconsciousness on the part of women travelling alone -although many women engage in resistance strategies to counter this (Berdychevsky et al, 2010;Jordan, 2008;Jordan and Aitchison, 2008;Jordan and Gibson, 2005;Obenour, 2005;Wilson and Little, 2005;.…”

Drunken mobilities: Backpackers, alcohol, ‘doing place’

“…Indeed, our research found that alcohol was an easy way that backpackers found to make experiences 'more authentic' by enabling interactions around alcohol and through intoxication easier to navigate: I know it sounds crazy but when you drink it makes you feel part of a place more easily … you can imagine really knowing the place and the people and what it must be like to live there all the time … it makes communicating less annoying sometimes where you can't understand someone and they can understand you … it helps you connect with the place … and this helps at other times because even when you aren't drinking you feel more at home and things and people are more familiar because you have been there done that when you were drunk … (Ben, aged 18 years, London, UK) When you're travelling with other people, or sometimes on your own and just end up talking to others, I've lost count of the number of times you end up talking about drunken nights or the things you did … or even sharing your own, or others hangovers, or embarrassing stories … it brings you closer together .. either through doing it together or reliving those moments. (Rachel, aged 21 years, Washington, USA) Alcohol, drinking and drunkenness thus enhances what Obenour (2005) describes as 'self-making in journeying' and more specifically what Noy (2004) considers as 'self change and a collective notion of identity through that change … [where] normative encounter with authenticity and "otherness" is accomplished through neo-colonialism and consumerist discourses' (p. 98). Part of 'doing place' then includes finding ways to seek out Bell's (2008) notions of hospitable 'locales' and 'locals' as well as those with different attitudes to drinking.…”

Sex and risk in young women's tourist experiences: Context, likelihood, and consequences

“…Moreover, female empowerment has been found to be an outcome of reversing sexual roles in tourism as well as resisting social stereotypes of appropriate sexual behavior (Berdychevsky, Gibson, & Poria, 2013;Berdychevsky et al, 2014). Many of the aforementioned psychological benefits have also been delineated in the literature describing female solo traveling and all-female traveling experiences as emancipatory and empowering practices contributing to women's sense of independence and wellbeing (Berdychevsky, Gibson, & Bell, 2013;Falconer, 2011;Jordan & Gibson, 2005;Obenour, 2005). Linking these outcomes and the emancipatory potential to the various types of women's sexual risk-taking in tourism poses a challenge to restrictive sexual double standards.…”

“…That is, such rewards are typically psychological in nature. Female solo travel, for example, being socially constructed as a potentially risky practice, may be experienced by women themselves as rewarding, empowering, and emancipating (Jordan & Gibson, 2005;Obenour, 2005). More specifically with regards to sexual behavior, women's daring experimentation is sometimes perceived as resistance to and/or inversion of sexual roles and is interpreted by them as a source of empowerment, maturity, selfexploration, and transformation (Berdychevsky, Gibson, & Poria, 2013.…”