Solo traveling tips for women
When to stay and when to take up all the f*cking space
Hello friend,
Today I’m writing to you from not the first, but the second dirt parking lot near a hot spring on the East Side of the Sierra, where I am chuckling and shaking my head at how much space random men take up. I’m no longer surprised by their behavior because as they do, but I’m not giving it a pass just because it’s 2025 and men like this are having a moment.
The first parking lot was a no-go due to the obvious safety concerns:
The pitched tent near the hot springs is both a Leave No Trace no-no and an infringement on the enjoyment of other visitors.
The parked Honda Element next to the hot springs, in which said man was sleeping inside with the side doors and back hatch open, and not in a cute oh-he-needs-his-rest kinda way but a why-i-gotta-look-at-his-butt-crack kinda way.
Trash strewn outside Honda Element, sending I’m living here vibes.
It would be foolish for me, as a solo woman traveler, to take my clothing off in front of this human, camp next to him, and believe everything would work out for the best. I don’t believe in the goodness of all people. I believe in True Crime stories. So I treated it like an In-N-Out and I drove through.
I traveled down the dirt road to my tried and true hot spring, where the parking is plentiful, the views stunning, and the tub empty if you arrive before 7 am. When I pulled past the day trippers into the overflow camping lot, which has space for at least eight Sprinters to park, there was a man who had parked his Subaru Forester in the middle of the lot, with, wait for it… trash strewn all around it. Empty beer cans. A ratty ass t-shirt. A yellow towel that’s still on the ground, as I write this.
Side note: Can we please take a moment to acknowledge that it is Pride Month and these two men are driving the vehicles lesbians have claimed? Rude.
When my personal safety isn’t potentially threatened, I practice not side-stepping around these men. Rather than parking far away from him, only reinforcing his cosplay as the center of the universe, I pulled up right next to him so that I, too, could enjoy our public lands. Why park across the lot in a less-than-stellar spot that compromises the gorgeous views of the Sierra just to give him space?
And then, he left. Perhaps it was I who annoyed him because I didn’t allow him to dominate the space. Who would have thought? Getting what you want because you act like you belong there.
Until next time…
Jen Gurecki, she/her, CEO of Coalition Snow
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Please tell me it was not steamboat hot springs outside of Reno?!😭