Adventurous. Alone. Attacked

The number of female solo travellers has skyrocketed, but amid Instagram-worthy escapades are tales of violence and death, raising questions about how the world is greeting women who travel alone.

- Megan Specia and Tariro Mzezewa

Carla Stefaniak did everything “right”, her best friend said. On a five-day holiday to Costa Rica in November to celebrate her 36th birthday, the young woman chose a gated Airbnb villa near the airport. It had a security guard. It was in a safe neighbourhood. And she made sure to get home before dark. The night before she was to fly home to Florida, she contacted her best friend, Laura Jaime, on FaceTime. She showed her the earrings she bought in a market and gave a video tour of her villa.

The friends planned to see each other the next day, when Jaime was to pick her up from the airport. But Stefaniak never boarded her flight. During their phone call, Stefaniak had made a strange remark. She said the situation felt “sketchy”, but didn’t elaborate. “Carla knew at 8:20 that night that something was wrong,” Jaime said. “Sometimes we justify our intuition. But when something is triggered and something feels wrong, you have to listen to it.”

A week later, Stefaniak’s brutalised body was found wrapped in plastic and half-buried in a forest near her Airbnb rental. The Costa Rican police arrested the property’s security guard in connection with the killing.

Today, women’s increased spending power has given them the means to travel more for leisure and adventure. Shifting attitudes in the West about who can travel alone have also added to a growing industry. Social media plays a big part, offering intimate glimpses of far-off lands. A scroll through Instagram hashtags such as #LadiesGoneGlobal, #WeAreTravelGirls and #TheTravel Women offer millions of photos of women posing on beaches, trekking up mountains and exploring cobblestone streets – a collective and aspirational lure.