| dc.description.abstract | The main purpose of the present dissertation is to determine the motivation and barriers to traveling solo among women living in Norway. A qualitative research method via semi-structured in-depth interviews was chosen to achieve the goal. The respondents have been found in the Female Solo Traveling groups on Facebook and via the “snowballing” method. The nine female solo travelers living in Norway were interviewed. Findings suggested the motives for solo traveling are independence & feeling of freedom, new experience, inner experience & self-discovery, recovery from stress, and exploring new culture. The barriers to traveling solo are lack of time, cost, fear of harassment by men, fear of being robbed, and locals’ perception of women traveling on their own. The main limitation of the study is the concentrated sample. The age of the respondents ranged from 30 to 46 years, so the results cannot be generalized to other age groups without further research. The unexpected finding revealed that motherhood is not an obstacle to traveling solo for women living in Norway. | |