They say, “When something good happens, travel to celebrate. If something bad happens travel to forget. If nothing happens, travel to make something happen.”

But being a woman in Nepal and to travel solo is a dare. Most of the time, women are skeptical about travelling alone and there are various reasons to feel so. First, they do not know much about travelling alone, and then there are obligations or restriction from family. However, if one has the will to travel, nothing can stop them. Nevertheless, Miss Nepali Traveller 2019 Pooja Rijal, who travelled solo for 33 days from her home Pepsicola, Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp, is one such inspiring solo Nepali woman traveler.

For her travelling is all about freedom—freedom from obligations and restrictions, which is quite empowering in itself. She adds, “Travelling makes me free, you can be anybody, be really free and comfortable which is empowering in other sense.”

Travelling to places hasn’t changed her. She says travelling is definitely physically and mentally challenging, however it also helps you to gain new perspectives on how you see things. She shares, “Meeting new people and listening to them motivated me to travel. Travel has helped me to know my capacity and enabled me to take decision on my own.”

Likewise, she believes that not everyone needs to travel for being empowered because everyone is different from the other. She explains more about her experience as a solo woman traveler and some tips while travelling solo. Being the Miss Nepali Traveller she is going to travel South East Asia for 30 days by this December.