Finding Community When Living Abroad as a Solo Female Traveler

The Big Decision…

Making the decision to leave your home country, your routines, your people, and every sense of comfort you’ve built over the years is brave & full emotional and psychological shift that you don’t really understand until you’re in it, especially if you are someone who genuinely values connection, depth, and community in your everyday life.

When people talk about living abroad and the freedom that comes with it, they don’t always talk about what it actually feels like to be a solo female traveler rebuilding community from scratch in a completely new environment, and that part will humble you a little bit lol. Especially, when you are constantly moving around to new spaces.

We spend so much of our lives building relationships without even realizing how much effort and time it actually took to create them. From school to work to everyday interactions, we naturally build community over time, and then one day you decide to move abroad or start a digital nomad lifestyle, and it’s like… okay, now I have to intentionally find community abroad instead of it naturally forming around me like before.

Community in Cartagena, Colombia…

When I was in Colombia, community found me in a way that honestly felt aligned and easy, which is something I now realize is not always the case when you are traveling long-term. I was living in an apartment building where there was another Black expat, and I got connected almost immediately to a larger Black expat community in Cartagena. She saw me walking in the check in and did a double take, like “heeeey, come we llamo?!” The rest was history lol. I had a lot of fun with them. We had game nights, beach dates, etc.

That made a huge difference in my experience because I didn’t feel like I had to search for belonging or question where I fit. I had people who understood certain parts of me without me having to explain everything, and that kind of connection matters more than people like to admit. Even now, I’m still connected to them, and I already know when I go back to Cartagena, I’m tapping right back in like I never left lol.

Community in El Salvador…

El Salvador gave me a completely different experience, and this is where I started to understand how much environment impacts your ability to make friends while traveling abroad. Tourism is still growing there, and there aren’t many Black people, which meant I stood out a lot. I’m talking about hella stares… a lot of them lol. At first, I was just taking it in as part of the experience of being in a new country, but later I learned through TikTok that seeing darker-skinned people there isn’t common due to the country’s history, including policies that once made it illegal for Black people to be there. That context helped me understand the environment more, but it didn’t necessarily remove the feeling of isolation that can come with trying to build community abroad in a place where you visibly stand out.

The security guard of my building took a liking to me and liked to have conversations as he wanted to better his English and I wanted to better my Spanish. It was nice talking in between the times of me waiting for my Uber Eats and grocery deliveries.

What Do Community Mean To Me?

I’ve had people try to challenge me on how I define community, especially when I say I intentionally seek out other Black people native to the country or people within the African diaspora while traveling, but that is very much aligned with my personal mission. A large part of my experience with solo travel for me is about connecting with the diaspora, especially those whose histories are tied to the Atlantic slave trade. That doesn’t mean I’m closed off to others, it just means I’m intentional about the types of connections that feel grounding for me in this season. When you are learning how to find your tribe while traveling, you have to be honest about what kind of connection actually fulfills you.

Finding Community In Brazil…

Now being in Brazil for about two and a half months, my experience has been somewhere in the middle, and this is where I really started to learn what it looks like to actively meet people while living abroad instead of waiting for it to happen naturally. I’ve connected with two Black women from the U.S., one who found me on Threads and another who was already subscribed to one of my YouTube channels, which still feels a little surreal lol. I’ve met a few locals in São Paulo, and here in Salvador I have one person I talk to here and there, but I wouldn’t say I’ve fully built a solid community yet.

The language barrier is a real factor when it comes to making friends abroad, especially in a country like Brazil where Portuguese is the primary language. While some people speak English, many do not, which is completely understandable because I am in their country. It just means that building relationships requires more patience, more effort, and sometimes stepping outside of your comfort zone in a way you might not have to back home. It adds another layer to the experience of living abroad as a digital nomad, because connection is no longer just about proximity, it’s about communication and willingness.

I joined a WhatsApp group for expats in Bahia, which is one of the ways people suggest you find community as an expat, but I haven’t met up with anyone yet because I’m still feeling out the energy of the group. Most of the events being shared are paid events instead of casual meetups, and I’ve realized I personally prefer something more relaxed for a first interaction. This is something I didn’t expect when I first started traveling, but not every space that exists for connection will feel aligned, and you have to give yourself permission to choose what feels right for you.

One of the more organic connections I made was through my aerial hoop class, which I definitely need to get back to now that my visa situation is sorted out lol. That experience reminded me that one of the best ways to make friends while traveling solo is to put yourself in environments where connection can happen naturally, instead of forcing it. Shared activities, hobbies, and classes tend to create more genuine connections because you already have something in common.

Humans Need Connection…

At the end of the day, humans need connection. It’s part of who we are, and no matter how independent or self-sufficient you are, the desire for community doesn’t just disappear because you decided to travel the world. But learning how to find community while traveling abroad requires you to be more intentional than you may have ever had to be before. You have to be willing to go outside, start conversations, try new things, and even use social media platforms like Threads and Instagram to connect with people in your area. Honestly, social media has been one of the biggest tools for me when it comes to building community as a digital nomad, which I did not expect when I first started this journey.

And because I’ve experienced both sides of this, the moments where community comes easily and the moments where it feels like you’re kind of just out there figuring it out on your own, I’m actually creating something that I wish I had when I first started traveling….

I’m starting a WhatsApp group specifically for solo traveling women who are interested in astrology and spirituality, because I know what it feels like to be in a new country and not have people to talk to who understand your mindset, your journey, or even the way you see the world.

This is not about networking and surface-level conversations, it’s about having a space where you can check in, share your experiences, ask questions, talk about what you’re going through, and connect with other women who are also navigating solo travel, spirituality, and personal transformation at the same time. Whether you’re feeling aligned, confused, excited, or even a little lonely in your current location, you’ll have people you can tap into instead of feeling like you have to go through the experience alone. Because sometimes you don’t necessarily need people physically around you in that exact moment, you just need access to the right energy and the right conversations, and that can shift everything.

Truth About This Lifestyle…

At the same time, one of the realities of this lifestyle that people don’t talk about enough is the temporary nature of a lot of these connections. When you are living a nomadic lifestyle, you meet incredible people, you build meaningful connections, and then eventually one of you leaves. The relationship doesn’t always end, but it shifts into something that resides primarilyonline instead of in your everyday life.

There’s a level of learning healthy detachment that comes with that, and it can be beautiful because you learn to appreciate people for the moments you share with them, but if I’m being honest, it can also make it harder to build long-term, deeply rooted relationships when you know there is always an expiration date somewhere in the background on your time together.

That’s the part of living abroad and finding community that doesn’t always make it into the highlight reels. It’s not just about meeting people, it’s about navigating connection, alignment, cultural differences, language barriers, and impermanence all at the same time, and still choosing to open yourself up to new relationships anyway.