Women's Perception of Female-only Travel: Functions, Challenges and Copping Strategies in Family

Tourism is known as a modern leisure activity in contemporary societies. However, like other leisure activities, there is not an equal access to it among social strata including classes and genders. Furthermore, middle class in Iran experiences a wide range of changes in values, behavioral patterns and choices in recent decades. This paper aims to answer these questions: (1) what functions do middle class women in Iranian metropolises identify for lonely/female-only travels? (2) what challenges do they identify in lonely/female-only travels before, ongoing and after travel, and what are their coping strategies? To answer these questions, qualitative approach and ethnographic interview as method was used. Fourtheen women were interviewed. Findings showed that women identified two functions for lonely/female-only travels: escaping and engaging. The most importatnt challenge for women befor travel were having family’s agreement and managing the household in women’s abnsence. Emotional and functional challenges were two challenges when female-only travelers on tour. Womens’ coping strategies ranged from passive reactions to active and creative reactions. In summurize, lonely/female-only travel for women is the realm of experiencing, testing and proofing their own power, agency and independence in contemporary Iran.