Solo travel is the number one travel trend for 2019, and women-only adventure travel is lighting up the travel landscape.

AdventureWomen and Wild Women Expeditions kicked off this trend 36 and 27 years ago, respectively. More recently they’ve been joined by companies like WHOA Travel, Damesly, and REI Adventures’ Force of Nature.

The number of women seeking life-altering vacation experiences isn’t all that’s up; women-led travel companies are also on the rise.

Two of these entrepreneurial women—Danielle Thornton and Allison Fleece, best buds and co-founders of WHOA Travel—turned the trip of a lifetime into a business that empowers women to reach for their best lives.

Hiking Mt. Elbrus

In chatting with these self-described travel junkies, who finish each other’s sentences and embrace the combined moniker ‘Dallison,’ you’re not surprised to learn that they came up with the acronym WHOA, aka Women High on Adventure, way before they even had a company.

“We were just two girls who took a trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro [in Tanzania] with a group of 10 women and wanted to formalize the group thing with a name,” explains Thornton.

Most women would have left it at that: A catchy name for a phenomenal climb to one of the world’s toughest summits, at 19,341 feet.

But not Thornton and Fleece, “The two of us thought, ‘If we can do this together, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, we can do anything—so why don’t we?’”

About a year later they did, each leaving thriving New York City careers.

PIPER RATELLO

Serenity in Peru

Today, WHOA Travel offers culturally immersive, mind- and muscle-maxing treks to Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu in Peru, and Iceland’s glacial terrain. Trips can be customized for groups; WHOA has also led excursions to India, Japan, Costa Rica and Germany. One out of four women becomes a repeat customer.

“From the beginning, we set a goal to share our Kilimanjaro experience with other women,” says Fleece. “We wanted women to take on the same challenges, to achieve a shared purpose in the journey and lift each other up along the way as part of the experience.”

We wanted women to take on the same challenges, to achieve a shared purpose in the journey and lift each other up along the way as part of the experience.

“Why wouldn’t you want to travel with other women?” Thornton adds, “There’s comfort, empowerment and camaraderie. We are both married, and we love men. But, it’s a sense of therapy doing this with other women, down to our most primitive state, eating, drinking, walking, sleeping, not showering for days. Women get an incredible sense of competence and rediscover the strength that they had inside all along. They come away from these trips in control of their lives.”

Women get an incredible sense of competence and rediscover the strength that they had inside all along. They come away from these trips in control of their lives.

The first WHOA trip to Kilimanjaro, back in 2014, took 29 women from 11 different countries, summiting the peak on March 8, International Women’s Day. And, when the group reached the summit, they danced. Since then, WHOA dance parties have become a signature element of every trip.

“One of the things that makes us unique is that there is a levity to what we do, a sense that we don’t take ourselves too seriously, even though it’s a serious undertaking,” Thornton explains. “The dance parties came out of our first climb together because both of us got really sick, and we used what energy we had left to dance a little when we made it to the top. It was epic. It made us feel better.”

Another unique aspect of WHOA Travel is that each trip integrates local women guides, sponsors local women on hikes, and commits to supporting local, women-owned businesses to create authentic cross-cultural experiences for all involved.

REN FULLER

Everest base camp

“We wanted a connection with the country that went beyond fundraising,” explains Fleece. “You walk away knowing more about a place and a culture because you’ve spent time with the women in that country.”

Given trip wait lists that extend int o 2020, the two entrepreneurs have clearly hit on a winning mix of passionate business drive and demand for women-only adventure travel.

In their latest step forward, the duo launched WHOA Plus last year, an idea that came from a woman who shared with them that she felt her body size limited her options. “Nobody looks like me on the trail, and I’m always the slowest one,” she said. “But, I want other women who move around in a larger body to know they can do this, too.”

“In March of 2018, a group of 20 phenomenal Curvy Kili Crew women climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro together,” says Thornton and Fleece. “They were all so supportive, and there was no toxic body shaming talk. There was such a strong interest in it, because you can’t be what you can’t see. Many women need to see that the outdoors can be for them, too.”

As for what’s next?

WHOA is launching Wise and Wondrous Women Over 50. “We wanted to empower those women to take that leap,” says Dallison. “We’re going in August and already have 15 women signed up.”

When Passion and Vision Collide

For women considering the ultimate trip—following your entrepreneurial dreams and passions into a business launch—Thornton and Fleece offer advice: