Jess Witkins is a public librarian, a self-described jokester, and a SoFe regular. Since her first trip to Egypt, she’s traveled with SoFe to Lebanon, Mongolia, India, Ecuador, and Romania. Here’s what keeps her coming back.
It started with a friend. She found SoFe, we signed up for Egypt together, and I loved it so much that I came home and read through every other trip they offered. Five trips later, I’m still not done.
People ask if I get nervous traveling with a group of strangers. Honestly? Not anymore.
A researcher at heart
I work in public libraries, so I research everything before I go. I read as much as I can, watch documentaries, and try to learn a few phrases in the local language. That’s how I get excited for a trip.
What I don’t do is tell many people where I’m going. I love the surprise of posting “Hello from sunny wherever” and letting everyone find out at once.
All that prep makes me a better traveler. But it can’t prepare you for the people. That part you have to show up for.
You'll find your people
On my five trips I’ve traveled with women in their 20s, women in their 70s, and everyone in between. That range is one of my favorite things about SoFe. You hear so many stories. Someone asks a question you never would have thought of. And you always come home with a list of new places to go, because these are women who travel.
SoFe makes it easy to connect. There’s always a welcome dinner. There’s bus time between cities. And there’s the group WhatsApp, which is where the magic happens. “Night owls are meeting here to chat.” “Early birds are getting coffee.” You’ll find your people.
I’ve roomed with a friend I came with and with women I’d never met. It’s worked out every time. SoFe puts real thought into those matches.
“Some of the women I’ve traveled with, I’ve met up with on other trips. With others, we’ve basically become our own made-up book club.”
Is every group perfect? We’re all adults, so you have choices. If you need quiet time, take it. If you want to talk about the day over dinner, someone will want that too. On the rare day someone is bringing the mood down, it’s usually something they’re going through, not the trip. We all have off moments. And if it’s really affecting the group, you can say something to the guide. They want everyone to have a good time too.
The guides are the secret
My favorite part of every SoFe trip is the guide. Somehow they keep getting better.
They know the history and the culture. They also know where to exchange money, what to do when your SIM card dies, and where the nearest pharmacy is. I think the sign of a good tour is that you never notice the logistics, and I usually don’t. Meeting points, what to pack for the day, when to be ready to move cities, what to leave in the safe. It’s all handled.
By the end of most trips, my little posse and I are asking the guide, “Do you need anything? What can we get you?” They stop feeling like staff. They’re friends who just happen to be working.
In Egypt, our guide Sama did two things I’ll never forget. First, he taught me a few funny phrases in the local dialect. Egyptian markets can be intense, especially as a woman, with a lot of attention and catcalling from vendors. I’m a jokester, so I started using Sama’s lines, and suddenly the vendors were laughing with me. I went from bracing myself to actually having fun in the market.
Second, after a full day in the Valley of the Kings, he gave us options and nudged us toward the workers’ tombs, which weren’t on the itinerary. They had some of the most beautiful color artwork we saw all trip, and it became a lot of people’s favorite stop that day. Seeing the royal tombs next to the everyday ones is the kind of thing you only get with a guide who’s paying attention to what you love.
In Romania, our guide Daniella was basically our mom for the week. Funny, organized, and she knew everything. That might be the best group I’ve ever traveled with.
Finding home (and a few moms) along the way
In Lebanon, we had lunch with a woman who ran a kind of co-op out in the countryside. She’s known for her olive oil, and her community barely uses money. They barter. One neighbor is known for bread, another for oil, and they trade.
She fed us huge plates of comfort food and told stories until we felt completely at home. On her wall was a bulletin board covered in letters from past guests. I jokingly asked if she’d adopt me. She told me that so many of her guests already call her Mom. Hospitality is in her genes.
I hugged her goodbye and got a photo with her. It’s my favorite feel-good travel story, because it proved something I believe: wherever you go, you can find a sense of home.
“I don’t often get homesick, because I tend to find home wherever I am.”
Also in Lebanon, the woman leading our cooking class wouldn’t let me chop a tomato. She’d seen enough of my knife skills. Fair. The food was incredible anyway, and making it together and eating it as a group was the whole point. (Egypt, for the record, gave me koshari. If I could take a bath in it, I would.)
The trip I screamed about
Mongolia is the trip that blew past every expectation. Years ago I watched The Eagle Huntress and was in awe of the Golden Eagle Festival. It never occurred to me that I could actually go. When SoFe announced a Mongolia trip, I screamed across the house to my husband, “I’m going to Mongolia!”
It was everything. Driving through the countryside. Dinner with a Mongolian family and a Kazakh family, seeing how differently their homes are built and decorated. Then a meditative hike in Terelj National Park and a night in a ger camp, sleeping in the kind of home we’d just learned about. Then back to a comfortable hotel in Ulaanbaatar. That balance of comfort and adventure is something SoFe does really well.
The Golden Eagle Festival was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. There were 145 competitors and I never got tired of watching. Some of the traditions can be hard to watch by American standards. But I found I could be at peace with it, ask questions, and learn. These are people living in some of the harshest climates on earth, practicing a way of life they weren’t allowed to practice for years. Now they’re bringing it back. It felt like watching history happen in front of me.
Not every room is perfect. That's the point.
I’m not picky about where I sleep. Mostly I care that the hotel is central so I can go explore on my own. SoFe hotels are usually nicer than anything I’d book for myself. They’ll also help you add nights before or after the trip, which I’ve done to see more.
But my favorite stay? Aswan. It’s a gorgeous city full of brightly painted houses, and our hotel sat on a little island you could only reach by a one-minute boat ride. More than once, that boat conked out halfway across. The AC topped out at “baking.” The Wi-Fi mostly didn’t. And I accidentally flooded our room because I couldn’t figure out the shower drain.
I loved it. It was beautiful, off the beaten path, and unlike anywhere else. Not every stay needs to be maximum comfort. Sometimes the quirky ones are what make the trip.
Travel that gives back
Every trip has an “aha” moment, where real understanding happens. In some places we’ve seen real poverty, and I’ve become more aware of the privilege of being able to travel at all. I think a good traveler steps outside her comfort zone and learns from the place, without expecting it to adapt to her.
On our India trip, we visited Sambhali Trust, which helps women build skills and continue their education so they can earn money and live independently. At their school, my traveling librarian friends and I swapped welcome songs with the kids. We also visited Sheroes, a cafe run by acid attack survivors, and heard their stories. It was deeply moving. SoFe never expects you to give anything, but after meeting these women, you’ll probably want to keep supporting them once you’re home.
Braver on my own
As women, we’re taught to be scared of the new. To be cautious, avoid risk, stick to safety in numbers or find a protector.
Safety matters to me, and I’ve always felt safe with SoFe. They’re upfront about what to watch for, where to go and not go, and how to dress. Knowing why Amanda started SoFe, and what she went through traveling solo, I trust that they’re building something to make travel safer for more women. And if you’d rather not go out alone at night, the group chat has you covered.
What surprised me is how much braver SoFe made me on my own. A guide, a group, and free time in small groups were my baby steps. Now I’m a more confident solo traveler, more open to conversations with strangers, and a lot more okay with making mistakes.
“Don’t waste your one life.”
Just book it
If you’ve always wanted to see a place but haven’t had anyone to go with, or didn’t know how to plan it, this is the way to start. You don’t have to do five trips like me. (I hope you do.) I especially love SoFe’s brand-new trips. Things don’t always go to plan, they’re asking for feedback constantly, and you get to help shape them.
Every time I get home, people can’t believe how much we packed in and how much time we spent with locals. That’s because Amanda and her team put so much care into their local partners and actually take feedback seriously.
I’m always sad when a trip ends. I miss the women, the guides, and the places. So how do I feel when it’s over? Mostly I just want to know when I can go on the next one.
