And while the trip isn’t limited to people who identify as plus size, it’s aimed at those who specifically want to feel safe in their bodies. Weeks before the trip, Ms. Shapiro, who lives in Rome, sends the participants a survey asking, among other things, what they are nervous about. This is so she can address those concerns ahead of time.
On her journey – which is open to “self-identifying women and non-binary people who are comfortable in feminine spaces” – Ms Shapiro added: “I would never take people’s money and say I am the de facto voice in travel including travel.” Her intention, she said, is simply to “provide a more versatile experience with all the thoughts and intentions our travelers deserve.”
Necessity is the mother of invention, and for the influencer Annette Richmond, who founded Fat Girls Traveling, it is a necessity not to let the convention of size hold her back from doing whatever she wants to do when it comes to experience and adventure.
She told of a trip to Indonesia where she was excited to experience the Tegalalang Rice Terrace Swing, an endorphin-packing attraction that launches participants across beautiful rice paddies. Mrs. Richmond recalls trudging through the mud: “I’m scraped, I go to the swing, ready for my debut, and I put the harness on my waist and it doesn’t click. I thought, ‘Dude, why can’t they just buy a bigger suit of armor?’” The result? The swing operators apologized and suggested a competitor, Real Bali Swing, who offered larger harnesses.
Now Ms. Richmond organizes trips and retreats for other people who are tired of being left out: “My fat camps, which are like my retreats, are for fat women and non-binary people,” she said. If she opened her retreats to everyone, she said, “she was in danger of losing the magic.” From August 25 to 28, she’s hosting Fat Camp UK in Brighton, England ($2,000), which will host fat-positive discussions alongside summer camp-style games and pub crawls. Ms. Richmond also has an inclusive format trip to Cuba from Dec. 7 to Dec. 11 ($2,750) — without the planned retreat awareness, just pure fun — and hopes to make her home base in Mexico, in addition to planning group travel, since 2020 (Her Travels are, unlike her retreats, open to all genders.)
