Sole Circles are how our global community comes together for in-person Rambles.
We host Sole Circles in many countries and cities and you can join as many as you like to connect with like-minded Ramblers in your hometown and while traveling.
Sole Sister Ramblers' mission is to connect and empower women in midlife and beyond, one Ramble at a time.
Everywhere is in Rambling distance when you have Sole Sisters!
FAQs
Our Sole Circles welcome women of all abilities and fitness levels.
Most of our Rambles are walks or hikes, but any member of our Sole Circles can lead a Ramble for any activity they love.
We once had a Ramble for advanced scuba divers and another for those recovering from an injury or confined to a wheelchair.
When a Sole Sister decides to lead a Ramble, she creates a Ramble Announcement and posts it in her Sole Circle WhatsApp Group.
The announcements describe the skills, fitness level, and equipment needed for that Ramble. Ramblers can then determine if they have the necessary fitness level or participation ability.
Sole Circles can have multiple Rambles posted simultaneously with varied accessibility levels and types of activities.
Our Sole Circles have enjoyed seasonal celebrations, book exchanges, a puzzle competition, yoga classes, a climbing wall visit, sampling local restaurants, a bocce ball picnic, a salsa tasting, an olive oil tasting, several pool parties, many concerts (with dancing), local happy hours, cold water swims, a puzzling competition, Canasta games, pickleball games, wreath making, stuffing pumpkins with succulents craft workshop, winery visits, a pottery workshop, several art gallery visits, farm visits, and a learning navigation and using paper maps workshop.
Our Sole Circles, joy-filled Facebook Group, our Rambler Cafe blog, and email newsletter are free for everyone.
Ramblers can choose to support us by buying a paid membership.
Paid memberships fuel everything we do—that’s why we say we’re Rambler Powered.
We offer a range of paid memberships, including a monthly $5 or $60 annual subscription, and a range of amounts for one-time memberships.
This allows our Ramblers to select a level of support that best fits their budget while enjoying the benefits of our community.
Sole Circle members lead the Rambles and any member can lead a Ramble.
Leaders post Ramble Announcements with the necessary details required for others to decide if they want to join.
Multiple Rambles can be posted simultaneously, and the most active Sole Circles have 3-5 Rambles posted at one time.
Click this link to learn how to post a Ramble Announcement > Ramble Announcement Guidelines.
Sole Circles are open to all who identify as a woman in midlife and beyond. Most of our Ramblers are between the ages 45-75.
Most of our Rambles are walks or hikes, but we are always surprised by the other activities our Sole Sisters post as Rambles.
Rambles this year have included multiple seasonal celebrations, book exchanges, a puzzle competition, yoga classes, a climbing wall visit, sampling local restaurants, a bocce ball picnic, a salsa tasting, an olive oil tasting, several pool parties, many concerts (with dancing), local happy hours, cold water swims, a puzzling competition, canasta games, pickleball games, wreath making, stuffing pumpkins with succulents craft workshop, winery visits, a pottery workshop, several art gallery visits, farm visits, and a learning navigation and using paper maps workshop.
If you can dream it, you can Ramble it!
We host our Sole Circles in WhatsApp Groups. You must download and use WhatsApp to join a Sole Circle and participate in Rambles.
We admit new Ramblers to our WhatsApp groups daily, so hang tight after you click the join link, and we will admit you soon.
Please note that you cannot see the messages posted in the WhatsApp groups before you arrived, but a moderator will repost upcoming Rambles soon!
When a Sole Sister decides to lead a Ramble, they write and then post a Ramble Announcement in their local Sole Circle Rambling Group on WhatsApp.
Leaders can use our Ramble Announcement Guidelines to ensure they provide all the information their Sole Sisters need to decide whether to sign up and join the Ramble.
You have the option to restrict the number of people who can sign up for your Ramble, for safety or any other reason.
If you choose to limit the number of participants, you should indicate this on the Ramble Announcement. You may also include a wait list in case Ramblers cancel and you can accommodate more people.
You sign up for a Ramble in your Rambling Sole Circle (colored logo).
Any Rambler can post a Ramble Announcement, and then others sign up by copying the announcement, pasting it in the WhatsApp message box, adding their name to the list of attendees, and sending it.
Your Circle moderators are there to help!
Sole Circle moderators visit each Sole Circle WhatsApp Group several times daily to delete redundant Ramble Announcements.
We delete these announcements because Ramblers sign up for Rambles by copying the announcement, pasting it back in the message thread, adding their name to the attendance list and sending it again.
Consequently, the same Ramble is often posted multiple times. In busy Circles, there might be up to 5 Rambles posted at one time, and each one might be copied over a dozen times.
If we didn’t delete the redundant ones, it would be confusing to find the latest Ramble Announcements.
If you've signed up for a Ramble but need to cancel, use the sign up system in reverse to remove your name from the Ramble Announcement.
Copy the announcement, paste it in the message box, remove your name and send.
If it is last minute cancellation, please private message the Ramble leader!
Ramblers can join as many Sole Circles as they wish. We aim to establish Sole Circles worldwide, so Sole Sisters can connect with like-minded Ramblers both at home and during their travels.
Yes, at this time you must have a WhatsApp account to participate in Sole Circles.
It gets busy in our Sole Circles, so we suggest that after you join, you take a moment to adjust your WhatsApp notifications to your preference.
You can adjust your settings to mute notifications on only one group.
You can still see the posts in the group after you mute notifications and can unmute at any time.
Our moderators and Ramblers are located in different time zones, so you might get alerts at unexpected times.
Also, there will be a lot of extra notifications when we are building a Sole Circle, as Ramblers get to know each other, ask questions, and learn how we manage our Circles.
Here is a helpful link to help you adjust your notifications!
Unfortunately, we cannot cut and repost the new WhatsApp events.
This means that each time a new Rambler joins, they cannot see previous events. The event's creator, the original Rambler who posted it, must be the one to recreate the event and post the event again.
So to manage this, admins would need to create all the events instead of the Sole Circle members. We rely on our Ramblers to post announcements, as we currently do not have enough bandwidth to draft and post all the announcements ourselves.
Additionally, you cannot copy and repost an event which means you need to recreate it from scratch every time. This would result in losing all the names and responses from Ramblers who signed up previously.
Unfortunately, we do not believe that the new Events feature in WhatsApp will meet our needs at this time. However, if you find any workarounds, please let us know. Thank you!
This community started in a Facebook Group and we initially tested using a Facebook Group and Events to organize Rambles.
However, we encountered insurmountable difficulties.
The Facebook algorithm, only displays group posts to some (not all) members, causing some Ramblers to miss out on important Ramble Announcements.
Additionally, the administration of Facebook Groups is demanding.
Creating an event for every Ramble was too time-consuming and could not be done by non-admins. Also, Facebook Events can be difficult for users to locate within the Facebook app.
More significantly, many women interested in joining our Sole Circles prefer not to use Facebook.
These factors led us to explore other options for organizing our local in-person Rambles.
We tested Meetup and a few other platforms, but each had insurmountable drawbacks or expenses.
Looking to the future, we envision a global network of many many Sole Circles, where all our Sole Sisters can join, whether they're at home or traveling.
We chose WhatsApp to get started on this mission (despite its imperfections) because it is the most widely used messaging app globally and is free, ensuring inclusivity for all our members.
We understand WhatsApp has many challenges (ugh, notifications)!
We know it isn’t ideal to repeat messages when new Ramblers arrive, but because newly arriving members cannot see posts from before they joined, it is necessary.
Also, having to resend a Ramble Announcement to sign up for Rambles also causes redundant notifications.
However, we are committed to it for now while we are researching other options (like building our own app).
In the meantime, we're using available technology to improve the experience in our Sole Circles.
Your feedback (good and bad) helps us do this, so please keep it coming!
Sole Sister Ramblers is a global community that connects and empowers women in midlife and beyond.
Our aim is to foster a sense of community among women aged 45+.
Women-only spaces provide a special opportunity for women to build friendships and find the specific support and sisterhood that comes with them.
For these reasons, we do not allow men, children, or young adults to participate in the rambles organized in our Sole Circles.
However, we truly hope that the friendships formed in our Sole Circles will extend to all the other people in our Ramblers' lives!
Rules
Our Sole Circles are open to all born as or identify as women.
Our focus is women in midlife and beyond, and the women in this group are generally 45+. Our conversation topics and activities are focused on commonalities women in this age group share.
Please approach divisive, sensitive, or controversial topics with extra respect, care, and kindness.
This is a welcoming and inclusive community. Please treat everyone with respect and kindness without judgment.
We encourage you to seek and embrace the magic that emerges from cultivating, renewing, and deepening female friendships in midlife and beyond.
We support and motivate each other's efforts to move our bodies more often while exploring the world with creativity and passion.
We share generously. We have lifetimes of experience, and we hope you'll share yours on your rambles. Ask for support or advice when you need it.
Safety Disclaimer
Please read and adhere to this disclaimer before you embark on a ramble.
I understand that every Rambler is responsible for her own personal safety while participating in a ramble, including remaining with the group or alerting someone if leaving the ramble early or falling behind.
It is a good idea (especially for large rambles) to designate a sweep to remain at the back of the pack or to adhere to a buddy system.
I acknowledge that if I have a health issue, it is my responsibility to take appropriate steps to safeguard myself.
I understand that there are inherent risks and that I participate at my own risk, accept these risks, and am responsible for my actions.
I understand that if I want insurance, I must insure myself.
I am responsible for getting the proper instruction and equipment for any activity I participate in.
I assume responsibility for injuries to myself or third parties.
I understand that the Sole Sister Ramblers does not recognize any liability for injury or damage caused to a third party during a ramble.
I understand that if any participant, including myself, helps others, for example, by advising a route or reading a map, that does not incur or imply any responsibility on that participant.
No Sole Circle in your hometown?
We want to build them around the world!!
Questions?
If you are reaching out about building a Sole Circle in your hometown, let us know your city and country!