Amazing Female Trailblazers Who Redefined Travel
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Today, nobody bats an eye at a woman traveling alone. And it's all because some women weren't afraid to forge a new path. Despite societal barriers and dangerous conditions, they explored the world.
From the Arctic to outer space, these extraordinary female explorers scoffed at expectations and changed travel forever.
Jeanne Baret: First Woman to Circumnavigate the World
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Year born: 1740
Place of birth: France
Trailblazer in: Navigation
How Jeanne Baret Changed Travel
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Jeanne Baret didn't set out to seek adventure. Rather, the botanist wanted to study plants.
Since French law prohibited her from joining a naval expedition, she dressed up as a man and signed up to be an assistant to a naturalist in Louis Antoine de Bougainville's famous scientific expedition around the world.
She sailed for three years, visiting numerous countries and countless ports, collecting data on flora. Though it may not have been her principal purpose, her courageous actions made her the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.
Nellie Bly: Famed Explorer and Journalist
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Year born: 1864
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Exploration
How Nellie Bly Changed Travel
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You probably know Nellie Bly — real name Elizabeth Cochran Seaman — even if you don't recognize her name.
She's mostly famous for two things, one of which is traveling the world in 72 days as a direct challenge to Jules Verne's famed book. She completed most of the worldwide journey solo, taking with her a single dress and overcoat. The other is going undercover into a mental health institution to report on their appalling conditions.
Fearless Bly went on to become a war correspondent during World War I.
Annie Londonderry: First Woman to Travel the World by Bike
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Year born: 1870
Place of birth: Latvia
Trailblazer in: Land travel
How Annie Londonderry Changed Travel
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Even in the 21st century, traveling the world by bike is a daunting task for anyone of any gender.
This makes Annie Londonderry, née Annie Cohen Kopchovsky's feat even more impressive. And if you want your mind to be absolutely blown, consider that Londonberry's first time on a bike was mere days before she embarked on her journey.
Undeterred and ready to see the world, the Latvian-Jewish immigrant hopped on a bike, using trains and boats when necessary to head out from Massachusetts to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The final leg of her journey was from Los Angeles to Chicago. She was completely alone for most of her trip, so cite her story whenever anyone tries to deter you from solo travel.
Harriet Chalmers Adams: Founder of the Society of Woman Geographers
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Year born: 1875
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Land travel
How Harriet Chalmers Adams Changed Travel
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Like Nellie Bly, Harriet Chalmers Adams worked as a female war correspondent during World War I. During this time, no other woman reporter was allowed in the trenches, making her coverage invaluable.
But besides this difficult job, Adams traveled extensively, writing for the National Geographic Society mostly about Central and South America, though also in Asia and Europe. Despite her reputation, she was denied membership in the Explorers Club because of her gender.
As a response, in 1925 she founded the Society of Woman Geographers, the first recorded club of its kind. In doing this, she set an example for all the female travel groups we see today.
The Van Buren Sisters: First Women to Cross America on Motorcycle
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Year born: 1884 (Augusta),1889 (Adeline)
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Land travel
How the Van Buren Sisters Changed Travel
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Before Jack Kerouac and the Beatniks, there were the Van Buren sisters. And like that group of rebels in the 1950s and '60s, the Van Buren sisters kicked butt.
Augusta and Adeline began their motorcycle trip through America as a protest for not being allowed to join the dispatch military service during World War I. They wanted to prove that women were capable of doing the job as well as men, thus contributing their part to the war effort.
To do so, they set out from Brooklyn to L.A., then to Tijuana (they were "On the Road" before Kerouac), encountering dangers and adventures along the way. Sadly, their application to join the dispatch service was still rejected. They were arrested several times for wearing "men's" clothes and criticized rather than praised for their feat.
Of course, they had the last laugh in the history books.
Bessie Coleman: First Woman of Color to Be a Licensed Pilot
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Year born: 1892
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Aviation
How Bessie Coleman Changed Travel
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The daughter of a Cherokee father and a Black mother, Bessie Coleman faced a lot of racism and discrimination growing up in 19th century Texas.
This experience, plus the desire to prove people wrong, led her to France, where women of color were allowed to get pilot licenses, unlike in the U.S.
There, she became the first non-white woman to get a license and fly an airplane, becoming famous for her stunts and later doing tours of the U.S. She was no doubt inspired by Raymonde de Laroche, the first woman to have a pilot's license, who, not coincidentally, was French.
Amelia Earhart: First Woman to Complete a Transatlantic Flight
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Year born: 1897
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Aviation
How Amelia Earhart Changed Travel
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One of the most famous pilots of all time, Amelia Earhart captured the hearts of the world in the 1930s when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
During her piloting career, she broke barriers and stereotypes, proving that her gender was not a hinderance to her ability, as many people thought back then. Besides her most famous achievement, she broke several other records for altitude, speed and distance.
Tragically, she disappeared in 1937 during her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.
Aloha Wanderwell: First Woman to Do a Round-the-World Trip by Car
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Year born: 1906
Place of birth: Canada
Trailblazer in: Land travel
How Aloha Wanderwell Changed Travel
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Born Idris Galcia Hall, Aloha Wanderwell gained her unusual "stage" name when she joined the Wanderwell Expedition, a round-the-world tour whose purported idea was to promote peace.
Wanderwell ended up in the expedition by chance in 1922. At 16 years old, she happened to read a Paris Herald advertisement for a young woman to join the expedition. She managed to win the spot and set out with the group on a grand tour through Europe, Egypt, the Middle East, South and East Asia, and eventually North America. Most of the journey was completed on Model Ts.
She later learned to fly and pilot planes to several countries, including Brazil.
Martha Gellhorn: Female War Correspondent
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Year born: 1908
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Political travel
How Martha Gellhorn Changed Travel
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Martha Gellhorn wasn't just a war correspondent. She was the war correspondent of the 20th century, covering almost every major conflict of her time, from the Spanish Civil War to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama. She was one of the first journalists to arrive in Dachau after the death camp was liberated.
While her purpose was not necessarily exploration, the prolific writer's career took her everywhere from South America to China. Besides her war coverage, she was also a celebrated travel writer. One of her most defining moments was being the only woman to be present on the Normandy D-Day Landings in 1944, after posing as a nurse to get on the ship when she was denied press entry.
Oh, and she was married to Ernest Hemingway — whom she met in Key West — for a bit. But we'll let him be a footnote in her life for once.
Jane Goodall: Primatologist and Conservationist
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Year born: 1934
Place of birth: United Kingdom
Trailblazer in: Ecology
How Jane Goodall Changed Travel
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Like Martha Gellhorn, Jane Goodall wasn't necessarily interested in travel per se, but rather in the study of primates. This led her on an expedition to Tanzania that would change the scientific understanding of primates.
On her first expedition, she spent months alone in the forest, camping in the hopes of being able to observe the natural behaviors of chimpanzees, which in 1960 were not yet studied. Goodall was the first recorded person to realize that primates use tools and engage in highly intelligent behavior such as war and revenge, a groundbreaking realization that earned her fame and respect.
She continues traveling around the world advocating for conservation.
Valentina Tereshkova: First Woman in Space
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Year born: 1937
Place of birth: Russia
Trailblazer in: Space exploration
How Valentina Valentina Tereshkova Changed Travel
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All of the women on this list have broken barriers, but perhaps none as literally as Valentina Tereshkova, who in 1963 became the first woman, and one of the first people, to be in space. What's more, she continues to be the only woman to have ever been in space completely alone.
The then 26-year-old had already had an adventurous life, being experienced in sky diving. This is part of what earned her a place in the mission that would inspire female astronauts for decades to come.
Junko Tabei: First Woman to Summit Mount Everest
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Year born: 1939
Place of birth: Japan
Trailblazer in: Climbing
How Junko Tabei Changed Travel
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At 36 years old, Junko Tabei became the first woman to climb Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth from sea level.
To do so, she had to fight teeth and nail for sponsorship, given that few people in traditional Japan wanted to support her arduous adventure. She was so short on funds that much of her equipment was inadequate, including her pants, which she had fashioned out of old curtains.
Despite the setbacks, she made it to the summit. Not content with one of the greatest achievements any human being can have, she went on to become the first woman to climb the coveted Seven Summits.
Ann Bancroft: Arctic Explorer
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Year born: 1955
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: Arctic exploration
How Ann Bancroft Changed Travel
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Another explorer who braved extreme colds was Ann Bancroft, the first woman to reach both the North and South Poles, the first woman to reach the North Pole on foot and dogsled, and the first woman to ski across Greenland.
Wait, she's not done yet. Because Bancroft is a true force of nature, she also led the first completely female expedition of Antarctica in 1993. Seven years later, she and Liv Arnesen became the first women to ski across Antarctica.
Polar exploration is an amazing feat for anyone, but her accumulation of firsts in the most difficult terrains in the world makes you wish "Tomb Raider" forgot about Lara Croft and focused on Bancroft instead.
Cholita Climbers: First Indigenous Women to Climb to Aconcagua
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Year born: 1966-1992
Place of birth: Bolivia
Trailblazer in: Climbing
How the Cholita Climbers Changed Travel
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The Cholita Climbers, or the Cholitas Escaladoras, made waves in Bolivia in 2015 by climbing the Huayna Potosi. Though women climbers are pretty much the norm in many places, they were the first Aymara women to do so openly and publicly in the country. And they did so in their traditional clothes.
When the group first formed, many people opposed them, believing they should be in the kitchen and that they would bring bad luck to the community. Instead, they summited several mountains, most impressively Argentina's Aconcagua, whose peak stands at 22,837 feet.
The mastermind behind the project and the leader of the group is Lidia Huayllas Estrada, who was over 50 when she did her first climb. The 2019 documentary "Cholitas" documents their expedition.
Jessica Nabongo: First Black Woman to Travel to Every Country
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Year born: 1984
Place of birth: United States
Trailblazer in: POC travel
How Jessica Nabongo Changed Travel
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Ugandan-American travel blogger Jessica Nabongo became the first recorded Black woman to visit every country in the world. By doing so, she helped open an industry that is often seen as inaccessible to non-white women.
Her 2019 feat propelled her to fame, and she continues to travel. She also launched a travel agency called Jet Black as well as a lifestyle brand, the Catch.
She is a motivational speaker and a successful travel influencer who continues to inspire women of all races.