Solo female travel hasn’t always been the norm – the history books are heavily weighted in favour of telling the stories of the male explorers who charted the world. Yet a considerable number of intrepid women have played a vital role in circumnavigating land, sea and beyond – past and present.
They’ve blazed both literal and figurative trails, making it possible for women to experience the travel freedoms we have today. In honour of International Women's Day, we highlight the stories of 10 of the bravest women travellers, who knew no boundaries.
How far would you go to travel? Jeanne Baret is recognised as the first woman to circumnavigate the globe – disguised as a man.
Baret joined the three-year world expedition of Admiral Louis-Antoine de Bougainville and the French Navy. Binding her chest with linen bandages, she transformed herself into “Jean Baret”, a valet and assistant to the expedition’s naturalist and sailed with 300 men.
Accounts differ as to when her real identity was discovered, however, by the time she returned to France, Jeanne had seen the world, defied conventions and earned a place in history.
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Never think you’re “too old” to begin travelling. When English doctors from the Victorian era prescribed travel as a cure to many of Isabella Bird’s ailments, the 41 year old set off on her own journey – and didn’t stop until after a trip to Morocco at age 72.
Her adventures took her to America, India, Kurdistan, the Persian Gulf, Iran, Tibet, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and China. An explorer, writer, photographer and naturalist, she was the first woman to be elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Travel solo through India like Isabella with Sure Travel. Click here for more details.
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Respectable women didn’t walk the streets of London unaccompanied in the 1800s, let alone travel the globe. Yet Mary Kingsley defied the odds, exploring uncharted parts of west Africa alone after the death of family members she’d been tasked with caring for.
She left on her first trip to Africa at age 30, where she canoed up the Ogooué river and pioneered a route to the summit of Mount Cameroon (which had never been attempted by a European). She also journeyed to remote parts of Gabon and made extensive collections of freshwater fish for the British Museum.
Kingsley wasn’t afraid to share the conclusions she learned from travelling; she wrote a controversial book called Travels in West Africa, expressing her opposition to European imperialism, and was an advocate for the rights of indigenous people.
Discover the wild spaces of our great continent (9 nights in Morocco), while channelling the courageous spirit of Mary Kingsley.
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Born Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, New York journalist “Nellie Bly” had a difficult time believing anything was true until she could try it herself – and she’d go to almost any lengths for a story. Reports say she feigned insanity for one investigation, being admitted to a notorious hospital in order to expose its torturous conditions.
But her most famous endeavour was her attempt to best the famous (and fictional) journey detailed in Jules Verne’s book Around the World in 80 Days. She began on a steamer ship to Europe (where she met Verne), and then continued eastward.
Bly arrived back in New York, having circumnavigated the globe in just 72 days!
Explore Nellie Bly’s hometown, the Big Apple, with Sure Travel.
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Bessie Coleman defied racial and gender discrimination to become the first black woman pilot in history.
Coleman was one of 13 children. At age 23, she moved to Chicago, where she lived with her brothers and worked as a manicurist. Her interest in aviation was sparked after listening to and reading stories of World War I pilots.
When she was banned from flying schools in America (her country of origin), she taught herself French and travelled to France to earn her pilot’s licence – in 1921, two years before the more famous fellow female American pilot, Amelia Earhart.
Coleman specialised in stunt flying and parachuting and flew all over the US, performing aerial tricks and lecturing, to raise funds for an African-American flying school. Tragically, she died during an air show rehearsal at the age of 34.
Bessie had a special fondness for France – travel there with Sure.
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British explorer and writer, Freya Stark, went where few Europeans – particularly women – had been before: remote areas of Turkey and the Middle East.
A prolific author, she wrote at least 24 travel books about local history, culture and anecdotes of everyday life. While living in Baghdad, she mapped uncharted areas of the Islamic world, creating some of the first accurate maps of the region.
Consider her the first overland “backpacker” of sorts – she typically travelled on foot, or on donkeys and camels, or by car – camping all along the way. Despite her age and illnesses, she never stopped travelling and lived to celebrate her centenary.
Book your next trip to Turkey with Sure Travel to walk in the footsteps of Freya Stark.
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Born in Latvia as Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, “Annie Londonderry” was history’s first woman to circumnavigate the world – on a bicycle. A mother of three, she kicked off her trip from Boston in 1894 and was away from her family for three years.
The New York World described her trip as “the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman”.
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Born into a wealthy and liberal family, Gertrude Bell lived a life of adventure, defying the cultural expectations of a woman in Victorian England. Studying at Oxford (at a time many women could not), she became an accomplished archaeologist, world traveller and skilled mountaineer. One of her crowning achievements was the role she played in establishing the modern state of Iraq during the 1920s (her life story has been made into Hollywood movie called Queen of the Desert starring Nicole Kidman).
She was was the first woman to attain a first-class degree (in just two years) in modern history, and the first to make major contributions in the fields of archaeology, architecture and linguistics. Bell was eventually commissioned by the British government for her many talents and fearless travel style, achieving a senior rank in the military intelligence and diplomatic service.
The in-depth knowledge and contacts she gained during her demanding travels through (what was then) Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and Arabia, was a key asset and shaped British imperial policy.
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How’s this for a CV entry? Cassie DePecol is the first woman – and fastest person – to visit every country on the globe. For a good cause, nonetheless.
Funded by sponsors as a representative of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism, Cassie travelled to 196 countries between 2015 and 2017, giving talks to students and officials about the power of sustainable tourism to better the world. She spent an average of two to five days in each country, and about a year and a half planning the whole trip, called Expedition 196.
“I like to think that I can set the standard for young women worldwide to pursue a quest or dream that everyone tells them they shouldn’t do. It’s my job to leave a legacy behind that positively influences future generations of innovators, entrepreneurs and trend setters, especially when it comes to women.”
We like her style! Cassie says she’d love to spend more time back in Switzerland. We think you might too; ask your nearest Sure Travel agents for a quote.
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Imagine wanting to travel so badly you had to go to court and fight for your right to do so. Such was the case with Laura Dekker, a 14-year-old from the Netherlands who was determined to become the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world.
Born in New Zealand, Dekker spent the first five years of her life at sea, and sailed often with her father after the family's return to the Netherlands. She got her first boat for her sixth birthday and promptly learned to sail solo, initially accompanied by her father on a windsurfer.
In August 2009, Dekker announced her plan for a two-year solo sailing voyage around the globe in a Dutch national newspaper. The planned route started from Portugal and went west, to the Caribbean; through Panama and past Indonesia. She then planned either to go past Somalia to the Mediterranean, or around Africa to avoid piracy.
Her father supported her plans, however local authorities took them to court to block the voyage. Eventually a family court ruled in Dekker’s favour and set sail in 2010.
There were supposed to be 14 support stops around the globe. She could only afford five. There was never meant to be more than three weeks between stops. Dekker did a pair of six-seven week stints, alone on open water. The entire endeavour took her 16 months.
At last report, she was living on her boat in Whangarei's Quayside Town Basin in New Zealand, married and living her sailing dream.
Itching to sail the seas like Laura? Set sail with Sure Travel.
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