Happy International Women’s Day!
In celebration for International Women’s Day 2021, we introduce to you a very inspiring woman, Ida Pfeiffer, who is the first female solo travel writer.
In early 19C Europe, a woman traveling solo was nearly impossible. Traveling itself was a privileged opportunity. Even if you had a chance to do so, you had to be accompanied by your husband. But Ida was brave enough to pursue her lifelong dream alone.
“When I was a little child, I had already a strong desire to see the world. Whenever I met a traveling-carriage, I would stop involuntarily, and gaze after it until it had disappeared.”
Ida Pfeiffer
When her son stood on his own feet, she finally took courage. She went on her first adventure in 1842, when she was 45 years old. For nine months she sailed in the Black Sea, passed through Istanbul and Jerusalem, rode on a horse to cross the Egyptian desert, went back to Italy and returned to her home in Vienna.
After returning home, she again challenged herself and decided to publish the story of her adventure. Her book, Journey of a Viennese Lady to the Holy Land, was an instant success. She could even gain sponsors who wished to fund for the next trip.
She wasn’t satisfied there. A year after publishing her first book, she went on a next trip to Northern Europe. And another year later, she started her journey around the world. It took 2 years for her to tour South America and Asia. Her footsteps went though Brazil, Chile, Tahiti then led to India and China. Her second trip around the world covering Northern America and Africa again began a few years later. After each trip, she always published a travel journal.
She traveled about 32,000 kilometers by land and 240,000 kilometers by sea through all continents except Oceania. John van Wyhe, a historian who wrote a biography of Ida Pfeiffer in 2019, commented on her as follows:
“She’s not wealthy, she’s not beautiful, she’s not educated — and yet she does all of these amazing things.”
John van Wyhe
Her adventurous life is still inspiring lots of women after many years. Now she lies in the Vienna Central Cemetery, as the first woman to be enshrined in the rows of honored dead.
An empowered woman like Ida Pfeiffer empowers other women. Share her story to your social media and make the most of your 8th of March!
NomadHer is holding an event celebrating International Women’s Day 2021! Let’s talk about “Why every woman should travel solo once in her life.”
We will organize 3 workshops in 3 different languages (English, French and Korean) covering these 3 themes.
- #FEAR that’s stopping women from taking that first step to solo travel
- #ADVICE that we could give them
- #LESSON we learned from our solo travels
For those of you who wish to participate, the floor is yours ladies! This is a quick how-to to participate as a panelist,
- Choose a topic among these hashtags: #fear, #advice, #lesson
- Write your story on NomadHer app
- We will contact you and invite you as a panelist
See more: https://bit.ly/30doiMA
