Travel now not tomorrow

  People often are shocked that I travel alone. “What do you do at meals?” they ask. I eat and watch people. It is not difficult. Women have been travelling alone for centuries. Ida Pfeiffer is one of my favourite Victorian era travellers. She was a widow whose children had grown and, in 1852, she set out for the Holy Land. She was robbed and cheated but came home exhilarated. She tells of crossing the Nile to visit the Pyramids. Two large powerful men stood side by side; I mounted on their shoulders, and was held fast by their heads, while they supported my feet in an horizontal position above the waters, which at some places reached almost to their armpits, so that I feared every moment that I should sit in the water. On her return to Germany, Ida couldn’t settle back into her old life. She sold her belongings and set off around the world, financing her trips by writing of her adventures. Another woman traveller I admire is Isabella Bird. She shed the role of family spinst...

Inspiration to travel   If you ever need inspiration to travel, I recommend the Victorian women travellers, those who went without a mobile phone, guide book or even a map. These women set off because they wanted to see what was over a border or across a sea. They had an urge to experience new lands and make friends outside their own home. Here are a few of my favourite: Helen Caddick, 1842-1926 Helen Caddick was a single woman of means, a respected pillar of Birmingham society. She travelled because she loved the adventure. While visiting friends in southern Africa, she decided to take a trip to the interior. Everyone around her tried to persuade her not to go, saying it was dangerous. But she took a steamboat to what is now Malawi, and from there she hired 16 men to carry her and her luggage. She knew she would need a translator and took on a young boy from a local mission station whose English was entirely Biblical. He would respond to her summons with, “Behold, I am come.” ...