10 extraordinary women

– and the unusual paths they've chosen to take

Welcome to NE Where, a weekly travel-focussed journal for curious people. This piece is free for everyone today, but it will be archived in the coming week. For less than $1 a week paying subscribers also have unlimited access to NE Where’s growing archive, which is packed with inspiration and ideas for an unforgettable trip to Bali, stories about exceptional women, and other tales about interesting people and places. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

10 extraordinary women

Dear NE-One

I’m not usually one for jumping on bandwagons, but as it’s International Women’s Day (today, fyi) this is a brilliant opportunity to share with you some of the stories I’ve collected about ordinary women who’re living (or have lived) extraordinary lives. Women who have quietly forged their own paths; who’re inspiring others to be bold, and brave; women who’ve crossed continents solo; who make life fit around what makes them happy; and who’ve chosen to live the most isolated of lives.

These stories below are all from the NE Where archive, which is always accessible to paying subscribers – but I’ve lifted the paywall for this weekend, and I hope you’re able to find some time in the coming days to put your feet up and take a read of (or a listen to) these women’s stories…

1. Dervla Murphy

The greatest female travel writer of all time

That Ireland-to-India journey was a dream she’d had since age 10 when Dervla, the daughter of a librarian, was given a bicycle and an atlas for her birthday. She subsequently spent her entire adult life as a (usually) solo adventurer, writing 26 books (entirely by hand) that “with their unadorned, direct style of narration were astonishing testimonies of travels to places most people will never go.”

Read more here

2. Emma Vånemo

On walking and cycling solo across continents

When you reach that breaking point you have two options: either give up or you just go through it. And once you do, you get so many perspectives and insights in life, and this makes you develop as a person.

Read more here

3. Agafia Lykova

The octogenarian who lives alone in the Siberian wilderness

Agafia has lived her entire life completely cut off from the world – she was 35 when she first saw a human other than her parents and siblings – and she doesn’t take well to visitors.

Read more here

4. Shale Biggs

Adventure racer and mother of three daughters

I want to teach my daughters that if they put their mind to something they can do it – because it’s so easy these days to just give up on something. It can be easy to say I’m so tired, or my legs are so sore and I’ve got blisters all over my feet and then you just give up – but in an adventure race you wouldn’t only be letting yourself down, you’d be letting the team down too. I want to teach my girls to persevere; if you commit to something, you must see it through.

Read more here

5. Ap Whang-Od

The 106-year-old woman who speaks the language of skin

There is a tender wisdom in this woman’s eyes, and I long to sit with her and listen to the stories she has gathered through her long lifetime – for she must have many. Apo Whang-Od is a mambabatok, a traditional tattooist, and she began her work of hand-tapping soot into peoples’ skin 90 years ago. It was her father who taught her, giving Whang-Od the power to transform girls into women and boys into men; to increase women’s fertility and beauty, and to protect the bravest of warriors when they went into battle.

Read more here

6. Jana Wahl

Rolling with the rhythm of bike-packer life

Our philosophy has always been to work first, and then travel. Our trips tend to be quite adventurous – and there’s just no space for work when adventure levels are high. So we work for a year or two, then we leave our jobs, move out of our apartment, and head off. But every time we get back from a trip I’m like – I’m done. I’m always certain that that was my last adventure, and that I’m ready to settle into a job and just stay put. But then as soon as life settles, I start to get ants in my pants and I dream of heading off again.

Read more here

7. Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni

Thailand’s rebel monk

It was while applying make-up for the TV show one day in 1999 that Chatsumarn made the decision: “I leaned in to examine my reflection, and that person asked me, in English, ‘How long do I have to do this?’,” she told author Cindy Rasicot in this interview – and it was in that moment that the direction of her life changed.

Or – did it? Perhaps, some might say, it was simply the natural path of someone who was born to a line of pioneering women.

Read more here

8. Meryem Belkihel

Cycling solo from Morocco to Kilimanjaro

I was a little worried that I might not have enough money, but I’d been saving for this trip for three or four years, and so otherwise I wasn’t concerned. I didn’t plan my route; I just knew that I wanted to get to South Africa, and then to Tanzania. The details of where I’m going each day? Those unfold as I travel.

Read more here

9. Mary Anning

The woman who chipped at rocks to uncover the mysteries of our planet

History books say the working-class Anning family was extremely poor, and so when Mary was 10 or 11 and their father died, Joseph was sent out to work as an apprentice upholsterer and Mary turned to fossil-hunting and selling full-time. Yes, the girl sold seashells on the seashore.

Read more here

10. Caro from Germany

On motorbiking solo across Europe

My travels have taught me that if you search for something, you can find it; and also that I’m happy being on my own. It gives me the space to overcome… I wouldn’t say “trauma”, but to overcome past things that got stuck in my body and mind and that keep me from developing. I can overcome them. I can grow.

Read more here

I’m always on the lookout for women to interview for OWEL, a series that celebrates the unusual paths that women take – whether it’s a short diversion in their life’s journey, or a new route entirely. Please do let me know if anyone comes to mind.

Until next time