The inspiration to travel can come from even the simplest of places or people.
Photo: alicepopkorn
Recently, Julia Ross over at the fabulous World Hum followed up a previous piece on great woman travelers in Asia with her top 10 inspirational woman travelers.
Her list included some well-known names, such as Melinda Gates, who has done amazing work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation around global health and poverty.
The list also included the beloved Julia Child, whom Ross notes “satisfied a thirst for adventure by signing on as one of the first female spies in the OSS (forerunner to the CIA), which posted her to Sri Lanka and China during World War II,” previous to her work as an internationally known chef.
Also listed were a few lesser known women-with-will: Martha Gellhorn, a US war correspondent who saw the Spanish Civil War, the US invasion of Panama, Normandy, and the Vietnam war (now that’s impressive).
But my favorite of the 10 has to be Jo Rawlins Gilbert. This 79-year-old woman was part of the first group of tourists to visit post-war Iraq, recently camped in Mali, and dug among ruins in Jordan. Since she’s already been to Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen, Kashmir and North Korea are next on her list.
I thought about my own travel history, and what, or who, inspired me to go down the travel wormhole-of-no-return.
Ross’ article made me think about my own travel history, and what, or who, inspired me to go down the travel wormhole-of-no-return.
Inspiration Strikes
I finally realized that although my mother, who barely made her way to the US in 1972 as she spoke no English and missed her connecting flight at Heathrow, inspired me to tackle seemingly scary situations, it was actually one of my college roommates who got me to sign up for a semester abroad junior year.
This was a roommate who had not previously left the confines of North Carolina, except maybe to go to Myrtle Beach. She had grown up in a suburb of Charlotte, stayed close to her family, and planned to work with the family business once she graduated.
She didn’t even like going to parties unless she was going to know at least half the people there, and her idea of exotic food was cajun-flavored hush puppies.
I’m not sure what prompted her to even look at studying in Florence for four months – I’m absolutely positive the idea scared the bejesus out of her.
Photo: Gret@Lorenz
But somehow, she overcame whatever fear was brewing deep inside and booked that flight, enrolled in those classes, and tipped that glass of Chianti down her throat in celebration.
I had flown to Germany several times as a child, spent time in Juarez, Mexico with friends that I went to school with in El Paso, TX, and covered almost all 50 states during my family’s summer trips by air-conditionless car.
I was still completely frightened to set up shop for a few months in a country where despite two semesters of Italian, I barely knew a word of the language. But since that roommate took the plunge, and came back a happier, more evolved person, I decided I could do it too.
So for me, the most inspirational woman traveler is my sophomore year roommate, who knew when it was time to push her own boundaries in order to experience a bit more of life.
Do you have someone who inspired you to travel? Share your story below.
Community Connection
Check out the response to Ross’ earlier piece, What Makes A Great Woman Traveler?, and how our travels can inspire humanity in Divine Inspiration: How Travel Teaches Us To Appreciate Humanity.
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19 Comments... join the discussion!
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What inspired me to Travel was growing up in the backwoods of Washington and thumbing past pictures of crumbling ruins in National Geographic. That and a crippling grief that could only be allayed by a good old fashioned walk about.
Now, Travel inspires, it is not inspired. It moves me to stay put and to get going. It has framed a context of my meager understanding of this beautiful, crazy world.
Great article Christine
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A childhood friend was living in New Zealand and was home on holiday the summer after I finished university. She and another Kiwi were taking a gap year and invited me to come. I put aside my graduate school plans for the time being and said yes on the spot. These two women were clearly an inspiration. Over thirty years later we still keep in touch and now have ten children between us!
But I am the one still traveling and that inspiration to continue comes from my dear mother-in-law who inspired me to keep on traveling and to do it as a solo traveler. I miss her as a travel companion now, but I deeply appreciate what a great role model she was and how she encouraged her son (who is not as adventurous as his mother or wife) to think that for women to travel on their own is a normal thing.
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My parents inspired me to travel. Before I was born, they traveled all over and to some uncommon areas, like Bulgaria in the 70’s while it was still under communistic rule and had to bribe a border guard to let them in. They also taught abroad in Iran right before the Revolution, and that is where I was born. Their love of travel rubbed off on me at an early age and was very encouraged by my parents. With them, I’ve traveled the US (Alaska included), Argentina and parts of Europe and have traveled to further places (Asia and Central America) with their blessing/prompting. I feel that because of them and their love of travel, I have a better understanding of the world and appreciation of different cultures, religions and traditions. I think I am wasting my money if I don’t use it to travel.
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Wow, Christine, great idea for an article…I have too may possibilities racing through my head. I think I might say my ex-boyfriend, though, who decided to study abroad in France during our junior year. I hadn’t even considered going abroad at all, and initially wasn’t too interested in the idea, but he pushed and he was adamant that it’d be good, and we ended up going. We ended up taking a bike trip through the Camargues in southern France, hiking across Corsica, taking a two week road trip through Italy, and discovering all the madness and addictive thrill of travel. I haven’t stopped since.
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Everyone I meet on the road inspires me. At home it’s easy to believe that I’m well-traveled, but out in the world each person I meet has been to places I haven’t. They give me ideas for that next trip and help keep the fire lit under my feet.
I’m so glad you picked up this thread, Christine. Really enjoyed it.
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I was inspired to travel by myriad people from other countries and cultures that I’ve met over the past few years and by a handful of lifestyle writers that penned books and blogs that really struck a spark with me.
The Four Hour Workweek served as the final catalyst, however, and when I was in the middle of reading it I started to seriously consider long-term travel and what it could mean for me and my business. Before that, travel had been a lifelong dream that I continued to push back further and further.
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Oddly enough, what inspired me to travel was watching numerous seasons of The Amazing Race. It really opened my eyes to what was out there in the world, and it reassured me that air travel isn’t so scary after all.
Another inspiration is Robert Alejandro ( http://www.raadesign.com/ ), who’s a local personality (I hesitate to say “celebrity”) who went on a backpacking trip around Southeast Asia for three months, then wrote a book with his sketches on it. He gave a talk about how it was possible to travel outside the country for cheap, if one is willing to forgo the usual comforts. That really spurred me to start planning my own trip.
It’s crazy because travel – particularly travel outside the country – has never been in the mainstream here in the Philippines. So after going on my three-week trip around Southeast Asia (giving me a pace halfway between The Amazing Race and Robert Alejandro’s backpacking trip), many of my friends started calling me a rich jetsetter, which couldn’t be further from the truth. =P
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Loved this article and idea, and am really enjoying reading the comments.
Though they didn’t originally inspire me to travel, the kids I lead on educational tours in New York, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. remind me how inspiring it is to take that first big trip. I’ve had dozens of kids who have never been on a plane, who’ve never seen the ocean, who’ve saved up for three years to take the trip and just want to experience every single second. Their wonder, their anxieties, and their excitement all remind me why I travel and why it’s important that I continue to help other people to find ways to travel, too.
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Loved your article Christine!
My father is the one who inspired me to travel. He loves to tell the story about when enlisted in the army to fight in the Vietnam War back in the 60’s. I was always shocked to hear that he volunteered. But, you see, dad grew up in a small, rural town in south Georgia. He didn’t know much about the politics of the war; he only knew that he was desperate to get on a plane and see another part of the world. His family didn’t have a lot of money and enlisting in the army was the only way for him leave the boondocks. I know that first trip to the other side of the world changed his life and I saw something so intriguing in his eyes when he talked about it. That’s what ignited my imagination and it was also his immense courage and determination that inspired me to write adventures for myself.
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Travel makes me complete and i get to learn about new things and meet new people you should also try it out.
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I admire your college roommate so much! Like her, I experience unease in crowds, and normally don’t seek out adventure. However, I’ve become a traveler. Still nervous in new places, scared when I don’t know the language, and exhausted from too much sensory input: it seems crazy that I have a travel blog and web site. My inspiration? My kids. When they were very young, we visited California, Boston, and New York City with family, and when the youngest were 7 years old, my sister called everyone to her wedding in England. That did it – my kids had the travel bug! They love history and architecture and science and big cities and they love airports and flights, even long ones. We travel on a tight budget which means we don’t go away each year, but they continually ponder and converse and suggest where we might go next. For them, I overcome my discomfort, push myself to ‘just do it’ and enjoy the ride!
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We’re trying to let everyone inspire a little travel over at http://www.rollinglobe.com.
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Kerouac and a couple of blokes from my town that had already travelled down to Greece to work over the British winter. Plus musicians like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Guns N’ Roses, lots of films, and my own desire to see the world and lie on beaches in the hot sun.
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Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Julia Ross’ articles. I love hearing any mention of Martha Gellhorn and I had no idea about Julia Child.
And Christine, you’re from Fairfax? I grew up there! Great little town.↵ -
Yes, Fairfax is a great little town! My favorite in the Bay Area after having lived in SF, Oakland, and Berkeley.
When did you leave? I’m sure we know some of the same people…
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My mother and father took us kids from an early age to various locales around the world. At 13 years old my mother received a sabatical to travel around the world for one full year. We travelled through areas that are now impossible, such as through Africa and the Middle East. I will always be grateful that my parents were so adventurous and hope I can pass that sense of adventure on to my daughter.
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I was initially inspired to travel while studying humanities and ancient history in college. I was dying to visit Italy and Greece being two of the major ancient civilizations (I’m originally from Egypt so my interest in egyptology was more than satisfied!)
Over the years my interest in travel has increased and my inspiration has taken a whole new direction where I’m no more inspired by the history as much as I am intrigued by the modern cultures of the cities I visit.↵ -
Haha, I actually moved up to Sonoma County when I was five but I went back to visit so often and loved it so much that I always considered it my hometown.
Now I’m in SF which I adore but there’s always a small, bohemian place in my heart for Fairfax.↵
