Greatest Hits: Reviving History’s Forgotten Female Adventurers With Elise Wortley

Zero To Travel Podcast

We're pulling past episodes from the archives to highlight Women's History Month! This episode was originally published in October 2022.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel like a great historical adventurer? Today, I'm joined by Elise Wortley, a journalist on a mission to, quite literally, walk in the shoes of some of history's most fierce female explorers.

After reading Alexandra David-Néel's book My Journey to Lhasa at age 16 (and again at 28), Elise was left with many questions about the trials and tribulations Alexandra must have faced being a female traveler in the early 1900s. In search of answers, she set off to India to follow in the author's footsteps, using only items that would have been available during the original journey - a yak wool coat and wooden backpack.

This trip has snowballed into multiple adventures sprinkled throughout the globe, bringing history to life and giving these past explorers the recognition they deserve.

Elise shares epic stories from her travels (like traveling through the Valley of the Assasins) and describes what it was like to travel without modern luxuries. She talks about what it took to get started on her first journey, the important lessons she's learned along the way, and so much more.

Which modern technology do you think would be the hardest to give up when traveling? I'd love to hear your thoughts and hope you will share them by sending me an audio message.

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Tune In To Learn:

• Why female adventurers lack the same recognition as their male counterparts
• How Elise conducts her research
• How she found her passion and inspiration for her first adventure
• What it felt like to wear historical clothing and how others reacted
• How traveling without technology will change your relationship with your phone
• Why adventure is for anyone and everyone and why you should embrace your weirdness
• Highlights from traveling through the Valley of The Assasins in Iran
• Advice for anyone who is looking to do something different with their lives
• How Elise’s projects help fund charities and what’s next
• And so much more

Resources:

• Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport
• Sign up for our FREE newsletter
• Want to travel with me to Morocco? Sign up for more info!
• Check out Woman with Altitude
• Learn more about Elise
• Follow Elise on Instagram
• Read the Atlas Obscura article
• Get your copy of My Journey to Lhasa (the book that changed Elise's life)

Want More?

• Independent Travel as a Female in Afghanistan, Hitchhiking Iraq, and Ex-Pat Life in Sudan with Jacquelyn Kunz
• A Race Around the World, Meeting Strangers Abroad, and Storytelling With Adrien Behn
• The Only Woman To Walk Around The World: Inspiring Female Adventurers Series with Polly Letofsky

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