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OUR FAVORITES

Traveling Women

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

by Elizabeth Gilbert

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Gilbert chronicles in luminous prose a year-long odyssey not just to escape from an ugly divorce but also to discover the world and herself. The book, like her quest, is in three parts: Rome (eat), Mumbai (pray) and Bali (where she falls in love). (TVL107, $15.00)

Maiden Voyages, Writings of Women Travelers

Maiden Voyages, Writings of Women Travelers

by Larry O'Connor | Mary Morris

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 438 PAGES

With contributions by such literary lionesses as Margaret Mead, Willa Cather and Mary Wollstonecraft, to name a few, this pleasurable anthology by the husband-and-wife team of Mary Morris and Larry O'Connor is a who's who of female letters. Highly recommended. (GEN210, $15.00)

Tales of a Female Nomad

Tales of a Female Nomad

by Rita Gelman

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 306 PAGES

Gelman, a children's book author, leaves her settled life in Los Angeles in search of a more meaningful existence. Guided by instinct, happenstance and intense curiosity, she travels from Central America to South East Asia and beyond, connecting with new cultures and people, and rediscovering the joy and confidence she had once lost. (TVL94, $14.95)

North to the Orient

North to the Orient

by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

  • EXPLORATION
  • 1966
  • PAPER
  • 168 PAGES

A classic account of pioneering aviation, this wonderfully written memoir includes adventures in Petropavlovsk and the Russian Far East, Japan and the Yangtze. (ARC36, $12.95)

The Illustrated Virago Book of Women Travellers

The Illustrated Virago Book of Women Travellers

by Mary Morris | Larry O'Connor

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

An anthology of mostly British and American women writing around the world, with diverse selections including Mary Wollenstonecraft, Edith Wharton, Rose Macaulay, Gertrude Bell and Freya Stark. With archival and color photographs throughout. (EXP29, $24.95)

 
Fly Solo, The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone

Fly Solo, The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone


by Teresa Rodriguez Williamson

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

Packed with practical informtaion, history, culutre and suggestions of the absolute must-sees, this guide will have any girl globe-trotting in no time. (WLD81, $15.95)

They Made Their Mark, An Illustrated History of the Society of Woman Geographers

They Made Their Mark, An Illustrated History of the Society of Woman Geographers


by Jane Eppinga

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 320 PAGES

The inspiring story of the Society's members. (EXP65, $29.95)

Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey

Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey


by Lillian Schlissel

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 278 PAGES

A fascinating, well researched selection of women's diaries and journals from the Wild West, including vivid accounts of buffalo hunts, Indian raids, childbirth under difficult circumstances, geological wonders and a telling amount of inward trepidation. With black-and-white photographs throughout. (USW395, $16.95)

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains


by Isabella Bird

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

Isabella Bird was an inspiring -- and intrepid -- Victorian traveler. This book collects her letters home to her sister Henrietta during travels through the Colorado Rockies in 1873, a side-trip she made on the way home from Hawaii. (USW44, $7.95)

A Woman's World Again, True Stories of World Travel

A Woman's World Again, True Stories of World Travel


by Marybeth Bond

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES

An anthology of contemporary travel writing by women writers, Bond's follow-up to her award-winning collection, A Woman's World. (TVL132, $17.95)

Adventure Divas, Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine

Adventure Divas, Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine


by Holly Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

A lively account of globetrotting adventures by the creator of the popular PBS show. Author Holly Morris' search for spirited and inspiring women includes adventures in Cuba, India, Iran and New Zealand. (TVL95, $14.95)

Breaking Trail, A Climbing Life

Breaking Trail, A Climbing Life


by Arlene Blum

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

Blum reveals her transformation from scrawny girl in the flat Midwest to world-class climber in this inspirational memoir of a life in very high places: McKinley, Annapurna, Everest. (HML72, $14.00)

Daisy Bates in the Desert: A Woman's Life Among the Aborigines

Daisy Bates in the Desert: A Woman's Life Among the Aborigines


by Julia Blackburn

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 232 PAGES

In this wonderfully original biography, Blackburn recreates the life of Daisy Bates (1861-1951), who abandoned her comfortable surroundings in 1913 to live for 30 years in the wilderness. It opens memorably "There was once a woman who lived in the desert." (AUS37, $15.00)

Desert Songs, A Woman Explorer in Egypt and Sudan

Desert Songs, A Woman Explorer in Egypt and Sudan


by Arita Baaijens

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 144 PAGES

Having given up a traditional European life to explore the deserts of Egypt and Sudan, Baaijens recounts her passion for the desert's vistas and horizons, dangers and physical challenges, nomads and camels, in this personal photographic journal. (DES14, $34.95)

Dreaming of East, Western Women And the Exotic Allure of the Orient


by Barbara Hodgson

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 192 PAGES

Hodgson captures the vogue for everything Oriental in the Victorian era with a selection of drawings and photographs. (EXP38, $26.95)

Female Nomad & Friends, Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World

Female Nomad & Friends, Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World


by Rita Golden Gelman

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 332 PAGES

In her follow-up to Tales of a Female Nomad, Gelman includes stories (including eight of her own) of personal connections through travel with recipes she's collected from all over the world. (TVL506, $15.00)

Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations

Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations


by Georgina Howell

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 481 PAGES

The tale of intoxicating, intrepid Major Miss Bell, who made her home in Baghdad. She created modern Iraq with T. E. Lawrence and Churchill. (ARB82, $16.00)

I Married Adventure, The Lives of Osa and Martin Johnson

I Married Adventure, The Lives of Osa and Martin Johnson


by Osa Johnson

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

Sweetly told, homespun and engrossing, Johnson's 1940 memoir chronicles her marriage to explorer and wildlife cinematographer Martin Johnson -- their life on a houseboat in Borneo, their encounters with cannibals, their exploits with wild animals in Kenya and their filming expeditions in the Congo. Osa Johnson also established the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in her hometown of Chanute, Kansas. (PAC110, $19.95)

Ladies of the Field, Early Women Archaeologists and Their Search for Adventure

Ladies of the Field, Early Women Archaeologists and Their Search for Adventure


by Amanda Adams

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 228 PAGES

Adams's sprightly group biography includes the remarkable Gertrude Bell, daring Harriet Boyd-Hawes and Dame Agatha Christie along with Jane Dieulafoy, Amelia Edwards, Dorothy Garrod and Zelia Nuttall, each of these Victorian adventurers brought vividly to life. (GEN957, $17.99)

Libby

Libby


by Libby Beaman | Betty John

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 206 PAGES
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

From her storm-bound arrival in Alaska's Pribilof Islands to her reception by the local population, tales of fur seals and her near-death of cold and malnutrition, Libby Beaman's tale of a year in St. Paul in 1879 is a great story, brought to life by her granddaughter Betty John. (ARC07, $16.95)

Life in the Treetops, Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology

Life in the Treetops, Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology


by Margaret Lowman

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 219 PAGES

The sprightly memoir of an ecologist who climbs, studies and sleeps in trees for a living, balancing multiple roles of scientist, wife and mom. Margaret Lowman, a pioneer in the ecology of forest tree canopies, continues her story in a second memoir (written with her now-grown sons). (AMZ57, $13.95)

My Journey to Lhasa

My Journey to Lhasa


by Alexandra David-Neel

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

Dressed as a humble pilgrim and traveling under the cover of night, the indomitable 55-year-old David-Neel and her young companion climbed mountains and tricked soldiers to ultimately reach Tibet's forbidden capital. Originally published in 1923, her account stands as a riveting portrait of early 20th-century Tibet. (TBT26, $14.99)

Nothing to Declare

Nothing to Declare


by Mary Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 250 PAGES
  • FAVORITE
  • OUT OF PRINT

An absorbing memoir of a woman traveling alone throughout Mexico and Central America. Morris, a favorite writer, evokes the people and places she visits in gritty immediate detail. (CAM08, $15.00)

Passionate Nomad, the Life of Freya Stark

Passionate Nomad, the Life of Freya Stark


by Jane Fletcher Geniesse

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

A biography of the legendary female "poet of travel," Freya Stark. (MDE28, $15.95)

The Nomad, The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt

The Nomad, The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt


by Isabelle Eberhardt

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

The daring adventures of the late 19th-century Swiss journalist who adopted Islam and traveled the Sahara disguised as an Arab man. (NAF59, $12.95)

The Sisters of Sinai, How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels

The Sisters of Sinai, How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels


by Janet Soskice

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 316 PAGES

Soskice vividly recounts the story of Agnes and Margaret Smith, two unlikely and unsung heroines, and their discovery in 1892 of one of the earliest known copies of the gospels at St. Catherine's. (EGY334, $16.00)

The Wilder Shores of Love

The Wilder Shores of Love


by Leslie Blanch

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A new edition of Lesley Blanch's spirited tale of the lives and loves of four uncommonly adventurous 19th-century European women in Arabia: Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, Jane Digby and Isabelle Eberhardt. Originally published in 1954, this is the best known of Blanch's many books (Marianne Faithfull has a song of the same name). As unconventional as her heroines, Lesley Blanch died in 2007, at age 102. (EXP28, $15.00)

West with the Night

West with the Night


by Beryl Markham

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 294 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Markham evokes the landscapes, people and wildlife of East Africa in engrossing detail in this memoir of adventures as a bush pilot in 1930s Kenya. A Longitude favorite. (EAF10, $16.00)

Women Aviators

Women Aviators


by Bernard Marck

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES

From Amelia Earhart to Sally Ride, these remarkable women defied tradition and took to the air in planes, rockets and spaceships. With hundreds of archival photographs, these profiles capture the thrill and derring-do of early flight. (GEN522, $45.00)

Women of the Four Winds

Women of the Four Winds


by Elizabeth Olds

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

A collection of four lively biographies of four 20th-century American explorers. (EXP19, $21.95)

Women Travelers, Adventurers, and Trailblazers 1850-1950

Women Travelers, Adventurers, and Trailblazers 1850-1950


by Alexandra Lapierre | Christel Mouchard

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2007
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES

One hundred years of intrepid women, beautifully presented in an oversized hardcover with 200 black-and-white and color illustrations. (EXP50, $45.00)

Ines of My Soul

Ines of My Soul


by Isabel Allende

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 321 PAGES

Allende turns the amazing life of Spanish conquistadora and founder of Santiago, Ines Suarez (1507-1580), into a gripping novel. (CHI73, $14.99)

Off the Beaten Track. Three Centuries of Women Travellers

Off the Beaten Track. Three Centuries of Women Travellers


by Dea Birkett | Jan Morris

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 144 PAGES

A marvelous selection of portraits of raveling women, with 120 illustrations, 100 in color. (TVL39, $40.00)

Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, Funny Women Write from the Road

Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, Funny Women Write from the Road


by Jennifer Leo

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

The weird and wonderful tales of women on the road chosen by the entertaining, well-traveled (and delightful) Jennifer Leo. (TVL54, $14.95)

The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys, Great Writers on Great Places

The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys, Great Writers on Great Places


by Klara Glowczewska

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Twenty-one transporting tales by Simon Winchester, Pico Iyer, William Dalrymple, Patricia Storace, Edna O'Brien, Jan Morris and other favorite writers published on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Conde Nast Traveler. (TVL127, $16.00)

Unsuitable for Ladies, An Anthology of Women Travellers

Unsuitable for Ladies, An Anthology of Women Travellers


by Jane Robinson

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 471 PAGES

A choice sampling of the writing of 200 remarkable women, organized geographically. From the Victorian-era derring-do of Mary Kingsley to Florence Nightingale's war diaries, Karen Blixen on her farm in Africa and recent adventures of the indomitable Dervla Murphy, these are inspiring and wonderfully written accounts of travel. (EXP18, $24.95)

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Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.