Women who travel are wise, kind and passionate. I know, because I am a woman who travels. If you need proof, here are some travel quotes from women who travel. Quotes to inspire, to make you think and to help you act on your own travel dream.

Women Who Travel

I have read one too many articles about how dangerous it is for women who travel, especially those who travel alone. Well meaning people who will tell you not to go out after dark and to eat in your room.

These are people who waste column inches telling us that we are fragile flowers and that awful things are just waiting to happen to us. I want to combat that a bit. So to that end, let me offer these women who traveled – women who weren’t just ahead of their time, but rather transcended time altogether.

Susan Sontag

”I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

This travel quote gets at the heart of it all, at least for me.

Writer, photographer, political activist (is there another kind?), Susan Sontag was not a woman who worried about what the world thought of her. Everywhere is on my list too, and I find myself getting irritated with people who ask me to prioritize my next destination. I don’t want to be that limited. Will I see everywhere? Unlikely, but I am going to see as much of everywhere as I can!

Women who travel know that this trip is merely the next trip. We are aiming for everywhere, or at least our version of everywhere.

Isabella Bird

“Everything suggests a beyond.”  From:  A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains

Isabella Bird was a lady traveler in the late 1800’s. She was born in Yorkshire, the daughter of a minister. Ms. Bird was always rather outspoken, a trait not widely admired in women at that time (and often times, still not!). Her travels began in earnest when she was ‘prescribed’ a sea voyage to improve her health. A born writer, she sent letters home, and that was the genesis of her first book.

I love this travel quote for many reasons. It nicely sums up the way I feel whenever I see a sweeping vista, a winding road, a far horizon. “Everything suggests a beyond” and I am forever itching to go find it.

Another thing about Isabella Bird that sings to me; she didn’t start traveling until she was 40. Until that time she stayed pretty close to home. But once she started, she traveled across Asia, the American West and India.

Amelia Earhart

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”

Yeah, Amelia Earhart; if ever a woman got the notion of solo travel it was her. And no, let’s not take her disappearance as an object lesson.

As travel quotes go, this one may be the best one you can take to heart. So many women I talk to want to travel, but they let their fears keep them from doing it. Decide to take that trip and then bull through the rest to make it happen.

You will be amazed at what the simple act of taking a trip to that long dreamed of place will do for you – for your world view, for your heart, for your self-confidence. This is the reward for women who travel, we become more fearless, more open-minded, and I think more optimistic.

Freya Stark

“Curiosity is the one thing invincible in nature.”

Another British born woman with an itch to journey, Ms. Stark traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and was one of the first non-Arabians to travel through the southern Arabian deserts. Her autobiography bears the wonderful title of “The Passionate Nomad.”

Think about her travels for a moment. What must it t have been like to travel the region not only as a non-Arabian, but as an unmarried woman! London seems a lot less daunting, doesn’t it? In comparison, Paris feels oddly sedate.

And while we’re at it, let’s add another great quote by this amazing woman.

Freya Stark, redux

“One can only really travel if one lets oneself go and takes what every place brings without trying to turn it into a healthy private pattern of one’s own and I suppose that is the difference between travel and tourism.”

This – this is the very essence of being a nomadic local. Expect that the other places are going to be a mix of what you are used to and what is completely different. It can be as minor as what is normal for breakfast, to as exotic as waking to the sound of the call to prayer. Yes, sometimes there is a comfort in finding a McDonald’s on a foreign shore.

More often than not, it is comforting not to.

Maya Angelou

“Travel to as many destinations as possible for the sake of education as well as pleasure.” 

If ever a woman was a force of nature, Ms. Angelou was it. I had the great good fortune to see her in person, to shake her hand and that brief moment was transformative for me. Travel has been transformative for me as well.

I agree with the poet when she says that “Human beings are more alike than unlike, and what is true anywhere is true every-where” (which is actually the first half of this quote, though often left off). I think it is discovering the similarities that make the differences less scary. Travel is the surest way to erase prejudice, as you find that we are all looking for the same things.

Women who travel find joy in the learning about new places. The next destination is exciting not just for the monuments and the museums we plan on visiting, but for all the little moments we weren’t expecting.

Travel Quotes

So there you have it. Six travel quotes from five undeniably remarkable women – women who travel. I hope you take inspiration and strength from them. They have helped me in moments when I thought I couldn’t do it. I have been buoyed by them in those dark moments of anxiety.

Do you have a favorite travel quote? Please share it in the comments. Inspiration is always welcome!