Outstanding Women! A Lady's Voyage Around The World, Ida Pfeiffer, Born In Vienna 1797-1858

"Ida Pfeiffer, the first travel writer was elected to the geographical societies of Berlin and Paris, but the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain refused to admit her because she was a woman." 

The most astonishing thing about Ida Laura Pfeiffer was her open-mindedness. She referred to men as the “superior” sex and called Arabs lazy for not having terraformed Jerusalem into a flowering paradise. She called harem women ignorant and uneducated, but said they were probably happier than European women.- Source 

Ida was revolutionary for her time and in the end, she had traveled over 150,000 miles of sea and 20,000 of land when there were no trains nor planes.

"She had a heart that was able to beat for the whole world"  by Lieselotte Stiegler

"She joked with the cannibals, saying she was too old and tough to make good eating."- Source 

 

Image Source 

The other day I went to a fun birthday party meetomg a few new people and had an interesting talk with this lady who is privat a tour guide in Vienna. We chatted about off track places to visit and she gave some great advice but the most incredible story was the one about Ida Pfeiffer, I never heard about before.   

Ida Pfeiffer was born in Vienna, Austria, as Ida Reyer. She had five or six brothers and was treated as one of the boys by her father. As a young girl, she wore boys' clothes and received the same education as her brothers. She was also encouraged to participate in strenuous outdoor activities to help develop physical strength and independence. - Source Distinguished Women 

I was amazed about this woman's story and searched on the internet to find out more about her. I was always impressed, already as a young girl, reading about courageous women, I respect so much, who would go against their societies laws and traditions. Women who broke the rules, to get out of their comfort-zones and live a different life than their parents expected from them. 

Ida was a true pioneer with an enlightened social wisdom.

 

Image Source 

Her father died when Ida was nine years old at which point her mother encouraged her to take up activities and clothing more suitable for a young lady of her time. She reluctantly started wearing dresses and took piano lessons. At age seventeen, she fell in love with her tutor and he with her. They wanted to marry, but Ida's mother forbade it. She wanted a better match for her daughter. Finally, in 1820, when Ida was 22 years old, she agreed to marry Pfeiffer, a widower much older than herself. - Source Distinguished Women 

Of course they separated years later. In 1842 both of her sons had established their own homes and Ida was free of family obligations. 

Soon after her mother died in 1831, she decided to travel and unlike for other women her time, she did all her trips alone.

1) Egypt

 

Image Source 

Ida went first to the Holy Land, ostensibly on a pilgrimage, knowing that in choosing this destination she would encounter less disapproval from family and friends who were already alarmed at her decision to travel alone. She was not oblivious to the dangers to which she was exposing herself. In fact, she thought there was a strong possibility she would not return. So, she made out her last will and testament and proceeded on her journey. She sailed the Danube River to the Black Sea, went to Constantinople (now Istanbul), to Jerusalem, and then to Cairo. She visited the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, where she learned to ride a dromedary. From there she went to the Isthmus of Suez and took a boat for the return trip home by way of Italy. - Source Distinguished Women 

Its worth to read her published memoirs, Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy in 1846 or free on iTunes

Image Source 

2)Iceland 

 

Image Source 

She used the money earned through her published book, to finance a trip to Iceland on a very tight budget. After a few month stay, she returned home and wrote her book,  Journey to Iceland, and Travels in Sweden and Norway. She then sold samples of plants and rocks to various museums to move on. 

3) Brazil 

As an European woman she felt superior to the Brazilians. In 1846 she departed for Rio de Janeiro on a ship.

 

Image Source 

Ida was repelled by its filth and poverty. Unimpressed by their "civilized" cities and plantations, she hired a guide and went into the rain forest to investigate the Indians. She found the beauty of the rain forest enchanting but once she reached the tribe of Puri Indians, she was disappointed. She thought the Indians were primitive and savage. - Source Distinguished Women 

4) China

On the way to China , she stopped in Tahiti and was scandalized by the carefree, sexual behavior of Tahitian women. She entered China from Macao on a traditional Chinese cargo boat, to the city of Canton and once again, her opinion of them was rather negative and bad,  just like in Brazil before. 

5) India 

Ida liked India! She spent several months, traveling with almost no luggage and was often fed and given shelter by the local people.

 

Image Source 

5) Baghdad in Mesopotamia, today's Iraq

She joined a camel caravan for a 300-mile journey across the desert to the city of Mosul and then to Tabriz in northern Persia. The British consul stationed in Tabriz was amazed to see her. He didn't think it possible for a woman to travel alone in that part of the world without even knowing local languages. - Source Distinguished Women 

6) Russia

In Russia she was arrested under a suspicion of being a spy. 

She wrote in her journal, "Oh you good Arabs, Turks, Persians, Hindoos! How safely did I pass through your heathen and infidel countries; and here, in Christian Russia, how much have I had to suffer in this short space." - Source Distinguished Women 

7) Turkey, Greece and Italy

She returned home in November 1848 and went off one more time in 1951, sailing from London to Cape Town and Singapore, off to Borneo. This time she seemed to be happy, surprisingly admiring the Dyaks. 

Batak Warriors 1870

Image Source 

8) Indonesia - Borneo and Sumatra

 She was the very first person to report on the Batak way of life.

Batavia/Java  

Image Source 

Ida Pfeiffer spent six months, traveling through the almost impenetrable rain forest. Ignoring her advisers, she visited the Dyak tribe known for practicing ritual headhunting. She wrote, "I shuddered, but I could not help asking myself whether, after all, we Europeans are not really just as bad or worse than these despised savages? Is not every page of our history filled with horrid deeds of treachery and murder?" She then said, "I should like to have passed a longer time among the free Dyaks, as I found them, without exception, honest, good-natured, and modest in their behavior. I should be inclined to place them, in these respects, above any of the races I have ever known."Her next stop was Sumatra in Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Again, disregarding her European advisers, she set out to visit the Batak tribe, known to be cannibals and who had never allowed a European into their territory. The Batak treated her as a curiosity and passed her from tribe to tribe. Ida was much less at ease with the Batak, especially after they made a gesture that they wanted to kill and eat her. She was frightened but made a joke, saying in broken Batak that she was too old and tough to make good eating. This amused them and they let her go for the time being. She eventually made her escape unharmed.  - Source Distinguished Women 

10) Ida sailed to San Francisco, and visited the Andes of South America

Image Source 

9) Madagaskar off the coast of Africa

Image Source - Austrian Forum

 

Image Source 

She was once again arrested and became ill with a tropical disease she never recovered from.

Just 10 years later she died in Vienna in 1958. 

WHAT AN AMAZING LIFE!

Her most recent adventures"A Lady's Voyage Round the World" This publication made her famous and it became a bestseller. 

 

Image Source 

Her life in Ida's biography summed up with a final quote: “She had what, in common life, we emphatically term character.“

Follow @mammasitta and @massivevibration to Keep on spreading the Massive Vibes

Join our steemit chat groups #massivevibrations and mammasittas 

supporting @welovesteemit @gnc @qsounds and many more .....