Vasco Da Gama hops on his ship and sails across the mighty ocean. Armed with a map, a compass, and a telescope, his sights are set on finding new lands.

The story is something that all of us have read, along with other stories of great men explored the Earth and found new places and new lands. Their names, just like Da Gama’s has been etched into our history books to remind us about their great feats. These were men who were unafraid to travel. Yet, what the history books fail to mention are the names of the women explorers who too took great risks and travelled far and wide in search of modern places. While this can be attributed to the fact that at that time it was almost unheard off for a woman to take such risks- furthermore she wasn’t ‘allowed’.

But, the times have now changed. More and more females are riding on the travel wagon, and going out to travel and explore all by themselves. From riding on bicycles to climbing Everest, these women have shown how inspirational and capable they are:

Shivya Nath

This inspirational woman is an absolute role model, who young girls, travel bloggers, women or anyone, in general, can look up to. Shivya Nath, aka The Shooting Star, is living the kind of life that people only dream of. But, to live this dream she had to struggle and sacrifice a lot. Currently, living a nomadic life, she gave up her high paying corporate job, sold off her possessions and followed her ebbing passion to travel the world. 

While the path hadn’t been easy, she did what most people lack the courage to. She showed the society that she is free to do what she wants and she isn’t someone to be bogged down about “What will the people say” 

This wonderful woman now travels to wondrous places and writes the most fascinating travel blogs that have the power to take you through a journey right while you are sitting on your couch in the bedroom. 

From staying with local tribes to traversing the dense wilderness in Canada, to even swimming with sharks in Malaysia, this female explorer has broken all glass ceilings and boundaries and emerged jubilantly. 

Her blog is all about her travels, experiences and the mesmerising places that she discovers. Shivya Nath has paved the way for many other Indian women to follow her footsteps and rediscover themselves through the art of exploring. 

Arunima Sinha

This extremely inspirational and admirable woman hails from India. Arunima Sinha was thrown out from a train, which led to her left leg being amputated. Most people in such condition would just give up walking itself. Yet, not Arunima. Her love for adventures and her sheer strength called her back to the world of exploration, and instead of using her amputated leg as an excuse, she took the challenge head-on.

She was back on her toes and decided to climb the Mt. Everest. The task itself is terrifying for anybody even with two perfectly abled legs, but Arunima even after facing discouragement from all the corners did not back down. She knew that the highest mountain in the world would be strong, but she knew she was stronger. She started her climb, and with great difficulty and even greater honour, she managed to conquer the mountain and become the first female amputee to do. If this doesn’t inspire people, then nothing will.

Namira Salim

Namira Salim shattered all the glass ceilings and became the first Pakistani to successfully reach the North Pole in April 2007. She topped that up by going to the South Pole in the following year and again became the first Pakistani to do so.

Yet, this isn’t where she stopped. She continued to show the world how great of an explorer she is, and she became the first Asian to do a tandem skydive from the great Mt. Everest. She is a superhuman in every way, as she went on traversing the world and winning accolades for her brave adventures and explorations.

Her best moments came when she realised that even the Earth was not enough for her. She then pushed her self to the limit and became the first ever Pakistani to travel to space.

She has redefined the world exploration and is an amazing inspiration for all the women out there who not look up to her as a role model.

She has strongly advocated the idea of space being the new frontier for global peace, as she continues to challenge her self to new destinations every day.

Alyssa Azar

Azar’s bravery and curiosity started early. She was only eight years old when she easily traversed the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea. Her feats as a child did not stop here. She was merely 14 years old where she summited to Kilimanjaro and only 16 when she decided that Mt. Everest was her next stop. Mt. Everest, which is honoured to be the highest peak in the world, is said to bring even the most experienced and strongest mountaineers to their knees. But, that did not frighten Azar.

Even after two linear to death experiences and after three consecutive seasons. Azar finally reached at the top of the mighty mountain peak at the mere age of 19. While, this feat itself is worth accolades for centuries, but she was not satisfied. She decided to traverse the mountains again, but his time from the north side in Tibet. She became the youngest woman, at the age of 21 to achieve this.

After finishing her brave adventures, Azar returned home to her thrilled friends and families, who asked her to share her story with the world.

Azar is now a wonderful motivational and inspirational speaker, who tells young girls to never be afraid to try anything and to punch patriarchy on the face.

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita

Pasang is not just any other explorer. She is an explorer who advocated the idea of sustainable and clean travelling. Apart from being the first woman mountaineering instructor from Nepal, and also after conquering Mt. K2, she is also an amazing Samaritan. She believes in respecting the places she travels to, and she was one of the most active volunteer workers who provided relief after the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

This extraordinary woman has managed to win hearts all over the world. Her dedication towards her people and her passion for exploration is what made people fall in love with her. She was also awarded the National Geographic’s People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year in 2016. Currently, while traversing and teaching mountaineering, she has also opened a school for the education of girls. She wants to make sure that every woman is educated in a way that she can make her own choices and explore the world on her own terms.

Kira Salak

This magnificent woman has too many accolades and achievements to her records. Often termed as the real-life Lara Croft, Salak is an explorer in the true sense. For her nothing is impossible and she continues to prove that. She was the first women to traverse through Papua New Guinea, and also the first person to hop onto a kayak and kayak about 600 miles to Timbuktu all by herself. She has no one with her, and she kayaked solo.

After her courageous adventures, she decided to document and write about to so that every person can derive inspiration from it. She has won numerous awards and hearts. Salak has also frequently talked about the gendered stereotypes that bogged her down and tried to resist her from travelling solo. She reportedly said that people did try to oppose her idea of travelling into remote places all by herself as a solo woman can be dangerous, but she didn’t listen to anyone and did what her heart said.

Kira Salak also likes to travel with low tech, which is reminiscent of the earlier days when people used to just go around with a compass, a map and a backpack with essential items like food and water. She wants to live and travel like the previous explorers who had to traverse through adverse and dangerous conditions since technology and resources were so limited.

Anna McNuff

Anna Mcnuff has not only inspired people through her brave adventures and her passion for exploring new places, but she has also inspired people through her words. She has urged people to just go out, start, and leave their fears behind just to understand how beautiful the outside world is. She took adventure and determination to a new level when she cycled 11,000 miles for seven months. She sat on her pink bike and went off to explore every state in the USA.

She topped that achievement by showing the world how much endurance and passion she has. She ran 1,911 miles along New Zealand’s Te Araroa trail. McNuff calls these mega-adventure, but she also engages in some ‘mini-adventures’. These mini adventures include- running across Hadrian’s Wall, roller skating 100 miles around the lovely city of Amsterdam, and camping expeditions in London.

Her most recent tale of adventure is- when she walked out of her home, with nothing but a backpack and an open European Itinerary. She left it to her followers to decide through votes what are itinerary should include.

She says that she admires people who have the self-belief to achieve things that others believe is impossible to achieve.