Adventure Inspiration! 7 Ladies Who Really Know How To Live

By JP Chartier

I recently wrote an article called “7 Terribly Adventurous & Interesting People“ that told the adventurous tales of seven men. In this article, I want to focus solely on the ladies.

The women listed below said “No!” to a ‘normal’ life, they decided they were going to leave their mark on this world, and adventure was the catalyst to their immortality.  Just like the men in my other article, these women braved through impossible conditions to make their dreams a reality, and in the mean time, inspire millions.

So, without further ado, I now bring you: The Seven Women Who Understand What It Means To LIVE

ROSIE SWALE-POLE  (1946- )

Rosie Swale-Pole gets my vote for the World’s Most Amazing Woman! She is an author, adventurer, marathon runner and motivational speaker. In 2007, she completed a five-year around-the-world run covering an incredible 20,000 miles, and she did it while in her late fifties!

Earlier in her life, Rosie did the following:

She sailed around the world with her husband and child in the 1070’s in a thirty-foot catamaran covering 30,000 miles in two years.

Later in 1983, she sailed solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a small seventeen-foot cutter, where she was nearly killed during a violent storm that swept her overboard.

As if all this weren’t enough, “The Amazing Rosie” rode alone on horseback through the entire 3,000 miles of Chile in fourteen months. She almost starved to death after becoming lost in the southern rain-forest.

In 1987, Rosie walked through Wales, sleeping in a tent and carrying a backpack for 1,375 miles.

She has also ran through the following countries: Romania, Iceland, South Africa, the Balkans (nearly killed by robbers), Cuba and Nepal.

The list of amazing feats Rosie has accomplished are by no means all covered here, her life reads like a female version of Indiana Jones. I not only bow down to you Rosie Swale-Pole, I admire and look up to you, you are truly a LEGEND!

RENATA CHLUMSKA  (1973- )

In 1999, Chlumska became the first Swedish woman to climb Mount Everest. Then during 2005-06, she completed the “Around America Adventure.”

The adventure began in Seattle, Washington in a kayak. She paddled the kayak from Seattle down to San Diego, California, she then hopped on a bicycle (with the kayak towed behind), and rode it all the way to Brownsville, Texas. In Brownsville, she hopped back into the kayak and this time paddled it across the Gulf of Mexico, around the state of Florida, then onward up the east coast of America, all the way up to Maine!

Chlumska was back on the bicycle again in Maine, but this time she peddled it clear across the United States back to Seattle! I bow down to you Mrs. Chlumska.

ANNIE “LONDONDERRY” KOPCHVSKY  (1870-1947)

Kopchovsky was a consummate self-promoter, and a skillful creator of her own myth, who became a global celebrity after bicycling around the world alone, the first woman to do so. During her bicycle journey, she hunted tigers, was caught in the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 (where she was imprisoned), was robbed and even shot by a Chinaman during the trek.

KIRA SALAK  (1971- )

Salak likes to prove people wrong, you know the type, the ones full of negativity and reasons why you can’t do something. She uses them as fuel to keep her adventurous fire burning. Salak has ventured to some of the worlds most hospitable places, like when she hiked around Africa mostly alone, ultimately ending up in the middle of a civil war!

She holds the record for being the first documented person to kayak alone down the Niger River and was the frost woman to backpack across Papua New Guinea. Salak’s life of adventure includes surviving wars, coup attempts and life threatening bouts of malaria and cholera.

She has explored several countries like Iran, Rwanda, Libya, Burma, Borneo, Uganda and Peru. And finally, Salak is an excellent writer who has penned several books about her adventures. What an amazing woman!

NELLIE BLY  (1864-1922)

Nellie Bly was the pen-name of American journalist and adventurer, Elizabeth June Cochrane. As a journalist, Bly would go to almost any length to get the story, once she faked mental illness so she would be admitted to Bellevue Hospital, a mental institute in NY, so she could write and expose about the abuses there. After the release of the expose, many positive changes took place at the hospital, making Bly famous.

Two years later, chasing yet another story, Bly set a then world record by circumnavigating the globe in 72 days, beating the fictional account in Jules Verne’s novel, “Around the World in 80 Days.”

KRYSTYNA CHOJNOWSKA-LISKIEWICZ  (1936- )

After several failed attempts at pronouncing Krystyna’s last names, I gave up! I now just refer to her as “KCL.”

During 1976-78, KCL became the “First Lady of the Oceans” by sailing alone around the world, a feat which comprised 31,166 miles and 401 days to complete. Complete solitude out alone on a world of rolling blue for over a year is enough to make most of us go insane, it takes a special person, a strong confident person to pull this off, and KCL was.