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 gets my vote for “World’s Most Amazing Woman!

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!

Chlumska completed the grueling “Around America Adventure”

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 was the first woman to bicycle alone around the world

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.

Salak enjoys the rush of danger

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!

Elizabeth June Cochrane – aka “Nellie Bly”

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.”

KCL is all business here on her quest to sail alone around the world

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.

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The next time you’re at the beach and you’re curious about what’s directly across the ocean from you, use the above map to find out! Thanks to Eric Odenheimer for sharing the map with Know More.

The post When on the beach, this map shows what’s across the ocean appeared first on Gutter Pup Adventures.

Listed below are seven terribly adventurous and interesting people. Their heroic achievements stand in direct defiance of the accepted standards and behaviors of the time, which is what makes them so intriguing. They did things most only talk about or dream of. They had the courage to stare life in the eyes and demand more from it, a normal human existence would not be acceptable! Included on this list are individuals who braved through impossible conditions to conquer their dreams and ultimately inspire people like myself.

MIKE HORN (1966- )

Horn is a Swiss explorer and adventurist. He became famous after completing a solo journey around the equator without motorized transport. He then completed a two-year circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle by himself! In 2006, he and a Norwegian explorer named Borge Ousland became the first men to travel without dog or motorized transport to the North Pole during permanent darkness. He also led a team on a three-year, around the world voyage called the Pangaea Expedition. During this teaching and study trek, they used only a yacht, canoes, kayaks, bikes, paraglides, skis and a sail boat to explore the South Pole, Australia, Asia, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, the Himalayas and the North Pole! Because of his life experience and gift of gab, Horn is sought after today by sports teams and businesses for his motivational skills.

JOHN GODDARD (1924-2013)

 Goddard has lived an unbelievable life, dare I say, quite possibly the most amazing life ever! When he was 15-years old, Goddard decided that he would not live a life filled with regrets, so he wrote down a bucket list of 127 things he wanted to accomplish in his life. This list includes climbing the worlds most perilous peaks, navigating its major rivers and exploring its most remote regions. You’ve got to see it, he’s marked off everything he accomplished, unfortunately he wasn’t able to complete the whole list before his death, though he got very close.

JOHN FAIRFAX (1937-2012)

Fairfax was an ocean rower and adventurists who in 1969 became the first person to row across an ocean by himself. In 1971 he became the first person to row alone across the Pacific Ocean. Besides rowing across oceans all alone, Fairfax was quite the adventurist in all aspects of his life. At age 13, Fairfax left his home in Argentina to live in the jungle like “Tarzan,” where he survived by hunting and bartering skins with local peasants. At 22-years of age, Fairfax drove across America to San Francisco, when he ran out of money he returned to his mother in Argentina by bicycle! Then a short time later he fell in with pirates and was apprenticed for the next three-years in the smuggling of whiskey, cigarettes and guns. After escaping from the pirates, Fairfax became the first person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, a feat which took him 180-days. During the journey, he had to dive underneath the vessel to clean off the barnacles, while chipping away underwater, a shark tried to attack him but Fairfax ended up killing it with him bare hands and a large knife! Two-years later, he and Sylvia Cook became the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, and they did it in 361 days.

LAKPA TSHERI & BABU SUNUWAR

These two men are listed together because the two of them went on the ultimate adventure in 2011. First they climbed the largest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, then the two of them paraglided off the mountain down to sea level, a forty-five minute flight. But this was just the beginning of their journey, after paragliding they bicycled to the headwaters of a mountain stream which led them to the Kosi River in Nepal. From the Kosi they paddled to the Ganges River in India, then finally onward to the Bay of Bengal, a 37-day trek.

RANULPH FIENNES (1944- )

The Guinness Book of World Records says he’s the “World’s Greatest Living Explorer,” enough said. Fiennes undertook several expeditions and was the first person to visit both the North Pole and South Pole by surface, and he was the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. At the age of 65, he climbed Mount Everest, becoming the oldest Briton to do so. Despite suffering a heart-attack and undergoing double bypass heart surgery just four-months prior, Fiennes completed seven marathons in seven days on seven continents! On top of all this, he is also a prolific author, politician and speaker.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY McGOVERN (1897-1964)

McGovern was an American adventurer who was credited with exploring uncharted areas of the Amazon, Peru and the Himalaya’s. He reported on the Mexican Revolution from the front, then became a Buddhist Priest, all by the age of twenty. When WWII broke out, he served four-years operating behind enemy lines at Guadalcanal, and during the closing days of the war he crossed the Rhine with General Patton. McGovern was a very intelligent man and could speak 17 languages. Here are a few of the other professions he dabbled in: He was a professor at Northwestern University, an anthropologist, a journalist, lecturer, military strategist, plus the author of several books. And it is reputed that he was the inspiration for the character Indiana Jones. All I can say is what a life! The seven men I’ve listed above are great adventurers, however they aren’t household names like the Lewis & Clark’s or the Marco Polo’s of the world, but great adventurists who lived life to the fullest none the less.

Who are some of your favorite adventurers? What is their claim to fame?

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