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" />I’m a big fan of reading travel books, magazines and blogs. I scan the travel supplement of the Sunday newspaper every weekend reading about new and exotic travel places to seek adventure. I get excited reading about a place and then visiting it for the first time filling up my sensory organs with new smells, tastes, sounds, sights and sensations. It really is one of life’s rewards.
One of the books that I was recently sent to review was a Lonely Planet edition called “In Her Footsteps” that details where and when trailblazing women changed the world. It’s basically a travel guide of where women made groundbreaking history in their fields of expertise.
The travel guide, come encyclopedia of trailblazing women, is empowering considering that some of these women existed many centuries before us. If anything it opens your eyes up to how great women in history have impacted on where we stand as women of today. In some cases women put their bodies on the line to achieve the vote, gain sexual equality and receive recognition in their chosen art or expertise.
An example of the book layout
The book is divided into four sections:
Nancy Bird Walton
Each female trailblazer that has made an imprint on our lives is given a short biography and describes where in the world you may find monuments or landmarks where they lived or worked. In the preface to the book it is described as “an alternative travel guide to the world: one which documents the impact of incredible women from all walks of life.” There are women of all genres, including Indigenous people, chanteuses, suffragettes, athletes, environmentalists, spies, pirates, queens, aviators, adventurers, scientists and activists.
Of particular interest to me were Australian women that earned a mention in the book. Here is a list of them and where you can visit to see where they made a difference:
At the end of each chapter there are also some lists, including:
I found “In Her Footsteps” book to be incredibly interesting and educational. There were women’s names in the book that I’d never heard of. It made me extremely proud to learn about their lives and how they unselfishly held fast to their ideals and ultimately changed the world. Many women have been overlooked for too long so it was refreshing to read a book that celebrates some of our household names, and other not so well known female trailblazers.
It’s also opened up a whole new selection of bucket list items of places in the world that I would now love to see! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel the world seeking out these important landmarks?
The first edition book is hardcover with 287 pages that are easy to read, and then to put the back down, to be picked up at a later date. It would make a perfect coffee table book and interesting conversation piece with friends. You can purchase the book for around $35 AUD (Dymocks), at some of the good bookstores in Australia or online at Booktopia or Amazon.
Kathy was a 50 something year old when she started up this blog 6 years ago, but has since turned over another decade and is now in her early 60s. She is married with two adult children and lives on the Tweed Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Kathy enjoys living life to the fullest and loves to keep fit and active by maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Some of her interests include reading, photography, travelling, cooking and blogging! Kathy works part-time as a freelance writer but her real passion is travelling and photographing brilliant destinations both within Australia and overseas and writing about it.