Heroines Throughout the Ages | Travel + Leisure
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Heroines Throughout the Ages

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For more than a century, women have been pioneers in the world of travel. Here, just a few of the accomplishments of female adventurers—and the innovations that have kept their trips stylish and wrinkle-free.

1892
Isabella Bird is one of the first women admitted to the Royal Geographical Society. She traversed the world solo and felt happiest on horseback or in a log cabin, far from city life.

1902
Having won the hearts and appetites of royalty as a master of French cuisine, Rosa Lewis, the daughter of London tradespeople, buys a hotel of her own. The Cavendish, on Jermyn Street, remains in business to this day.

1925
Margaret Mead heads to Samoa to study a little-known tribal group. She had never been on a ship, visited a foreign country, or stayed in a hotel by herself. In Samoa, she will live alone in a hut for almost a year.

1927
The Barbizon Hotel opens in New York, becoming one of the first urban residences to cater to women. Tenants must abide by strict codes of conduct and dress, and no men are allowed above the lobby floor.

1928
Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across the Atlantic (flight time: 20 hours and 40 minutes). Four years later, she will make the journey solo, opening the cockpit door for aspiring female pilots.

1953
DuPont begins commercial production of polyester fabric. Wash-and-wear becomes a household phrase and wrinkle-free travel is the name of the game.

1955
After marital tiffs, Lucy and Ethel head to Palm Springs for a holiday sans husbands, where they swoon over Rock Hudson.

1962
The portable blow-dryer is invented. Although a far cry from what's used today, those with wet hair and big rollers rejoice.

1975
Junko Tabei of Japan reaches the top of Mount Everest—the first woman to do so—just 22 years after Sir Edmund Hillary made the climb.

1982
The Go-Go's, an all-female group, release their catchy tune "Vacation"—which becomes the sound track for girls on the go everywhere.

1991
Thelma and Louise, a tale of two feminist road-trippers wreaking havoc on the open highway, debuts in theaters.

2003
In-flight fashion takes off when Kate Spade becomes the first top female designer to create flight attendant uniforms for a major airline—Song, Delta's low-cost carrier.
—Hillary Geronemus

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