Voyage d'une femme autour du monde

Ida Pfeiffer was born into a conventional Viennese household, yet from childhood she felt the pull of distant horizons. While caring for her family, she devoured travel tales and dreamed of swapping the quiet of a parlor for the roar of the open road. When widowed and alone, she turned those fantasies into a plan, using years of careful saving to fund an unprecedented series of journeys that defied the expectations of a woman in the mid‑nineteenth century.

Her first expedition took her from the bustling ports of Hamburg to the tropical heat of Rio de Janeiro, then southward past the treacherous Cape Horn to the Pacific coasts of South America and onward to Asia. Along the way she trekked across the deserts of Syria, braved the icy winds of Scandinavia, and navigated the bustling markets of Canton. With unshakable curiosity and a steady resolve, she pressed on, documenting the people, landscapes, and customs she encountered long before the world became easily reachable.