Travel Inspiring Quotes by Female Authors

I’ve already done the male version of this, so now it’s time to let my feminist heart soar.  Not only do quotes about travel make me want to go out and see the world, but they reaffirm my reasons for traveling.  Which are to broaden my knowledge of cultures and customs, to be independent and find my own way, and to write about all I experience.  There have of course been many before me who have paved the way, and I’m forever grateful for their inspiration and words of wisdom.  Below are my five favorite travel inspiring quotes by fellow female adventurers:

1. “I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it.  To look at it.  To try to get the picture.  To live recklessly.  To take chances.  To make your own work and take pride in it.” – Joan Didion. I love JD.  She’s a marvelous writer and an inspiration to women everywhere.  This quote is a great reminder to do more than just move mindlessly from day to day.
   
2. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”- Maya Angelou.  Travel can turn stereotypes and prejudices on their heads, and help the traveler understand new cultures and customs.  Maya Angelou perfectly captures that magic in this quote.

   

3. “Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women” – Nora Ephron.  You don’t always have to be perfect, made-up and on your best behavior.  This quote embodies what it’s like to be a woman on the road.  Be daring, be rebellious and do you – love, Ms. Ephron.  
   
4. “If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” – Jane Austen.  This quote feels personal to me, as I’m from such a small town. Growing up where I did, I never would have dreamed I would have had the experiences that I’ve had.  This quote is a call to action to anybody who’s immediate realm  seems  minuscule compared to the great, wide world out there.
   
5. “I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy’.” – Sylvia Plath.  Ms. Plath was such an amazing writer and poet, and each of her lines resonates with many of her readers.  This quote perfectly describes the feeling I get each time I arrive in a new destination and take it in for the first time.
   

What are your favorite travel inspiring quotes? What author has inspired you most?