Isabella Bird was born in Boroughbridge, England. Due to her father’s work as a priest, her family frequently moved, so her parents home-schooled her, teaching her botany, flora, and much general knowledge. Bird became an avid reader and writer and published her first essay at 16, discussing free trade versus protectionism. Since she was little, Bird suffered from various illnesses, including a spinal complaint, insomnia, and nervous headaches. To improve her health, she spent most of her time outdoors, learning to ride and row, skills that became helpful later in her life. After spine surgery at 23, she embarked on her first voyage to Canada and the US to strengthen her health. The letters she wrote on this trip became the basis of her first book, An Englishwoman in America, published in 1856. Following her father’s death in 1858, Bird moved to Edinburgh with her mother and sister. During the next decade, she wrote about her experiences in North America, publishing two more books and several articles. In 1872, at 41, Bird left the UK, this time to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. She compiled her adventures in the book Six Months In The Sandwich Islands, published in 1875. From there, she continued to Colorado, traveling 800 miles on a horse in the Rocky Mountains. Afterward, she published her letters to her sister in The Leisure Hour magazine and incorporated them into her bestseller book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879). After a short stay in Edinburgh, she packed her bags and left for Japan, where she lived with the Ainu tribe, and wrote about it in the 1880 book Unbeaten Tracks in Japan. Then, she traveled to Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, the Malay Peninsula, Egypt, and the Sinai Peninsula, where she contracted typhoid fever and returned to Scotland to recover. In 1881, Bird married Dr. John Bishop, ten years her junior; sadly, he died only five years later. Bird decided to devote her life to medical missions. In 1886, after studying medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, she joined the missionary cause, and at 58, she began her journey to India via Turkey, Kurdistan, and Persia. That was the first trip in which Bird began to document her experiences by image, taking photos of the places she visited and the people she met and publishing the pictures with her writings. In India, Bird worked with the renowned medical missionary Fanny Jane Butler and founded the Henrietta Bird Hospital for Women in Punjab and the John Bishop Memorial Centre in Cashmere. By then, Bird’s recording of her extensive traveling made her a household name. Her writing style was accessible and entertaining, crafting her personal experiences relatable to all and making her readers feel like they were traveling with her. In 1890, at 59, Bird became a fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and the following year, she made history as the first woman elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Later, she was also appointed a member of the Royal Photographic Society. In 1897, at 66, she traveled through China and Korea, publishing her encounters in the 1899 book The Yangtze Valley and Beyond. Bird’s final journey was to Morocco in 1900, where she joined the Berbers for a few months. Not long after her return, Bird fell ill. She died in her home in Edinburgh at the age of 73. Read more...