Jacki Hill-Murphy has spent the last 10 years researching female explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries and recreating their expeditions.
She does so as faithfully as possible, at the same time of year with similar forms of transport where possible.
This episode is a little different to the others, because as well as the incredible adventures and journeys Jacki goes on, part of the fascination for me was in the stories of these women. In an era where they had almost no rights of their own; were expected to marry; wear dresses and corsets, they decided to take on arduous, dangerous journeys with very little experience.
In this chat, we discuss how she got into this fascinating field, what she has learned about these women and their discoveries. We also discuss what she thinks they can teach the 21st century woman about adventure.
A lot of the chat, however, is good old rip-roaring adventures of the Victorian era, where a few intrepid women struck out on their own for myriad reasons and recorded their journeys, their near-death experiences and the cultures they discovered.
Towards the end, I discover how Jacki is also helping adults who were brought up in care to discover the great outdoors to aid their mental health – www.undertheskyevents.org - and how she supports a women’s charity in Bristol that helps victims of domestic abuse. www.womankindbristol.org.uk
Jacki has written three books on the subject of female explorers, two are available on her website, www.jackihill-murphy.co.uk, and the third will be published in February 2021.
You can follow Jacki on Twitter on @jackihillmurphy