Travelers and Explorers

Aleko Konstantinov (Bulgarian): Cosmopolitan traveler, was the first Bulgarian to write about his visits to Western Europe and America. His visits to the World Exhibitions of Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris, General Land Centennial Exhibition (1891) in Prague and World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 provided Bulgarian readers with a portrait of the developed world.

Alma Maximiliana Karlin (Austro-Hungarian/Yugoslavian/Slovene): Traveler from Celje, writer, poet, ethnographer, collector, polyglot and theosophist who travelled the world for 8 years. She started her travel in 24 November 1919 and finished it in January 1928, earning all the money by herself while traveling. She mastered 10 languages and wrote her own dictionary of 10 languages.

Amelia Earhart (American): First woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airplane.

Annemarie Schwarzenbach (Swiss): Writer, journalist, photographer and traveler.

Audrey Sutherland (American): Traveler, kayaker, teacher, and author.

Barbara Toy (British): Most famous for the series of books she wrote about her pioneering and solitary travels around the world in a Land Rover, undertaken in the 1950s and 1960s.

Benjamin of Tudela (Jewish, 12th century): Medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years. With his broad education and vast knowledge of languages, Benjamin of Tudela is a major figure in medieval geography and Jewish history.

Bodhisena (Tamil Indian): Buddhist scholar and monk who traveled to Japan and established the Kegon school. He first went to China, and later he traveled to Japan via Cambodia and Vietnam.

Christoph Rehage (German): Walked from Beijing to Urumqi and made a viral video about it on YouTube.

Dominick Arduin (French): Frenchwoman who disappeared in her attempt to ski to the North Pole.

Eva Dickson (Swedish): Explorer, rally driver, aviator and travel writer. She was the first woman to have crossed the Sahara desert by car.

Francis Arundell (British): Toured in exploration of Asia Minor in March to September 1826, and ventured again in 1833 upon another tour of 1,000 miles through districts the greater part of which had hitherto not been described by any European traveller, when he made an especial study of the ruins of Antioch in Pisidia.

Giacomo Casanova (Italian): Adventurer and author.

Giorgio Interiano (Genovese): Traveler, historian and ethnographer. His travelogue La vita: & sito de Zichi, chiamiti ciarcassi: historia notabile was among the first European accounts of the life and customs of the Circassian people.

Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay (British): Journalist who was the first woman to travel around the world by air, in a Zeppelin.

Guido Guerrini (Italian): First person to go from Europe to China covering the whole route by a gas-fuelled car.

Gunther Holtorf (German): Traveler who, often in company of his wife Christine, journeyed across the world in his G-Wagen Mercedes-Benz named "Otto", visiting 179 countries in 26 years.

Guru Nanak Sahib (1469 AD, Northern India): Founder of Sikh faith, travelled across all of South Asia (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan), China and Middle East (Mecca, Iraq, Turkey). He even visited Vatican City (Rome). His goal was to spread the message of peace. He is believed to have travelled more than 28,000 km in five major tours of the world during the period from 1500 to 1524.

Ibn Battuta (Medieval Moroccan Muslim): Traveler and scholar, who is widely recognised as one of the greatest travelers of all time. He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in The Rihla (lit. "Journey").

Ida Laura Pfeiffer (Austrian): Explorer, travel writer, and ethnographer. She was one of the first female travelers and her bestselling journals were translated into seven languages.

Ikechi Uko (Nigerian): Organizer of Akwaaba African Travel Market, the first international travel fair in West Africa.

Isabel Godin des Odonais (18th-century French): Woman who became separated from her husband in South America by colonial politics, and was not reunited with him until more than 20 years later. Her long journey, from western Peru to the mouth of the Amazon River, is without equal in the history of South America.

Jacob Saphir (Romanian Jewish): Meshulach and traveler of Romanian Jewish descent.

Jean Batten (New Zealand): Became the best-known New Zealander of the 1930s, internationally, by making a number of record-breaking solo flights across the world. She made the first-ever solo flight from England to New Zealand in 1936.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (17th-century French): Gem merchant and traveler.

Jeanne Baré (French): Recognized as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe.

John Henry Mears (American): Set the record for the fastest trip around the world both in 1913 and 1928. He was also a Broadway producer. On 2 July 1913, he left New York City on the RMS Mauretania, then traveled by a combination of steamers, yachts, and trains to circumnavigate the Earth.

John Maley (American): Explorer and travel writer who explored the Trans-Mississippi in the early 19th century.

Jovan Rajić (Serbian): Writer, historian, traveller, and pedagogue.

Lady Hester Stanhope (British): Socialite, adventurer and traveler. Her archaeological expedition to Ashkelon in 1815 is considered the first modern excavation in the history of Holy Land archeology.

Lyuba Kutincheva (Bulgarian, 1910–1998): Female Bulgarian traveler and polyglot who traveled for almost a decade (1929–1938) through the Middle East, Far East, northern Africa and Europe.

Margaretha Heijkenskjöld (Swedish): Traveler and a dress reformer. She attracted a lot of attention from her contemporaries by her journeys.

Mark Twain (American): Author and traveler.

Marten Douwes Teenstra (Dutch, 17 September 1795 – 29 October 1864): Writer and traveller in South Africa and the Dutch East Indies. The account of his stay at the Cape from 12 March to 7 July 1825, De vruchten mijner werkzaamheden (fruits of my labours), was a thorough description of his trip.

Martin and Osa Johnson (American): Adventurers and documentary filmmakers.

Matas Šalčius (Lithuanian): Traveler, journalist, writer and political figure.

Nancy Bird Walton (Australian): Pioneering Australian aviator, and was the founder and patron of the Australian Women Pilots' Association.

Nellie Bly (American): Widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days.

Niccolao Manucci (Italian): Traveler and writer.

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo (Italian): Traveling merchants who engaged in two voyages.

Peter Mundy (17th-century British): Merchant trader, traveller and writer. He was the first Briton to record, in his Itinerarium Mundi ('Itinerary of the World'), tasting Chaa (tea) in China and travelled extensively in Asia, Russia and Europe.

Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch (Serbian): Artist and writer on art, world traveller, and member of the Serbian Karađorđević dynasty.

Rahul Sankrityayan (Indian): Known polymath and polyglot who travelled different parts of the world. He wrote over 100 books on different subjects and had knowledge of about 35 languages.

Renata Chlumska (Swedish/Czech): Adventurer and mountain climber with dual Swedish and Czech citizenship, she became the first Swedish and Czech woman to climb Mount Everest.

Rick Steves (American): Travel writer.

Rom Landau (Writer and traveler).

Rose de Freycinet (French): Frenchwoman who, in the company of her husband, Louis de Freycinet, sailed around the world between 1817 and 1820 on a French scientific expedition on a military ship, initially disguised as a man.

Sam Sloan (American): Chess organizer and player who has visited 78 countries in his work.

Santhosh George Kulangara (Indian/Malayali): Voyager, television producer, director, broadcaster, editor, and publisher. He is the founder and managing director of Safari TV. As of December 2023, he has explored 143 countries, and his journeys are telecast through 'Sancharam', the first travel documentary in Malayalam.

Sascha Grabow (German): Author, traveler, photographer and former ATP tennis player.

Susan Hale (American): Author, traveler and artist.

Tania Aebi (American): Completed a solo circumnavigation of the Earth in a 26-foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21, starting in May 1985, making her the first American woman and the youngest person (at the time) to sail around the world.

Therese von Lützow (Traveler).

Vladimir Lysenko (Russian): Between September 1997 and 2002, Lysenko crossed 62 countries by car. He crossed each continent (other than Antarctica) twice, traveling between the most distant points of each continent in both latitude and longitude.

Vyacheslav Krasko (Russian): Traveler, manager and professional financier with a PhD Economics. Krasko is a member of the Union of the Russian Around-the-World Travelers.

Waclaw Korabiewicz (Polish): Reporter, poet, traveler, collector of ethnographic exhibits.

Walter Evans-Wentz (Traveler and writer).

Wiebe Wakker (Dutch): Holds the world record for completing the longest ever electric car trip in the world covering a distance of about 95,000 km and visiting 33 countries.

William Eleroy Curtis (American): Journalist and diplomat who promoted Pan-Americanism, publishing many popular novels and articles with his observations of South America, Asia, and Europe.

Xuanzang (7th-century Chinese): Monk who made a seventeen year overland journey to India, returning to China with a caravan of Buddhist texts and later wrote an influential and historically significant record of his travels.

Zechariah Dhahiri (Jewish): Wrote extensively about his travels and experiences in many travel places, publishing them in a book which he called, Sefer Ha-Mūsar (The Book of Moral Instruction).

Ziryab (Medieval Islamic): Singer, oud player, composer, poet, and teacher who lived and worked in Iraq, North Africa, and Al-Andalus during the medieval Islamic period.