• Zheng He, the eunuch who commanded the treasure fleet of the 'new' silk road
  • Richard F. Burton: the 'amateur barbarian' who scandalized England
  • Erik the Red: the man who colonized Greenland and saw green meadows

« Brain, beauty and pants . World tour offer for a lucky young woman who wants to join an expedition to Asia, Africa ... ». So ran a newspaper advertisement published in France in 1922, signed by a certain Captain Walter Wanderwell, which captivated Idris Welsh's imagination and desire for adventure. That tall, blonde and rebellious teenager who had ambitions to explore the world beyond the walls of the religious school she attended in Nice, would thus embark on the first great adventure of the many that she undertook throughout her life.

Born in Winnipeg (Canada) at the dawn of the 20th century, Idris was the daughter of a British Army Reserve officer, killed on the Ypres battlefield during the Great War. Her mother lived on a small pension, so the intrepid Idris saw that advertisement as the best way to escape the rigid discipline of the nun's college and earn some money to guarantee a livelihood for her mother and sister. Thus she ended up being part of the team of professional adventurer and former Polish soldier of fortune Valerian Johannes Pieczynski, alias Walter Wanderwell. After exploring Siberia, the Amazon and the Sahara, Pieczynski ended up in the United States, where she changed her name to something flashy that Americans could pronounce without choking.

Imprisoned during World War I by the American authorities, who suspected that he was a German spy, Wanderwell was released in 1918. Shortly after, he launched what was to be his chance to redeem himself and the great undertaking of his life: the Million Dollar Bet. dollars , an endurance race around the world between two teams on board two separate Model T Ford .

The race was a publicity stunt by the American motor giant, but also a traveling campaign in favor of a global unified police capable of keeping the peace, as well as an effective way to finance future trips by selling brochures, giving talks and showing filmed and edited films. on the progress.

In 1922, when Idris responded to the advertisement in the Paris Herald, he intended "to make life as in novels, to be and go where emotion fills the days," as his admired Joseph Conrad wrote. Captain Wanderwell was planning to tour Europe and desperately needed a new French-speaking team member, as well as an attractive face to get the attention of the press. Idris was a perfect fit for the vacant position and, after their first and fruitful meeting, she changed her name to Aloha Wanderwell, acting as secretary, mechanic, pilot, translator and the main attraction on a world tour that would last until 1927.

Thus, he managed to emulate the feats of pioneers such as Annie Londonderry, who went around the world on a bicycle in 1895, or Anita King, a silent film star who in 1915 toured the United States alone driving a car. Aloha became the first woman to go around the globe by car , beginning and ending her journey in Nice after having crossed 43 countries on four continents.

The Wanderwell expedition traveled through the Italy of Mussolini and the Black Shirts, crossed the French battlefields, passed through Spain and camped at the foot of the Great Sphinx of Egypt, crossed the nonexistent roads of India, faced the monsoons in Malaysia ... The most complete catalog of his adventures is found in his memoirs, Call to Adventure , where he gave free rein to his passion for writing. Gasoline shortages and breakdowns were a constant problem, so she was forced to use mashed bananas and animal fat to power her battered Model-T. He almost died of thirst in the Sudanese desert , disguised himself as a man and prayed in Mecca ... More adventures? In Indochina she narrowly escaped a stampede of angry elephants, she served as a spy for the French Foreign Legion ...

Aloha was also a pioneer as a documentary maker, shooting travel diaries with her husband and two children as they explored the world. The best remaining example of her contribution to the genre is the footage she shot in the Mato Grosso region of the Amazon basin.

The plane in which they were traveling crashed in the middle of the jungle and, while Walter returned to civilization to obtain spare parts and a rescue team, Aloha stayed with the natives to document the way of life and ancestral customs of the Bororo tribe, a piece of great anthropological value.

In the last years of her centennial life, the tenacious explorer was in charge of taking care of and polishing her valuable collection of films, newspapers and objects obtained in her various journeys around the world, distributing them to various museums and educational institutions in the United States until her death in 1996 .

This is how the woman who "never ever asked permission for anything" said goodbye, with hundreds of thousands of kilometers behind her and the unofficial title of "most traveled girl in the world."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Cars
  • history
  • culture

Dear comrades (1) Javier Pradera at the PCE: here the jokes are made by Carrillo

HistoryThe golden age of air hijackings: "Take this plane to Havana"

History Jorge Rafael Videla: the dictator that nobody knew anything about, never

See links of interest

  • Last News
  • English translator
  • TV programming
  • Quixote
  • Work calendar
  • Daily horoscope
  • Santander League Standings
  • League schedule
  • Movies TV
  • Topics