I have a lot of respect for women who travel alone. And even more if they are slumming it.
Dervla Murphy is probably one of the OGs. An Irish travel writer, she has hiked or biked across many places in the Global South. In this book, Murphy documents her walking journey across the length of Ethiopia from Misswah to Addis Ababa. On the way, along with her mule, she will hike the Simien mountains, dry terrain of the Lasta region, passing farmlands, villages and big cities. Nights are often spent in communal huts and depend entirely on the kindness of strangers. As an androgynous white woman, she often causes some confusion upon her arrival, but almost always finds shelter and food, sometimes the only thing they have left remaining.
“The hospitality of the highlanders is a formal, almost religious duty. To them, the traveler is not an intruder, but a ‘guest of God’—a concept that makes the European feel both humbled and profoundly safe in the midst of a wilderness.”
Being white is mostly a privilege in her travels and only rarely a curse . She sticks out on the road and is robbed more than once, but also receives sincere help from the local police who are keen on preserving the reputation of Ethiopia in the eyes of foreigners. I am not entirely sure they would have shown the same enthusiasm for justice for the locals. Her privilege takes her all the way to see the royalty through her connections in the Embassy.
But Murphy is nothing if not self-aware. She is always grateful for life-saving help, but disdains all the attention and often wishes she were left alone to experience the country . Her observations about the landscape, people, and the local culture are informed by historical context, sharpness, and generous. And her tenacity as she crosses rivers, cliffs, and mountains in solitude makes you want to pick up your backpack and hit the trail (with or without a four-legged companion).
