History's Biggest Travel Divas: Fanny Trollope, Empress Dowager Cixi, and Alice Roosevelt

From Fanny Trollope's war on American manners to Alice Roosevelt's pet snake to the Empress Dowager Cixi's private theme park: a travel history of women who refused to behave. Every traveller knows one. You might be one. The person who sends the steak back twice, requests a different hotel room because the view isn't quite right, and has opinions about thread count that they're not afraid to share with the concierge at volume. But is it always a fair label? Are Divas difficult? Demanding? Or are they a woman who refuses to travel on somebody else's terms? We discuss. Fanny Trollope: The Woman Who Hated America (And wrote a bestseller all about it) In 1827, Frances "Fanny" Trollope was nearly broke, pushing 50, and raising five children plus a husband going mad on his own mercury cures. So naturally she decided to sail to America to join a utopian commune in Tennessee. By 1831, she was over the American experience and moved back to England to write a caustic book of her travels which earned her the name "Old Madam Vinegar." It was a smash hit. Empress Dowager Cixi: The Woman Who Built Her Own Theme Park The de facto ruler of China from 1861 to 1908 spent a dynasty's fortune rebuilding the world in her back yard. Landscapes. Temples. Famous vistas. Unfortunately, events would force this reluctant traveller to leave her theme park world behind. Alice Roosevelt Longworth: The Woman Who Simply Did Not Care WHAT You Think Teddy Roosevelt put his eldest daughter on a diplomatic ship to Asia in 1905, probably because he needed a break. She jumped fully clothed into the swimming pool, learned the hula in Hawaii, carried a pet snake named Emily Spinach in her handbag, and slid down a banister at the Korean royal court. We also share some of our own encounters with diva behaviour from years of leading trips and running a luxury travel company. To sign up for regular updates or to become a member of the By Their Own Compass Club and get bonus content, transcripts, research notes, and reading lists for each episode, visit bytheirowncompass.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bytheirowncompass.substack.com/subscribe