Trui & Gaea – Powerful Women: what kicks them into the world?

"Why do we leave this loveliest country in the world? What urges us to go east on desert roads?" wrote Annemarie Schwarzenbach in 1939 before she left Switzerland and headed for Afganistan.

Throughout history, women have travelled the world, each for their own reasons and from very different backgrounds. They crossed deserts, climbed mountains, dressed in men's clothes, kicked off prejudices at home and on their way, led expeditions, became monks. From some we know hardly anything, others left archives and books behind and became world-famous - although sometimes posthumously. Throughout time, women have always travelled. Even now we find women in the most impossible corners of the world, as a doctor, photographer or motor traveller.

What kicks women into the world? What drove them back then, what drives them now? What awaits women when they have the guts, like men, to stick their noses into some strange continent? And does it actually make a difference, that thing called gender?

Gaea Schoeters (author, playwright, director, journalist) and Trui Hanoulle (graphic designer, photographer) travelled together and separately, long and short, in a variety of ways. They share a lot, including motorbikes and a special interest in ex-Soviet and Islamic countries. One of their longest travels was turned into the colourful travel book 'Meisjes, Moslims en Motoren' (Girls, Muslims & Motorcycles).

Gaea and Trui give their own personal views on travelling and womanhood, both in the world of their predecessors and nowadays.