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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · 10d

Today is the birthday of explorer Ann Bancroft, born 1955. First woman to reach both North and South Poles on foot. Walked through conditions that would kill most of us in about 90 minutes. Decided sitting still was for people without frostbite goals. An absolute travel legend.

By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · 14d

William Adams didn’t set out to become the first Englishman in Japan, a confidant of a warlord, or the inspiration for James Clavell’s Shōgun. It just all rather happened.

Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:

bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...

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Jeremiah Jenne @jeremiahjenne.com · 15d

After years teaching and leading educational travel in Asia, I moved to Geneva and had an existential crisis about medieval Swiss politics. What I learned about communication after 20+ years of making history interesting to strangers:

open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...

The Three Pillars of Great Guiding

Studying a lot of facts is important, but so is the ability to curate that information and deliver a compelling narrative.

open.substack.com

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · 17d

Junko Tabei would be 86 today. First woman up Everest, but she didn't stop there. Climbed the Seven Summits, cleaned up mountains, took tsunami survivors up Fuji. There's literally an asteroid named after her. "Do not give up. Keep on your quest." What a life.

By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · 20d

This week's Compass Dispatch includes observations from Sicily on the intersection of film tourism and historical reality. The Godfather locations reveal how Hollywood mythology can overshadow complex local histories.

Also mosquitoes.

bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · 27d

Pest is your great-aunt who started vaping at age 68 and still outdrinks rugby players at her local. Buda is the great-aunt who summers in Margate with her cats and her collection of Royal Worcester. We picked a side.

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

Compass Dispatches: Budapest

A brief missive from the banks of the Danube, where your correspondents contemplate the fine art of graceful deterioration

open.substack.com

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Sep 5

From Hannibal's elephants to Viking logs worth more than stone houses, sometimes the best historical records weren't written with ink.

Read more in this edition of our Compass Dispatches Newsletter, a digest about historical travel and historical travelers.

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Sep 5

Every traveler shares one universal experience, regardless of era: digestive challenges far from home. Our latest newsletter dives into how archaeologists track ancient journeys through the "evidence" left behind. (1/2)

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jul 31

Co-host Jeremiah is on holiday in his homeland, and we offer some thoughts on that most American of travel institutions: The Interstate Highway System. Infrastructure designed for Cold War logistics, now fully weaponized for family vacations.

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jul 24

From horses to moon landings in 75 years. Meanwhile, it still takes 4 hours to get to Brighton via the M25 on a Friday afternoon. Progress is relative. 🚀

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jul 15

July 15 is the birthday of Chinese scholar and geographer Gu Yanwu (1613-1682). When the Ming dynasty fell in 1644, rather than serve the new Manchu conquerors, Gu Yanwu chose early retirement and a life of study and travel throughout northern China.

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jun 24

Henry Dunant's unsuccessful business trip to Solferino on June 24, 1859, inspired the founding of the International Red Cross. How a traumatic travel experience ultimately saved millions of lives.

#ThisDateinHistory #RedCross #HenryDunant #ICRC #BattleofSolferino

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

Compass Dispatch: How One Man's Terrible Business Trip Inspired the Red Cross

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Solferino

open.substack.com

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Alan Owlport 🦉 🎃 @alanallport.bsky.social · Jun 20

It’s 50 years today that Jaws was released.

Here’s the USS Indianapolis speech which (I believe anyway) Robert Shaw mostly improvised.

It gets a few of the factual details wrong. But in terms of history as storytelling it remains utterly compelling.

youtu.be/4kmMwQ6i6TU

USS Indianapolis Scene | JAWS (1975) Movie CLIP HD

YouTube video by JoBlo Movie Clips

youtu.be

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jun 20

We’re not only about Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. We also do the impact of famous beach movies on the travel industry, plus BONUS explorations of our co-host’s childhood traumas. Enjoy!

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

Compass Dispatch: Jaws at 50

How the first summer movie blockbuster changed beach travel forever

open.substack.com

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jun 13

It’s the 700th anniversary of one of history’s wildest adventures. By Their Own Compass Co-host @jeremiahjenne.com recaps the incredible story of Ibn Battutah.

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Jun 6

On this day in 1868, Robert Falcon Scott was born. His race to the South Pole with Amundsen became a lesson in how local knowledge and planning (like dogs and skis) can be the difference between triumph and tragedy.

bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...

Compass Dispatch: Polar Exploration Special – When Getting Lost Becomes Legendary

News from the world of historical travel and past journeys for June 3-10, 2025

bytheirowncompass.substack.com

By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · May 27

Our weekly newsletter from the archives of travel history, notes about historical travelers, and other random travel-related thoughts jotted down while waiting at the intersection of distance and time.

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

Compass Dispatches: Brexit Queues soon to be a thing of the past? Exploring the world without leaving your house, and the joys of (nearly) instant communication

Thoughts and notes from around the world of historical travel (and travel history)

open.substack.com

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Jeremiah Jenne @jeremiahjenne.com · May 20

"They weren't stowaways. They didn't dress as women." Steven Schwankert joins us to discuss his book 'The Six' about the Chinese Titanic survivors. A detective story spanning continents, challenging misinformation, and reclaiming erased history. #Titanic #TheSix

blubrry.com/barbarians/1...

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · May 16

Our weekly roundup of history, travel, and things that made us chuckle over the past week.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · May 9

Compass Dispatches: An overlooked Italian city (impossible, but true), travel stories that connect generations, and the anniversary of the "Golden Spike"
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

Compass Dispatches: An overlooked Italian city (impossible, but true), Travel stories that connect generations, and the anniversary of the "Golden Spike"

Thoughts and notes from around the world of historical travel (and travel history)

open.substack.com

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Reposted by By Their Own Compass

Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · May 5

Hong Kong, late 1950s (from the Filipino movie The Scavengers, 1959)….

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · May 2

On this day in 1969, the iconic QE2 set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. After 39 years of service, 806 transatlantic crossings, and carrying 2.5 million passengers, she now serves as a floating hotel in Dubai. #QE2Anniversary #TravelHistory

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · May 1

Compass Dispatches: Historical Castaways, Archaeological Digs, and Modern Travel Chaos You'll Be Glad You Only Read About

open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...

Compass Dispatches: Historical Castaways, Archaeological Digs, and Modern Travel Chaos You'll Be Glad You Only Read About

Thoughts and notes from around the world of historical travel (and travel history)

open.substack.com

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Apr 29

On This Day, April 29, 1770: Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay, Australia. This historic voyage changed Western maps forever while beginning a complex new chapter for Aboriginal peoples who had navigated these lands for 60,000 years with their own sophisticated knowledge systems.

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By Their Own Compass @bytheirowncompass.com · Apr 24

By Their Own Compass co-host Jeremiah reviews the classic expat-in-Beijing novel Peking Picnic and reflects on what it means to be a sojourner far from home.

Jeremiah Jenne @jeremiahjenne.com · Apr 24

This is one of the lessons I learned after leading and teaching in study abroad programs for many years. Those students who adjusted most easily to their new environment often reported the most significant challenges when re-integrating into their home campus after their time overseas.

China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · Apr 23

Read @jeremiahjenne.com 's archive pick, Peking Picnic by Ann Bridge:

buff.ly/q9rMSm4