Nowadays, women sail alone around the world. They bicycle across continents. They travel into space. But this kind of female adventure was almost unheard of centuries ago. Back then, women were expected to stay at home and raise families. That, however, didn't stop some women from taking off and blazing trails.Take Jeanne Baret $(1740-1807).$ She was a French scientist who studied plants. And she was the first woman to sail around the globe. In December $1766,$ several French scientists were invited to join a voyage. They were all men. Baret wasn't allowed to go because of a royal rule that said women couldn't travel on French navy ships. So$,$ Baret disguised herself as a man and sailed away!During the journey, Baret helped collect over $6,000$ types of plants.England's Lady Hester Stanhope $(1776-1839)$ also lived life her way. She acted in ways that women rarely if ever did. She traveled throughout the Middle East by herself, for example. During her lifetime, Stanhope did something only men had done up until then. She arranged an archaeological dig in the Middle East. The Turkish government gave her permission to dig in Ashkelon. This was an ancient city. Astonishing treasures were supposedly buried there. The Turks didn't often allow Westerners to dig in Ashkelon. But Stanhope was a convincing woman.Nellie Bly $(1864-1922)$ was one of the nation's leading journalists, male or female, of her time. And at the time, almost all journalists were male. In $1887,$ Bly$\text{'}$s boss challenged her to write a news report about the hidden problems at a mental hospital in New York. Bly disguised herself as a mentally ill patient for ten days. Afterwards, she wrote a disturbing six$-$part series. It made her famous. And it led the way for other female reporters.Two years later, Bly$\text{'}$s taste for adventure kicked into high gear. She had read Jules Verne's $1873$ novel, Around the World in $80$ Days. In the book, a man accepts a challenge to travel the globe in $80$ days. Bly wanted to beat this fictional record. And she did! She finished the trip in just $72$ days and set a world record.Three women, three lives packed with adventure. And each of them lived life exactly the way they wanted to live it$,$ not the way they were expected to$.$