Aloha Wanderwell
| Aloha Wanderwell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Idris Galcia Welsh 13 October 1906 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Died | 4 June 1996 (aged 89) Newport Beach, California |
| Nationality | Canadian/American |
| Other names | Idris Welsh, Idris Hall, Gilvis Wanderwell, Aloha Wanderwell, Aloha W Baker |
| Occupation | World Automobile Traveler, Filmmaker, Aviatrix, Author, Explorer, Travel lecturer, editor, screen writer, radio performer, spoke 11 languages |
| Known for | First woman to circle the world in an automobile, starting at 16 |
| Spouse(s) | Walter Wanderwell (m. 1925) Walter Baker (m. 1933) |
| Children | Valerie (b. 1925) Nile (b. 1927) |
Aloha Wanderwell® (born Idris Welsh; 13 October 1906 – 4 June 1996) born in Canada, and at an early age becoming an American internationalist, explorer, author, filmmaker and aviatrix. While still a teenager, she joined an expedition to travel across the world by Ford 1918 Model T, 1930 Model A, and 1935 Touring Sedan, all Fords. Aloha began her adventuring career when she met her traveling companion, Walter "Cap" Wanderwell, in 1922. They married in 1925 and had two children as they continued to travel the world, Aloha performed on stage doing travel lectures while next to her, a silent movie "Car and Camera Around the World", played. The Wanderwells recorded their world journeys on 35mm nitrate and 16mm film, which all reside in the vaults at The Academy Film Archives, Hollywood, California USA. While stranded in Brazil, she lived among the Bororo people and recorded the earliest film documentation of them for 6 weeks. In 1932, her husband was shot and killed on his yacht Carma in Long Beach, California. Aloha later married Walter Baker and continued her travels, ultimately visiting over 80 countries and six continents, and driving over 500,000 miles all in Fords.
Idris Galcia Welsh was born on 13 October 1906 in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Margaret Headley and Robert Welsh. In 1909, her mother married Herbert Hall, and her name was changed to Idris Hall. Her step-father was a developer and rancher on Vancouver Island and the family lived in Parksville and Duncan. In 1914, at the start of the First World War, her step-father joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and after arriving in England was transferred to the British Army and made a lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry. The family (Idris, her sister Margret "Miki" Hall, and their mother) followed him to Europe, where they traveled around England, Belgium, and France. In June 1917, Herbert Hall was killed in combat in Ypres, Belgium.
Hoping to tame Idris's tomboyish tendencies, her mother sent her to boarding schools, first to Benedictine Soeurs du Saint-Sacrement in Courtrai, Belgium, later to Chateau Neuf in Nice.
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