Ida Pfeiffer sailed on rivers, lakes, seas and oceans all over the world, and she did so in every possible means: brigs, sailing ships, sloops, sloops, packet boat, schooners, gunboats and steamboats for the longer voyages, and in boats, junks, sampans, praus and canoes for the shorter ones. The total of her voyages lasted a little over ten years, of which she spent a little more than three years on board, some eleven hundred days in all.
Ida went aboard more than 140 vessels, mostly steamships (more than 100), but also sailing ships (about 20). By her own admission, she took the sailing ships because of the cheaper fares, but also because many of the less commercial routes were not yet covered by steamers, a means of transport which had only been in existence for twenty years when Ida began her voyages. The following table lists the longest voyages she made on sailing ships and the duration of those voyages.
In contrast to these voyages by sailing ships, the steamship voyages greatly reduced the travel time and, for example, it took eight days from Alexandria to Valletta; ten days from Singapore to Galla (Ceylon); fifteen days from Bombay to Bushehr (Iran, southwest of the Persian Gulf); fourteen days from San Francisco to Panama; two days from New York to Liverpool or three days from Cape Town to Saint-Denis (Ile de Bourbon).
The complete list of boats that she caught, the nationality and name of the captain, the dates of the trip, the route and the type of passage (paid or free), is found in the following link: