David-Neel already had a passion for travel in her youth. She travelled through many european countries and wrote travel guide books. She was also active in anarchist and feminist circles all over Europe. At 21 she converted to buddhism and later travelled to India, where among other things she learned Sanskrit. From the ages 27 to 36 she worked as an opera singer and writer.
In 1911, at the age of 42, she set off on her longest journey to India and Tibet. She met the 13th Dalai Lamai in India and became fluent in Tibetan. The next years were spent in a buddhist monastery in India studying with several buddhist teachers. In 1916 she began her Journey to Tibet, entering which was at the time forbidden for foreigners. Still she managed to study buddhist scripts at the tempels and had an audience with the Panchen Lama. Upon her return to India the british authorities informed her that she was to be deported for violating the ban. Instead of going back to France, she travelled on to Japan, where she again spent time meeting with and learning from buddhist philosophers.
In 1924 she again entered Tibet, this time disguised as a beggar monk. Since she was travelling illegally, she mostly moved at night. She recounts fending off robbers and highwaymen by reciting songs or poems in her native language, French. Together with her unfamiliar European looks, that convinced the often very superstitious Tibetan robbers that she was a witch and to better not mess with her. In case that didn't work she was carrying a gun. She reached Lhasa as the first European woman the same year. She mingled with the crowd of worshipers and celebrated the Monlam Prayer Festival. She managed to stay for two month before she was discovered and had to leave. After 13 years in Asia, she decided to return to her home country.
In May 1925 David-Neel finally arrived back home in France. She wrote the book "My journey to Lhasa" and bought a house, which she turned into a buddhist temple that she called "Samten-Dzong" or "fortress of meditation".
In 1937, age 69, she again travelled to China to study buddhist scriptures. Again she also visited Tibet, studying scriptures at various temples. She returned back to France in 1946 at age 78. She went on to publish several books about buddhism and translated many buddhist scriptures from Tibetan to French.
In 1956 she went to stay with a friend in Monaco where she died in in 1969, one month before her 101st birthday.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_David-N%C3%A9el
https://himajomo.com/the-life-and-legacy-of-alexandra-david-neel/
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240313-trailblazing-journey-forbidden-city-of-lhasa
https://womeninexploration.org/timeline/alexandra-david-neel/
Sorry, I hit the wrong button and didn't realise I hit anything..