St Bona

Just about every occupation and profession has its patron saint, and travel hostesses are no exception. Their heavenly representative is St Bona, who lived from around 1155 to 1207.

As a young woman, Bona served the church of St Martin in Pisa, Italy as a member of the Canons Regular of St Augustine. She had a vision in which she was told to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which she proceeded to do.

During her travels she met a hermit who gave her a list of places that she must visit before returning to Pisa. However, while on the road she was attacked and molested. Although she survived, the episode somewhat dimmed her appetite for travel and she spent the rest of her life as a virtual recluse, apart from two further pilgrimages – to Rome and to Santiago di Compostela.

And that, apparently, was enough to qualify her for sainthood and the task of looking after the interests of women who travel further in a week than she did in a lifetime.

© John Welford