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Conde Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist 2024

Enriched Souls, Kinder Hearts, Open Minds, Meaningful Travel, Giving Back, Service Projects, Voluntourism

Meaningful Travel

Back from Bhutan

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Ever told yourself you just “want to escape?” To be surrounded by nature’s beauty, unblemished by our modern world? Such heavenly escape can only be found in Bhutan, the Dragon Kingdom in the valleys of the Himalayas.

Isolated from our fast-paced world, Bhutan is where tradition and culture are immaculately preserved.

 

Nature and society are one.

 

Spiritual awareness and practice permeates the land.

 

It is community that makes the Bhutanese some of the happiest people on earth. Where else can you measure GNP “Gross National Happiness“!

 

The Bhutanese believe in hospitality; they invite strangers into their humble homes, cook up a storm from the freshest organic produce grown on their farms, and engage in conversation like we are all family and old friends.

 

Their dedication to humanity is unwavering.

If you’re adventurous and wish to experience spirituality, community, and the ancient culture of the Dragon Kingdom, you will love Exploring Bhutan. 

CLICK HERE to see more pictures

National Volunteer Week

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In honor of National Volunteer Week, I’d like to acknowledge the amazing ways in which people throughout our Nation give their time, money and expertise for the benefit of local and global communities and organizations.

As a Voluntourism specialist, I often work with people who share my passion for volunteering throughout the year and specifically during their vacations. Being able to inspire, recognize and encourage people to engage in their own communities and the global communities they visit is an honor and a real privilege.

I’m always humbled by the stories I share of people giving whole heartedly to make a difference.

Today, I’d like to share from JG Black Book’s Black Blog of Travel, the story of Andy Booth who started ABOUTAsia Travel and ABOUTAsia Schools.

  

     

ABOUTAsia Schools: How It All Began

 

At JG Black Book, we see travel as the ultimate means of discovering our individual roles as citizens of this beautiful world. From Europe to Asia and South America, our partners are the catalysts through which travelers connect with another culture, providing guests a heavenly home base from which to explore and absorb.

ABOUTAsia Travel, a South East Asian tour company and member of the JG Black Book Collection, is the epitome of that vision, encouraging travelers to leave their mark and give back to the locals they meet, photograph, laugh and eat with.

ABOUTAsia began when Andy Booth, a former investment banker from the UK, travelled to Angkor Wat 10 years ago, learning that the local community only benefited marginally from tourism and that most of the revenue remained within the hospitality industry.

Determined to make a difference, Booth moved to Siem Reap and dedicated himself to turning tourist dollars into funding for local education, resulting in the establishment of ABOUTAsia Travel. He then ensured that 100% of its profits would go towards ABOUTAsia Schools, a progressive non-profit organization that provides immediate targeted aid to Cambodian children and schools by acquiring school supplies, employing teachers, and recruiting volunteers.

The combined activities of ABOUTAsia Travel and ABOUTAsia Schools support the education of over 53,000 children in 108 schools in Siem Reap Province.

Today, Andy Booth shares a story to give us an up-close and personal sense of what ABOUTAsia is all ABOUT:

We got a call from a lady who runs a restaurant in Siem Reap. She said that there was something awry with the school in her village near Banteay Srei: It had been built under the Jolie-Pitt initiative but was looking a little ‘unloved’. A couple of days later we were standing in the school yard around 9am and the kids were playing all around us, happy as you like but clearly not in lessons. Eventually we got to meet the Principal of the school and we asked him if it was a special day of some sort as the children were not in lessons today. “No”, he told us, “We ran out of chalk ten days ago so there are no lessons”. Within 2 hours we had returned from town with a year’s supply of chalk and the school quickly got back to normal.

Our involvement can range from building the entire school right down to buying some boxes of chalk: The challenge is to use our limited resources and whatever it takes to make the schools work better. After we built Prey Chrouk secondary school, teachers were recruited and the school opened to initially around 540 children in grades 7, 8 and 9…For that first year we were assigned one English teacher by the department of education and he spoke almost no English. We supplemented the program with native English speaking volunteers and that is how we started running the free volunteering program which has been such a success.

Watch the video below to see how volunteers can make a difference:

VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VW1wX-CnLs

 

 

            

 

Vacations That Matter Recommends

 

In honor of National Volunteer Week

VOLUNTEER Locally or Globally

Whether at Home or on Vacation

With the Intention to Make a Difference or Pay it Forward!!!

 

Putting Grace into Action

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Can you believe it is the end of January already! I hope that all of your renewed commitments and new resolutions for 2013 are going well.

I had the pleasure of celebrating a milestone anniversary with my husband in the beautiful Napa Valley. It was a wonderful way to rejuvenate, reminisce, and think about what is important in our lives.

  

As time seems to go faster and faster with each passing year, I find myself looking for ways to capture the moments and save the memories of people and places that have made a difference in my life.

Launching Vacations That Matter has helped me put “Grace into Action,” so today I’d like to share my inspiration with you.

    

 

Putting Grace Into Action

 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”—Margaret Mead

 

An executive reads at a local school during his family vacation. A mother receives a gift of much-needed food and immediately shares it with another hungry family. An elderly man distributes sandwiches every evening to the homeless in his neighborhood park. A teen spends her vacation building houses for poor families rather than scuba-diving.   

Unlike news headlines that shout out bad news and horrific happenings, goodness often reveals itself quietly. The people doing the good work, true everyday leaders, will likely tell you, “It’s no big deal. I’m just doing my life.”

It’s true. Those who practice grace are not saints, not perfect people. And they come from all races, ages, genders, spiritual beliefs and lifestyles. They are ordinary people doing acts of extraordinary importance.

What Kathleen A. Brehony discovered in writing her book, Ordinary Grace, is that for these people, acts of kindness lead to the kind of meaning and fulfillment that makes life worth living. In other words, we make a life by what we give.

“We all make decisions about what we will emphasize as we live our lives,” Brehony says. “Whether we ‘tune in’ and open our hearts to ordinary grace or not is a personal choice.”

The grace Brehony refers to encompasses compassion, altruism and empathy—in essence, all forms of loving-kindness, or, acting with the goal of benefiting another. These are values that most of us share. And in emergencies, such as the recent hurricanes, grace is usually more prevalent.

But many people fail to bring their everyday actions in line with their beliefs and values. We have the best of intentions, but are overwhelmed by the demands of everyday life.

What makes grace come alive and enrich the lives of both giver and receiver is action. Not just caring, but acting courageously based on that caring. “Grace in action”.

“Unless our insights result in some practical action, they are not useful at all,” says the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. “With compassion, one needs to be engaged, involved.”

Grace is not just about doing good work, but also about recognizing the inherent goodness in every human being. It’s about recognizing that despite the outer trappings—the income level, social standings, education—we all want the same essential things: our basic survival needs met, dignity, a good life for our children and meaningful connection with other humans.

  

We all have hundreds of opportunities a day to either pass along a spark of grace or to pass up the opportunity, leaving the world a bit older and wearier. Brehony offers 13 steps to making a difference in your life and others’ by living grace in action. Here are some of them.

Discover what you love. What’s important in your life? What’s missing?

Be prepared for pain as well as joy. It can hurt to care. But acting on that care, participating in transforming the suffering, is nurturing.

Simplify and scale down. Where in our lives is there time for grace to enter? Learn to say no to that which is not meaningful to you.

Put belief into action. Virtues such as kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness are not intended to be lofty ideals but rather modes of behavior.

Find grace in small things. Writer Alice Walker suggests, “We have to regain our belief in the power of what is small. 

Build on your immediate, personal connections to others. What do these relationships mean to you? Can you build them into something stronger, more solid, deeper?

Model good behavior. Children learn mostly by what they see and hear.

 

 And I have to say that taking a Vacation That Matters is definitely one way of putting grace into action.

Family Vacations

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We recently celebrated our daughters 8th birthday and although she was really excited, it wasn’t as memorable as her 7th birthday which we celebrated on a short family vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Celebrating with the girls from a shelter where we volunteered for an afternoon was an experience she will cherish forever.

With summer upon us, and kids out of school, I got to thinking about Family Summer Vacations and decided to share some tips on what to do with all that togetherness. Please share any tips you may have from your family vacation experiences.

Family Vacations
What To Do With All That Togetherness 

Vacations with the family can be the best of times or the worst of times. Exploring new places together, sharing time and goofing-off for days at a stretch, meeting new people or reuniting with loving relatives — family vacations can be the best thing since summer was invented.

On the other hand, interminable plane trips, boring hotel rooms, exhausting hours together in the car, funky cabins on muddy lakes and six straight days of rain — family vacations can be difficult and stressful for adults and children.

So how can you have more of the best of times and less of the worst? Here’s a list of things to consider when planning family vacations:

1.  Watch out for great expectations. Your own and the kids’. Enjoy the surprise of the vacation as it unfolds. This doesn’t mean don’t make plans. By all means, do make plans. And include everyone in the planning. Maps, brochures, photographs, letters, share them all. Make check-lists and packing lists, too, with responsibilities for everyone.

2.  Allow plenty of time. Don’t jam-pack days or crowd too much into the trip. If you’re traveling with young children or toddlers, take short jumps instead of long leaps. If you’re driving, stop often, get out and stretch, move around. Consider picnics instead of restaurant meals.

3. Keep it simple. Don’t schedule so many activities that there’s no time for just hanging out. Build in rest-time, too. Tempers have a tendency to flare when everyone’s packed together day and night for long stretches of time. Create alone time, for you and the children. Everyone needs recharging. Remember, both boredom and over-stimulation can result in acting out. Strive for balance.

4. Choose appropriate activities based on age and interests for everyone. At Vacations That Matter, we recommend incorporating volunteer service activities.  One of the easiest connections for children is other children or support of animals. Imagine taking care of elephants in Thailand, or lion cubs in South Africa, or interacting with children of a similar age via sports or reading programs. Choose programs that will educate, inspire, and be fun for the whole family. Consider age and physical fitness requirements.

5. Choose destinations based on seasons.  The best time of year to travel  to your desired destination may not be during the hot and humid summer months. Or our summer may be their winter, so consider the weather and avoid complaints, fussing, and a miserable experience.

6. If possible, choose accommodations that are spacious and provide plenty of various age group activities with minimal safety concerns. Comfort adds greatly to your overall vacation experience. For large parties or families with small children who may spend most of their time at a pool or beach, consider All-inclusive resorts or cruises where all your meals and snacks are included. It takes the stress out of trying to please everyone & deciding where and what to eat and making reservations.

7. Take tips and advice from friends or families who have been to your desired destinations, but be aware that your family is unique, has its own opinions and feelings on things, and, therefore, requires your due diligence in selecting a program that meets your personal family needs. Consulting with a travel specialist will save you time and provide peace of mind.

8. Try to allow a day or two to re-coup before you go back to work and the children return to their routine. Coming home can be as stressful as leaving. Make homecoming part of the vacation, too.

We all want family vacations to be the best of times with everlasting memories, so consider doing something that could shape the way your children will travel for the rest of their lives. The values that may have guided you in your own life journey can be instilled in your children through Voluntourism experiences. Try it with your family and share your inspiring stories with us.

Sustainable Difference Before & After

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I hope you had a wonderful Easter/Spring Break. It’s hard to believe that we are only 9 weeks away from summer holidays.

We spent our spring break settling back into our home after a major kitchen and backyard remodel. As you would expect from any such project, we encountered the expected delays and the unexpected frustrations of broken or missing parts on appliances, minor details which took more energy than major decisions and the feeling that it’s never going to get done. But it’s been two weeks and it’s starting to feel like home again.

  

In many ways, this project reminded me of all the projects that are undertaken by organizations worldwide to support communities in need. They all require a plan, funding, a team to execute the plan, and the supporting organization to make sure that the projects move forward, get completed, and ultimately make a sustainable difference in the local communities they reach out to support. And just like any remodel, you need to be prepared for delays and unexpected situations but in the end they are well worth the effort.

In honor of April as National Volunteer Month, I’d like to share the joy of working on  various voluntourism projects over the past year. The before and after images are truely inspiring and warm my heart.

Today’s Inspiring Images 

Last summer a group of 48 of us went to Peru and worked on a couple of different projects. One of the projects supported by Free Wheelchair mission in Lima was the assembly and distribution of wheelchairs to those in need who couldn’t afford one. There is nothing more touching than to see someone immobile gain some mobility and share their tears of gratitude with you.

In Cusco, we worked on a building project through Globe Aware at the Albergue, a boarding home for orphans and children who come from villages with no access to schools. They are provided with basic needs including a primary education and opportunity to learn vocational skills.

The reality for many of these projects is that it takes much longer to complete than we would expect. This project was on hold for 2 months due to heavy rains and the progress is dependent on volunteer hours, so 10 months after we started, the roof is finally going on. They still need to complete the windows, doors, flooring, stucco, and paint before they will be ready for the children who anxiously and excitedly await their new quarters. It is good to know that we helped make a sustainable difference for these children.

Over Thanksgiving we visited South East Asia and helped distribute water filters in one of the many villages in Cambodia through the Trailblazer Foundation. The realization that we take the most basic need of clean drinkable water for granted and use it so liberally and wastefully was most impressionable on our children. To see the way of life in a typical village was educational, eye opening, and left us wanting to do more. To know that we may have made a life saving difference to these village families with a simple water filter was very fulfilling.

On Valentines Day this year, we spent a morning with family and friends along with a couple of volunteers from the Sandals Foundation, painting a trailer which is now the science lab at an elementary school in Turks & Caicos. We never imagined that it would turn out the way it did. What we gained from this experience was the realization that you don’t always have the tools and resources you are accustomed to, however, you “just make do,” improvise, and the results will surprise you.

In retrospect, every voluntourism project no matter how big or small the undertaking, has provided a sustainable difference to the community in need. The key to realizing all the benefits is giving back with your heart and not just your pocketbook. Treat each project as if it were your own house remodel, with the same inspiration, patience, effort, and vision and you’ll be sure to experience the fruits of your labor and feeling of accomplishment, success, gratitude and fulfillment.

Shoes for Hope

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If you are anything like me, you probably don’t think about how many pairs of shoes you have. Most of us probably even wear several different pairs of shoes on a daily basis. Gym shoes or tennis shoes for workouts, dress shoes, heels, or school shoes for the day, maybe a pair of flip flops or slippers after work, in the garden or around the house. Not to mention the occasional special hiking boots, snow boots, water safe shoes, soccer shoes, golf shoes, cocktail party shoes, etc. etc. And I’m not talking about people with a shoe fetish. This is just what I believe most average households and families have.

I don’t know if any of us can even image life without shoes. And yet there are millions of children around the world who don’t own a single pair of shoes. They grow up barefoot and are at risk of injury, infections, and diseases. So what can we do to help them?

barkleyWell, while I was shopping for shoes for my daughter over the weekend, we came across a pair of TOMS which she really liked and I was happy to purchase for her. I felt like I was doing something good because if you know about TOMS shoes, you know that with every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.

Purchasing TOMS shoes is only one way to help make a difference. I’d like to share the story of a dear friend of mine, Manny Ohonme who I worked with before he decided to follow his heart and his sole purpose in life. I’m amazed and awed by what he has been able to accomplish as the founder of Samaritans Feet, and I’m sure you will be too.

Today’s Inspiring Story 

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Emmanuel (Manny) Ohonme was a 9-year old barefoot African boy at a camp in Lagos, Nigeria when a “Good Samaritan” from Wisconsin befriended him and gave him his first pair of shoes. This life changing gift and message of hope and inspiration enabled Manny to compete in sports, and develop a love as well as extraordinary talent for competitive basketball.

 

tomsHis determination, hard work, skill and confidence paid off when he was offered a full basketball scholarship to the University of North Dakota. He met his wife while attending the University and went on to a successful career in the technology industry. In spite of all his success, Manny never forgot the children in Africa who were still living under the strain of poverty, drug abuse, war, and other criminal activity. Determined to help, Manny left the comfort and security of his executive position and started Samaritan’s Feet.

http://www.samaritansfeet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/DSC_0263-232x300.jpg

Manny lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his family and together they are working to make the vision of Samaritan’s Feet a reality. They hope to put 10 million pairs of shoes on the feet of 10 million orphans and impoverished children around the world. Manny wishes to make a difference in the lives of millions by continuing the legacy of love and hope which he received with his first pair of shoes.
http://www.samaritansfeet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/DSC_0243-217x300.jpgYou can read more of Manny’s story in his book, Sole Purpose. Visit him on Facebook, or the Samaritans Feet website at http://www.samaritansfeet.organd see how you can make a difference too. Vacations That Matter will collaborate with Samaritans Feet to plan vacations for groups who wish to support their mission trips in distributing shoes to those in need throughout the world.

http://www.samaritansfeet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Tuesday21-300x294.jpg     book

Family Attitude of Gratitude

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One of the challenges we face as parents is raising our children with all the values and morals we believe in. I often struggle with maintaining a family attitude of gratitude. The kids get really excited about giving back or making a difference when working on a specific project or volunteer opportunity, but soon after the project is over and we’re back in our daily routine, they forget and need to be reminded. We have saved letters written to us by children who we have visited and sometimes it’s just nice to pull them out and re-read them.

Today I’d like to share some ideas about how to cultivate a family attitude of gratitude. I would love to hear your ideas and share your successes as well.

Today’s Inspiring Story

Every evening before digging in to dinner, members of the Shilonoff family take turns listing something they received that day, a self-acknowledgment for something that might have been difficult or a stretch, and something for which they are grateful.

A typical response from the children (ages 10, 9 and 6): “I got a compliment from one of my classmates. I finished my piano practice before school. And I’m glad we have a dog and cat.”

Though full of the everydayness of life, their responses show that the children—and the whole family—are developing a profound practice of gratitude.

The words thanks, gratitude and giving derive from the word grace and refer to meaningful, authentic ways to acknowledge the grace in our lives. Too often, however, we are trained to notice what is broken, undone or lacking in our lives.

 

Gratitude is a perception, a way of looking at things, and an attitude of gratitude is a cornerstone of long-term mental and physical health. It balances us and gives us hope.

Numerous long-term studies suggest that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being and a faster rate of recovery from surgery.

But for gratitude to meet its full healing potential in our lives and the lives of our children, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. When we practice giving thanks verbally for all we have instead of complaining about what we lack, we give our children—and ourselves—the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.

There are many things to be grateful for: autumn leaves, legs that work, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, cars that work (usually), warm jackets, jump ropes, garage sales, the ability to read, swings, rain boots, being alive, butterflies. The list is truly endless. To cultivate gratitude, we begin by noticing the concrete ways in which the world supports us each day.

 

This may mean overcoming the three main obstacles to gratitude: self-preoccupation, expectation, and entitlement. Self-preoccupation leads us to focus our attention on our problems, difficulties, aches and pains. Similarly, it’s only when our expectation isn’t met that we notice, such as when a light bulb goes out. And when we think we’re entitled to something, we won’t consider it a gift. 

Some ideas for helping the whole family learn the attitude of gratitude:

  • Keep a family gratitude journal or “Gratitude Attitude Calendar.” Younger members can write one-word answers.
  • Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures. 
  • Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of the bedtime routine.
  • Make it a game to find the hidden blessing in a situation.
  • Let each child have his or her own day on which the rest of the family tells why they are grateful for his/her life.
  • Assign a gratitude list to counteract a litany of complaints.
  • When planning your next family vacation, consider packing some items in your luggage to give to those in need at your destination. You can find places to donate at: www.packforapurpose.org or try a Voluntourism trip which includes all the fun of a typical vacation with an opportunity to give back by volunteering in your destination.

 

Bit by bit, an inner shift begins to occur, and we may be delighted to discover how content and hopeful we are feeling. This sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work. 

Back from Turks & Caicos

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We are back from Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean and we had a wonderful Valentine’s Day sharing our love with family, friends, and the children of Enid Capron Primary School.

As planned, we spent most of our time enjoying the beautiful beaches and activities at the Beaches Resort. I took the resort dive course and experienced my very first dive at a site called Thunderdome close to the Amanyara Resort. However, I’m not convinced that diving is more spectacular than snorkeling considering I saw a sting ray while snorkeling just off the beach at Coral Gardens, a short walk from our resort.

As active as we were, it was still a very relaxing trip and certainly more fulfilling with the volunteer visits to the school. We brought 70 lbs of books and school supplies to donate and painted the inside of their new science lab which we can’t wait to see after it’s completed. On a different day, we spent a couple of hours reading to the kids in different grade levels and interacting with them, which was my favorite part of the “Reading Road Trip”. The Sandals Foundation is doing some great work supporting the local communities through activities not only with guest volunteers, but also the resort staff who join in whenever possible.

I also met a very inspiring para-athlete, Rick Ball, whose story I’ll share in a future newsletter, however, for today I’d like to share some pictures from our recent trip which hopefully will inspire you to take some time to give back during your next vacation.

Today’s Inspiring Pictures 

Valentine’s Day is about sharing love and we are so grateful that we were able to celebrate it while Having Fun, Sharing Memorable Moments and Giving Back.

As my brother said, “There was nothing more gratifying on my recent trip to Turks and Caicos then spending a half day painting a new science class room for the local elementary school….  It gave me a new appreciation for what we take for granted and made an impact in the lives of some amazing kids.”

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