Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of our October 20 meeting was, “I want to go back to. . .” Our speaker, Viji Mahathevan’s speech was an enticing, poignant homage to her birth country of Sri Lanka. After leaving Sri Lanka with her parents and brother at the age of eight, she finally returned in 2016 as an adult with her own family. She shared the sights, sounds and delicious foods of Sri Lanka. We all wanted to visit after hearing her speech! Meghan Burns evaluated the speech and she complimented Viji on her use of slides, the great transitions between the sections of the speech, and the emotion of the opening and closing.

The Destination Master of the meeting was Crystal Campbell. She also described a country that she wants to go back to. Next time, she wants to spend more time seeing the local wildlife and enjoying the local foods. Crystal’s destination clues included: the country borders the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the country of Nicaragua; the official language is Spanish; the flag of the country has three straight lines and the thickest line is red; its currency is as colorful as its terrain; you can see the sunrise and the sunset over the ocean on the same day; it has 5 active volcanoes; you will need your passport and bug spray if you visit; and many visitors come to enjoy the mystical rainforest and the abundant wildlife. If you guessed Costa Rica you are correct!

Travel Topics for the meeting were also on the theme of “I want to go back to . . .” Several speakers told us about a destination that they were introduced to on a work-trip and now want to go back to with more time to explore the local environment outside of the confines of the meeting room of the hotel. Meghan wants to back to Phuket in Thailand, since she could only “see” the beach from the conference room. Crystal was also only able to enjoy a few days in Costa Rica on a work-trip and she wants to explore more of the country. Elma reminded us that it is always a good idea to make sure all of your documents are in order before you arrive at the airport and try to go through security screening and passport control. She and friend almost missed their vacation because her friend’s passport had expired.

Join us for our next meeting on October 27 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is “Travel Gone Wrong” Toastmaster, Helen; Destination Master, Elma; Speaker, Avis and Lisa; Travel Topics Master, Vernitta.

Register for the meeting: https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters