The theme of our August 24th meeting was Crossing Borders and we had the opportunity to hear a speech from Stephen Andert, “Tales of Border Crossings,” about his experiences. Stephen has visited over 25 countries around the world and he shared some of his adventures with us. Recently, while on a business trip, he spent less that 24 hours in Peru. When he left the country after his meeting was over, the immigration officer at the airport was a little curious about Stephen’s travel. He asked Stephen if there was something wrong with his visit, did he not like Peru? It seems that a short in and out trip can raise a red flag for customs officers. On a trip to Australia, after traveling through several Southeast Asian countries such as South Korea and Thailand, the immigration officer commented that Stephen’s passport photo was “too orange.” Stephen was questioned by two immigration officers but finally allowed to enter Australia, even though his passport photo was suspicious. On a plane trip from Guyana to Nigeria that was delayed for several hours, Stephen finally arrived to a dark and deserted airport in Nigeria. Luckily, he had befriended some fellow passengers from Nigeria who helped him navigate the airport and offered to drive him to his hotel. He reminded us to stay calm and respectful during the immigration and customs interviews and to always be aware of our surroundings. Making friends with fellow passengers can also help us navigate the airport and the country.
Our Destination Master, Samantha Jamwal, gave us these clues about the mystery destination:
- Siamese cats are native to this country.
- It is constitutional Monarchy.
- 90% of its population are Buddhist.
- The national flower is the orchid.
- Every year about 6,000,000 tourists visit this country.
- The capital city holds 1/10 of the entire population and was named the world’s hottest city.
If you guessed Thailand, you are correct!
For the Travel Topics section of the meeting, members and guests were asked to complete this phrase, “Never have I ever. . . ,” and tell a travel related story. Kit told us about hearing a song from an unexpected singer in the Chicago O’Hare Airport; a 4-year old belting out the “I feel good” refrain from the James Brown song. Something she thought she would never ever hear. Judith shared that she never thought she would enjoy an escorted travel tour with her parents, but she was surprised to find that she did enjoy it and was able to do some exploring on her own. Cathy told us that she never ever had great pizza in Greece, when her traveling companions on an around the world cruise wanted to treat her for her birthday.
Join us for our next meeting on August 31 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Travel Souvenirs.” If you would like to join the club, please contact Helen Josephine for an application form.
Register for the meeting: https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink
RSVP on MeetUp to let us know you are coming to the meeting. Guests are always welcome!
Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers Toastmasters 
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