Have you ever experienced a “bonus trip,” a surprise trip you had not planned to take? My bonus trip to Bangkok, Thailand happened when I was delayed en route from Manilla to Tel Aviv. I packed as much as I could into my 24-hours in Bangkok. I booked a morning tour of Bangkok’s gem and jewelry district and an afternoon tour of the City and the Grand Palace. There was so much more that I didn’t have time for, but my memories of that bonus trip are wonderful.
Our Destination Master, Meghan Burns, gave us these clues for a city in Italy:
- Italian city in the Emilia-Romanaga region
- Birthplace of Pope Gregory XIII (creator of the Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1582)
- Birthplace of Guglielmo Marconi (awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909 for radio-wave based wireless telegraph system)
- Two foods share a name with this city (a sandwich meat and a meat sauce pasta dish)
If you guessed Bologna, Italy you are correct!
We enjoyed hearing three speeches at our meeting. Samantha Jamwal’s speech project for Engaging Humor, Level 4 required her to give two impromptu speeches of 2-3 minutes each on a topic selected at the meeting. Kit Myers, evaluated Samantha’s speeches for poise and presentation, the humor added to the story, and how well she connected her story to the topic. Tym Myer’s speech, “Ring, Ring, Ring’” was a speech emphasizing body language and vocal variety. Tym told us about a last minute assignment to fly from Dallas to Paris at Christmas. He landed in France to see snow covering the airport. He soon found out that nothing was open in Paris due to the snow and the Holidays. Instead of sightseeing in Paris, he spent his time hanging out with the flight crew in the hotel where he learned to play Mexican Train Dominoes. Tym concluded that the trip had three silver linings, seeing the beauty of Paris in the snow, learning to play Mexican Train Dominoes, and teaching his daughter the game when he got home.
The Travel Topics Master at the meeting, Vernitta Brown, asked us questions about our favorite travel websites and the cheapest place to visit. She asked Kit Myers to explain the difference between, one-way, round-trip, direct, and non-stop ticketing.
At our next meeting we will continue our travels around the world. Join us as we share our adventures about traveling to Southern Africa on Thursday, March 7th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We want to hear about your travel and safari plans. Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent including the countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Guests are always welcome to attend our meetings. If you would like to join the club, 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.
Looking forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers Toastmasters 
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