Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Do you try to find the perfect memento of your trip? Do you collect postcards, magnets, matchbooks, t-shirts, or city maps–small tokens that remind you of your adventures and gifts for those at home? At our August 31 meeting, Kit Myers shared her lifelong habit of collecting and sharing postcards in her speech, “Souvenirs from Postcards to Spices.” She also told us that she likes to collect special spices and cooking ingredients that she finds while traveling. The postcards help to enhance the memories of her trips and allow her to share quick notes and trip highlights with friends and family at home. The spices and cooking ingredients she collects make her memories last even longer, when she uses the ingredients to prepare meals from the countries she has visited.

Our Table Topics Master, Tym Myers, asked us about the types of souvenirs we like to collect. Vernitta likes to collect shells and coins. Avis collects magnets. Meghan reminded us to visit the museum shops to find unique items along with postcards and t-shirts. Judith commented that she doesn’t like to collect things, but she will look for a special gift for someone who is helping her with her travels. Tracy Baker commented that the best souvenirs are the memories you have of the people that you meet and the experiences that you have while you are traveling.

Our Destination Master, Vernitta Brown, provided these clues:

• The destination is an island in the Caribbean.
• The island is 193 miles east of Miami, Florida.
• The island consists of two slender islands.
• The island is known for its beautiful sand beaches.
• The island is popular with tourists.

If you guessed the Island of Abaco in The Bahamas which is located in the Lucayan Archipelago, a part of the Caribbean region in the North Atlantic Ocean, you are correct!

Join us for our next meeting on September 7 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Small Countries.” 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! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

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

Our August 10 meeting gave us an opportunity to find out about city parks and peaceful walks. Travel Topics Master Samantha Jamwal asked us questions about our favorite park activities, our favorite city park fountains and if we had unlimited money, how would we design a city park.

Our Destination Master, Kit Myers, gave us these clues for a famous walk in Europe.

• This is a “peaceful walk” with a destination city.
• The walk is located on the Iberian Peninsula, mostly Northern Spain, Pyrenees, France, Portugal and Italy.
• The symbol of the walk is a scallop shell and walkers collect shells as proof of participation.
• The destination is the capital city of the region of Galicia Spain.
• It is the 3rd most popular religious pilgrimage. People of all faiths participate.
• If you complete at least the last 62 miles you will receive a certificate.

If you guessed El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a 500-mile journey through some of Europe’s most beautiful landscapes, you are correct!

Our speaker, Carlette Curry, delighted us with a speech about her first introduction to New York City; watching the movie “Maid in Manhattan” when she was in 9th grade. She immediately want to take a trip to New York to experience the city. She discovered that if she waited until her friends were ready to travel, the trip would never happen. It wasn’t a busy schedule that kept her from taking the trip, but her own fear of traveling by herself. She encouraged all of us to, “be brave, be bold, be courageous” and take that trip we always wanted to take. She ended her speech by singing the opening from the Frank Sinatra song New York, New York: “Start spreading the news, I’m leavin’ today. I want to be a part of it, New York, New York.” Brava, Carlette!

We are not meeting on Thursday, August 17. Join us for our next meeting on August 24 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Crossing Borders.” If you would like to join the club, please contact Helen Josephine for an application form.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

We explored new travel destinations at our meeting on August 3 with the theme of “Wide Open Spaces.” Our Destination Master, Samantha Jamwal, gave us these clues for her destination.

• This destination is a National Park of the United States of America.
• It covers 3.4 million acres.
• It has the highest recorded temperature in the world, 134 degrees Fahrenheit.
• It has the lowest point in the United States.
• Some of the Star Wars filming locations are here.
• It is the home of the mysterious wandering rocks.
• It is drier than the Sahara desert.
• It has 6 species of fish.

If you guessed Death Valley National Park, you are correct!

Kit Myers was our Travel Topics Master and she asked us questions about where and how we would like to travel to enjoy the many wide open spaces in the World. Would we prefer to travel to the Sahara desert or to the Transantarctic Mountains? Would we dare to take the Qinghai-Tibet Railway that climbs to 16,627 feet and requires oxygen for the passengers?

Would we prefer to take the Rocky Mountain Mountaineer train to travel across Canada or take the train through the Rocky Mountains from Moab, Utah to Denver, Colorado? To enjoy the expansive sky, would we prefer to watch the incoming storm clouds or the Perseids Meteor Shower?

Our speaker, Helen Josephine, shared four places she has visited that unexpectedly created a sense of serenity and tranquility in her during her visit. In her speech, “Experiencing Serenity,” she shared a personal story about each place, as well as photos and a quote from someone connected with each location.

Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, California

“And into the woods I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” -John Muir

Bahá’í Terraces and Shrine of the Bab, Haifa, Israel

“Turn all your thoughts toward bringing joy to hearts.”-The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Abdu’l-Bahá 

Memorial Church, Stanford University, Stanford, California

“While my whole heart is in in the University, my soul is in that church.”-Jane Stanford

The Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek, California

“Well who cares if I am around or not. Someone will be around, and if I don’t plant it then nobody will get to see it.”-Ruth Bancroft

Join us for our next meeting on August 10 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “City Parks and Peaceful Parks.” If you would like to join the club, please contact Helen Josephine for an application form.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

At our July 27 meeting we celebrated officially becoming a Toastmasters club. We added 6 new members and voted to become Travel Talkers Toastmasters, club number 04670726. We meet weekly on Thursdays from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific time.   To celebrate this accomplishment, we took a trip to Hawaii.

Our Destination Master, Meghan Burns, provided these clues:

• This island is Hawaii’s oldest and fourth largest.
• In 1778, Waimea Bay, on this island’s Northwest shoreline, was the location of the first European contact with Hawaii, by Brisith explorer James Cook.
• It is sometimes called the “Garden Island.”
• Centuries of growth have formed tropical rainforests, forking rivers and cascading waterfalls.
• Many famous movies were shot on location here, including:
  • Blue Hawaii (1961)
  • Jurassic Park (1993)
  • The Descendants (2011)

If you guess Kauai, you are correct!

Kit Myers was our Travel Topic Master. She provided pictures of the volcanic activity, food, travel, and dances that you might find on the Hawaiian Islands. We each took turns giving our responses based on the images and her questions. We learned about the origin of the surfboard and that surfing was originally reserved for Hawaiian royalty. The first written document about surfing in Hawaii was found in the diary of Capt. James Cook, the first European to ever set foot on the island of Hawaii. She also asked us about our favorite recipes for Spam, which is a staple in Hawaiian cooking. Residents of Hawaii eat 7 million cans of Spam per year, making it the state with the highest number of consumers of Spam per capita in the US. We also learned about the Hula, Kona Coffee and the luxurious Pan Am Clipper, a flying boat that took 17 hours and 44 minutes to travel from San Francisco to Honolulu in 1935.

Join us for our next meeting on August 3 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Wide Open Spaces.” If you would like to join the club, please contact Helen Josephine for an application form.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters