Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Our July 20th meeting commemorated the day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Armstrong walked on the Moon 54 years ago on July 20, 1969. A moonshot is defined by Merriam Webster as  a monumental effort and a lofty goal—in other words, a “giant leap.” While most of us will never set foot on the moon, we do have our own personal moonshots and lofty but achievable goals. Perhaps your moonshot is finishing a Pathway level in Toastmasters, giving a speech at a friend’s wedding, or organizing a panel discussion at a major conference. My moonshot is launching this Toastmasters club to provide a community for members to share our love of travel in our prepared speeches and impromptu responses and become better speakers in the process.

Stephen Andert was our speaker this week and he gave us some great tips in his speech, “Networking for Introverts.” He dispelled the myth that we should memorize an elevator pitch all about ourselves as the best networking strategy. Instead he suggested that we need to learn about the other person in the conversation to determine areas of common interest and perhaps niche “uncommon” interests that we both enjoy. This will lead to long lasting relationships and friendships. He recommend that we use a tool to manage our list of new contacts with the goal of following up with them on a regular basis. He also recommend the book “The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World,” by Dorie Clark. This book gave him ideas for how to do small things over time to achieve his goals. He encouraged us to build relationships, meet new people, practice talking to strangers, and to create our own personal networking goals. He reminded us that networking is the act of making connections for the purpose of expanding our ability to do good by building relationships.

Our second speaker was Deanna Mcinroy. Deanna presented an Ice Breaker speech about her work as a volunteer secretary at Participation House Project in Durham, Ontario, a center for youth and adults with physical and developmental disabilities. She shared the recognition she received from her colleagues and her desire to continue serving in this volunteer role. Deanna is from Canada and joins our meeting to participate in travel topics and frequently takes the role of Ah Counter.

Kit Myers was the Destination Master. The facts and food-related clues for the mystery country were:

• This country is one of the 27 schengen countries in the Northern Hemisphere (one of the largest visa-free zones).
• The current Prime Minister is a woman.
• Roma is a cultural group, a type of tomato, and the name of a city.
• One famous city is known for Neapolitan dessert.
• Prosciutto, salt cured ham, is from San Daniele.
• The capital city is known as “The Eternal City” and has seven hills.
• The steak dish, Bistecca alla Fiorentina, is named for a famous city.

If you guessed Italy, you are correct!

The Travel Topics session was lead by Vernitta Brown. Everyone participated in the questions about our memories of the moon landing, television shows about astronauts, and our personal impressions of the moon. The word of the day was monumental. A great adjective to use while discussing moonshots.

Join us for our next meeting on July 27 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Hawaiian Adventures.” We will also be welcoming 5 new members into the club and conducting club business. 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

The theme of our July 13 meeting was “Follow the Sun,” a phrase which reminds us to seek out and celebrate the long days of summer and to enjoy the world. Our speaker, Samantha Jamwal, gave a speech on optimism. She concluded that even though she tends to be a pessimist, seeing the worst in everything, she realized that the leaders and teachers she admires are optimists. In her research on optimism she discovered several interesting facts she shared with us.

• Optimists live longer, studies show that optimists are more likely to live to the age of 85 or older.
• Optimists have a better love life because they tend to work harder to improve their relationships.
• Optimists are more successful because they tend to be happier with their work, can shake-off disappointments, and look to the future.
• Optimistic leaders inspire others and stay positive when facing adversity.

She encouraged all of us to stop negative thinking and self-pity and to start focusing on the positives in our lives. She ended her speech with this quote by Nicholas Butler on courage and optimism:

“Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also essential to courage and true progress”.

Our destination master was Stephen Andert. The clues for the desintaiton were:

• This country is known as the land of volcanoes.
• It has the highest official capital city in the world.
• The official currency is the US dollar.
• It is a biodiversity hotspot.
• This country is a major exporter of bananas.

If you guessed Ecuador, you are correct!

Travel Topics were led by Avis Russell. She us asked questions about our summer travel adventures, including our worst summer vacations and our best summer vacations. She also wanted to know about our favorite mode of travel–plane, train, boat or automobile, For Stephen, his favorite way to travel is by motorcycle, including a long motorcycle trip from Minnesota to Arizona. For Charles, he is learning to love long bicycle rides. Asked where she would go if she had unlimited time and money, Helen responded that she would like to travel to Australia and New Zealand to see the the native plants and animals.

Join us for our next meeting on July 20 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Moonshot,” in honor of the 54th anniversary of the Apollo 11 crew landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Are you planning a complex project or trip that is just beyond your reach? Do you have a personal Moonshot to share at our meeting?

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of our July 6 meeting was “Coast to Coast.” Trips across the country or down to the ocean shore. Summer travel and beaches are the perfect combination.

Kit Myers was our Travel Topics Master. She provided pictures and prompts that reminded her of coast to coast travel from California to Florida. We each took a turn selecting a prompt and commenting on our travels.

Vernitta Brown provided these clues for the mystery destination:

1. This is an island country that was once a British colony from 1789-1900.
2. 20% of the population attend religious services.
3. Inhabitants of this country like rock and roll, pop and country music and many famous singers are from here.
4. Vegemite is the most common food that foreigners discover. 

If you guessed Australia, you are correct!

Lisa Bennett’s speech about her recent trip to Spain was a reminder to be prepared when traveling. Her speech was titled, “No Money, No Food, and Credit is no Good.” For the first few days of her trip she had booked VRBO vacation rentals in rural areas in Spain, off the beaten path. From the airport in Madrid, she traveled to the area of Spain known as Extremadura, a western region of Spain bordering Portugal that includes the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz. This is a remote area of mountains, forests, lakes and and Roman ruins. She soon discovered that her credit cards were not accepted as payment in the small towns and villages. Without any Euros to buy food, she survived on the snacks she had packed in her luggage. The day she traveled to a larger city, thinking she would be able to visit a bank, she discovered that all banks were closed on Saturdays in Spain. Eventually, everything worked out just fine. Lisa enjoyed her trip in the rural areas and her one week Watercolor art retreat in Spain.

Join us for our next meeting on July 13 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Follow the Sun” We want to hear about your travel adventures. Where are you headed next?

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Travel to Europe from the US is very popular this year and is expected to grow 55% in the Summer of 2023. The theme for our June 22 meeting was “Adventures in Europe.” Kit Myers in her speech, “Before You Go: Travel Tips,” provide several suggestions for how to make our trips more affordable and more enjoyable. Her family mantra for travel is “All you need is a passport and a credit card” for a memorable trip.

• 1. Go in the off-season. If you are traveling to Europe, off-season is mid-September to November. You will miss the summer crowds and hotels and airline travel is cheaper off-season.
• 2. Start planning your trip as far in advance as possible. Investigate several hotel and flight options. Be flexible with your dates to find the best price.
• 3. Research the destination and pick one “must see or do” event and then add 2-3 other places to see or visit in the same area. Balance the most popular and most crowded places and with those places that are not so popular. Sometimes the hidden or overlooked gems are more fun.
• 4. Never pre-pay for a hotel, car rental or any other reservation that you can pay for 2-3 days in advance. You can pre-book, just don’t pre-pay. Book ahead to lock in lower rates, be aware of cancellation dates.
• 5. Apps and Maps. Learn about all the features of Google maps before you travel, download a local copy of the maps for the area you are traveling to in case you don’t have internet access on your trip.
• 6. Enjoy the planning. Read about the area you are traveling to, watch movies set in the area, and sample the cuisine in local restaurants before you go. Spoil yourself!
• 7. Pack your carry on bag with your favorites to soothe your spirit or help you relax. There will be bumps along the way.

Our Destination Master, Tym Myers, picked a destination in Europe. Here are his clues for the city:

• The first Bishop of this city was beheaded in 250 AD. He walked to his burial site carrying his own head.
• This city was one of the first European cities to use gas street lamps in the 1860’s.
• This city has 37 bridges and the oldest stone bridge, built in 1578 is called the “New Bridge.”
• The nickname of the city is, The City of Lights.
• The city is home to a famous museum which was first a hunting lodge, then became a palace, and then during the French revolution, the Louvre opened as a museum of the people in 1793.
• It is a capital city.
  

If you guessed Paris, you are correct!

Travel Topics were also related to the theme of Europe. Megan Burns prepared a slide deck of photos representing the architecture, religion, art, literature, food and history of Europe. We each had the opportunity to select a category and then the question was revealed.

Her questions were:

• Architecture: From the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to The Shard in London, Europe has a wide variety of architectural styles to choose from. What famous building would you like to visit?
• Religion: Churches and other houses of worship are tourist attractions in European cities. Famous burial plots, beautiful artwork, and acoustic chambers that amplify concerts are all worth a visit. What religious buildings have you visited, or hope to visit some day?
• Art: Art takes many forms, from marble sculptures to paintings, to giant beasts that walk across a beach. What piece of art or famous museum would you most like to visit?
• Literature: Harry Potter discovered a hidden platform at London’s King’s Cross Station. Quasimodo scaled the towers of Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral. Through literature, we discover real places to visit one day. What book has inspired you to visit a European city?
• Food: Surprise! You and a guest have won an all-expenses paid trip to a European city of your choice. There, you’ll take a cooking class from a Master chef to learn any dish you like. What is your destination and what will you cook?
• History: So many historic events occurred in Europe. If you had a time machine, would you travel to Athens to sit in on a philosophy lesson with Plato? Watch a chariot race in the Roman Coliseum? Witness the signing of the Magna Carta?  Or maybe something else…your choice!

We all enjoyed the travel topics questions and the photos Megan provided to illustrate each question.

Join us for our next meeting on July 6 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Coast to Coast.” We want to hear about your travel adventures. Where are you headed next?

We will not be meeting on Thursday, June 29. Be sure to join us on July 6 to share your travel plans with us.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of our June 15 meeting was “Thrills of a Lifetime.” Was it a trip designed to test your fear of heights or help your explore an underwater paradise? Or perhaps it was a trip to one of the most famous cities in the world you never thought you would ever have the chance to visit? These adventures and more were shared at our meeting.

Kit Myers in her speech, “Three Thrills of a Lifetime in Florence,” shard her adventures in Florence, Italy as a young adult traveling with Tym who later became her husband. She described the 15th century villa/ youth hostel and their adventures visiting the cathedrals, seeing the famous statues and architecture of the city, and learning to communicate with the locals — all while traveling on $5 a day. Fast forward to 2013 when she returned to Florence with her husband and daughter to explore the thrills again. She is planning to return for her third tip to Florence in October–more thrills ahead. Kit included her favorite quote from the movie Auntie Mame, “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death” to remind us to take advantage of all the thrills that life offers.

Our Destination Master, Samantha Jamwal provided these clues for her destination:

• The official animal is the Unicorn.
• The country has 790 islands.
• The country has three official languages
• The country is a part of a nation.
• The country has the shortest commercial flight of 47 seconds.
• The country has the world’s first fire department in one of its major cities.
• Citizens get free water–no water bill.
• Golf was invented here.

If you guessed Scotland, you are correct!

Avis Russell was the Travel Topics Master for the meeting and she asked each of us to use an interesting phrase to start our 1-2 min response. The phrases were:

• Color your world. . .
• It was a great year. . .
• The day I met. . .
• Did you know that I was once. . .
• Life as a world class traveler. . .
  

Our responses included travel stories, travel tips and fond memories.

Join us for our next meeting on June 22 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Adventures in Europe.” We want to hear about your travel adventures. Where are you headed next?

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters