Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of our April 20 meeting was Eco Travel. We discussed how we experience eco travel and shared tips on how to participate in eco travel.

Our destination master for the meeting was Meghan Burns. She shared these clues about a destination she will be visiting soon.

• This world capital megacity is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited urban settlements in the Western Hemisphere.
• The UN ranks this city as one of the top 5 cities in the world by population at 22 million in 2022.
• This city was founded in 1521 on the site of another capital, Tenochtitlán of the Aztec empire.
• The main public square, Plaza de la Constitución, is surrounded by the Metropolitan Cathedral, completed in 1813.
• Luche libre is a sport popular in this city with the 2nd highest spectator rate, surpassed only by fútbol,

If you guessed Mexico City, you are correct!

Eco Travel tips was the subject of Samantha Jamwal’s speech, “How to participate in Eco Travel.” Samantha gave us practical tips for how to be a more eco-conscious traveler.

1. Plan trips to National Parks and conservation areas and use the rangers as guides.
2. Eat locally and include items that are in-season, eat at local community restaurants rather than fast-food chain restaurants.
3. Buy local souvenirs made by members of the community.
4. Travel off-season to avoid the crowds and other tourists, plus off-season fares are usually cheaper.
5. Book local excursions with local guides from the area.
6. Use public transportation, such as buses, trains, ride-share, and bicycles rather than a rental car.
7. Seek out local accomodations, small local hotels, Bed and Breakfast inns, try EcoBnB, CouchSurfing or Wayaj for alternative options.
8. Do not touch! Enjoy the view, the plants, the animals, but don’t pick the flowers or try to pet the wildlife.

Her final suggestion was to watch YouTube videos about the area where you are traveling; to preview the sights, the restaurants, and the local events before you book your trip.

Travel Topics were led by Lynn Turnquest and she asked us questions about our favorite eco travel trips, our most joyful vacation and our top three vacation adventures or locations. Helen commented on how she finds out about local customs and foods by visiting the local grocery stores on her trips. Natasha talked about a cruise that she took in 2018 with her sister Lynn to celebrate their birthdays–a joyful vacation. Lisa listed her three favorite trips–a month long stay in Costa Rica learning about the local environment, a climbing adventure in Australia, and a trip to Denmark couchsurfing, eating local food and riding bicycles.

Join us for our next meeting on April 27 from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” Do you have a favorite way to travel? Is a train ride the best way to see the scenery? Join the meeting to participate in our Travel Topics session and guess the mystery destination.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

The theme of our April 13, 2023 meeting was Romantic Destinations. We shared stories about honeymoons, island getaways, and outdoor adventures. Any destination can be romantic, but some have that special ambiance. The word of the day was, “nostalgic.” At the meeting, we were remembering special locations that reminded us of romantic interludes and feeling nostalgic.

Our speaker at the meeting, Meghan Burns, used the Pecha Kucha presentation technique to illustrate her speech, ” The Honeymoon’s Not Over!” A Pecha Kucha presentation is 20 slides with 20 seconds of verbal commentary for each slide. Meghan’s presentation included introuductory slides of her wedding followed by slides of her honeymoon in London. She used another technique to keep our interest in the speech, lego people representing the bride and groom made guest appearances on many of the slides.

The Destination Master, Jacqueline Maynard-Campbell, described a romantic island destination with these clues:

• The island is the second oldest and the fourth largest in the archipelago.
• It is known as the Garden Isle and one of its features is the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
• It has a National Park with a rugged 16 mile hike popular with tourists.
• It has beautiful beaches.
• It is the home of the Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands.
• A waterfall on the Island was featured in the movie, Jurassic Park.

If you guessed the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, you are correct!

The Travel Topics segment, led by Vernitta, was all about romantic destinations and trips. We heard short speeches about international travel to the Taj Mahal in India and Yelapa in Mexico, anniversary trips to Kauai and a hiking trip to Yosemite. Jacqueline Maynard-Campbell offered her professional travel advice on how we can plan for a trip and save money.

Join us for our next meeting on April 20 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Eco Travel.” We will explore eco-tourism and find out where we should go to experience nature preserves and animals in their native habitat. Join the meeting to participate in our Travel Topics session and guess the mystery Destination.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Our April 6th meeting was all about Spring and trips to enjoy the beauty and bounty of Spring. The word of the day provided by Meghan was “resplendent” which was the perfect adjective for us to use while we described the flowers and scenery of our Spring trips.

Our Travel Topics Master was Kit Myers and she used a zoom background resplendent with flowers to inspire us. She asked us to talk about trips we took or would like to take to view the pansies from the Butchart Garden in Victoria, Canada, a field of tulips in Holland, the Edelweiss in the Alps, the Dogwood blossoms from Virginia, and the Bluebonnets from Texas.

Vernitta’s speech, “A Good Trip,” was about her visit to Charleston, South Carolina to visit family. She enjoyed the beauty of the drive from the Charlotte, North Carolina, airport to her final destination. The highlights of her trip were connecting with family, enjoying the food, exploring a new city and shopping. She encouraged all of us to enjoy life and take a trip!

Our Destination Master was Samantha Jamwal. Her clues were for a country:

• This country shares borders with eight other countries.
• At one point in its history, it was one of the most powerful countries in the world. At its height, it had a total area of almost 700,000 square kilometers; today, it is 83,000 square kilometers.
• It is home to the oldest restaurant in Europe.
• It has hosted two Winter Olympics and it is known for winter sports.
• It has one of the largest cemeteries in the world and the largest Ice Cave in the world.
• Croissants are not French, they originally came from this country.
• The last Queen of France came from this country.

If you guessed Austria, you are correct!

Join us for our next meeting on April 13 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Romantic Destinations.” Do you have a story to tell about a romantic trip? Join the meeting to participate in our Travel Topics session and guess the mystery Destination.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Which trip stands out as the greatest trip you have ever taken? This was the theme of our March 30th meeting. Our speaker, Tym Myers, provided us with photos and memories of his “greatest trip ever” which also included his final flight as an airline pilot with American Airlines. The title of his speech was “One Fantastic Vacation.” And where was this trip? To Paris, of course. And who accompanied him? His family, friends and co-workers. The details of the places he visited, in France and in Paris, were accompanied by a slideshow of photos. The highlight of the trip and the speech was the dinner in Paris on the last night of the trip with 23 family and friends, the cabin crew, and the flight crew from his final trip to Paris as a pilot for American Airlines.

The word of the day was, “adept.” After hearing Tym’s speech, we all agreed he was adept at both storytelling and being a great pilot.

Our destination master was Vernitta and for this meeting she chose to give us clues about a continent.

• It is the largest continent by land area (44 million square kilometers or 30% of the Earth) and by population (4.56 billion people or 60% of the world’s inhabitants).
• It has 12 of the largest rivers on Earth.
• It is the birthplace of world religions including Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism among others.
• It is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, forests, fish, water, rice, copper and silver.

If you guessed the continent of Asia, you are correct!

Travel Topics was led by Natasha Barr. She asked us first to pick one of seven continents and then talk about the people we interacted with on our trip to that continent. Rowena chose Asia and she talked about her trips to the Philippines to visit her extended family. Vernitta chose North America and she talked about her trips to Florida. Meghan chose Africa and she talked about her trips to Morocco and South Africa. Kit talked about her trip to South America and the hospitality she experienced. Although Lynne has never traveled to Australia, she talked about what she plans to do in Australia once she has the opportunity. Tym talked about his experiences visiting seven countries in Europe and how different the food and culture is in each country. We only had six reports of travel to different continents because no one at the meeting had traveled to Antarctica, yet.

Join us for our next meeting on April 6 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Springtime in Paris.” Where are you traveling to this Spring to enjoy the season? Join the meeting to participate in our Travel Topics session and guess the mystery Destination.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of our March 23 meeting was “Trekking.” Exploring the great outdoors with a hiking stick, a backpack and wide-eyed enthusiasm for nature. Jacqueline provided the perfect word of the day for the meeting; peregrination, a noun meaning to take a long meandering journey, usually by foot.

Our speaker, Raji Bandanapudi, entertained us with her description of a 4-day, 20 mile round trip trek she tooks with friends to see Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Tribal lands deep within the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Raji was able to convince 8 friends to join her on this backpacking trip in February of 2019. In early Spring, the falls are full of water and the weather is sunny but not the scorching heat of summer when temperatures of over 100 are common. Raji shared what she learned, based on this experience of her first backpacking trip,

• All you need to be happy is: Good companions, good boots, a good tent and a warm sleeping bag.
• Be one with nature, enjoy the adventure.
• Your bed at home is so comfortable when you return.

She encouraged all of us to step outside our house and enjoy nature. As John Muir said, “The mountains are calling, I must go.”

Our Destination Master, Meghan Burns selected a location that is known for enjoyment of nature.

• A US National Park in California that is famous for trekking and climbing.
• One of the earliest National Parks, receiving US Federal protection in 1864, long before the creation of the US National Park Service.
• It is home to over 90 species of animals, including black bears, marmots, bighorn sheep, mountain lions and mule deer.
• Famous hiking trails include the trials to Bridalveil Falls and to Vernal Falls and the Half Dome trail
• Don’t confuse this National Park with that other National Park that also starts with the letter “Y” and stretches across Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. You won’t find “Old Faithful” here.

If you guessed, Yosemite National Park, you are correct!

Travel Topics were led by Vernitta and Helen. Each took an opportunity to ask about favorite trips and hiking adventures. Jacqueline shared her experiences in the Holy Land, walking in the desert and among sacred sites in Jerusalem. Samantha shared her love of camping, but only with a tent, she is not fond of sleeping out under the stars with just a sleeping bag.

Join us for our next meeting on March 30 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Greatest Trip Ever.” Join the meeting to participate in our Travel Topics session and guess the mystery Destination.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters