Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Several of our regular attendees at Travel Talkers were not able to attend or attended the meeting late due to delays caused by Hurricane Nicole. Travel delays can be due to weather, equipment, staffing or some unnamed snafu. We’ve learned to be flexible and stay calm in the face of flight delays, lost luggage, missing travel documents and cancelled connecting flights.

During the Travel Topics section of the meeting, Vernitta asked us to respond to real or imagined travel delays. Meghan said if her vacation flight to Hawaii was delayed, she would head to the airline lounge and have a drink to start her vacation early. She cautioned us, however, not to party too much at the airport since you don’t want to miss your flight once it is finally ready to take off.

Shanthi and her daughter had one last connection with change of planes before they could get home after a 12-hour international flight with a connection on the East Coast before their final destination in the Midwest. When they entered the boarding area, they were told the flight was oversold and they could not get on the plane even though they had tickets and boarding passes. The airline was compensating travelers with hotel and travel vouchers and a seat on a flight the next day, but Shanthi just wanted to get home. Luckily there was a couple on the flight who were willing to give up their seats and take the hotel and travel vouchers offered so that Shanthi and her daughter could make the flight. They boarded the plane minutes before take off.

Our Destination Master, Shanthi stumped us with these clues clues about the mystery country:
1. The second least populated nation.
2. The second-fastest-growing economy in the world.
3. Tourism started in 1974.
4. Plastic bags have been banned since 1999.
5. The first country in the world to ban the production and sale of tobacco products in 2010.
6. The only country in the world to officially measure national happiness.
7. 72% of the country is covered by forest – Carbon negative country.
8. The economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power (with the major river valleys).
9. The average altitude is 2438m above sea level.
With these clues could you guess the name of the country?

If Bhutan sounds like a perfect place to visit, do your research first. Passport holders of countries other than India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives must visit Bhutan on a guided tour and visitors are limited. However, these requirements may be changing, https://www.tourism.gov.bt/.

Our featured speaker for the meeting was Elma. Her speech, “COVID-19: My Perspective” was about the benefits she experienced when all the Toastmasters Clubs moved to online meetings hosted on Zoom and other platforms. This gave her the opportunity to attend clubs around the world and network with other Toastmasters. She gained new confidence and took on leadership roles at the club and district level. I met Elma at a meeting of the Intercontinental Toastmasters Club, an internationally focused advanced club which meets on Friday 10:30 PM Eastern/7:30 PM Pacific/Saturday 3:30 AM UTC /8:00 AM IST. We are fortunate to have Elma attending Travel Talkers. She has invited her colleagues from the BFM Diplomats Toastmasters Club in Nassau, Bahamas to join our meetings. We enjoy their perspectives and travel stories.

Join us for our next meeting on November 17 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Family Travel” Toastmaster, Helen; Destination Master, Kit; Speaker, Vernitta; Travel Topics Master, Elma.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Remember that feeling of finding someplace special, a secret location that only you know about? Our secret locations don’t stay a secret very long once we post photos online and talk about our trips. But we remember that feeling, that thrill of experiencing something wonderful for the first time. The theme of the November 3 meeting was “Secret Locations.”

Our Destination Master, Lisa Bennett, provided these clues about her secret location: It is the smallest Asian country, it is located in the Indian Ocean, its form of government is a Presidential Republic and it is mostly Muslim. The primary industry is fishing, followed by tourism. The biggest issue the country faces is considering the future with rising waters due to global climate change, because the average elevation of the country is 1.5 meters. If you travelled there you would want to hang out at the beach. If you guessed the Maldives, you are correct!

The speaker for the meeting, Meghan Burns, shared her recent trip to Dublin in her speech, “The Promise of Eloquence.” Her trip combined connecting with Irish relatives and sightseeing. She shared her experience of “kissing the blarney stone” to increase her gift of gab, visiting the number one tourist location, the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, and viewing the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the four gospels of the New Testament created in 800 AD and housed in the Long Room Library of Trinity College. She promised more travel stories about her trip at a future meeting. We can’t wait!

Crystal Campbell was our Travel Topics Master. The best Travel Topics question at the meeting: “You are leaving work and your partner calls to tell you to go to the airport in two hours for a flight. What do you pack to take with you? ” Crystal also asked, “What is your dream vacation and why?” and “Have you ever spotted a famous person or actor while traveling and what did you do?”. For her final question, she asked for a travel story to illustrate the idiom, “the world is your oyster.” What would your travel story be to illustrate your ability to do anything and go anywhere you want in life?

Join us for our next meeting on November 10 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is “Travel Delays” Toastmaster, Helen; Destination Master, Shanthi; Speaker, Elma; Travel Topics Master, Avis.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

Each of us has a story about a travel adventure gone wrong–lost tickets, cancelled flights, luggage delayed. But even these mishaps, missteps and missed connections do not deter us from enjoying our trips. At our October 27th, meeting we heard two speeches and enjoyed Travel Topics based on the meeting theme of “Travel Gone Wrong.”

“The Bahamas – A Dream Destination”

Our first speaker, Avis Russell, shared highlights of The Bahamas with colorful slides. Her speech was filled with enthusiasm and fun facts. The Bahamas is an archipelago of nearly 700 coral islands. Around 30 of the islands are inhabited. The Bahamas sits in the West Atlantic Ocean, 100 kilometres south-east of Florida in the United States and 80 kilometres north-east of Cuba. The islands are generally flat and low-lying.

Avis introduced us to the food and the beauty of the Islands. We learned about Junkanoo in Nassau, the street parade with music, dance, and costumes in December and January. We also visited Little Exuma one of the smaller islands with the beautiful white sand Tropic of Cancer Beach and the opportunity to swim with pigs.

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“Top 3 Ways to Get Stopped from Getting on your Flight”

Our second speaker, Lisa Bennett, shared her humorous speech on travel gone wrong and also included the lessons she she learned from each experience.

Number one: You lost your passport and the international customs officer won’t let you board your flight from Paris to London. Crying doesn’t help. Instead head to the Embassy to get a replacement. Lesson learned, travel with a photocopy of your passport which will make the replacement process much faster.

Number two: You are travelling with your husband, a toddler and a baby. You and the baby make it through security screening just fine. However, your husband with the toddler isn’t able to clear security because his shoe set off all the alarms. You and the baby have already boarded the plane, but your husband and toddler have not boarded yet. The plane takes off without them. Lesson learned, make sure your neighbor or a friend has a spare key to your house.

Number three: You are expecting your partner to be arriving home soon from a two week trip to take care of the kids so you can attend an off-site training event. Homeland Security calls about a problem at the airport because your partner tried to take something suspicious through airport security. Answer their questions truthfully, even if it means your partner might be delayed for several days. Lesson learned, have backup childcare options available.

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The Table Topics Master at the meeting, Vernitta Brown, posed several questions about travel mishaps. We had fun solving the problems she asked us. How would you answer these questions?

What would you do if all of your valuables including your passport, your phone and all your clothes were locked inside the rental car and the key was missing?  What would you do if your flight was delayed and then cancelled for your Fourth of July holiday?  What would you do if you were stuck in a foreign city for two weeks with no money and you needed to get on a flight to go home? What advice do you have to share to help us when travel has gone wrong?

Join us for our next meeting on November 3 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is “Secret Locations” Toastmaster, Helen; Destination Master, Lisa; Speaker, Meghan; Travel Topics Master, Crystal.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of our October 20 meeting was, “I want to go back to. . .” Our speaker, Viji Mahathevan’s speech was an enticing, poignant homage to her birth country of Sri Lanka. After leaving Sri Lanka with her parents and brother at the age of eight, she finally returned in 2016 as an adult with her own family. She shared the sights, sounds and delicious foods of Sri Lanka. We all wanted to visit after hearing her speech! Meghan Burns evaluated the speech and she complimented Viji on her use of slides, the great transitions between the sections of the speech, and the emotion of the opening and closing.

The Destination Master of the meeting was Crystal Campbell. She also described a country that she wants to go back to. Next time, she wants to spend more time seeing the local wildlife and enjoying the local foods. Crystal’s destination clues included: the country borders the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the country of Nicaragua; the official language is Spanish; the flag of the country has three straight lines and the thickest line is red; its currency is as colorful as its terrain; you can see the sunrise and the sunset over the ocean on the same day; it has 5 active volcanoes; you will need your passport and bug spray if you visit; and many visitors come to enjoy the mystical rainforest and the abundant wildlife. If you guessed Costa Rica you are correct!

Travel Topics for the meeting were also on the theme of “I want to go back to . . .” Several speakers told us about a destination that they were introduced to on a work-trip and now want to go back to with more time to explore the local environment outside of the confines of the meeting room of the hotel. Meghan wants to back to Phuket in Thailand, since she could only “see” the beach from the conference room. Crystal was also only able to enjoy a few days in Costa Rica on a work-trip and she wants to explore more of the country. Elma reminded us that it is always a good idea to make sure all of your documents are in order before you arrive at the airport and try to go through security screening and passport control. She and friend almost missed their vacation because her friend’s passport had expired.

Join us for our next meeting on October 27 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is “Travel Gone Wrong” Toastmaster, Helen; Destination Master, Elma; Speaker, Avis and Lisa; Travel Topics Master, Vernitta.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters

The theme of the third meeting of Travel Talkers Toastmasters was “Travel on the Cheap.” Our speaker, Vernitta Brown from the BFM Diplomats Toastmasters Club in Nassau, Bahamas, added her low-cost travel tips to her speech, “Why Do We Travel?” Several members of her home club, BFM Diplomats, joined our meeting to hear her speech. Vernitta agreed to include her speech in our blog post about the meeting.

Why Do We Travel?

Travel, the word itself makes us wonder, why do we travel? 

Some of us travel for relaxation. Some for exploration, some for work and some for knowledge. There could be various purposes of traveling from one place to another. Traveling keeps you happy, your body-mind fit, especially adventurous activities such as hiking, river rafting or bungee jumping. Traveling can help us in many ways. It can’t provide a mesmerizing experience. It calms our nerves. Travel helps us learn about the history, the heritage and the culture of a particular place. It might be costly, but it will enrich your experience, relax your mind, and soul. 

Travel, why not travel? Every trip can be the most exciting trip you have ever taken. My first trip was to Orlando, Florida from Nassau, Bahamas. It was a great experience being on a plane looking at beautiful thick clouds. I was excited and could not wait to go shopping and eat delicious food like red lobster. I was hoping to meet new people. My first stop was getting into my hotel room. Next, getting something to eat like lobster– it was so delicious. Then my boss, Mrs. Jones, said she wanted to go to the shopping mall. I couldn’t believe the clothes were so cheap! I shopped until I dropped. I had lots of fun even going to a movie. My day was like a shooting star falling from the sky. After this long day we went back to our hotel to rest. The next day it was time for us to go back home but unfortunately our flight was delayed. So we had to spend another day in the hotel. It was fun traveling with friends. I really enjoyed myself. Next time I would like to visit New York. Traveling is one of the most exciting adventures you can take to experience different cultures.

Travel tips for traveling on the cheap.

Start by creating a list of places you want to visit. Once you have your list, research how much it will cost to get to these places and how long you want to stay. Next create a budget for your trip based on your research and make sure to include an estimate for souvenirs. Now that you know what your trip might cost, start saving up! If you are traveling with friends or family, create a document to share where everyone can track their expenses.

Creating a travel budget will help you save money on your next vacation by following these simple tips. You can easily save hundreds of dollars on your trip. Here are a few pieces of practical advice that anyone can use.

Affordable food.

One of the best ways to save money while traveling is to find affordable food options. Look for local markets where you can buy fresh produce and cooked food. If you’re staying in a hotel, take advantage of the kitchen facilities in your room. And always carry snacks with you in case you get hungry between meals.

Saving money on transportation. 

When traveling, one way to save money is to take advantage of public transportation. If your destination has a good public transportation system, use it as much as possible. Another way to save money on transportation is to walk or bike whenever possible.

Where to stay.

First decide if you want to stay in a hotel, Airbnb or hostel.

Second, research the average price for each option in your destination city.

Third, look for discounts or deals that can help you save money.

Fourth, read reviews to learn what others’ experiences have been like. 

Fifth, book your accommodation in advance to get the best rate possible. 

Sixth, make sure to factor in additional costs like taxes and fees. 

Finally, remember that your travel budget is just one part of your overall vacation budget. Don’t forget to factor in things like fun adventures and souvenirs. This brings me to the end of my travel tips for traveling on the cheap.

Vernitta Brown, October 13, 2022

At our third meeting, Katsuko Higashino was our Destination Master and she gave us clues for a country. First she gave us the dimensions of the country: 2,883 miles long and 31 miles wide at its narrowest point. The other facts she shared with us included; the country borders China on one side, the country’s flag has two colors and is predominantly red, the population of the country exceed 100 million in 2022. She also told us that tourism is one of its major industries with three of its cities ranked in the top 100 most visited cities in the world and it is home to eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. Its climate is monsoonal with distinct wet and dry seasons. If you guessed Vietnam, you are correct!

Travel Topics, conducted by Viji Mahathevan, were on the theme of best destination–best destination for families (the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania at Christmas), best destination to be inspired (Belize), best destination for traveling alone (Amsterdam), best destination for interesting food (Vietnam).

Join us for our next meeting on October 20 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is “I want to go back to. . .” Toastmaster, Helen; Destination Master, Crystal; Speaker, Viji; Travel Topics Master, Vernitta.

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

Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!

Helen Josephine, Travel Talkers Toastmasters