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SHARE YOUR STORIES
Welcome to Travel Talkers Toastmasters!
We invite you to Travel Talkers Toastmasters on Thursday, December 18th, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific (-8 UTC). Our meeting theme is Family Gatherings. Join our meeting to share your family traditions and family gatherings.
Travel Talkers Toastmasters will not meet on December 25, 2025, and January 1, 2026. Join us on January 8, 2026, for our first meeting of the New Year.
Our meetings are for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members to share your joy of travel. Focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. Let’s hit the road for storytelling and inspire each other to embark on new travel adventures. Mark your calendars for an unforgettable evening with the Travel Talkers community!
You are invited to join us and bring a friend. Thursday, December 18th, 6:30-7:30 pm Pacific (-8 UTC).
Register for the meeting link: https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink
Join the Travel Talkers group for a fun evening sharing your plans and trips.
We meet on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30pm Pacific time (-8 UTC). Use the link to register for our Zoom meetings.
Guests are always welcome at our meetings! We look forward to meeting you and hearing your travel stories.
Travel Talkers Toastmasters, club number 04670726, District 101, Division A, Santa Clara, California. We are an online club with members from all over the world.
https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink
https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/04670726-travel-talkers-toastmasters
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Travel Buddies
Our September 5th meeting featured the theme of “Travel Buddies.” We enjoyed a speech by Lisa Hamil about the need for laughter to help us create personal energy. Lisa’s humorous speech included many funny stories, including a description of when she became her own luggage by wearing several outfits, blouses, and jackets because she couldn’t fit all her purchases into her suitcase. She even carried an extra pair of high heel shoes in her jacket pocket.
Our Destination Master, Helen Josephine, presented these clues about a country:
- This country is a great place to see the Northern Lights.
- In this country you can use loonies and toonies to pay for merchandise, but pennies are no longer used.
- This country ranked 12th in the number of Olympic Medals at the Paris Olympic Games.
- This country is known as the Hollywood of the North because so many television series and movies are made here.
If you guessed Canada, you are correct!
Our Travel Topics leader was Vernitta Brown. She asked each of us to respond to the statement, “I love to travel,” with a 1-2 minute comment on why we love to travel. Some of us remember traveling with family at a young age. Each of us commented that our curiosity about other people, cultures and countries was the driving force behind our love of travel.
The theme of our September 12th meeting is “Rock Hounds.” Have you ever searched for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas? If you use a pick and a shovel on your vacation, you are a rock hound! Join the Travel Talkers group for a fun evening sharing your adventures. This event is for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members as we share our stories about traveling. Focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. The meeting is on Thursday, September 12th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific time. We want to hear about your travel and adventure plans.
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.
We look forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Parades
The theme for the August 29th meeting of Travel Talkers Toastmasters was Parades. Our speaker, Jacqueline Maynard-Campbell, presented her Motivational Strategies, Level 1, Researching and Presenting Speech about a drill team in her hometown of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Jacqueline started her speech with a brief history of parades from her research on the topic. She shared that parades have been part of human history since 2000 BCE as either religious ceremonies or military events. The Assiegie Corporal Drill Team was a Coraopolis, Pennsylvania tradition that inspired a community and gave many young men the opportunity to travel and to perform and win awards as a result of their hard work and discipline as part of the “the drill team.” The team was founded in the 1970’s by Mr. Wayne Shackelford, Sr. to provide young men the opportunity to develop self-disciple and self-esteem. Jacqueline was one of the team volunteers and often traveled with the team as a chaperon.
Travel Topics for the meeting were also on the theme of Parades. Lisa Hamil asked the group to talk about their first parade experience, their favorite parade or a historic parade. We heard stories about the Fiesta in San Antonio, Texas, Carnival in Trinidad, Junkanoo in the Bahamas, the Kansas City Royals Parade, and the March on Washington in 1963.
Fiesta San Antonio 
Trinidad, Carnival 
The Bahamas, Junkanoo 
KC Royals, World Series Champions 
March on Washington, 1963 Our Destination Master, Avis Russell, provided these clues:
- This is a city that celebrates Carnival.
- The city transforms itself into a magical masquerade.
- Festival attendees wear elaborate 18th century costumes and masks.
If you guessed Venice, Italy, you are correct!
The theme of our September 5th meeting is “Travel Buddies.” Join the Travel Talkers group for a fun evening sharing your adventures. This event is for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members as we share our stories about traveling. Focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. The meeting is on Thursday, September 5th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific time. We want to hear about your travel and adventure plans.
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.
We look forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Olympic Cities
The theme of our July 25th meeting on the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games was Olympic Cities. We talked about the great cities of the world that have hosted the Olympic Games.
Our Destination Master for the meeting, Meghan Burns, gave us these clues for a city somewhere in the world.
- Only city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in the modern era.
- This city worked continuously to clean up the air quality leading up to the first hosting of the Olympic Games in 2008
- The Airport code for this city is PEK, which refers to the older name for the city (in English).
If you guessed Beijing, China, you are correct!
Club member, Judith Ferber, presented a speech at the meeting for the Motivational Strategies Path, Level 3, Effective Body Language project. Judith’s speech helped us understand how body language and listening skills help us communicate. She also encouraged us to include empathy, listening, and open-mindedness in verbal communication.
Avis Russell was the Travel Topics Master for the meeting. Her questions were about visiting Olympic host cities, sharing our favorite Olympic events, imagining the emotions we would have if we won a gold medal, and booking a trip to experience the Olympics and the 2024 host city.
The theme of our August 1st meeting is “Garden Tourism.” Join the Travel Talkers group for a fun evening sharing stories of travel to the beautiful gardens of the world. This event is for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members as we share our stories about traveling. Focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. The meeting is on Thursday, August 1st from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific time. We want to hear about your travel and adventure plans.
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.
We look forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Reunions
The theme of our July 18th meeting was Reunions. We talked about family reunions, workplace reunions, high school reunions, and college reunions. Several members enjoyed restarting the tradition of reunions after not meeting during the Covid pandemic. Our members like to travel and a reunion in a new location is a great reason to book a flight.
Our Destination Master, Tym Myers, provided these clues for a city in Europe:
- First recording of the name of this city comes from the Germanic Franks in the 3rd-4th century.
- The name probably comes from the Dutch word “Hand-thrower.”
- The 1920 Summer Olympics were held here.
- During Word War II, the allies fought the Battle of the Bulge to prevent this city from falling back into German hands.
- The port was expanded and modernized during a 10 year plan after WW II. It is now the second largest European port.
- In the 1990s the city began rebranding itself as a world class fashion center and now competes with Milan, Paris and London.
If you guessed, Antwerp, Belgium, you are correct!
Our Travel Topics Master for the meeting, Kit Myers, asked us questions about reunions. She wanted to know about the largest reunion we had attended, what music we associate with family reunions, what secrets were kept or revealed at our High School reunion and how many class reunions had we attended.
Both of the speakers at our meeting used the theme of reunions in their presentations. Jacqueline Maynard-Campbell gave a speech about the Maynard’s 2024 Reunion which was held over the July 4th holiday week in Chicago, Illinois. Jacqueline shared information about her family and their desire to restart the tradition of their annual reunion. She shared the best thing about the family reunion– it was a peaceful, loving and enjoyable time for everyone. Lisa Hamil gave a speech about reuniting with reunions and the process of change. She commented that attending reunions allows us to see how others have changed and grown. Reuniting with ourselves allows us to make changes in our own lives. She encouraged us to consider the inner reunion of growth and change.
The theme of our July 25th meeting is “Olympic Cities.” Join the Travel Talkers group for a fun evening sharing stories of travel to the cities that have hosted the Olympic Games. This event is for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members as we share our stories about traveling. Focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. The meeting is on Thursday, July 25th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific time. We want to hear about your travel and adventure plans.
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.
We look forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Travel to Experience Migrations
The theme of our July 11th meeting was travel adventures to experience migrations. Samantha Jamwal was our Travel Topics Master at the meeting. She asked us to share the details of trips we have taken or would like to take to experience migrations of penguin families, elephant gatherings, hummingbird flights, or Monarch butterflies.
Our destination master, Kit Myers, also used the migration theme. She showed us photos of locations on both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and asked us to name the location where visitors would be able to experience whale migrations.
If you guessed Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, you are correct!
Lisa Hamil presented a speech, “Anticipating Outer Space,” to engage us in thinking about the changes we need to make in our individual inner space before we can embark on the new frontier of inhabiting or visiting outer space. She included three areas that we need to develop.
- Adopt a mindset of expansion and adhere to a personal higher standard.
- Grow in the management and curation of resources.
- Develop the skill of love and internal determination of strength.
She commented that we have one vehicle for life, our physical body, and we need to develop functional longevity and energize wellness in our own body. Going to outer space, she concludes, will challenge our inner space and now is the time to develop new ways of thinking about our physical and emotional self.
The theme of our July 18th meeting is “Reunions.” Join the Travel Talkers group for a fun evening sharing stories of your reunions. This event is for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members as we share our stories about traveling. Focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. The meeting is on Thursday, July 18th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific time. We want to hear about your travel and adventure plans.
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.
We look forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
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Telling a great travel story is my passion, sharing that passion with others is fun.
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