Travel Talkers Toastmasters

SHARE YOUR STORIES

Welcome to Travel Talkers Toastmasters!

We invite you to Travel Talkers Toastmasters on Thursday, January 8, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific (-8 UTC). Our meeting theme is New Year, New Destinations. Join our meeting to share your travel plans for 2026. Where are you headed next?

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, January 8, 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.

Why Toastmasters?

Travel Talkers

Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Southern Africa
Travel to Southern Africa might include going on safari, exploring the beautiful coast, spending time in nature preserves, or enjoying big city life in Cape Town or Johannesburg. Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent including the countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Our Destination Master, Helen Josephine, provided us these clues for a named area in Southern Africa:
- It is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
- It marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward.
- It was originally called the Cape of Storms, by the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias. His discovery in 1488 established the sea route between Europe and Asia.
- The area is now a wild, rugged, scenic, and generally unspoiled national park home to at least 250 species of birds including one of the two mainland colonies of African penguins.
- The area also comprises a treasure trove of 1100 species of indigenous plants, many are endemic (occur naturally nowhere else on earth). Including the Proteaceae family, of which up to 24 species occur such as the King Protea.
- It is the legendary home of the Flying Dutchman, a ship crewed by tormented and damned ghostly sailors doomed to sail forever through the stormy sea without ever succeeding in rounding the cape.
If you guessed, the Cape of Good Hope, you are correct!

We had two speakers at our meeting. Avis Russell presented her Visionary Community Level 1 speech, “Gratitude–The Key to a Happier Life.” In this speech, Avis concentrated on using vocal variety and body language to enhance the message of her speech. She shared stories from her childhood about her Mother’s self-sacrifice and gratitude that have influenced her. She has passed on the examples of gratitude and appreciation she learned from her Mother to her own children. She ended her speech with a call to action and challenged us to show appreciation and gratitude daily, not just on special occasions. Our second speaker was Kit Myers. Kit presented her Presentation Mastery Level 2 speech, “Rhodesia or Zimbabwe.” She included childhood memories about first learning about the diamonds found in Southern Africa and the colorful map of the country from her grade school classroom. Even though the names of the countries changed several times over the years, as a child she wanted to visit Africa, and finally she got the opportunity as an adult.

The Travel Talkers Master, Tym Myers, asked us questions about traveling to Africa. He wanted to know how many different flights it would take to travel to South Africa from San Francisco, which language we would speak (Afrikaans, Zulu, or English), and if it was true that the color of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean was different where the two oceans meet at Cape Agulhas the southernmost tip of South Africa.

At our next meeting, we will continue our travels around the world. Join us as we share our adventures about traveling to the Middle East on Thursday, March 14th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We want to hear about your travel and adventure plans. Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudia Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The country of Dubai had 14.36 million international tourists in 2022 ranking it the 4th most visited location globally.

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.

Looking forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers

Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Bonus Trip
Have you ever experienced a “bonus trip,” a surprise trip you had not planned to take? My bonus trip to Bangkok, Thailand happened when I was delayed en route from Manilla to Tel Aviv. I packed as much as I could into my 24-hours in Bangkok. I booked a morning tour of Bangkok’s gem and jewelry district and an afternoon tour of the City and the Grand Palace. There was so much more that I didn’t have time for, but my memories of that bonus trip are wonderful.

Our Destination Master, Meghan Burns, gave us these clues for a city in Italy:
- Italian city in the Emilia-Romanaga region
- Birthplace of Pope Gregory XIII (creator of the Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1582)
- Birthplace of Guglielmo Marconi (awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909 for radio-wave based wireless telegraph system)
- Two foods share a name with this city (a sandwich meat and a meat sauce pasta dish)
If you guessed Bologna, Italy you are correct!

We enjoyed hearing three speeches at our meeting. Samantha Jamwal’s speech project for Engaging Humor, Level 4 required her to give two impromptu speeches of 2-3 minutes each on a topic selected at the meeting. Kit Myers, evaluated Samantha’s speeches for poise and presentation, the humor added to the story, and how well she connected her story to the topic. Tym Myer’s speech, “Ring, Ring, Ring’” was a speech emphasizing body language and vocal variety. Tym told us about a last minute assignment to fly from Dallas to Paris at Christmas. He landed in France to see snow covering the airport. He soon found out that nothing was open in Paris due to the snow and the Holidays. Instead of sightseeing in Paris, he spent his time hanging out with the flight crew in the hotel where he learned to play Mexican Train Dominoes. Tym concluded that the trip had three silver linings, seeing the beauty of Paris in the snow, learning to play Mexican Train Dominoes, and teaching his daughter the game when he got home.

The Travel Topics Master at the meeting, Vernitta Brown, asked us questions about our favorite travel websites and the cheapest place to visit. She asked Kit Myers to explain the difference between, one-way, round-trip, direct, and non-stop ticketing.

At our next meeting we will continue our travels around the world. Join us as we share our adventures about traveling to Southern Africa on Thursday, March 7th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We want to hear about your travel and safari plans. Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent including the countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 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.

Looking forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers

Travel Talkers Toastmasters — North Africa
Our travels around the world continued at our February 22nd meeting with a stop in North Africa. The United Nations subregion of North Africa consists of 7 countries in the northernmost part of the continent — Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

Our Destination Master, Natasha Barr, provide these clues for a country in Africa:
- This country is known as the “frying pan” of the world.
- It is the second largest land-locked country in Africa.
- The official language is French and there are 8 indigenous languages spoken.
- It gained its independence in 1960 and has experienced civil unrest.
- It is the poorest country in the world.
- There are 2 modes of transportation to travel to this country: by air or by vehicle.
- The ancient empire of Sokoto also includes dinosaur bones.
If you guessed the Republic of Niger, you are correct!

Helen Josephine was our Travel Topics Master and she asked us questions about what we would like to visit and experience in North Africa. The three main natural features of North Africa are the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert and the Nile River. She asked if we would want to visit the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the number one top destination in North Africa. She also wanted to know if anyone had ever ridden a camel and what did they like about that experience. Finally, she asked if we would prefer to visit Egypt or Morocco to experience the culture, food, and historical artifacts.

Our speaker, Meghan Burns, entertained us with her speech, “Three Dances in Mexico City.” She had given this speech to our club last year and she wanted to give it again to provide more body language and vocal variety. Her presentation was about a work trip to meet with colleagues and enjoy Mexico City. The first dance in her speech was an evening performance of the Ballet Folklorico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico City. The second dance was a highly choreographed Lucha Libre wrestling match with teams of wrestlers working together to defeat their opponents. The third dance was the airport tango, a dance of go fast and then go slow, which required Megan to pirouette and two-step through unplanned connections, plane changes and an overnight layover before she was back home to San Jose. We enjoyed experiencing the speech a second time with the addition of energetic body movements to illustrate the wrestling match and the many different voices of the airline personnel on the trip home

At our next meeting the theme is “Bonus Trip.” Join us to share your adventures on a bonus trip that you had not planned to take. We will meet on Thursday, February 29th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Pacific time. Be inspired to travel somewhere new. 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.

Looking forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.

Helen Josephine,

Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers

Travel Talkers Toastmasters — Western Europe
Travel destinations in Western Europe were the focus of our February 15th meeting. Western Europe is defined as including these 9 countries—Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, and Switzerland. These countries include art museums (The Louvre in Paris, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam), castles (Versailles in France, Neuschwanstein in Germany), vibrant cities (Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna), and mountains (Mont Blanc and the Alps).

Our Destination Master gave us these clues for a country in Western Europe:
- This is a land-locked country in Western Europe.
- It is a largely mountainous country.
- It is known for musical geniuses, Olympic medalists and movie stars.
- Delicious desserts, beer and schnizel are on the menu in this country.
- The sugar block candy dispenser, Pez, was invented in this country.
If you guessed Austria, you are correct!

We had two speakers at our meeting. Kit revised and presented her speech from last week, Presentation Mastery, Level 1 speech, “They tried to make me fly standby and I say NO, NO, NO!” Helen Josephine presented her speech, “Midnight flight to Tel Aviv” for the Dynamic Leadership, Level 3 project, “Negotiating the Best Outcome.” Her speech was about how negotiations during business travel can be stressful and sometimes have surprising outcomes. At the end of a 3-week business trip to Southeast Asia and India, Helen needed to negotiate with airline security before she could board her connecting flight in Bangkok, Thailand for her flight to Tel Aviv, Israel for a 2-day training session on the final leg of her trip. She discovered that these three negotiation tactics, be convincing, be confident, and be comfortable, did help. But the most important tactic was being calm and comfortable with whatever the final outcome would be. While she was not allowed to board the flight, she did have the bonus opportunity of spending 24 hours in Bangkok.

Our Travel Topics Master, Kit Myers, presented photos of places to visit in Western Europe and then asked us which location we would prefer to visit and why. Would we prefer to visit the London Bridge or the Alexander II Bridge in Paris? Would we prefer to visit the cave paintings in France or paintings inThe Louvre? Would we prefer to visit the sculptures of Michelangelo in Florence, Italy or the paintings of Gustav Klimt in Vienna, Germany?

At our next meeting we will continue our travels around the world. Join us as we share our adventures about traveling to North Africa on Thursday, February 22nd from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The United Nations subregion of North Africa consists of 7 countries in the northernmost part of the continent — Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara. Be inspired to travel somewhere new. Let’s hear about your adventures at our February 22nd meeting. 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. 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
Travel Talkers

Travel Talkers Toastmasters — South America
At our February 8th meeting, we continued our travels around the world with a stop in South America. The continent of South America is home to nearly 400 million people and consists of 12 countries—Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname—plus an overseas department of France called French Guiana.

Our Destination Master, Tym Myers, provided these clue for a destination in South America:
- It is a group of 778 islands in the Southern Hemisphere.
- These islands are East of 60 degrees West longitude (for reference, Miami is also 60 degrees West).
- These islands were discovered in 1690 by British Captain John Strong.
- These islands have two names, one in Spanish and one in English.
- A war was fought by Great Britain during the 20th Century over who had control of these islands (Great Britain won).
- These islands are known for their millions of penguins and their wool industry.
If you guessed the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), you are correct!

Kit Myer presented her Presentation Mastery, Level 1 speech, “They tried to make me fly standby and I say NO, NO, NO!’ Kit shared with us the privilege and the responsibilities of flying standby as a non-revenue passenger. The privilege is afforded to airline employees and their spouses and families. Although the seat is free, Kit revealed that there are expectations. Employee standby passengers need to wait until all other paying passenger are seated and then if there is an available seat, they are allowed to board. If a paying passenger is late for the flight, the non-revenue standby passenger will be asked to leave the plane. Also, non-revenue standby passengers are expected to dress in business attire, no sweat pants or hoodies. What seems like a great perk, can be stressful and can make travel difficult to plan. Non-revenue standby passengers are also subject to equipment or weather delays without any recourse for rebooking. After 25 years of flying non-revenue standby, Kit decided that if she really wants to fly to attend a family event that she did not want to miss, it would be better to purchase a ticket rather than hope that a “free” standby seat would be available.

Our Travel Topics Master, Vernitta Brown, asked us questions about our first travel experience, which places we would like to return to, and the best advice for how not to miss a flight. Jacqueline Campbell, a travel professional who attends our club meetings, shared with us that she provides a checklist for her clients of all the documents they will need when they arrive at the airport. If they have forgotten their passport for an international flight or cruise for example, they will not be able to check-in for their trip. Being prepared is the best advice for how not to miss your flight.

At our next meeting we will continue our travels around the world. Join us as we share our adventures about traveling to Western Europe on Thursday, February 15th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The United Nations defines Western Europe as including these 9 countries—Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Be inspired to travel somewhere new. Let’s hear about your adventures at our February 15th meeting. 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. 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