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SHARE YOUR STORIES
Welcome to Travel Talkers Toastmasters!
Join Travel Talkers Toastmasters on Thursday, October 8, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is “Wine Country Trips.” Let’s travel to the world’s most beautiful wine regions. Share your adventures at our meeting.
Toastmasters offers members opportunities to improve their public speaking and leadership skills. And at Travel Talkers Toastmasters, we also learn about new destinations and share our travel adventures.
Our meetings are for all travel enthusiasts. Engage with fellow members to share your joy of travel. Build your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive, Toastmasters-style environment. Let’s hit the road, share stories, and inspire each other to embark on new adventures. Mark your calendars for an unforgettable evening with the Travel Talkers community!
You are invited to join us and bring a friend. Thursday, October 8, 6:30-7:30 pm Pacific (-7 UTC).
Register for the meeting link: https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink
Join the Travel Talkers Toastmasters for a fun evening sharing your travel plans and trips.
We meet on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30pm Pacific Time (-7 UTC). Use the link below 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—Museums and Cultural Destinations
Meeting highlights
The July 30 Travel Talkers Toastmasters Club meeting theme was Museums and Cultural Destinations, and the meeting also featured the installation of new officers led by Area A4 Director Scott Bradley. The club welcomed several guests, including Elizabeth Garcia from Arizona, Shalini Suravarjjala from Santa Clara, and Mandi Judy from Jamaica. Meghan Burns, as the Destination Master, conducted a guessing game about a U.S. city with many art museums. Lisa Hamil delivered a prepared speech titled “Star Power” about cultural experiences including meeting Elizabeth Taylor at a hotel in Florence, Italy. The club also conducted travel-themed table topics where members discussed museum preferences and cultural attractions. The meeting also included evaluations of timing, grammar, and overall performance, with Elizabeth winning the travel topics contest for her response about wanting to speak with the Mona Lisa to discover why she’s smiling.
Club Officer Installation
Scott Bradley, the new Area A4 Director from Santa Cruz, California, conducted the officer installation ceremony for the Travel Talkers Toastmasters club. The new officers officially installed are: Helen Josephine, President; Jacqueline Maynard-Campbell, Vice President Education; Lisa Hamil, Vice President Membership; Helen Josephine, Vice President Public Relations; Avis Russell, Secretary and Treasurer; Jessica Rolle, Sergeant at Arms. Each officer agreed to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. The meeting included introductions from several guests, including Elizabeth Garcia from Arizona, who is spending a month in Irvine, California; Shalini Suravarjjala, a guest invited by Lisa Hamil; and Mandi Judy from Jamaica, who all found the club through different means, including the new directory of online Toastmasters clubs and ChatGPT. Helen Josephine took on the role of Toastmasters for the meeting since Jessica was unable to attend due to a power outage.
Destination Master
Meghan Burns introduced the Destination Master activity, providing clues about a U.S. city with a high concentration of art museums and inviting participants to guess the location via chat.
- This US city has one of the highest concentrations of art museums in the world, with nearly 100 museums
- Served as the capital of the United States until 1790
- Home to many famous artists, including Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Georgia O’Keeffe
- The homes and art collections of famous historic residents of this city served as the foundation of many of the art museums you can visit today
If you guessed New York City as the location, you are correct.
Cultural Experiences and Travel Topics
Lisa Hamil delivered a prepared speech titled “Star Power” about her cultural experiences. She shared cultural events and celebrities, including attending and singing in a Pavarotti concert in Verona and meeting Elizabeth Taylor at a dinner in Florence during an HIV conference. She described how these cultural experiences provided relief from academic stress, particularly during a challenging statistics class.
Museum Travel Topics
Helen led the Travel Topics session where members shared their responses to museum-related questions. Scott proposed opening an outdoor museum featuring petroglyphs and Native American artifacts, while Elizabeth expressed interest in speaking with the Mona Lisa to discover her secrets. Avis preferred guided museum tours over exploring alone, and Mandi highlighted how museums provide deeper historical context about a country beyond just experiencing its food or beaches. Meghan shared a bizarre museum artifact involving a Civil War bullet with unusual claims about its romantic history, and Judith imagined a future AI museum where paintings could come alive and interact with visitors.
Next Meeting
The theme of our August 6 meeting is “Dinosaur Adventures.” Join the Travel Talkers Toastmasters Club for a fun evening sharing your adventures. Engage with fellow members as we share our stories about traveling. This is your opportunity to focus on your public speaking skills and get valuable feedback in a supportive Toastmasters-style environment. The meeting is on Thursday, August 6th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific time. We want to hear about your favorite Dinosaur adventure.
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
We look forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
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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
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters — The Bahamas
Travel Talkers Toastmasters is an online club for everyone who loves travel and enjoys sharing their love of travel. We have members and guests from several states including California, Arizona, Washington, Texas, and Virginia. We also have members and guests from The Bahamas. I had the opportunity to attend the Toastmasters International Convention held in The Bahamas in August 2023. While attending the conference, I had the opportunity to meet club members and guests of Travel Talkers Toastmasters as well as other Toastmasters from around the world.
The theme of our February 1st meeting was The Bahamas. We heard two great speeches about the beauty of the islands, the diversity of the people, the unique celebrations, and the delicious foods found in The Bahamas. Club member Vernitta Brown from Nassau and club member Avis Russell from Freeport are both outstanding travel ambassadors for the country they love. I was so lucky to spend time with both of them during my trip to The Bahamas in August. They showed me their favorite beaches, we ate at their favorite restaurants, and they introduced me to their families, friends and fellow Toastmasters. Avis’ speech detailed the unique adventures we could enjoy on Bimini Island diving with the dolphins, on Exuma Island swimming with the pigs, and on New Providence Island experiencing the Junkanoo celebrations in Nassau. Vernitta’s speech was an energetic and engaging description of what we would find on Inagua Island (Flamingos and sea birds), Crooked Island (snorkeling), and Harbor Island (beautiful pink sand beaches).
“There’s something about a picture-perfect destination that is naturally romantic whether it’s a sunset cruise on perfectly clear waters, a hand-in-hand stroll on a rose-colored beach, or a secluded sandbar reserved just for two – discover the love of a soft Bahamian breeze.” Bahams.com
Our Destination Master, Raji Bandanapudi, gave us these clues;
- This country is rated number one as the happiest country.
- This country has over 180,000 lakes.
- Crispy rye bread is a national dish and is served at most meals.
- 100% of all plastic bottles are recycled.
- The computer game Angry Birds was invented in this country.
If you guessed Finland, you are correct!
Our Travel Topics Master for the meeting was Tym Myers. He asked us questions about traveling to The Bahamas. He wanted to know what item we felt we must bring on our trip, which form of transportation we preferred to get to The Bahamas, which island we would want to visit, and what type of local food we would want to try. The beaches of The Bahamas were the go to place to visit and we all wanted to sample the many dishes made with conch–conch salad, conch fritters, cracked conch. Conch, pronounced “konk,” is the meat from an oversized sea snail. It is native to the coasts of The Bahamas, Florida Keys, The Caribbean, and Bermuda.
Queen Conch 
Conch Salad 
Conch Fritters Join our next meeting as we continue our travels around the world. Our next stop is “South America” on Thursday, February 8th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific (-8 UTC). 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. Be inspired to travel somewhere new. Let’s hear about your adventures at our February 8th 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
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–North America
At Travel Talkers Toastmasters we are launching a 12-week trip around the world during our club meetings. We started our adventure in North America at our January 25th meeting. North America is home to 23 countries, including Canada, the United States of America, Mexico, and many island nations in the Caribbean Sea. Our club members are all located in North America and we shared where we have visited and where we want to visit in the diverse countries that make up North America.
Our Travel Topics Master, Samantha Jamwal, asked us questions about travel destinations in North America. We heard about things to do and see in Toronto, Canada, why we should visit Hershey, Pennsylvania, the joy of eating tacos in Mexico City, and the music vibe in Cuba.
Our Destination Master, Judith Ferber, picked a mystery destination that is not in North America.
- This country is home to 5.6 million people.
- It is rated third in the world for quality of life and for the sixth year in a row, it is considered the world’s happiest country.
- This country has over 160,00 lakes.
- Visitors travel here to see the Northern Lights.
- Its economy is tied to forestry and technology.
If you guessed Finland, you are correct!
In addition to learning about new places to visit, our club members are also becoming better speakers and evaluators by completing speech projects as part of the Toastmasters Educational Program, known as Pathways. At our January 25th, meeting we heard two speeches. Helen Josephine presented a speech on mentoring to fulfill the requirements of the Dynamic Leadership, Level 2 project, Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring. Tym Myers presented his speech about airplane instruments including slides and vocal variety to fulfill the requirement of the Presentation Mastery, Level 1 project, Introduction to Vocal Variety and Body Language. For both speakers, this was the second time they had presented their speeches and they were able to incorporate the feedback they had received to improve their delivery, tone of voice and body language.
Join us for our next meeting as we continue our travels around the world. Our next stop is “The Bahamas” on Thursday, February 1st from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific (-8 UTC) with our club member tour guides, Vernitta Brown and Avis Russell. Bring your friends and colleagues to join us. Be inspired to travel somewhere new. Let’s hear about your adventures at our February 1st 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
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Destination Experiences
The theme of our January 18th meeting was Destination Experiences. We heard about travel and preparation for weddings, family reunions, and Toastmasters events. Everyone at the meeting agreed that we expand our horizons at Travel Talkers Toastmasters when we share our travel experiences.
Our Destination Master, Kit Myers gave us these clues for a country:
- This is a lush tropical country known for its rainforests.
- It is located in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Portuguese is spoken here.
- It is the biggest country on the continent.
- It has a famous statue on Mt Corcovado.
If you guessed Brazil, you are correct!
The Travel Topics Master of the meeting, Vernitta Brown, asked us what we liked about traveling, how we planned our trips, and what excites us when we travel. The joy and fun of traveling is all about the experience of seeing something new. Actually crossing that bridge or climbing that mountain or visiting that park we had only read about or seen pictures of. Some of us enjoy the time spent researching the locations, restaurants, and “must see” attractions. Others like to travel as free spirits, arriving in a new city or location without a list of what to do and open to discovering what is available by reading posted flyers and talking with the locals. All of the travel experiences we shared reinforced our feeling that sharing our stories at Travel Talkers Toastmasters expands our horizons.
We had two speakers at our meeting. Samantha Jamwal entertained us with the details of a family wedding in India that she attended last year. In her speech, ”A Big Fat Indian Wedding,” she recounted all of the details of the 6 day event.
- Day 1–Ranayan Path
- Day 2–Satsang
- Day 3–Shagun ( afternoon) and Mahanadi (evening)
- Day 4/5–Haldi (morning), Barat (night), Wedding Ceremony 2:30 am
- Day 5–Village welcome and feast (afternoon)
- Day 6–Wedding reception (afternoon and evening)
The entire wedding event was a multi-day marathon of rituals. music and food. Samantha shared her photos some of the many events and rituals which made her speech vivid and engaging.
Our second speaker, Raji Bandanapudi, gave a speech about the satisfaction and joy she experienced when she worked with a team to accomplish an event. As the Program Quality Director for Toastmasters District 101, Raji was charged with organizing a Fall networking and workshop event for the 2,000 members of our Toastmasters District. She recounted that her team of 40 members on 10 committees took 3 months to create the event for 100 attendees. She particularly liked building the team and sharing her vision for the event, working with the team to organize and present the event, and celebrating the success of the event with her team. This was her “zen zone” of happiness.
Join us for our next meeting as we start our travels around the world. First stop is “North America” on Thursday, January 25th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific (-8 UTC). Bring your friends and colleagues to join us. Be inspired to travel somewhere new. Let’s hear about your adventures at our January 25th 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
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Travel Talkers Toastmasters–Seek the Sun
During the cold dark days of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere many of us are wanting to find the Sun to boost our mood and warm our bodies. The theme of our January 11th meeting was “Seek the Sun.” Our Destination Master, Kit Myers, asked us about our favorite songs about the sun and sunshine. She also asked if we preferred the Sun Zodiac sign of our birthdate or the Lunar Zodiac sign of our birth year from the Chinese Calendar. In the Chinese Zodiac Calendar, 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon which begins on February 10, 2024 and lasts until January 28, 2025. Kit invited all of us to join her in San Antonio for the Solar Eclipse that will happen on April 8, 2024 and be visible in her home city.
Our Destination Master, Meghan Burns, gave us these clues about an island nation:
- Cities on the east coast of this Island are the first to see the sun rise.
- This Island is known for many filming locations, including the Lord of the Ring Trilogy.
- This nation has 600 islands including North Island and South Island, the two largest islands.
- This nation is in the Southern Hemisphere where it is now Summer.
If you guess New Zealand, you are correct!
Tym Myers was our speaker at the meeting and he presented his Level 1, Presentation Mastery speech, “It is 6:30 a.m., Heading into the Sun.” Tym gave us the details of the 6 basic instruments and indicators in an airplane cockpit that are essential for flying the plane even if you are flying east into the sun which is blinding your view.
- Airspeed indicatior–how fast you are traveling
- Altitude indicator–your altitude relative to the horizon
- Altimeter–how high you are above sea level
- Heading indicator–which direction you are going
- Vertical speed indicator–how fast you are climbing or descending
- Turn Coordinator– which direction you are turning, left or right
We always enjoy learning from Tym about his career as an airline pilot.
Join us for our Open House meeting, “Destination Experiences,” Thursday, Jan 18th from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pacific (-8 UTC). Bring your friends and colleagues to join us. What is your favorite destination experience? Was it a wedding, family reunion, or tour of a beautiful garden? Let’s hear about your adventures at our January 18th 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
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Telling a great travel story is my passion, sharing that passion with others is fun.
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