Saying Goodbye, Host Families & Vaccines, Writing Travel Stories

Ready, Set, Go!

December 16, 2022 edition

by Randy LeGrant, Executive Director, The Cultural Exchange Project

We have just launched our new Laos volunteer abroad program. 

Unheard of program fee, it's so low you won't believe it. If you've been thinking about traveling to SE Asia (1-12 weeks) we have an amazing experience for you.

And now, on to the main event...

3 ideas to get ready, 2 travel quotes to get set, and 1 question to consider this week to Go!

Get Ready

1. Whilst borders have changed (mostly) their COVID restrictions, many of our host families are looking for fully vaxed participants to stay in their homes. We have found that there is a huge difference between being allowed to enter a country without vaccination, and being welcome in someone's home for 1-3 months without a vaccine card. 
2. When writing about your travels (during or after) make your travel days into travel stories. Give them a plot. Turn the new people you meet along your journey into characters. Develop your plot as you go through each day. Don't settle for telling us your itinerary, what you bought and what you saw. Make your trip your story and bring it to life. We'll all be reading each day, excited for the next day's installment.
3. From a Blog post I wrote March 5, 2007:  "The first time I traveled abroad was July 1976.  A high school English teacher in Goodland, Kansas, I took 13 students on a 4-week tour of Athens, Rome, Florence, Innsbruck, Paris, and London.
   
   Even after 30+ years of traveling professionally, one would think that first trip would be the one that stands out among them all. Well, no. Actually, the trip I remember most is the one I took in 1982. It marked the first time I left my son, who was all of six months old at the time. For the first time in my life, I experienced what being conflicted was all about. On one hand, I was excited to be leaving for London and the work I was going to do there. On the other, I had never experienced such pain. I learned that temporary loss can be as painful as permanent loss. The only difference is that the moment you walk out the door you actually begin the journey home. And therein lies any comfort of saying goodbye."

Get Set

Ibn Battuta started on his travels in 1325, when he was 20 years old. His traveling went on for around 29 years and he covered about 75,000 miles visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries:

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller."

Source:  UC Berkeley, School of Professional Development

Anais Nin’s quote about traveling on a constant search for things that will make us feel whole sums up the desire to keep learning through experiences:

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.”

Source:  The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 7: 1966-1974

GO

You win the lottery tomorrow. Where are you traveling to first?

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https://culturalexchangeproject.org/ready-set-go-01a

Until next week,

Randy LeGrant
​Executive Director, The Cultural Exchange Project

p.s. Did you ever wonder how Kermit stays so young-looking or Fozzie's favorite Christmas joke? Find out here ... wocka wocka!​