Travel Memories

When you work in the travel industry, it is easy to acquire the travel bug. I am often asked about my favorite travel memory by family and friends. I am thankful to have so many precious memories of the places I have been blessed to visit over the last 20 years, so honestly it is hard to choose.

What always comes to mind first when asked is Cambodia. I loved visiting Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and fell in love with the people and their laid-back lifestyle. Who wouldn’t be thrilled to cross a visit to the Angkor Wat Temple complex off their bucket list, made even more memorable accompanied by an insightful local guide? I think my favorite was Bayan Temple, but each site was unique and incredibly captivating. There is so much more to Cambodia than just the temples however! I would encourage everyone to pay homage to the millions of victims of the brutal Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime. A reflective visit to S-21/Tuol Svay Pray High School (turned processing center and prison for the victims) and the Killing Fields allows a chance to pay homage to the innocents who lost their lives.

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Then I recall hiking up the Great Wall of China! Touristy? Sure, but you need to step outside the huge cities to truly see what the rest of the country has to offer. Some of my favorite memories of China include visiting rural towns like Guiyang. It was incredible to talk to local people who had never, at that time at least, seen a Western person in their life. Every region visited has something unique to offer, from the amazing Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an, to the dramatic landscapes along the Li River near Guilin, to the amazing restaurants, nightlife, culture and fascinating history of Beijing and Shanghai. I have been many times, but there is still so much left to explore.

How could I not mention exploring the Pyramid complex in Cairo, Egypt. What child of the 70’s didn’t grow up learning about King Tut with dreams of becoming an archaeologist? Perhaps that was just me, but one of my fondest memories of Egypt aside from seeing the pyramids and sphinx in person was meandering through the Egyptian Antiquities Museum off Tahrir Square. We were lucky to have a private viewing of their exhibits accompanied by our incredible Egyptologists. If you go don’t miss Tutankhamun’s Gallery on the upper floor and make a stop at both royal mummy rooms to see who is on display. You may see Tuthmosis III, Amenhotep III, or the last warrior pharaoh Ramses II.

Deciding on my favorite travel memory with so many to choose from is a bit more challenging than I expected. Over the last 20 years, I have to say that spending time with and getting to know the local people has been what I remember and value the most. It is hard not to fall in love with the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, culture and history of each city, town and country; but no visit would have been complete without the fabulous people I met along the way! So, I would recommend you get off the beaten path and talk to the locals. Visit a local pub or restaurant and eat the regional foods. Hire a local guide or driver to show you around. You will be glad you made the extra effort to experience the most each country has to offer rather than just crowded tourist attractions and Western restaurants catering to the tourist palate. Make your own travel memories!

Collage Image Blog 2 — Debra’s favorite travel memories.

“All in a day’s (or week’s) work…”

The path to entrepreneurship has been an enlightening one. I have learned so much and been humbled by just how much it takes to launch and grow a new business. As a self-confessed procrastinator with “shiny new toy” syndrome, I found it difficult to create a routine for myself that ensured I focused on both the exciting, and not so exciting tasks required to manage my business. This challenge plagued me during my corporate career, however, with a more structured environment and project deadlines, I was able to course correct and ensure I didn’t drop the ball. Truth be told, procrastinators work best with hard deadlines, so the pressure served me well!

Today the responsibility sits firmly with me to determine my own priorities and ensure the needs of the business are met. I’ll admit the task can sometimes fill me with dread while other days be a great joy. Free from structure, I’m able to allow my mind to explore new ideas unencumbered, but this is both a blessing and a curse. On the upside, I can let my imagination run wild and I can act quickly on a new idea. Conversely, I miss the energetic debates and conversations with my esteemed colleagues, the energy, the building upon an initial thought, the support and collaborative promotion of a new project.

In the last few months I began to realize I needed a little structure (not too much) and set about trying to find a solution that would fit my “busy brain” personality. In February and March, I attended two very enlightening workshops for women entrepreneurs. The first was a three-day Women Rocking Business Workshop with CEO and Founder Sage Lavine, The creator of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy and online Women’s Business Training Programs, she has shared the stage with Neale Donald Walsch, Jack Canfield, Janet Attwood and many more. Sage introduced the “Freedom Schedule” concept and how she works three weeks each month while running a multi-million-dollar business. That got me listening! While I do not presently aspire to that (in a year or two maybe…) the concepts Sage introduce resonated with me and started the wheels turning. She walked us through an exercise where we began to structure our week and allocate themes to each day to allow for a greater focus and allocation of time to specific tasks and projects.

Sage Lavine Freedom Schedule — Photo Credit Sage Lavine, Women Rocking Business

40Thrive_RBP-22 — Jackie Morgan MacDougall

Immediately following the Women Rocking Business event, I drove to LA for the launch of a dear friend’s new business Forty Thrive. Jackie Morgan MacDougall is passionate about helping women become the best version of themselves. She is dedicated to supporting women in the best years of their lives to launch their dream business, get healthy, create and fulfill their bucket-lists, and live out the life they have envisioned for themselves. Jackie talked about committing to yourself and for me that spoke volumes. We can often commit to the business, but without commitment to yourself you are somewhat limiting the possibilities for yourself and your business.

So, what ultimately did I learn and what am I doing differently today? I now have a new approach to the work week that provides me with a structure that has some fluidity to it (allows the busy brain to play sometimes!) and creates focus where it is needed the most.

MARKETING MONDAYS – designed for all things marketing. Blog posts, social media ideas, PR and media, new web pages, promotional ideas, creative space

TEAM TUESDAYS – Nanda Journeys is a remote office with team members and partners across the US and the around the world. Each Tuesday we spend time connecting, catching up on our priorities, what’s new with everyone and how we can help each other stay on task

WHAMAZING WEDNESDAYS – my mid-week recharge! Today is about doing everything I love, connecting with my network groups, analyzing data (I love a good pivot table project!), and “me time” be that a yoga class, time to reflect or time to have fun

THRIVING THURSDAYS – Jackie taught me to focus on Thriving Forward, today is all about how we can grow the business and thrive. Connecting with potential leaders for our programs, looking at our prospects and designating projects to follow up and nurture our leads, new program ideas

FEARLESS FRIDAYS – today is about tackling everything I have been avoiding or putting off! By clearing my “nagging” to do list I can go in to the weekend free of guilt and feeling accomplished.

I most certainly do not have my new week mastered, but I sure am seeing an improvement in my productivity and creativeness and the business is THRIVING so I guess that tells its own story!

Share in the comments below how you organize your time, I’d love to hear your ideas.

Happy Thriving,

Nicola

The key ingredient; global partnerships built on trust and friendship.

Excellent global partnerships are integral at Nanda Journeys and enable us to create our unique and immersive journeys. To be successful in the travel industry, you must surround yourself with a team who strives for excellence and has an eye for detail. We truly believe our global partners are just the right addition to our team. Through these collaborations, we develop our customized journeys that ensure a unique and rewarding educational program. As you may know, Nanda Journeys sells more than just cookie cutter sightseeing tours. We prefer to focus our trips to include an immersive, career enriching experience, allowing professionals the opportunity to engage in site visits and roundtable discussions with their overseas counterparts.

For the last 20 years, we have been collaborating with our South African global partner headquartered in Cape Town. They are a passionate South African team with a deep love for their country and, through programs like ours, they have the chance to showcase all Southern Africa has to offer. Nanda Journeys counts on industry experts in their team and values the friendships that are built by working closely with them. Our mutual passion for international travel, along with the ultimate goal of providing a unique journey, cements those bonds. The opportunity to visit their country and spend time training with their team is one I will never forget. I have fond memories of driving from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park with their managing director. She shared her passion for her home country with me, leaving an impression of not only the diversity of the flora and fauna but an appreciation for the rich culture, history and people themselves.

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Our global partner in Tanzania focuses specifically on inbound travel to Tanzania. Their knowledge and passion for their country really shines through and their dedicated staff are truly unique. The teachers and music enthusiasts enrolled on our Music Education Journey to Tanzania will be spending time at the School of St. Jude this coming July. They are a non-governmental organization (NGO) I had the pleasure of visiting a few years back and one that we continue to support with each new journey that visits their lovely country. The school is dedicated to providing innovative educational services to the most disadvantaged children of Arusha and you can really see the love for the children and country the staff have. Our upcoming group will explore the education system in Tanzania and take part in various school activities like joining in a music and art class with the children. We are passionate at Nanda Journeys about giving back and proud to support organizations like this one, who is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the children living in poverty. I would encourage you to take a look at their website and learn more about their fantastic school.

Gemma Sisia, founder of the School of St. Jude, speaking with a past delegation

Lunch with the children of St. Jude

I will forever have memories of exploring Egypt guided by an incredible team of Egyptologists. They are truly experts in what they do! From bringing the history of ancient Egypt to life, to making sure every experience is not only educational but magical and fun too, they make sure each journey is an incredible experience. One of my favorite memories is visiting the Step pyramid of Djoser in the Saqqara necropolis. It is the oldest complete stone building complex known to history and was truly a marvel for its time. Djoser was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and was in power around 2670 BCE. He is believed to be the first to build in stone. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to step back in time and just take it all in!

Our dear friends in India have hosted, adopted and nurtured us as if we are family. The experiences they have helped us to build over the years have been truly remarkable. Imagine, meeting the Supreme Court Justice in India, chatting with the King & Queen and Prime Minister of Bhutan, being the first western guests in a remote village in Rajasthan, dining with a family and learning how to cook true South Indian dishes. These are all experiences we have collaborated on and designed with our colleagues in India. We know, without a shadow of a doubt, that our clients will be cared for like family when traveling to India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar & Thailand.

Farmer Family drive between Agra and Jaipur 7kids 2 room house (13)

We are honored to be able to deliver the programs we are so passionate about. We couldn’t do what we do without our global partners! Nanda continues to build on these relationships and to seek new partnerships each year to offer even more exciting destinations. These relationships are built based on a lot of hard work, mutual respect and trust, and dedication to a common mission. I am honored to call our global partners my friends and want to really express how much we value their professionalism, dedication and passion.

When you travel with Nanda Journeys, you can trust that you will have a wide network of industry experts putting their extensive experience to work to ensure you have a fantastic, educational and fun program! We at Nanda want to extend a big THANK YOU to our global partners. We could not do what we do without each one of you. Here is to the next 20 years!

Debra Arthur

A message from our national guide in Peru, Daniel Flores.

ENJOYING INCREDIBLE PERU WITH NANDA JOURNEYS

Nanda Journeys Mental Health Peru

As a Tour Manager in Peru, I meet many people coming to visit Machu Picchu. This of course is one of the highlights of my country and I enjoy knowing that travel companies include this visit as part of their experience.

There are however, many different ways to organize tours in Peru and I love to participate in ones that show a real taste of my country. The best part of every Nanda Journey is connecting people to local communities through authentic and meaningful activities. Not only visiting museums and archaeological sites, but also local markets, talking with local people in a plaza, trying different fruits, vegetables and local dishes that you prepare yourself under the instruction of a local chef or member of the community.

I have had the chance to lead some Nanda Journeys in Peru and it was great to meet so many awe-inspiring, passionate and generous people. I feel so blessed to see our guests working alongside our Andean communities; visiting young children that have never seen a Deontologist; sacred valley dental exams visiting Peruvian Universities to interact with our professors and eager to learn students; bringing medical supplies and donations to a remote medical center in Ollantaytambo, a small rural community in the Sacred Valley. These are just some samples of what we collaboratively do with Nanda Journeys to immersive our guests and create a truly experiential and authentic journey.

Working with Andean communities is a powerful and energizing experience to me. It enriches me in many different and positive ways and I love to share with others enrich and make a difference in their life. It feels great getting involved and connecting people because it helps me to grow as a person and fulfill my need of purpose. This is what inspires me to work with Nanda as their National Guide.

Being a National Guide for Nanda Journeys makes me feel fabulous, we create meaningful and rewarding experiences that make a difference in my local community. I look forward to meeting you in Peru!

Daniel Flores – Professional Guide, Peru.

Daniel will be the national guide for the following upcoming journeys:

Does travel change your life? You bet!

Imagine being five years out of college, working at your dream job, and then being part of the prestigious 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. I was, and it changed my life forever. It strengthened and enforced my love of travel, international cultures, and the power of strong and influential women from that day on.

Hillary Clinton, Mother Teresa, and many more influential women were there. The enormity of it struck me when our group of a few hundred women took up only a small section of the Opening Ceremony. A sea of women all excited to be a part of history!

Click here to listen to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s remarks to the Fourth Women’s Conference in Beijing, China. This footage is provided by the Clinton Presidential Library.

“By gathering in Beijing, we are focusing world attention on issues that matter most in our lives — the lives of women and their families: access to education, health care, jobs and credit, the chance to enjoy basic legal and human rights and to participate fully in the political life of our countries.” Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1995 remarks to the 4th Annual UN Conference for Women. Photo credit UN/DPI 051210 Yao Da Wei

This was my first, but not my last, journey to China and it truly made a difference. Travel became a passion, making a difference became a priority, and mentoring other female co-workers a new vision.

Life changing? Yes! A must? Yes! In my opinion, no matter your circumstances and other priorities, traveling to experience other cultures and to have those memorable experiences is something you will never regret and always hold tight.

Travel well!

Marcia Dartley – Program Director, Nanda Journeys

Links:

Official Video UN Fourth Women’s Conference, Beijing 1995

Official Website UN Women