Since March 2020, it has been in the planning to once again try travel, when safe to do so.  Tours booked and cancelled, postponed and replanned … zooms to talk about ideas and possible dates, some common ground for friends and travel club members alike to set intentions and try to venture out in the big travel world again. 

Why do we have the urge to travel?  What compels us to experience the big wide world and its creatures and people, cultures and food … and experience the washroom facilities!  Why do we wish to meet others and travel together…. What about us wants to call the big global world ‘home’?  

For me, often my bigger vision, is to contribute to women holding hands around the world, to support one another, to talk about the state of global affairs for women everywhere, to support women serving agencies so they can prosper and help women to find more empowerment.  Walking each other home, even the unseen women … even those I know very well.  How can I best lend my support every day in each experience to contribute to a peaceful and successful outcome for women?

Over the past 6 months I have been travelling again, as you can see from this blog.  First Europe for a short trip to Rome, a 7 night Oceania cruise to Athens and few day stay in Greece and Italy, finishing up with a 7 night stay local living Sorrento on Amalfi Coast, GAdventures tour at the agritourismo.  I like to refer to it as the lemon farm.  The mom of this family is the chef at the agritourismo.  Luigi, her son, and Valentina, the daughter work with tourists to ensure the stay is memorable for all the right reasons.  

The tour started out with 16 of us guests (friends and women travel club gals) on the cruise ship, and then people went on their way to their various other travel destinations.  

GAdventures is a great Canadian small tour company to travel with.  We come together as guests, sometimes barely, or not at all, knowing other travellers … meeting up for adventure, sometimes uncomfortable pushes outside of our comfort zone.  Sometimes an easy day of rest or sitting all day in a safari vehicle or bus.  

Most recently I have done two tours in Africa. Both GAdventures. One as an agent, one as a guest.  As an agent, I travelled solo and met up with a fabulous agent colleague who resides in Quebec.  We have never met before but became fast close friends and roommates.  I would travel with Manon anywhere anytime.  A kindred and fun spirit.  The tour: Kruger in Depth.  We met in Johannesburg and from there travelled to Kruger National Park for several safari days and enjoyed many wildlife experiences up close and personal.  Many photos taken and exciting safari moments, my first ever of this variety.  Seeking and finding the big five and including countless other creatures like zebra, elephant, cheetah, giraffe, leopard, buffalo, hippo, rhinoceros, wild exotic birds, lion, vultures and more.  

As a guest, I travelled with some friends and travel club members on a safari adventure that was a lot more physically challenging.  The women from Victoria, BC Canada (5 of us in total) met in Tanzania for 4 nights pre-tour in Stone Town in Zanzibar to relax, recharge from various travel experiences and enjoy some beach time before we head out on land safari in Kenya and Uganda (16 days East Africa in Depth). I had received a recommendation from the previous GAdventures guide to contact a business woman named Eliza.  Happy to do business with a woman in tourism.  We walked around town, we ventured to Prison Island and saw the giant tortoises.  I loved the blue safari, where we spent the day on a dhow (small sailing vessel-boat) and swam and snorkelled.  And Eliza helped us get a transfer to the airport to fly to Nairobi on our last day.  Giving business to a woman in this country in this way, a good thing.  

The first 8 of the 16 day GAdventures tour was set in Kenya and we did safari at three different national parks.  We had excellent guiding and drivers.  One activity was at a women’s center given a chance to support women to make a sustainable living in tourism.  I loved the quilting and fabric crafts we saw.  I made a small purchase and loved walking around and touching the creations and finished products.  

The second part of the 16 day tour was in Uganda, with many activities including trekking chimps and gorillas in National Parks.  In Rwanda on the last day of the tour we had lunch in a woman’s personal home, having paid for the service and food through our GAdventures payment.  Also we attended the genocide memorial museum in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.  This was a powerful and unforgettable community activity.  We also stopped at a women’s centre and had time to do some shopping and make purchases to take back home, supporting women craftspeople and skilled artisans to make a sustainable living with tourism.

Last day, last tour, last two of us women travelling together in Kigali, Rwanda to the airport to begin our trek home to Victoria Canada.  Once again, walking each other home, making sure we arrive both safe and with some comfort at having a travel buddy to share time and stories with.  

It is what I love about the Women’s Travel Club and the GAdventures style of travel.  We share the experiences, we personally grow in ways not visible to the other, we support and try to help each other to not feel so alone in the world when on adventure.  

In each and every journey this year, from my individual meditation experiences to the last flight home from Africa and the stories of genocide and discrimination …. We offer tolerance, patience, kindness and care as we indeed walk each other back home.  Thanks for being here to witness my journey.

I will be back with more travel stories one day, for now, some rest and comfort back home as I ease back to routine.  As I relax into the privilege that is my life.  Time to process and to evaluate what next for me in my life.  Time with family and friends,  catching up with work …. And always walking forward as best I can.

For now, 

As always, 

Pamela signing off from travels …..  thanks for the support.