Happy Father's Day
Molly, my ten year old, gave me this Father's Day card she made. I thought it was very creative. There is a candy in the USA named Pop Rocks. They are small, crackling candies that pop and crackle in your mouth when you eat them. So I was really impressed when Molly gave me this card, "10 Reasons Why My" and then the candy Pop Rocks is under that. At 58, I'm very happy to be a "rockin' pop."
Idea ExchangeShaw once wrote, "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."
Will you be a voluntourist in 2008?
It's January in a new year and this is the perfect opportunity to write about what we learned here at GeoVisions in 2007 about voluntourism. If you are contemplating being a voluntourist in 2008, this is perfect reading for you. We can guarantee a lot of things, but we cannot guarantee you are going to have a good time. Most of that depends entirely on you. But what we can guarantee is, if you heed the ideas in this letter, you will have a better time.
The Significance of Family and Travel
There seems to be a universal sense of security in having family or loved ones to return to regardless of how far we decide to travel.
Don't Stay On The Sidelines
Shake off the apathy. Take a stand one way or the other. If you’re on the sidelines, you’re not helping anybody.
Don't Just Do Something
Don’t get out of bed tomorrow and do the same thing over and over and wonder why your life is the same and the same. Don’t just do something. Stand there and teach in Brazil, Turkey, China, Spain, France, Vietnam, and Korea.
Summer's End Brings New Programs
It is summer's end. Or nearly so. Here in New England the end of summer is marked by the start of school and cotton sweaters in the evening. Where I am from in Oklahoma, the end of summer comes with the final crack of a baseball bat and amber fields turned brown from a tractor's plow. Each of us marks summer's passing with those unique anchors that stay with us forever no matter where life takes us and drops us off.
Stepping Stones--Keep On Rolling Teachers who inspire realize there will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping-stones; it all depends on how we use them. Stepping-stones allow us to keep going. I spent a day with 40 stepping-stones, and I am better for it.
Write Your Own Travel Guide
From the time I taught high school English (back in the day) to present, I encouraged people to keep a journal. Write down all those ideas you have and record the experiences for people to read now and when you're dead and gone. I cannot think of a better use of my travel time than noting my itineraries and thoughts for my children to use when they want to see what I was up to on Sept. 20, 1988 in Sorento. It provides an opportunity for me to be there, when it will be impossible for me to be there.
You Say Goodbye And I Say Hello
My plane is landing now in Chicago. I’m one stop closer to home. In another week my family will be saying GOOD-bye again with funny little notes as I leave for Washington, DC. This week we have volunteers leaving for South Africa, Costa Rica and Argentina. They will each struggle with their own form of GOOD-bye. And the cycle will continue. But one thing will be the same, no matter where they are, no matter how long they will be away. The first step out the door begins the journey home.
From Key West In last month’s letter, I mentioned Ernest Hemingway and his volunteer work on the front line as a volunteer ambulance driver with AFS. Little did I know I would be standing in front on his home in Key West, FL during a visit there earlier this month.
We Share AFS Roots
I am proud to have been a very small part of the AFS and to have had the honor of meeting and interviewing two of the World War I and several of the World War II drivers. You can imagine how proud I am of what we are doing at GeoVisions International with our global work and service programs. But nothing makes me more proud than to see our volunteers abroad, walking the talk, rolling up their sleeves and making such a positive difference in the world.
At The Summit Of Pikes Peak It’s time for a new year and the perfect moment to contemplate all that has gone before and to be resolute in how I will live my life in the coming year. With those red flares float away all my mistakes. And at 14,110 feet you can reach up and pluck a star…a bright and shining start for the New Year.
A Tale of Three Cities
Pushing the envelope to improve our programs, responding to the needs of our overseas partners and being fairly priced and managed are our top goals. In 2007, we hope that you will continue to be impressed with our Global Work and Service Programs.
A Bite Out Of The Big Apple
November reminds us that the holiday season is approaching. For all those inspired enough to make a difference with GeoVisions in 2007, all of us here thank you. Your emails and phone calls, your applications, and your enthusiasm to leave a place better than you found it inspires us to to go that extra mile to make sure you meet that goal.
A Day At A Thai Orphanage There is a saying in Thai that if it isn’t Sanook (fun or from the heart), it isn’t worth doing. When we opened the program to GeoVisions’ volunteers, I thought about naming the program “Sanook in the North.” OK, that isn’t true. But what is very true is how much the children enjoy the volunteers and how touching it is to listen to them describe how much they miss them once they are gone.