Coming soon:

the Travel That Changes You e-newsletter

BreatheDreamGo.com has always been about transformative travel. But now I am making that underlying value statement explicit with the launch of the Travel That Changes You e-newsletter. I will be featuring inspiring stories of real change by real travelers – and transformative travel tips by pros like Evelyn “Journeywoman” Hannon. Please sign up – the sign up box is in the right menu bar.  I want this new initiative to be an inspiration for people who want  want change in their lives, but don’t know where to start. By sharing stories, we can inspire each other – and also prepare each other for the ups and downs of change, travel … and life in general. So if you have a story of change or a travel experience that changed you please contact me to submit it and you could be highlighted in Travel That Changes You (with a link to your blog or website). The guidelines are below.

Future issues of the e-newsletter will feature:

• Dave and Deb of ThePlanetD sharing their story of how travel transformed them from career-and-money-motivated suburbanites into globe-trotting experience lovers
• A heart-felt essay from author Shelley Seale (The Weight of Silence: The Invisible Children of India) about how the children of India transformed her
• An interview with Canadian writer Sylvia Fraser, whose book A Rope in The Water tells the incredible story of her spiritual transformation in India
• Women explorers of the past such as: Dervla Murphy, who rode a bicycle from Dunkirk in France to Delhi, India in 1963, and wrote a ripping adventure book about her odyssey called Full Tilt
• Jim McIntosh, a shoe maker from New Zealand, who traveled to Africa meet Hanna, the child he sponsors
• AND transformative travel tips from well-seasoned experts like Evelyn “Journeywoman” Hannon and Janice “Solotraveler” Waugh. (more…)

Gandhi statue in New York City

India, TBEX and New York City

This weekend I was in New York for TBEX 10, the travel bloggers conference. As I was walking to dinner with several colleagues, we unexpectedly came across a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a small garden in Union Square. I did a double-take. I have seen the same statue countless times in India, in the centre of Delhi, in small towns, on mountain ridges, at the seaside — basically, Gandhi is everywhere. His presence in India is palpable, though of course he has been gone for 62 years. For a moment, I felt transported to India or, at least, my idea of India. To me India represents both sights, sounds, tastes and smells — the kaleidoscopic circus of the senses — and a way of being in the world that is based on the belief that we are all part of the same universal life force — the Hindu ideal that underlies Gandhi’s worldview.

The next day I returned by myself, and touched his feet. I would never had made such a gesture before traveling in India.

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On Wednesday, January 20, 10 travel mavens met at the Duke of York pub in downtown Toronto to talk about traveling, blogging, social media, TBEX 2010, following your bliss and other delightful topics. Thanks for coming: Evelyn (Journeywoman), Janice (Solotraveler), Diance (Girlsgetaway), Jaun (GlobalCulture), Natalie (@natcow34), Zinaida (@redsberry), and from Gap Adventures, Greg (@greghayes), Lauara (@millsionaire) and Kerri (@awndrlster_gap).

Pictured above is Evelyn and myself. We had a great time and are already talking about holding another one in May.