Note from Linda:
Back from Senegal! 

Feature Article:
Live Your Joy: Make Your Travel Dreams Come True 

Lingo Tidbits:
Checkmate on Main Street: Arabic + English 

Wow! What an extraordinary experience!

Just back from nearly a month in Senegal, including the launch of Women’s Travels for Peace, I am literally…awed.

The four fabulous women with whom I joyfully traveled were outstanding: energetic, enthusiastic, warm, kind, and open to the adventure of women-helping-women abroad. I knew my travelers would face a world that contrasts dramatically with their own…and to my happiness, they adapted instantly and completely.

In our upcoming issue, we’ll be sharing our once-in-a-lifetime experience with you, complete with photos. In fact, following this amazing adventure, Women’s Travels for Peace will be launching a whole new website! For now, though, I must give you the highlights. Sorry to make you wait, but I’m still on Dakar time!

Aside from the lingering images, sounds, and flavors of our rural West African experience, I am struck by the personal happiness I feel. My dream was to launch this project, and I did just that. It was a success for the visiting American women as well as the Senegalese women receiving a new and desperately needed well for their collective farming project. And both groups came together in thrilling celebration of their shared experiences.

As I take time to savor my own gratitude with the accomplishment of this initial project, I find myself reflecting on the importance of making your travel dreams come true. Why shouldn’t you, too, feel the thrill of making your own travel dream a reality?

This month’s feature article, Live Your Joy: Make Your Travel Dreams Come True, will help you do just that. A few simple steps you can start taking right now can lead you from where you are today…to your own personal Shangri-La.

With love and peace,

Peace Through Travel

Live Your Joy: Make Your Travel Dreams Come True

By Linda Rivero

Less than one year ago, my dream was born: the dream of bringing women from the industrialized world to work side-by-side with women from the developing African world on a project that would improve the lives of the African women.

Four days ago I returned from accomplishing that dream, and I am awed. My joy, my satisfaction and my gratitude are profound.

Travel for me is about helping others learn, connect, grow, and become deeper, more compassionate human beings through the adventure of travel. That’s my dream.

For each of us who loves travel, the dream is different. What we have in common, though, is the lure we feel of the irresistible unknown. The mysterious beauty, the engaging smile, the unexpected embrace all bring us a thrill we cannot find until we challenge ourselves and step off the edge into adventure.

Sometimes, though, we don’t take enough time to reflect on what will make us deeply happy when we travel. Sometimes we’re just plain exhausted and want nothing more than a week in the sun away from it all. Or we may feel stressed out, with no relaxed time, and find ourselves darting around the Internet and finally booking a quick vacation to what seems to be an interesting destination. Then we hope for the best. Or we may plan our travels for months…but never really contemplate what would make our trip an adventure to last a lifetime.

The fact is, sometimes our knee-jerk plans, or our settle-for-less plans, work out—and sometimes they don’t.

But our travels can be magical, every time—barring unforeseen disasters that are out of anyone’s control.

Your life is short and your time is precious. You owe it to yourself to make your travel experience a dream-come-true. During these tough economic times, you owe it to yourself even more. As money tightens, you may vacation less and feel a greater financial stretch. The satisfaction and joy of your deeper self are critical to your genuine comfort and peace of mind.

So how do you do make your travel dreams come true? It’s easy, in 7 simple steps.

1. Where is your Shangri-La? Where do your daydreams take you? Where do you see yourself? Stepping into the timeless mystery of a cool, dark Egyptian tomb? Trekking up the mountainside to an ancient burial ground? Hiking through the verdant undergrowth of a jungle habitat of orangutans? Let your dreams carry you away. Then wake up, make notes, and go to step 2.
   
   
2. Pinpoint the passion in your dream. Chances are, it’s not just the destination itself that draws you; there’s something about that place that really excites you. Is it the faces of the people? Is it the romance of history? Is it the color, the music, the spirit? The spectacular natural wonders? Identify what you really love about here, what you truly want to explore. Today more and more people are realizing the profound benefits of recharging by actively pursuing an interest they love—and that supports and protects our world. What do you love? If you’re not sure, think about this: which news items do you gravitate to? Which human interest stories do you read? Which magazines, newsletters, websites grab your at
   tention?
   
   
3. Research and Read. Enjoy getting turned on by what you love, and dive into the fun task of living your dream. Where can you experience the most of what you’re looking for? How? With whom? How can you maximize your adventure? Has anyone you know lived what you seek? If you depend on a savvy travel agent, prepare plenty of thoughtful questions. If you depend on your own online research, search thoroughly, making sure you’re including the activities most important to you.
   
   
4. Contact the travel provider. Are you thinking of a tour? Call the tour operator with specific questions. Are you thinking of a volunteer travel experience? Call the company you’ll travel with and make sure you’ll be getting exactly what you seek. Are you thinking of renting a place abroad and just wandering? Call the rental company, the appropriate tourist board, and anyone you know who’s traveled there before you.
   
   
5. Adhere to responsible travel guidelines. As a responsible traveler, you always want to travel with the greater good of your planet and your fellow-human beings in mind. You’ll find tips for responsible travel planning in 9 Tips for Responsible Travel Planning from the December 2007 issue of Responsible W.O.R.L.D. Traveler. In the January 2008 issue, 5 Easy "W.O.R.L.D." Steps to Responsible Travel During Your Trip offers helpful suggestions for traveling responsibly while on the road.
   
   
6. Get your head together. Read up on culture, learn some language basics, and expect things to be different than they are at home. Become a true W.O.R.L.D.^® traveler: show Wisdom, Openness, Resilience, Language-sensitivity and Laughter, and Discovery. Take these steps, adopt this attitude, and you’ll be rewarded with rich and welcoming interactions with people you meet.
   
   
7. Pack and Go! Keep your dreams and W.O.R.L.D.^® attitude front and center, and set off to live your adventure. I did just that in Senegal, and my joy will last forever. Follow these simple steps, and the same thrill awaits you.

© 2008 Linda Rivero, Peace Through Travel LLC

Checkmate on Main Street:
Arabic + English

I love the fact that we humans are all permanently connected through language. The evolution of language transcends race, religion, political difference, social class, and any other possible divider: no language exists that does not bear the influence of another. I find that heartily reassuring.

Did you know that if you speak English, you’ve got a nice stash of thousands of Arabic words and Arabic roots in your everyday speech? Thanks to the expansion of the Islamic Empire between the 8 th and 12 th centuries and the nearly 800-year stay of the Moors in Spain, these thousands of words have found their way into our common vocabulary. Many of them are related to mathematics and sciences; the Moorish civilization was vastly more advanced than the European civilization of the time.

Here’s a short list of common English words that come directly from Arabic: