Mother Nature is wondrous, and beautiful – yet, also powerful, and sometimes very scary. She’s certainly seeming very upset this week.
The devastation left after the storms of Harvey and Irma is absolutely mind-blowing. As Houston and surrounding areas still deals with the after effects of a 500 year flood, Irma came along and destroyed Anguilla, St. Martin, and St Barth’s – and absolutely devastated Barbuda. Dominican Republic, British & US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rica, T&C, and Cuba felt its power. And now Irma moves to Florida; all while Mexico deals hurricane Katia coming after its most powerful earthquake in a century.
The pictures of devastation are just heart-breaking. Here’s one from Anguilla Beaches’ facebook page. See here .
And the pictures from St. Martin are even worse. – https://www.facebook.com/pg/stmartinnewsnetwork/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1439449566108784
Remember last week? September had started in a ‘relatively calm’ way …well, it’s all the ‘new normal’ living in the age of Trump and Russia and North Korea kinda way, so ‘relatively calm’ is indeed relative to that new reality.
Has CNN ever removed the “Breaking News” banner since last November?
Remember after 9/11 when they had the colour-coding alerts on news broadcasts?Remember when they would step it up from high to severe; and we’d think – how can we possibly go further up on the alert scale? It kinda feels like that with everything going on in the world right now, doesn’t it?
Besides all of the lives upended (and lost), and millions of dollars of properties and cherished items destroyed, there were also a couple stories of price gouging, and huge hikes in airfares. But, I believe karma awaits those folks. There were many more stories of good – and that’s what we should focus on.
It’s time to step back. Let’s look at the helpers again. Let’s go in search of wonder…. just like Mr. Rogers used to tell us.
The helpers are there. You can see them. And they’ll be there. They’ll still be needed, and working, long after the cameras have moved on. That’s wonder.
Remember, Mexico had sent their Red Cross and firefighters to Texas. See this and that . A pastor played a piano in his flooded home piano and a musician donated a new piano. See donate . Cruise ships picked up stranded passengers – see cruise . Delta sent a flight to pick up passengers – see Delta . There are funds popping up to give help. Help Anguilla Rebuild seelink– with their Latest UPDATE: Sept. 9 @4pm – update. Please also click below to DONATE to the Barbuda Relief & Recovery Fund set up by New York Offices of the Government of Antigua & Barbuda Barbuda
More funds will crop up. There will be more aid needed. Please help when you can. Please send prayers for everyone impacted in the Caribbean who has already been impacted (and devastated), and those in Cuba and Florida still being/ about to be impacted. And, when they are ready to accept company again, please go visit. They will need your tourism dollars.
But as we look at eh wonder of the helpers, let’s not forget the wonder of Mother Nature. Let’s look for wonder in all she offers too.
What wonders are you in search of?
Have you heard of the CNN Show, “The Wonder List?” It starts again in October. See http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/shows/the-wonder-list/
Or maybe you want to be inspired by some of my other clients’ chosen destinations? I’ve booked a couple of other ladies to Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand I’d mentioned last week – see
https://www.onthegotours.com/Cambodia/Journey-to-Angkor-Wat-15-days with On the Go Tours. I’ve also booked another on the group trip to Morocco. I’ve confirmed the small group bike ‘n barge trip to France, and a walking holiday around it too. I’ve confirmed a client trip to Greece with A&K, and am working on other customized trips to Japan. And I am working on a small group to climb Kilimanjaro with a Serengeti migration safari too. There are other their trips for clients looking to go to Australia, Kenya, and Madagascar.
Want to see some of the spots my clients are visiting this week! See below
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| Longitude 131/ Uluru |
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| On the Go – Morocco |
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| Emerald – Splendours of Europe |
And here’s a snippet of that Kilimanjaro trip that I was looking at with a client just yesterday.
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| Kilimanjaro |
So – what spots of wonder are you looking for?
Please give me a call (613-837-0699) or shoot me an email at [email protected], and we’ll schedule a bucket list planning call to dig into your needs, interests, how you like to travel – and we’ll find the right holiday/ mix for you!
Not sure what’s right for you? Get some further inspiration here. Look at the new VAST catalog here Vast 2017 .
Remember the 4 A’s I promise if you work with me? Advice, Access, Accountability, and Advocacy. See blog article .
Let’s schedule your dream vacation planning call today!