Today we pause and reflect on the fathers in our lives. Pictured above is my dad with me and my sisters. As the firstborn of my dad's 4 daughters, on Father's Day, my dad always thanks me for making him a dad. My passion for travel was inherited from my parents. As a child and young man, my dad's travel experiences were limited to visits to his family - traveling from Chicago to Milwaukee to visit his mom's relatives, or to Richmond, Indiana to visit his grandfather. (He did participate in a historical American event - his family hitchhiked from Chicago to Washington, D.C. as part of the "Bonus Army" when he was a toddler.) Drafted during the Korean Conflict - my father was deployed to France, serving as a clerk-typist to a unit of architects and engineers. Being stationed in Europe was a life-changing experience for him, and he took advantage of every day of furlough to explore the continent. After his discharge, he returned home to Chicago, and met my mom while they both worked for Lions International. At the time, my mother was planning to enter the convent; she was visiting relatives in Mexico on what she called her farewell tour when she ran into my dad on a Guadalajara sidewalk. "What are you doing here?" she asked him - and he responded that he had been moved by her descriptions of Mexico's beauty, and wanted to see it for himself. The rest, as they say, is history - and I can honestly say that I owe my very existence to my father's curiosity about the world, sparked by his travel experiences. As we continue to navigate these unique times, I for one am hopeful that by Father's Day next year, we will once again be able to enrich our lives by exploring more of the world. Happy Father's Day! Save The DatesDuring July, I'll be hosting three virtual wine and travel nights, featuring wines from South Africa, France and Italy. I'll be partnering with a bay area wine merchant, from whom you can order the wines we'll be tasting - as well as travel partners with expertise in each of those countries. The ZOOM calls will be at 5 PM Pacific, 8 PM Eastern, on three Thursdays - July 8, July 15 and July 22 - details will be released shortly. I hope you will join us for these physically distanced but very social events. From Joan's KitchenIf you missed my live demo of how to make my mother's non-traditional Gazpacho, never fear - here's the link for the video. To request the recipe, click the button below the video. And on Monday June 22 at 2 PM Pacific, 5 PM Eastern and 4 PM Central, I'll be in the kitchen again - this time, making a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail! tune in to my personal page on Facebook, to follow along. What's a Wanderlist?I am very fortunate to be affiliated with Virtuso, which describes themselves like this: "Virtuoso is the leading global network of agencies specializing in luxury and experiential travel, with more than 20,000 advisors. We partner with over 1,800 of the world’s best companies such as hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, and more. Our advisors use their personal connections and firsthand expertise to craft bespoke trips for clients, including unique experiences, special values, complimentary perks, VIP treatment and rare access." Since mid-March, Virtuoso has been incredibly supportive to its membership community of travel entrepreneurs, and they've recently announced the rollout of the Virtuoso Wanderlist - a digital tool to explore destinations around the world, as well as unique and specialized things to do in those destinations. I've linked a PDF with more information - and it would be my pleasure to share a complimentary link to this tool with you! -If you're interested, just reply to this email to let me know. We will be able to travel again - and creating your own Wanderlist will encourage you to learn and dream about -and anticipate - where you may want to travel when we can.
A very wise and thoughtful colleague, Kathleen Sullivan of Anthology Travel, recently published this article. It's so well done that I'm sharing almost verbatim (with permission, of course!) I hope that you'll find this helpful.
A few thoughts on travel for the summer/fall of 2020: I know we all just want to get the heck out of Dodge, but there are some things to keep in mind. |
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