All posts by The Ant

News in the world of travel

· Spotted by Matt Doughty on the BBC’s web site – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11578463.  It would certainly be a unique experience if the plan comes to fruition !

· And another more serious travel news item from the BBC, about the impact of different cultures on our wider world – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11901904

· David Stanley at Avalon Travel Publishing has just issued the latest edition of  Moon Tahiti…a well received series of travel books.  See more details athttp://www.southpacific.org/tahiti.html

·Greetings from Bike the Earth:-

Dear Globetrotters

Wonderful to get your news as we are in mid Australia on BIKE THE EARTH –http://www.biketheearth.net (Please check out at least the first page of our website).

We have done 3500 km, connecting communities, inspiring initiatives, on ABC Television, on the radio, and in the media, with some great testimonials for the work we are doing!

Warm wishes for the Christmas season!

Regards

Chris Le Breton

lebreton1@gmail.com

Write for the eNewsletter

If you enjoy writing & travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter !  The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 15,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at  theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

GT Travel Award

Are you inspired by all this talk of travel ?

Are you ready for you own independent adventure ?

Or do you know someone who could benefit from a helping hand into the wider world ?

What is the award ?

Each year the club offers up to two £1,000 awards to give out for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

The deadline to receive applications for the next award is 31 May 2011.

See the legacy page on the club’s web site for more details, where you can review previous winners’ trips and/or apply with your plans for a totally independent, travel trip.

If your idea catches our eye we’ll take a closer look at what you’re proposing and give you feedback & maybe a helping hand on your journey of a lifetime !!

Help wanted

From Guillermo Masutti in search of long lost friends:-

HI:

Fourtysomething years ago, I met in Buenos Aires an English young man named John Wonnacott. He travelled with his friend Ferguson (Scottish I think) they were Globetrotters members and I was a member myself due to his advise.

They stayed in Argentina for about two years and we were very good friends.

They taught English at St. Brendan’s School in Buenos Aires, where I was the Discipline and Sports Master at that time.

Time passes, life passes and we lost contact.

Now that new ‘cibernetic times’ are born, I’d love to get in touch with them again.

Can you please help me?

Thanks tons, Guillermo

masuttiguillermo@arnet.com.ar or masuttiguillermo@gmail.com

Welcome to eNewsletter November 2010

Hello all,

November’s edition see’s us gathering some global miles/kilometres as we catch up on our world of travel.

As you can see we have the return of Mac to enjoy, feedback on Doreen Tayler…the club’s travel award winning BBC guest speaker and highlight’s from London’s latest branch meeting. A good solid travelling starting to these darker, wetter months for us in the northern hemisphere J

South Africa & the USA are covered in no less detail both from quite an adventurous perspective…perhaps inspiring future trips for any of us? And all rounded off with a dash of travel news & web sites to give some breadth.

What else is happening across the wider travel world ?

  • The Adventure Travel Show returns to London in January 2011, http://www.adventuretravellive.com/, where the club’s very own Dick Curtis will be organising a travel advice stand once more. Hopefully the volunteers can continue to help would be travellers make sense of all the possibilities the exhibitors highlight J
  • Hot on the heels follows London & Birmingham’s Destinations Travel shows – http://www.destinationsshow.com/, where more mainstream travel options get their airing as well

That’s all for now, enjoy the read and keep sending me more of your stories, adventures and articles J

The Ant

theant@globetrotters.co.uk


November meeting news from the London branch

Picture courtesy of Tony Annis : Denise & her new publicationDenise Heywood – A Cambodian Odyssey Part 2

Denise returned to the London branch and focused on one of her many Cambodian passions the role of dance & its cultural impact on the country’s history. Starting at Angkor Wat intricate temples and moving up through the ages to Pol Pot’s regime, Denise led us knowledgeably & enthusiastically through why she is so fascinated by her subject matter ! Now I’m not a dance person but I found myself listening intently to all that she had to present to us.

Read many more details about Denise’s various south east Asian adventures on http://www.deniseheywood.co.uk/

Picture courtesy of Tony Annis : A smiling but nervous Paul ?Paul Archer – The It’s on the Meter Expedition: Hard Hearted Hannah – the Meanest Gal in Town!

The second talk was such a contrast on a number of levels three university friends Paul, Johno & Leigh are driving their black cab Hannah from London to Sydney, in aid of raising much needed funds for the British Red Cross charity and having as many adventures as possible. At the moment the guys are learning to repair their cab, be safe in challenging locations and ensuring that Hannah can look after them for eight months ! As Paul says “The planned route travels through some of the most inhospitable and beautiful regions in the World covering four continents, thirty-nine countries, ten time zones and over 35,000 miles”.

See Paul & the guys on their equally lively web site for more details of the trip & progress – http://www.itsonthemeter.com/ and/or join them on their Facebook group – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-on-the-Meter-World-Taxi-Challenge/204322509549?v=app_4949752878.

Details of the London branch’s future meetings are detailed at https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September.

For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/.


Meeting news from the Chester branch by Hanna & Angela

Hello to you all

Saturday 27th of November is our next meeting and again and we have two fabulous talks lined up for that day, the first one is by Don and Eve, who have spent time travelling through the outback in Australia. They will have lots of information on the “must see” list and what to avoid, places to stay and help for travel overland.

We will have our usual break where everyone can swap stories and relax over a nice cup of tea or coffee and biscuits.

Then after the break Madeleine is going to introduce us to the Great Wall of China and in addition going off the beaten track into Inner Mongolia.

We started a year ago with our Chester Branch of Globetrotters and we really have appreciated your support over the last 12 months, but it is essential to maintain attendance at the bi-monthly meetings to make Chester Globetrotters a viable society and therefore hope you will support us again in the coming year so that we can continue with our success and enjoy the benefits of a travel club locally.

The meeting is the Grosvenor Museum, Chester.

Tickets £2 including refreshments.

Contact Angela or Hanna for further information of this & future events at Chester via email at chesterbranch@globetrotters.co.uk


Meeting news from the Ontario branch

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.


Write in (1)…More from Doreen Tayler & In the footsteps of Kim

Not only did Doreen enjoy her Globetrotters’ travel award part funded trip earlier this year, she also gained herself an interview on national UK radio J As part of BBC Radio 4’s Excess Baggage show, http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/excessbag, Doreen was interviewed by John McCarthy & for 15 minutes, where she recalled her adventures around India as she travelled a route much trodden by Rudyard Kipling’s iconic character Kim. If you listen to the Podcast you might even hear Doreen mention Globetrotters J

Other listeners & readers also enjoyed Doreen’s adventure and here are some of the most positive comments:-

Barbara at barbara.arndt@btinternet.com commented that After listening to Radio 4 this morning I checked out Globetrotter’s web site. Doreen Tayler’s story is really great. I can totally sympathise as I travelled on my own in India and her article brought back many memories. Well done, Doreen and many more happy travels

Angela at vic.angela@btinternet.com wrote of her enjoyment at the show & said…

Hi Doreen.

Read your article with great interest as we to discovered India in our prime and pleased to say we had a great experience despite all the misgivings of others who went before us.

I help run the Chester club and on 17th July we are privileged to hear about the travels of another couple who did very much the same as we did. Found a taxi driver we felt we could trust and paid him by the day to show us his home land. We got far more than we bargained for as he had a relative in almost every place we visited including one who owned one of the many reed boats in Kerala so yes we spent a night on one. What it cost us to hire him we certainly got back in cheap deals and wonderful experiences including meeting his family and being treated to a welcome and a banquet fit for a visiting king.

Perhaps we saw India as everyone should see it through the eyes of someone who is passionate about his homeland and not through a package deal which protects you so say from harm and influence..

Happy travels keep on trekking. Regards Angela Blundell. Chester Travel club.