Tag Archives: travel

Guest Interview on the Dramatic Travels Podcast

Guest Interview on the Dramatic Travels Podcast

 

I was thrilled at the opportunity to be interviewed by Aaron Schlein for the Dramatic Travels podcast. Interestingly it felt more vulnerale or revealing to share some of these stories in a podcast interview than has felt for me to write about them in the past. Eleanor Roosevelt suggested:

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” Eleanor Roosevelt

This was my thing that day. You can listen to the podcast through the link below:

Elizabeth Atalay on Dramatic Travels

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Aaron Schlein launched the inspirational family travel podcast Dramatic Travels earlier this year as a resource for family travel, a way to ignite curiosity, and to open people’s minds to the power of travel. In each episode Aaron talks travel with passionate and experienced travelers who are sharing the world, and that love of adventure, with their kids.

Follow more Dramatic Travels on:

Instagram

the Dramatic Travels website

and Twitter

 

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3 Great Family Road Trips Abroad

3 Great Family Road Trips Abroad

A number of years ago we decided that we needed to seize our opportunity for the six of us to take valuable memory making family trips as frequently as we could before the kids went off to college. Often our destinations have been dictated as much by desired locations as flight costs. We search on websites like Cheapoair and kayak to help us find the best flight deals. We usually end up doing what we call high/low travel, mixing youth hostel stays in with resorts, and tend to keep our itineraries somewhat flexible by booking key accommodations and then finding others along the way. This is surprisingly easy to do with websites like booking.com, tripadvisor, and hostelworld, and that flexibility has led us to some incredible experiences. Keep an eye out for detailed travelogues and trip guides for each of the below family adventures on documama in the next few months.

Iceland

Iceland

I call this the land of rainbows and ponies because we saw at least 1 rainbow a day and Icelandic horses were everywhere. Iceland had not been on our radar until we saw the amazing airfare on WOW airlines. We’d never heard of WOW airlines… but we were intrigued! This was a fantastic trip that the kids all loved. You have to rent a car to get around and there was a lot of driving involved, but the roads were pretty much empty, and the scenery is spectacular.  Frequent stops to take pictures of waterfalls, climb on the lava rocks, check out the ancient moss fields, and visit volcanos, glaciers, and hot springs make the driving worthwhile. And in 5 days we only made it around 1/4 of the country’s one main ring road! accommodations are few and far between but through booking.com and airbnb everyplace we stayed was great. 

iceland trip

Croatia, Bosnia & Montenegro

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We flew into Zagreb instead of Split because, you guessed it…..the flights were more affordable. Zagreb is a great little city though with a vibrant market, some beautiful architecture, and a bustling city square. This also gave us the opportunity to visit the spectacular waterfalls of plitvice and the birth place of Nikola Tesla on our way to and from the coast. This region has very good roads and was easy to navigate in our rental a car ( aside from the hair-raising mountain pass our navigation system took us through in Bosnia in error). Accommodation highlights were nights inside the ancient walled Roman cities, which I highly recommend, and a couple of fantastic beach resorts. Between the rich history, the spectacular beaches, and the numerous world heritage sites, this trip has something for everyone.

Croatia map

Ireland/Northern Ireland

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Despite the narrow roads a road trip around Ireland and Northern Ireland is easy to do. We found wonderful bed and breakfasts along the way which we mixed in with a few youth hostel stays . Our itinerary was provided by our Irish friend and we pretty much visited all of the places he suggested. There is amazing history and scenery everywhere and of course great pub food! We were blown away by the ancient beehive huts around Dingle and the 5,000 year old megalithic passage tomb sites of Newgrange, the kids loved climbing around abandoned castles and the incredible Giant’s Causeway. This is again a wonderful family trip that was a crowd pleaser!

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Bon Voyage!

Explore The World With A Travel Scholarship

Explore The World With A Travel Scholarship

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Travel changes You. You change the world.

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International travel opens up your world and provides an unparalleled education. The good news is that there are many ways to afford to travel abroad even if you don’t think that you have the means to do so. There are organizations out there that believe in the power of travel. Hostelling International USA has just opened up applications for the 2018 Explore The World Travel Scholarships  . Through this scholarship more than 100 $2,000.00 travel scholarships will be awarded in 2018 toward an educational or service learning trip! This is an incredible opportunity for you or someone you know to explore the world. 

Social Media Image Explore the World

Experiencing new places, meeting new people, and being exposed to different cultures enhances global awareness and builds bridges toward cross-cultural understanding. That in turn creates a more peaceful world. Hostelling International USA not only wants to give travelers the opportunity to see new places, but a chance to make a positive impact along the way. That is what this scholarship is all about, making the world a better place through travel.  Past recipients of the Explore The World Travel Scholarships have done things like studied Arabic in Jordan or taught math in the Dominican Republic. You choose the path that you would like to take, and you are sure to return with an enhanced global perspective. Check out the eligibility requirements and start dreaming or share this opportunity with someone you know who would love it.

Every time I Travel I am amazed by the new things I learn about history, geography and the world. Travel has exposed me to the deep generosity of strangers and heightened my own desire to give back to others. It has given me a glimpse into perspectives I never could have otherwise understood and exposed me to cultures as different as possible from the one I grew up in. What I have observed in over 70 countries that I have visited is that at the core we are all more alike than we are different. I have become fascinated by learning perspectives and seeing the world through a different lens, and the greatest lesson is how much more there is to learn.  My husband and I hope to pass our love of travel on to our own children along with the knowledge that the world is a big beautiful place with a multitude of roads to travel, endless possibility, and different lifestyles to be lived. It all begins with that first trip. I love that Hostelling International USA is committed to making sure that everyone can share in the opportunity to explore the world. 

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Where will you go? What will you do to make a difference? APPLY NOW

A Look Back on 2016

A Look Back on 2016

PicMonkey Collage-5Reviewing the past year always helps me to move on to the new one, and here we are already heading into the last week of January! I just now feel like I’m catching up to the start of 2017!  It doesn’t usually take me this long to re-group and find the quiet time that I need to reflect after the holidays end, the kids get back to school, and visits with family and friends slow down. The election results left me distracted this January, but the Women’s March in DC last weekend has helped me to get back on track. Now I feel I can really take a look back at what unfolded over the past year and start to set some new goals for the new one ahead.

With a busy work schedule in 2016 I posted less on my blog than I would have liked.  While it was great to be busy, it left me finding less time for my own projects. I hope that in 2017 I can set aside time to do more with video and the writing that I love. Among my social media clients for the past two years I had the pleasure to work in strategic partnerships and as the Digital and Social Media Specialist for a local non-profit that I greatly admire. I worked with Edesia through the transition into a newly built factory where they produce life saving Plumpy’Nut and other ready-to-use foods to treat and prevent malnutrition in the world’s most vulnerable populations. It was exciting to witness the progress from plans to the grand opening of this amazing facility that helps to save millions of children’s lives each year from right here in Rhode Island.

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Other work highlights included attending the RESULTS conference in Washington, DC for the first time. RESULTS is a grassroots organization that builds momentum to tackle the complex and layered issues contributing to poverty. As a member of the RESULTS Social Media Corps I shared moments from the conference over digital channels highlighting the power to end poverty both at home and abroad through grassroots efforts. The United Nations Foundation Shot@Life Conference was also held in Washington, DC, and in 2016 I spoke as a Champion Leader about shaping the narrative of global health. Both conferences are opportunities for constituents to meet with their representatives on Capitol Hill to advocate for these important issues. A number of World Moms Network editors and contributors met up to attend the Social Good Summit in New York City during United Nations General Assembly week. As Managing Editor of World Moms Network I work with regional editors on each continent to support our global community of mothers and writers, During the same week I was part of a  Twitter Takeover of the GAVI  account along with a team of fellow Shot@Life Champion Leaders, keeping global vaccines front and center in the development conversation.

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By far the most amazing opportunity for me this year was to travel to Haiti where we met Artisan Business Network artisans who create pieces for the Macy’s Heart of Haiti line. This was a dream trip for me where I soaked in a glimpse of the thriving visual arts culture that is everywhere you look. The Heart of Haiti program was launched in response to the devastating 2010 earthquake as a way to help the many talented Haitian artists rebuild through economic recovery. I was deeply touched by the testament to spirit and creativity displayed in the Haitian Artisans whom we were able to meet. I still have so many great stories to write from this trip I can’t wait to share.

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Standing in the spot at the Ciragan Sarayi in Istanbul where we became engaged 20 years ago, Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy & old town Split in Croatia

50th birthday celebrations inspired my husband and I to travel to some incredible destinations in 2016.  Our travels took us to Scotland, Iceland, Italy, Norway, and Turkey. With a growing appreciate for the fact that as our kids get older, our opportunities to travel as a family are dwindling, has also inspired us to take family trips each summer while we can. Last summer the six of us had a fantastic trip to Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia.

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Coffee on the beach and meeting the author of A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James.

I have to include the 2016 Nantucket Book Festival  in my recap.  Aside from Nantucket being one of my favorite places, the book festival is a heavenly event for any reader and writer.

Yes, 2017 has gotten off to a slow start, but attending the Women’s March on Washington last weekend gave me hope. Being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people who, despite our differences, all believe in human decency and basic human rights, made me feel that love will ultimately prevail. Bring it on 2017, I’m fired up!

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Searching the (he)ART of Haiti

Searching the (he)ART of Haiti
"Home Is Home"

“Lakay Se Lakay” / “Home Is Home”

When I travel to a country for the first time I usually try to do some homework in preparation for my visit. I love the way that travel brings history, geography, and humanity to life, and provides a deeper understanding of the world. Still, sometimes I visit a place like Haiti, that is so enigmatic and full of surprises, that I realize no amount of advance preparation could have fully primed my understanding of the place. I loved the way Haitian Fashion Designer of Rapadou, Marie Therese Hilaire who goes by “Tetes”, expressed it:

“We have a country that has a feeling, se la pu la, You have to be there to understand it“.

It took less than two hours to fly there from Miami, but could not have felt more worlds away.

Packets of fried plantain snacks for sale

Packets of fried plantain snacks for sale

The art of any country always provides insightful cultural cues. In a country like Haiti, which is deeply infused with a visual arts culture, it can be a primer into the ethos of the population. Read the rest of this entry