Help Passports with Purpose Build Libraries in Zambia, Africa

Passports with Purpose 2011

It’s back. Passports with Purpose  offers the easiest way to support a worthwhile cause and assist with your holiday shopping needs. This year the travel blogging community has banded together to promote reading.

Passports with Purpose is celebrating their fourth year of fund raising for a cause. I’m pleased to say that this What a Trip Travel Blogger has supported Passports with Purpose from the start and I continue to be involved in 2011.

Last year we raised nearly $64,128. to construct a village in India – construction is already underway.  In 2009 we funded and built The Passports school in rural Cambodia – it opened in early October of 2010.

This year, more than 100 travel bloggers from around the world will participate in Passports with Purpose 2011.

Together, with your support, we plan to build libraries in Zambia. This year, we’re supporting Room to Read, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating children.  Did you know that more than half of Zambians are 16 years old or younger? It follows that the country’s educational system faces an incredible burden with high illiteracy rates. Raising $80,000, we will build two libraries in Southern Africa!

Passport with Purpose Prizes

This week you will be able to see a list of prizes on the Passports With Purpose website. Each donated prize will link back to a full description of the prizes on the blogger’s website

Your purchase of a $10 raffle ticket will help support Passports with Purpose and ultimately build several libraries in Zambia. For each $10 in donations that you make to Room to Read, you will will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. The fundraiser begins on November 30th and closes on December 16, 2011. All proceeds go directly to Room to Read.

What a Trip Passport with Purpose Prize Package

Thank you to my generous sponsors and Passports with Purpose Platinum Sponsor Round the World with Us.  This year I have prizes donated from Secrets Marquis Los Cabos and a gift certificate to accompany this Mexico dream vacation from Luxury Avenue.

Secrets Marquis Los Cabos

Luxury in Los Cabos, Mexico

Secrets Marquis Los Cabos is donating a three night stay at their luxury property in Los Cabos, including dinner for two with one bottle of Marquis wine. In addition Luxury Travel Avenue has donated a private shopping tour with a welcome bag and $1,000 peso gift card (value of approximately $85 USD depending on the exchange rate when redeemed) , making the value of this prize package worth $2,085. USD

Have you started your holiday shopping? Doesn’t it feel good to give back to a worthy cause, helping children have access to quality books and reading materials?

Seasons Greetings from What a Trip

Check back often to see our progress for the 2011 Passports with Purpose and thank YOU for making a difference! Seasons Greetings.

Follow Room to Read on Twitter and friend them on Facebook. For all things travel, follow Travel Expert Nancy D. Brown on Twitter.

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Passports with Purpose 2010

Posted by Nancy D. Brown

What does a luxury traveler look like? I recently returned from Las Vegas, home to the Luxury Travel Expo, a convention that delivers pearls of wisdom to luxury travel professionals. As a freelance writer, I'm happy to report that I walked away with a lot of information to share with you, the luxury traveler. I also walked away with $13 that I was able to grab during a game in the exhibit hall. That's me in the money booth.

HAWAII

A Hawaiian luxury traveler is an avid and active vacationer, according to the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. Their statistics say that a luxury traveler stays longer and spends more, while demanding a high level of service. Luxury travelers "sight do" not "sightsee." They are highly educated and well traveled. I was suprised to learn that their idea of a luxury traveler was someone who earns $100,000 or more.

2009 TOP DESTINATIONS

Some of the top destinations for 2009 will be Greece, Spain, Ireland and Egypt, according to Insight Vacations. I recently dined with Tom Heneghan, Marketing Manager of Tourism Ireland while Ireland's President Mary McAleese addressed supporters of the American Ireland Fund at a San Francisco luncheon. If Ireland is a wee bit as charming as President McAleese, I look forward to visiting. In fact, Aer Lingus flys non-stop from SFO to Dublin. I would love to visit the five star Dromoland Castle in Clare, Ireland, however, Nil Gaeilge maith agam. Translation: I cannot speak Irish very well.

LAS VEGAS

While we are now in an official recession, "Las Vegas is not having a fire sale," according to Art Jimenez, director of leisure sales, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The Expo took place at Mandalay Bay, yet I stayed at the budget-friendly Luxor. With over 14,000 new hotel rooms in Las Vegas, Jimenez said their state bird should be the crane.

CRUISING

The cruise industry continues to invest in the future, with 35 new ships expected for 2012.  According to Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) President and CEO Terry L. Dale, the "luxury market is expected to jump by 71% by 2012."

Finally, Katie Taylor, President and COO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, offered her take on  the two things elite consumers looks for in a brand; craftsmanship and quality.  "Service is why the Four Seasons exist," reflected Taylor. "Guests want 'just-for-me' service."

Next year's Luxury Travel Expo will take place December 1-3, 2009 at the Signature at MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

No one snoozed in the pews when visiting Santiago City’s church service.  “It was theatrical,” marveled Lafayette’s Marcia Linn.  “There were four monks harnessed in a basket that allowed them to work a pulley system to propel an incense burner filled with hot coals fifty feet into the air.  Every day we saw hundreds of people arriving as pilgrims to attend the service and take communion in every possible language.  Everyone hugged the statue of St. James.”
 

Linn stayed at northern Spain’s five star Parador Santiago de Compostela, considered to be the oldest hotel in the world.  The plumbing has been upgraded since its transformation from a Royal Hospital in 1499, where it sheltered numerous pilgrims. 
 

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela or “Way of St. James” path begins in many European locales including Le Puy, France, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The journey is marked with scallop shells along the 326 mile route.  The shell, found along the shores of Galicia, serves as a metaphor for the pilgrims.  As the waves of the ocean wash the shells on the shore, God’s hand guides the pilgrims to Santiago.
 

The cuisine of the area offers Spanish style seafood with fresh, local ingredients and wines.  Don’t miss the Galacian almond cakes, “polvorones” cookies or apple and caramel cream “filloas” pancakes.
 

While today’s pilgrims might carry Palm Pilots, a recent survey by Forrester Research found that nine percent fewer people booked travel online this year than in 2005.  Information junkies may roam the web, but travel agents still provide value in taking the stress out of vacation planning.

The government of Bhutan, situated between India and Tibet, requires guided assistance when traveling in their country.  Guide Tenpa Chophel spoke recently at REI Concord about Bhutan’s high value, low impact tourism policy launched in 1974.  “Visiting Bhutan is not easy,” notes Chophel.  “Visitors must spend $200 per night minimum, with 30% of that fee returning to the government for development.  By charging a tariff, it limits visitors and preserves our culture, heritage and traditions.”  Low impact translates to less garbage and allows the trekking routes to remain pristine.
 

Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon, is located along the southern slopes of the Himalaya mountain range.  In this isolated local, the Buddhist culture remains untouched by the outside world.  In 18,000 square miles of jungle and Himalayas, there are more than 165 animal species.  It is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.  For further information on a Chomolhari Trek visit reiadventures.com.
 

As we close the travel books on 2007, I’d like to share some trips and trends that I discovered while attending the Luxury Travel Expo in Las Vegas.  Author Pamela Danziger, “Let Them Eat Cake – Marketing Luxury to the Masses” notes, “old luxury is about a thing, while new luxury is about an experience.” 
 

Is a Mexican experience on your travel agenda? Cancun’s Ritz-Carlton is offering wine and tequila tasting and Chef’s Table sessions in their new culinary center.  Perhaps you are worried about Europe’s weak exchange?  Your dollar will stretch farther in South Africa.  On my wish list to visit; the Singita Game Reserves, or the Royal Malewane in Kruger National Park. Are you looking to give back to a community while on vacation? Voluntourism is on the rise with tax-deductible programs in place to the Peruvian Amazon jungle community of Yantalo.  In closing, not only were Actors Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson recently spotted in Peru; several Lamorinda residents are off to ring in the New Year in Machu Picchu.  Have a Pisco Sour for me!