I can’t think of a better day to say goodbye to social media and hello to a blog. There will be two themes here. Well, one, REGENERATION, with two channels:
Regenerative Travel
Heart and soul, I am a Traveler, and that will never change. However, as an International Tour Director & NGO Tour Designer, the planning and execution of True Places itineraries have been changing for a while. How we travel, where we stay, and who we visit are always discussed within a partnership with the local community at the heart of every itinerary. The Regenerative Travel movement is flowing with ideas on how to mitigate the damages of traditional travel, and I am excited to be part of the conversation.
Regenerative Agriculture
While grounded from my usual gig, I decided to embark on a new adventure with 6 acres of dirt in Cistern, Fayette County, Texas. After seeing Kiss the Ground, the movie about regenerating soil, I took their full Soil Advocacy Course course and I have started The Roy Road Project, a cow-sharing initiative to rebuild the soil that has been depleted on my land. If I can do this successfully, I can draw down into the soil an equivalent amount of CO2 that I have generated through 30+ years in the travel industry…well that’s the theory, and you will want to watch this space to see how it works and how many times I step in the proverbial cow patty.
For now, I will call this blog a Shared Dreamspace, a term my friend Nicole Richard, co-founder of Science in a Suitcase, termed while we were on a Robotics project in South Africa. Together we envisioned our trips of the future, delivering traveling robots with fun people while working closely with rural communities to ensure their Robotics programs were locally sustainable and globally connected. Most who know me have likely had a similar Shared Dreamspace somewhere in the world, under the stars of one hemisphere or the other. I am looking forward to many more Shared Dreamspaces, whether it be here, or in another true place in the world.
I may not be on social media, but I will continue to be the best cheerleader I can be for my friends, the ones who laugh with me despite my laugh, open their doors to me time and again, and show me how they move needles, educate children, grow food in a desert, and speak truth to power. I think it’s time I started to lay bare my own intention in the world and share it with anyone who wants to join in on my learning journey.
Welcome to True Places!
Love and light
Barbara