Travelling is super fun, I love it. And even though I haven't travelled as much as I would like to, am still glad I am doing what I can. I do manage to get away once every few weeks/months and go somewhere new. It has become a habit of sorts, I don't go back to the same place more than once unless the company requests, or if there is a new festival or event happening that I am keen on experiencing.
I come back and am constantly sharing stories and my experiences with friends and family. Some are just plain curious, while others are the "Oh I don't think am gonna go, but shall live through your experiences vicariously" and then there are others who wanna hear so they can compare stories ... it is always exciting and fun, cos I get to relive my experiences all over again.
About a month or so back, I got an email from The Soul Window and they wanted to know if I would be interested in talking at one of their events. The Soul window is a travel start up, they are into providing experiences, and building communities through dialogues... quite an interesting duo...
I was zapped, touched and overwhelmed when I saw the invite email. I wrote back asking them what the event was about, and what they were looking for from me. After a few exchanges, we decided to meet to see how we can take this forward. I met the two ladies from The Soul window, we spent about 4hours yapping about everything from the event to general travel and personal experiences and stories. Time flew by, conversations so interesting and fun, that at the end of the meet it felt like we had known each other awhile!
It was decided that they would roll out a Save the date, get people to register and we would have the event 2 weeks from that day. I put together a small note for them to use, and we kinda chalked out a map for the talk… The audience would be max of 10 people :-)
The D-day arrived, it was a warm Saturday evening and I made my way to M’s house where the event was happening. I did not have butterflies in my stomach, but did wonder who would be coming and how it would be. A friend of mine also joined in, which was nice! Soon it was time to begin, and the next few hours just whizzed by.
After a round of introductions, I opened with 2 interesting incidents from my travels, and then spoke about how travelling happened, and has evolved over the years. There was plenty of interaction, comments, insights, and fun elements thrown in from the others who had come… We had coffee, some cookies and soon the evening drew to an end. The ladies gave me a personal Thank You note along with a book- Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
From the event -
Videos [recorded by friend]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki6Ot8ofQFA&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZkptr8UP4o&feature=youtu.be