Since I travel at least 100 days a year (mostly for business but sometimes for fun, too), I have learned many things to help others negotiate the potentially unfriendly skies these days. It can be a wonderful blessing to be able to travel to exciting cities, exotic cultures, and restful havens, but only if one is prepared.
Anne Gourley and me at the Grand Canyon in May
LUGGAGE:
First of all, you want to find the lightest possible luggage you can. The average suitcase weighs from 12 -15 pounds, so that leaves you only about 35 pounds to fill in order not to have to pay a penalty. I use a large duffle bag, which is by far the lightest option, for my work materials, workout clothes and cosmetics. Because I am a professional speaker, I need to take “presenting” clothes as well as casual things for evening, so I need a molded suitcase for these items. I have found a brand called Heys that I love. The very largest suitcase only weighs 11 pounds, the lightest I have ever found, and it has held up well even through international travel. (I only plan to get about 1 year from my bags, so if they make it beyond that, I am thrilled!) Bed, Bath and Beyond has a very inexpensive handheld scale that you can use to check the weight of each bag ahead so that you have no surprises when you get to check-in.
PACKING:
I do not have a lot of advice about packing sparingly since I have never learned to travel light.! Fortunately, I am a Gold Medallion on Delta, so I get three bags of 70 pounds each free…..HOORAY! However, I do have a couple of packing tips. I keep an extra set of all my meds (which I carry on the plane), and I keep cosmetics, a spare curling iron and hair dryer (I never rely on the hotels to have these as they are essential to my looking good 😉 and toiletries already in my suitcase so that I never have to worry about packing those. I have shoe bags and molded forms to stick in my shoes, and I fill my tennis shoes with pairs of socks. I buy mostly knits and clothes that pack well – Chico’s for casual and St. John for dress and presentations. A basic black pant and top, dress, or skirt and tank with several different jackets help save space and always look good. I pack everything in plastic cleaning bags to help them stay unwrinkled. Many people are also recommending the special bags that are airtight and save a great deal of space in one’s suitcase.
HEALTH ON THE ROAD:
On the plane, I rely on two products (and even though I am on dozens of flights a year, I rarely ever get sick) – Airborne which you can get at the drugstore and a product from New Zealand for longer flights called “No Jet Lag” (www.nojetlag.com). The latter is a little mint that you chew every two hours, and it is miraculous. Even on a 28 hour flight home from South Africa several years ago, neither my daughter nor I had jet lag. I also carry antibiotic hand crème everywhere and a Z-pak from my doctor just in case I do get ill on the road. I drink lots of water and take daily vitamins, and I always get a flu shot. Be sure to wash your hands often on the plane and walk around every hour.
I also carry a stretch band and a tennis ball. Each morning on the road, I do 15 minutes of stretching exercises and 100 sit-ups with the tennis ball between my knees. This helps to keep me limber and gets my metabolism going even if I do not have time to do more of a workout. I always carry a swimsuit and goggles and tennis shoes and shorts and t-shirt in case I have time to work out; however, after a long day with clients, I am not excited about going down to an exercise room late at night all by myself, so instead I spend time with my stretch bands in the room.
I recently bought a sound machine to carry on the road and I also carry a fire hood in case of emergency. If you travel frequently, there is a wonderful service called Med Jet Assist which will airlift you from anywhere in the world to your choice of a hospital. The fee the last time I checked was around $100 a year—a wonderful bargain for peace of mind.
OTHER TIPS:
* Remember to always have a photo ID or passport. Check with your state; in the state of Florida, you can get a free photo ID that is a duplicate of your Driver’s license so you do not have to worry about losing your license when you are traveling.
* I always dress well when I travel (no jeans). I am treated with much more respect, I often get upgraded, and if they were to lose my bags, I still have something I could wear to speak.
* Keep ID inside of each bag as well as on the outside. Especially if your bag is black, have some distinguishing feature such as a colored ribbon tied on it, stickers, or a bright band around the bag. That helps keep anyone else from mistaking your bag for theirs.
Travel has gotten harder and harder since 9/11; however, if you are well-prepared, you will find great joy in experiences you could never imagine at home.
To learn more about Barbara’s travel schedule, go to www.barbaraglanz.com/calendar. There are also many journals of her travels on this blog.
Some Lessons Learned from the Farm
In late June our Mastermind group met at the farm home of Jolene and Keith Brown in West Branch, Iowa. Even though I had grown up in a small town in Iowa and had many friends who lived on farms, I had never spent several days actually living on a farm. The experience was an eye-opener for each of us “city folks” and taught us some important lessons about hard work, community, and values.
Travel Buddy: Nancy Cobb, a dear friend from Illinois, has traveled with me before to Venezuela, Antarctica, India, Thailand, Viet Nam, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. We really enjoy each other’s company and as we often say, “We each are blessed with different skills!” Nancy is an early riser and takes care of most of the details, but she needs me to help her find all the things she loses! I am the messy one who over packs and spreads out all over, but dear Nancy puts up with me! However, I am also the documenter and the one who remembers all the goofy things we hear– I remember the short term things and Nancy remembers the long term ones, so we make a good team! We both enjoy learning, meeting other people, and adventures, so we have become good travel buddies.
Barbara is enjoying her wonderful birthday cruise on Princess Cruises. Her voyage began in Denmark, then sailed on to Norway, next was Berlin. After enjoying some time at sea, they will be visiting St. Petersburg – Russia, Helsinki – Finland, Stockholm – Sweden, ending back in Copenhagen -Denmark. What a beautiful adventure. Bon Voyage!
Touring Amsterdam
A speaker friend, Lenora Billings-Harris, and I spent the day sightseeing in Amsterdam on Sunday after the Global Speakers Symposium ended. We began with a canal tour.
Lenora and me on the boat
Our sightseeing boat
Of course all the streets are very narrow, and since so many people bike, there is always a very narrow bike path on one side of the tiny streets which leaves even less room for cars. The canals, which are about 3 meters deep, were built in the 17th century, and as the city grew, they were built in semi-circles out from the center. One of the most interesting things about the canals was that in the 1960’s they finally built short fences on some of the canals (although the ones outside my windows have nothing between the street and the water). The guide told us that still at least one car a week goes into the canal!
Amsterdam is 1 ½ meters below sea level, so most of the houses are built on piles. (Schipol Airport is also below sea level…..) The reason the houses are so narrow is that they were taxed on their WiDTH, so they were all built long to the back. There are many different kinds of interesting gables, often indicating the wealth and status of the owners, and I was intrigued with the large hooks at the top of each gable. Because the houses and the stairways were so narrow, all the furniture had to be brought in through the windows, so the hooks were the first form of moving equipment! I took many pictures of the charming rows of house fronts along the canal, many former mansions.
Note the hooks at the top of the buildings
This was one of the most narrow buildings we saw.
We saw wonderful sights like the largest floating Chinese restaurant in the world, the “house with 1000 windows,” the “Crazy Jack” Tower, so-called because the clock could never keep the right time, and hundreds of house boats—some lovely with little floating gardens and others that looked barely afloat! Interestingly, they all have gas, water, and electricity.
Two different kinds of houseboats
After our canal ride, we went to the Van Gogh Museum, and since Lenora shares my penchant for shopping, the first thing we hit was the Museum gift shop….and then lunch in their garden cafeteria. The museum itself was very crowded, but we were able to see most of Van Gogh’s amazing work. I did not know that he only painted for ten years and then became ill and despondent and shot himself. Sadly, his work did not become famous until much after his death. There was also a traveling Picasso exhibit at the museum which we found quite interesting. He is so famous for his cubism that I was not aware of the many other kinds of work he did.
On our way back to the hotel, we HAD to stop at the Hard Rock Café for gift t-shirts and an empty Heineken beer bottle in Dutch!
Hard Rock Cafe of Amsterdam
The Heineken Brewery
We dropped off our purchases and then did a quick walk through of the Red Light district. My children had warned me NOT to go into a coffee shop ;-), so I had to at least take a picture in front of one.
A "coffee shop" in Amsterdam
Even though I had been there many years before, it was still a bit shocking to see all the girls in the windows, dancing, seducing, and nearly nude, and of course even the shop windows and all the “toys” available brought color to our cheeks! Interestingly, there were all sizes, ages, and nationalities of women – someone for everyone, I guess.
A typical shop in the Red Light District
That evening Nicolette and Jelle entertained us in their lovely home. We were deeply touched to see that Nicolette had a framed American flag that had flown on a battleship in her living room. Their garden was extraordinary (we loved how many of the homes had small gardens either in their front or back yards), and they were the most gracious of hosts.
See earlier blog posts on other parts of the trip. To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com.
More of Amsterdam
AMSTERDAM TRIP
Amsterdam is certainly a city of contrasts. Amidst the charming gables, miles of canals, and lovely old churches, one finds very modern buildings and the Red Light District where prostitution and marijuana cafes are legal – quite different from the US!
A typical "coffee shop"
However, the people are so open and accepting that I feel perfectly comfortable here and have already made many wonderful new friends. I read this description of the city: “The traditional images of Holland—picturesque windmills, wooden shoes, and waving fields of tulips—find their contrasts in the capital city of Amsterdam. Often described as ‘a city with a split personality.’ Amsterdam blends a deeply historic and reserved core with a thoroughly modern tolerance that is unmatched anywhere else in the world.”
THE GRAND HOTEL
Entrance to the Grand Hotel
Thanks to my clients, I am staying at the Grand Hotel (Sofitel) which is regarded as the best hotel in the Netherlands. From the lightly starched fresh sheets every day to something I have NEVER seen before in all the world – a TV mounted in the wall at the end of the bathtub—I feel like royalty.
Watching TV while you bathe!
I am staying in a room which is the Maria Stuart Room (1631 – 1660), the Princess Royal and eldest daughter of the English King Charles I. She was a guest in the hotel in 1642.
I have breakfast each morning in the Council Chamber which was built in 1924 as the headquarters for Amsterdam’s City Council. In this majestic setting, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was married on March 12, 1966. Every detail has been taken care of in the room, including fresh bottled water, biscuits and dried fruit each day. It will be difficult to leave here. 😉 Ironically, however, as I mentioned the contrasts earlier, the hotel is half a block away from the Red Light District! I just heard last night that Michael Jackson always stayed at the Grand Hotel when he was in town…..;-)
View out my hotel room window
IMPRESSIONS OF THE NETHERLANDS
The dollar is very low here right now (about 1.5 exchange rate), so you have to remember that everything is 50% higher than what the EU price is. Food is VERY expensive. Breakfasts (eggs, etc.) are from 30 – 35 EU ($45 – $50), dinners with just one appetizer, one entrée, and one glass of wine are from 50– 60 EU ($75 – $90). At least tipping is not expected in most places and only 10% in the restaurants.
I have really enjoyed the food here although it is surprising how few vegetables they eat. No restaurant I have been in has a green salad, for example, and dinners come with mostly fish or meat and some kind of starch. At the hotel in Noordwjik the lunches were almost completely starch – sandwiches and pasta. There are very few obese people here, however, because EVERYONE rides bicycles. Literally hundreds of them are parked along the canals.
A parking lot for bikes!
Two of my favorite meals have been with friends here. One was typically Dutch, served with ham, small boiled potatoes, huge white asparagus, and finely crumbled eggs, all drizzled with butter. Each meal begins with an “amuse” which is a small treat prepared by the chef or hostess. This was my lunch yesterday (everything comes in VERY tiny portions):
• Amuse of a cucumber soufflé, a tartare, and lotus flowers (like potato chips)
• One mussel surrounded by vichyssoie and fennel
• Tuna and cucumber tartare
• 4 scallops on top of asparagus risotto
I found clothing to also be very expensive, but I still had fun buying a couple of outfits to remember my trip! 😉 My friends, Nicolette and Anne, took me shopping in Utrecht after my presentation on Wednesday, and again I felt like a queen, having three people “dress” me – both them and the sales lady showing me different tricks to look my very best!
Anne, Nicolette, and me in Utrecht
There are round-abouts everywhere, so you can never drive fast on the local streets, and the traffic usually prohibits that anyway. Amsterdam is known as the “city with 1000 bridges,” and there are over 100 canals, all built in concentric circles around the city. I had absolutely no sense of direction in the city and I am sure would become hopelessly lost if left on my own.
From this spot one can see a series of 7 different bridges over one canal.
Yesterday was certainly a highlight of my trip to Holland! My new friend, Nicolette Wuhring who lives in Amsterdam, picked me up at 9:00 to go the the Keukenhof, the beautiful bulb garden in Holland. It is only open from April to May each year and gets about 10,000 visitors. Begun in 1949, growers and exporters of bulbs each have a section of the huge park that becomes their visual display. Each section contains artistic creations with flowers and many places to take photographs. Each part of the park seems more beautiful than the next, and each has a special feeling to it.
Girls in their native Dutch spring dress greeted visitors at the gate.
I loved the butterfly in the tulips!
Also, in each section there are greenhouse areas–one for ever variety of orchid, another for dozens and dozens of different kinds of tulips, and others for arts and crafts and souvenirs. Throughout the park are bulb shops (of course, I bought several to bring home), coffee and waffle stands, outdoor cafes and children’s playgrounds. I especially loved Mitty’s playground, named after a huge white rabbit called “Nijntje” in Dutch which is the most famous toy in Europe. (Nicolette told me that “Little Kitty”, which is so popular in America, is a Japanese counterfeit of Nijntje, and there have been lawsuits about it going on for years!) At one point in the afternoon, we stopped for fresh raw herring which was served with chopped onions — a typical Dutch treat. I wasn’t sure I would like it, but I had to try it, and I did!
Does this look appetizing to you?
Of course, there are wooden shoes everywhere, a windmill, fountains, swans, and even a street organ.
We walked for five hours and still did not cover everything. I took almost 200 pictures — just could not stop admiring the awesome beauty and peace of this special place. And our timing was perfect. Each year at the end of May all the thousands of bulbs are dug up and refrigerated until the next spring when they are replanted. The work and the designs were awesome.
The flower-bulb sector in the Netherlands provides jobs for about 15,000 people. Together, they bring ten billion flower bulbs–70% of the total world production–to the market. These bulbs are grown on 20,000 hectares of land, which is the equivalent of 40,000 football fields. More than 75% of the bulbs are exported to over 100 countries. On the way there and back we passed miles and miles of fields of yellow daffodils, purple hyacinths, and every color of tulip, all in different colored rows like stripes. We stopped and I bought a bunch of two dozen pink, scalloped edged tulips for $7 to beautify my hotel room.
Other than losing the only jacket I brought with me (all we could remember was that we must have laid it down when we were taking pictures), it was a PERFECT day. Ironically, Nicolette told me that she had not been to the gardens since she was a little girl. Just like most of us, we often do not take advantage of the things in our hometowns that tourists come from around the world to view!
Today was filled with wonderful speakers whom I will write about tomorrow. I am just getting ready to go to a “Dutch night” party — what a JOY to be here!
Keukenhof Gardens-Holland
I am too tired tonight (it is 10:30 and I just got back to the hotel after 5 hours of walking in the gardens, the President’s reception and a lovely dinner) to write about the gardens except to say that they were SPECTACULAR!!!! I will write more tomorrow, but I want to share some pictures with you.
Family Time in Montana!
We have come to the end of our week of family vacation at Mandorla Ranch about an hour outside of Missoula, Montana. One of my clients offered me a week with all my children and grandchildren at her lovely bed and breakfast in the mountains, so we were all together for a vacation for the first time in nearly 5 years–the Gawliks: Gretchen, Randy, Owen 5, and Simon 2 3/4, from Portland, Oregon; Erin Glanz from Portland, Oregon, and the Glanz family: Garrett, Ashley, Gavin 12, and Kinsey 9, from Seattle, Washington and me from Sarasota, Florida.
The whole family in Montana
(Just a note: This was an interesting barter situation. My client is the Executive Director of the Educational Travel Association. She asked if I would be the keynote speaker for the Travel Learning Conference’s 25th anniversary in February of 2011 in exchange for a week for my family at her ranch. It was a win/win situation for everyone, and a creative idea for all of us during these tough economic times!)
I had asked each family to plan a family activity that would be fun for everyone, so the first morning Ashley and Garrett organized a “Family Scavenger Hunt.” We were placed in teams, and each team had to either find and put in their bag or take a picture of special things around the ranch, including a stuffed badger, a gold rooster, a man with a funny mustache (Randy!), an old wagon wheel, different colored rocks, 3 horses, and so on. We all had lots of fun, and the competition was fierce!
The family room at the ranch
The bar in the family room
Randy, my son-in-law is a skater, so after lunch we went to a skate park in St. Ignatius, then for huckleberry shakes (a specialty in this part of the country), a gorgeous scenic drive through the national Bison Range where we saw a black bear and elk but only ONE bison.
Last week I was privileged to take part in a wonderful life learning experience – a week of lectures and classes on the campus of KU taught by top college professors to a group of educated and interesting adults. The professors who taught each of the nearly 75 different 90 minute sessions were all volunteers who had to “apply” to be a part of the week. The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for example, good-naturedly told us in his address that he wanted to teach a class but had gotten turned down! He shared that the goal of Liberal Arts is “To understand what it means to be human,” and that was certainly the purpose of this week.
Barbara and the KU Jayhawk
It was interesting that the professors all week told us how much they were enjoying us as an audience – we came on time, listened, asked insightful questions, and did not sit texting on our cellphones! 😉 . Interestingly, they nearly all talked about the “silver tsunami” –that the % of people over age 65 will double in the next two years and the implications that will have for our society.
We individually ahead of time planned our “curriculum” which consisted of choices from diverse areas of learning, including politics, religion, science, education, life skills, film, history, and art. We were each able to experience fifteen 90 minute classes and several lectures and addresses to the entire group as well as walking, museum, and bus tours.
Carolyn, Barbara, and Karna, all mini-college attendees!
The full group presentations during the week included addresses from the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Chancellor of the University, a film screening of “The Only Good Indian,” Steve Hawley, an astronaut from NASA (participated in 5 shuttle missions) who spoke on “Inside Space,” a session on “Flamenco for Everyone,” and a presentation on “From the Golden Valley to Silicon Valley-A New Era of Cancer Treatment” from the Executive Chairman of Genomic Health.
Strong Hall, the Administration Building
This was my schedule of classes with several of the major learnings from each:
“The Psychological Toxicity of Modern Life”—Stephen Hardi
• 99.9% of our existence as a species was as Hunter –Gatherers. Our bodies were designed for a different time and place. Diseases of modernity include – Obesity, Diabetes, Hardening of the Arteries, Asthma, Fibromyalgia, Cancer, Depression.
• 70% of adults are clinically overweight. Today our appetites are calibrated to sugar, salt, fat and starch rather than the natural foods of our ancestors.
• 50% of all American adults will be diagnosed with a serious mental illness at some time in their lives. Depression can cause brain damage because cortisol, the chemical produced by depression, turns off brain growth. Chronic stress is toxic!
• The average American teenager spends 7 ½ hours a day in front of a screen, not counting the 1 ½ hours of texting. Today’s lifestyle is an environmental mutation. Depression is 10X lower in the Amish society, for example, because of their simpler lifestyle.
• BCNF is the brain growth hormone. It can grow new connections and repair brain damage at any age. Exercise stimulates BCNF – 40 minutes of brisk walking 3X a week is recommended. A couch potato measures 10 – 15 years older for biological age while regular exercisers measure 10 – 15 years younger.
• Single best current marker for heart disease – CRP, a blood test that measures inflammation. Meta-analysis pooling all studies proves that regular aerobic exercise is better than a stent after a heart attack.
• 80-90% of Americans get sub-optimum levels of vitamin D3. It is an anti-inflammatory that regulates our immune system. We NEED sunlight!
• Ways to combat this toxicity:
Physical Exercise—single most important medicine
Omega-3 Fats
Sunlight
Social Connection
Healthy Sleep
Engaging (anti-ruminative) Activity
• His book is “The Depression Cure” by Stephen Hardi
(Note: This was one of my favorite sessions!)
The Campanile which is the most famous landmark at KU. You walk through it and down the hill at graduation.
“Barbara is a unique speaker in several ways. She is there to help you and it is all about ‘you.’ She does her research to be sure that she will meet and exceed your expectations. On top of everything else, Barbara is a lady of integrity.
Dave Gorden, CSP,
Speaker Hall of Fame
President, National Speakers Association 1999-2000
Happiness is inward and not outward; and so it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are. - Henry Van Dyke -
