I had some illusion that Chicago would be warm and lovely in March.
Not so much.
In fact, I was shocked to see that there could actually be snow flurries when we are there. That does away with my plan to casually stroll from our Embassy Suites Lakefront location to the Women in Travel Summit location in Chicago.
Yeah, that’s OK.
I can bundle up one more time before spring actually arrives to participate in what looks like it will be a truly amazing conference for women travelers. I stumbled across the information about this conference a few months ago when they were looking for speakers and, because I used to speak often at conferences when I was a School Media Librarian, I casually submitted an idea, never dreaming it would be accepted because surely there are so many women travelers much more competent than me. I was confident I could handle the gig since I had spoken at so many previous conferences, even international conferences, but I was honestly surprised and really honored when they accepted my proposal.
Now that they have most of the speakers listed on the web site, I feel even more honored and maybe a trifle awed by some of these people. I will never forget when we met The Gypsy Nesters on a press trip for Toyota and, when I was introduced to them, Veronica immediately said “Oh, yes! Wanderlustwonder”! I felt like Sally Field at the Academy Awards – she actually knew who I was!
I have been reading Ayngelina Brogan’s posts for quite a while and Evelyn Hannon is really inspiring and…well…you get the idea. I’m going to be in great company. I just hope I can measure up to these amazing women.
Women travelers, whether we travel alone, with a significant other, or even with a group, are important and special. We like to be pampered in a spa but we also like to hike to the top of mountains. We like a fabulous meal in a restaurant overlooking the ocean but we also like to sample local foods from a food cart. We like to return to places we love but we also like new experiences.
We like the beach and glaciers, mountains and deserts, deep forests and forgotten valleys. We like fabulous shoes and pretty dresses and we like jeans and t-shirts. We will try new things because we are adventurous and we will watch our friends try new things and take photos because we will wet our pants if we have to zipline.
Our women friends are more precious to us than anything in the world. We love deeply, trust fully, give ourselves completely, and open ourselves to all the heartbreak and joy this can bring.
We are unique and special yet we are alike in many ways.
We are women travelers and that is pretty damn awesome.
If you haven’t signed up for the Women in Travel Summit, check it out.
See you there.
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