Smiling At The World – The Blog

Africa is a continent rich in culture, history and natural wonders. From the vast savannas to the bustling cities, there’s something for everyone in this diverse and vibrant land. However, as with any travel destination, it’s important to be prepared before embarking on your African adventure.

In this guide, we’ll provide you with essential travel tips for visiting Africa, so you can make the most out of your trip while staying safe and respectful of the local customs.

Research Your Destination

Before booking your tickets and packing your bags, it’s crucial to do some research on the specific country or countries you plan on visiting in Africa. Each nation has its own unique culture, political climate, and safety considerations. Some countries may require you to have certain vaccinations or visas before entering, so it’s important to be aware of these requirements ahead of time.

Pack Appropriately

Africa is a vast continent with varying climates and landscapes. From the scorching deserts of North Africa to the lush jungles of Central Africa, it’s essential to pack appropriate clothing for your specific destination. Lightweight, breathable clothing is recommended for most areas, along with comfortable walking shoes and a hat to protect you from the sun. It’s also important to pack any necessary medications and toiletries, as these may not be readily available in all areas. Make sure you are taking enough money as well. For financial advice contact the Income Motivation – Blog

Respect Local Customs

Africa is home to many different cultures and traditions, so it’s essential to respect these customs while traveling. This includes dressing modestly, especially in more conservative areas, and avoiding public displays of affection. It’s also important to learn a few basic phrases in the local language, as this shows respect and can help you connect with locals.

         An Amazing Collection of Volunteerism Websites from around the World

To help other volunteers in their search, I have put together a CD containing over 80 pages of websites that cover all types of voluntourism around the globe. I’ve focused on inexpensive grassroots projects. Each project has a short annotation and then you can easily click to go to the website. Whether you want to volunteer with wildlife, communities, children, archeology, medicine, teach English and more, you’ll find it here!

Click on ‘OK’ to read a review of this new CD
in Matador Travel.

We’ve had great volunteers and great instructors. We hope to volunteer at a city near you. We will update our travel plans here.

All all volunteers were certified in first aid by simplysafefamilies.com

Reading Smiling at the World is like taking a year-long journey around the globe and making a new best friend in the process. Major unfolds her extraordinary adventures with vivid descriptions of colors and smells. She does a wonderful job of creating a sense of time and place. The reader gets to rejoice with the author over achievements and fell the pangs of loneliness. As the story evolves so does its author and it is nice to see her character change. Intentionally or not, Major also makes a good case for volunteerism. The idea of giving back while traveling seems possible, practical and responsible when described and lived by the author.

Seattle Times Best Seller List
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2010909853_localbestsell31.html

West Seattle Herald
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2007/12/18/commentary/smiling-world-life-review

Brave New Traveler Website
http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/02/07/book-review-smiling-at-the-world/

Talking Travel Grassroots Travel Stories
http://www.ttrn.com/grassrootstraveljoycemajorvoluntourism.htm

Radio Interviews
KUOW NPR radio
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=13893%20

Travel Talk Radio
http://www.traveltalkradio.com/archives_oct12_08.html

We were also featured in Metal Roofing Los Angeles

Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Standing here at 58 years old, if I turn my head and look back, my memories are clear of the straight out of college Joyce teaching a class in mathematics extraordinaire with shoulder length straight hair, matching sweater and skirt, stacked heels and enthusiasm. Next stop motherhood and like so many of my friends I read every book about childbirth and childrearing crowning “The Time Out” as the queen of my mothering style.

After a divorce with the usual fallout and an educational toy business, my career moved to a long successful stop as a real estate agent. And then with both sons graduated from college, my responsibilities seemed to have whittled down to just taking care of myself and the cat. A successful real estate business, an adorable houseboat with kayaking right out my door, friends to play squash with, ski with, rollerblade and laugh with in the beautiful city of Seattle. A great life, right? Yes and no. From the outside ‘Joyce’s life’ looked quite nice but if I lifted my head out of the fog, I saw a woman not fully present, not heart happy, and lacking passion. A question kept gnawing at me- Is this life, the one I am leading right now, the best way for me to live, to use my talents, to help the planet? Unable to either ignore the question or answer yes, I looked around for ways to shake up my life, bring change. The startling idea to travel solo as a volunteer around the world for a full year hit me like lightning one day while I was hiking up Rattlesnake Mountain. Reeling from what must have been either oxygen deprivation or divine inspiration, I knew the trip was the answer.
   

Jumping out of my life, my shoes, my houseboat and my career, I decided to celebrate my life with the gift of freedom for a full year and perhaps, just maybe, do a bit of good along the way. Not wanting to walk around looking at old churches and ruins like a typical tourist, sleeping in plush, culture-avoiding hotels, I put together a chain of volunteer vacations staying a month on each project. I traveled to all but one continent, took the Trans-Siberian Express, lived in different cultures and got exactly what I had bargained for, change! My spirit is refreshed, my creativity has returned and the just getting by layers that were clouding my vision have been blown away from a year spent volunteering around the world.
   I want to encourage other people to travel and volunteer. I feel a deep responsibility to help protect the earth, her resources and all of her inhabitants. Traveling and seeing the beauty on this planet, I want to be a part of the solution to protect the earth.

That’s when i met my love who runs Seattle Water Damage Restoration. When not working we travel, and smile at the world!

Have you ever wanted to leave everything behind and travel the world?

Find out what travelers with a purpose are raving about!  “Smiling at the World: A Woman’s Passionate Quest for Adventure and Love” takes us on a yearlong voluntourism adventure around the world as Major discovers the world as a volunteer immersing herself in the culture while covering a wide variety of projects from lion cubs and elephants, to kangaroos and monkeys, from a restoration project to a sustainability sanctuary, from a newspaper reporter to teaching English and more! 

Major’s passion for helping the planet, her zany sense of humor and gift of storytelling will provide escape and inspiration to readers to live with passion and explore their place on the earth. “Smiling at the World” is a celebration – a story about love in its many forms – for wildlife, for the earth, for humanity and how a smile connects them all.