When I announced our sabbatical, I wasn't sure what reaction we'd get. I was happy, touched and grateful for all the positive and encouraging responses from all you adventurous women out there.

I did get some questions, though, like "So you're just going to leave us in the lurch?" These were always said in a joking way, and I'd reply "We'll be back - 2012 isn't that far away!". But the fact remains, they're right - we were leaving people in the lurch!

So, to take care of this, we've worked out a special deal with another company, so that you can get a discount on any of their trips that you take during 2011. I mentioned this in our last newsletter, and here are the rest of the details, with a letter from Marian Marbury, CEO of Adventures in Good Company.

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While you're waiting for Deanna to come up with amazing new adventures for 2012, Adventures in Good Company invites you to take a look at our trips in 2011. We would love to help satisfy your love of traveling to incredible destinations with other adventurous women next year!

And if you've never traveled with us before, we'll give you 5% off on any trip, in addition to whatever other discounts you might be eligible for. Just mention Adventurous Wench when you sign up.

Like Adventurous Wench, Adventures in Good Company:

• keeps our groups small, never more than 14 and usually 10 – 12
• is joined by women 16 to 80, with most women being from 40 to 65
• places an emphasis on being active, being outdoors, and having fun
• offers a wide variety of trips in terms of length, price, location, and challenge

Adventures in Good Company is offering 46 trips next year, from Trekking to Everest Basecamp to Waterfalls and Wineries in Georgia. We offer a 5% discount to the first 5 women who sign up for any trip, and there's also a 3% discount if you pay by check. If you combine all three, you can get 13% off on a trip.

Detailed descriptions and itineraries are available on the website at www.adventuresingoodcompany.com or call 877/439-4042 and we'll help you select the right trip for you. Maybe this is the year to walk the back roads of Tuscany or go kayaking in Nova Scotia. Whatever your preferences, don't let Deanna's sabbatical keep you from having an amazing adventure.

Marian Marbury
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Save some $

So there you have it!  We can't take you traveling in 2011, but we're doing what we can to help you have a great adventure anyway.  And I hope you'll be ready for another one when we're back with more trips for 2012!

~ Deanna, Adventurous Wench
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A facebook  friend just reminded me of her birthday in the Greek Islands, when the waiter at this little restaurant ran home to get her some cake from his house.  And who could forget Margarita calling the quetzals in Costa Rica, or our opera-singer driver Massimo in Italy, or getting filmed for HBO in Times Square?  And of course, so many more... so many fun times, with so many wonderful women!

But anyone who grew up in an academic family like I did, knows that 7 years is time for a sabbatical.  It's time to get away from the normal, and do something different to renew and rejuvenate.

For me, that means it's time to shake things up!  I've had a long list of projects I want to pursue, and there's simply been no time to do them.  So it's time for a sabbatical.
We won't be running any group tours during 2011.

We may not always like it, but we need change

Questions??

Are you closing the company?
No way!  In fact, I'm using this time to grow the company in new ways.  The mission of Adventurous Wench has always been about "inspiring and facilitating adventurous travel experiences". There's a lot more that falls into that category besides running tours.  And you don't think I'd give up all those fun times with new friends in cool places, do you? 

Why are you stopping the tours?
We're taking a sabbatical from tours during 2011 in order to make some big changes.  This means pursuing new business opportunities, as well as shaking things up with our trip line-up before we bring it back.  If I could do it all at the same time, I would, but based on the past few years, I know that's not working - trip operations take so much time and attention, that other projects get left behind.

But I was hoping to go on the _____ trip next year!
I'm sorry!  I know we have people who want to take trips with us in 2011, and that made this decision even more difficult. But I'm afraid we won't be running any trips at all during 2011.

When will you be doing trips again?
After we finish our remaining 2010 trips, I expect the next trips we do will be sometime in 2012.

Will you be doing the ____ trip again in 2012 then?
One of the things I want to do is make some significant changes to our trip offerings.  When we resume running trips, I want those tours to be better than ever, with exciting new additions. While we'll still occasionally run a couple of our current favorites, the majority of our line-up will be new and different choices.

So will you ever run the _______ trip again?
If it's one of our most popular trips, there's a chance we'll do it again at some point.  However, the repeats of trips we've been doing the past few years will be dropping significantly. This means some may happen every few years, others won't be repeated at all.
Note: San Juan Islands, Santa Fe, Napa Valley, and Sedona are still available for 2010. After that I can't say for sure if or when they'll be back.  If you want information on any of these, click here...

What about my discount certificate?
Repeat travelers may have earned a certificate for a discount on a future trip.  Wait - don't toss this in the shredder just yet!  You may find a future trip you can still use it on.  Due to the sabbatical break, we will waive any expiration date on certificates issued so far, so you can still use it for years to come.

What are the new trips you're planning?
Part of what I'll be doing on sabbatical is research on this, seeking out more of the coolest destinations and activities.  We'll also be surveying all of you via our facebook page, and getting ideas and feedback from the Adventurous Wench Inner Circle folks, too.

What's going to happen to your website, newsletter, blog, facebook page?
We'll still be active on all of these, and encourage you to keep your subscription.  These will be key ways we communicate with you, both to get feedback on new concepts we're developing, and to notify you of new products when available. And of course, there's always something useful, something funny, and something good in every newsletter!

Why is the _______ trip still on your website?
This change in direction means there's a lot of work to do on the website as a result. It's just going to take some time to wade through all the necessary changes.

Do you want to sell your website?
Definitely not! I've gotten a flurry of requests for this recently, and it's not for sale.

Is this all because of the recession?
Not entirely, though it is a factor.  If business was still booming like a few years ago, then perhaps we'd be in a position to expand staff, so that we had the resources to continue existing operations and expand in new directions at the same time. That's really not a great approach at the moment, given the uncertain state of the economy.

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Do you have other questions we haven't covered here? If so, just e-mail me (deanna@adventurouswench.com) and I'll let you know. I'll also update this post with any common questions to share those answers with everyone.
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Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom."

~ Jim Rohn

What will you wish for?

When times are tough, it's natural to wish they were easier.  Whether you're sending out countless resumes, dealing with a problematic relationship, facing business challenges, or struggling to pay the bills, it's easy to just wish those problems would go away, right?  Problems be gone!

Those wishes are natural.  But useful?  Not so much!

On the other hand, if you flip it around, and wish you were better, stronger, and more capable - that gives you something you can work with.  You can actually develop your skills, educate your mind, and build your strength.  Improving yourself in this way can help you get through the current set of problems, and also improve your ability to deal with other things after that.

Here are a few positive outcomes we can gain from our challenges:

Expand knowledge and learn practical skills. A friend of mine was laid off with hundreds of other high-tech professionals, when her company decided to outsource their IT.  She's using this time to take an intensive series of courses to get certified in a specific niche skill set.  It's hard to dedicate the time to this when you're working full time, so this is an ideal opportunity in that respect.  It also puts her in a stronger position in the job hunt, and is likely to provide long-term career benefits.

Develop new perspectives, lateral thinking, and creative solutions. When our standard approach isn't working, it forces us to search for alternatives.  This can lead to new perspectives and imaginative approaches we would never have thought of otherwise. An example I love is from Rory Sutherland's presentation at TED.  A group of engineers were given the task of improving the rail service between London and Paris. Their solution involved replacing all the tracks and shortening the trip by 40 minutes, for a cost of $6 billion. As Rory says, what an unimaginative solution!  For less than that cost, you could hire the world's top male and female supermodels to walk slowly through the train, serving everyone free champagne for the duration of the journey.  Happy customers, who wish their ride would last longer.

Continual growth. Challenges force us to grow and change, while a lack of challenges doesn't. If everything is peachy keen, we can get lazy, assuming that things will continue to run along fine the way they are.  How much progress would we make in our lives if we never had problems?  How much would we learn if everything we tried worked perfectly the first time?

Intangibles. Dealing with problems can teach us resiliency, flexibility, adaptability, self-reliance, and equanimity. The normal ways of dealing with things may not work any more, and trying to rigidly stick to the way we've always done things is not going to get us where we need to go. When you have to adapt, you do.

Confidence. It may seem odd that problems breed confidence, but it can work that way. Overcoming challenges gives us confidence that we will be able to overcome other challenges in the future.  The next time a similar situation occurs, we see it from a different perspective - "I've dealt with things like this before".  We know that we will get through this, we will survive, we will grow and learn from it, and we will be be happier and wiser in the future.

Viewed like this, we can be grateful for the problems that come our way.  Or if not really grateful, at least we can recognize the silver lining. We can use these challenges to develop our own strengths and abilities.  We can gain a long-term benefit from a short-term problem.

So don't wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom.

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I'm currently working on our high-level business strategy for Adventurous Wench, and as I'm sure everyone knows, our current economic environment has plenty of challenges!  And thank goodness for that! 
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Related posts:

1. Brains in your head, Feet in your shoes
2. Challenges are gifts that force us to search

Influenza virus particle

If your travels are affected by a disease outbreak like swine flu, what does your travel insurance cover? We don't have any trips to Mexico now (thank goodness). However, this recent information release from Travelex (our partner for travel insurance) is great information on what would happen if YOUR trip were to be affected by something like this!

Here's a rundown on possible situations and coverage options from Travelex.
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If a traveler gets sick with the Swine Flu:

• Current insured travelers who become ill would be eligible for coverage under the trip interruption, medical expense and evacuation benefits of their plan up to the limits of the policy and subject to its general terms and conditions.
• If you are aware of any insured passenger in Mexico with flu-like symptoms or who has been admitted to the hospital, please make sure to contact the applicable assistance company -- contact information is also stated on the traveler's Confirmation of Coverage.

If a traveler is contemplating cancellation:

• Insured customers that are considering cancellation or have canceled arrangements due to travel restrictions, warnings or general fear of traveling, whether to Mexico or elsewhere, are not eligible for cash reimbursement under the provisions of the plan.
• Insureds who purchased the Cancel for Any Reason upgrade will be eligible for Trip Cancellation coverage under the provision of the plan.
• Specific to the Travel Select and Travel Max plans: Should the destination airport close and insured customers are unable to reach their destination, the cancellation benefit for losing 50% or more of their covered trip may apply, assuming all terms and conditions of the benefit are met.

If a traveler is being quarantined:

• Quarantine coverage is included under Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Trip Delay benefits in the event a physician quarantines the traveler/insured for any illness which prevents traveling.
• Quarantine means that the person is restricted to their home or a medical facility - not restricted from one country or destination.

If a traveler transfers travel dates:

• If the insured is allowed to transfer their travel payments (trip deposits or full payments) without charge, they can also elect to transfer the protection plan monies on the booking to the new travel dates as well. Typically the protection plan monies are non-refundable inside the penalty period but Travelex is making an exception for this specific case.
• Any expenses for change fees to move airfares to the new trips would not be covered, unless such move was predicated by the travel supplier's cancellation of the original trip.
• Transfers would only apply to trips that are booked within 12 months from the original departure date.
• If the trip cost increases as a result of the transfer, then the insured will have to make an additional insurance payment to cover the full trip cost in order to best protect themselves. Note: they would need to make the purchase within the required time to continue to receive cancel for any reason, pre-existing condition waiver and any other benefit with an advanced date purchase requirement.

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We always recommend the purchase of trip insurance, especially for trips out of the country. I sincerely hope that none of you are being affected right now, but this is a great real-life example of how it would work. Personally, that "cancel for any reason" upgrade is looking pretty good right now!
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Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year, while another man gets a full year's value out of a week."
~ Charles Richard

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Uh oh.  Another week is nearing an end, and I haven't gotten nearly as many things done as I hoped.  The lists keep multiplying and growing longer.  In fact, I haven't even finished the task of adding all my new items to the to-do lists!

That's a sorry state of affairs that reflects the problem with my GTD system.  I'm great at capturing ideas and to-do's and getting them into the In Box.  And there they pile up into a daunting stack.  Anybody else have this problem with Getting Things Done?

According to the official site What is GTD, "Implementing GTD alleviates the feeling of overwhelm, instills confidence, and releases a flood of creative energy."  I can tell I'm not doing this right.  Flood of creative energy - check.  Feeling of overwhelm alleviated?  Nope!

On the creative energy front, I have zillions of ideas.  Every day, as I read, listen, watch, and talk, I get more and more ideas.  "Hey, that's cool - we could do something like that..."  Wonderful!  Capture that idea, and get it into the In Box, and from there into the rest of the system.  I've got thousands of ideas documented now, available for review whenever I want.  It's overwhelming though to know that out of those thousands of ideas, I'll only be able to implement a small number.   The rest will sit there in my system until they just evaporate -- ideas that came out of nowhere, and returned to nowhere.  Some ideas turn into reality, some are passed on to others.   The rest just vanish.

On a bigger scale, the entire year is nearing an end.  Yikes!  How can it be nearly over already?  We do get an extra second this year, but I could use a few more months, instead.

However, as the quotation reminds us, it's all in how well you use your time.  If I spend this evening reading the latest economic news (with appropriate wailing and gnashing of teeth), then not a lot gets done!  It really doesn't contribute anything - either to helping the business, helping my well-being, or helping anyone else.  It's unproductive and depressing, yet remarkably compelling.  Right now, we're watching history unfold around us.  Of course, I suppose that's true all the time, but it's a lot more dramatic history some days than others!

OK, enough rambling philosophy for one day.  I'd love to get a year's value out of the next week.  Or how about a week's worth out of the rest of the night?

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On a totally different topic, we just announced a special deal on our Costa Rica wildlife tour.  Book your trip by Jan 15, and get a free hotel night in Costa Rica the night before the trip!
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There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still."
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

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This seems particularly appropriate today.  Like so many people in America (and the world) right now, I've been grappling with how to go forward given our deteriorating economic situation.  The plans we had just a few months ago were based on a different outlook than we have today.  As the news gets worse, we keep wondering what's next?  How can we deal with this?  What strategy will get us through this the best?

Large businesses are watching share prices plummet, laying off thousands of people, and asking the government for billions in bailouts.  Small businesses across the country are hurting just as badly, but we don't have anybody to bail us out.  Individual homeowners facing possible foreclosure, and employees facing layoffs don't have a bailout either. We're all sick of seeing corporate execs who drove their companies into the ground being rewarded at our expense.

That's the situation, but back to the question at hand.  What to do now, to get through this time of crisis? The fact is that we can't count on the government.  Even if they do pass a stimulus package early in 2009 it may well be too little and/or too late.  We have to figure out our own way.

Like FDR said, there are many ways of going forward  It's difficult to pick a course in changing times.  But one thing we know for sure -- we can't stand still.  We can't carry on as before. Few businesses these days will find that the strategies that worked well a couple of years ago are as effective today.  Most of us have to keep adjusting to the changing situation, and trying our best to pick a good course out of the options available.

Which way... which way...

It's kind of like walking through one of those large hedge mazes. You get to an intersection, and have various paths you can take.  You can't see very far down any one, but you know they've all got twists and turns.  Who knows whether path A is a dead end, or the one choice that will lead you out of the maze successfully?

All you're sure of is that you'll never get out if you just sit there.

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The good news for today?  I'm sure glad I'm not the president walking into this mess!
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Related posts:

1. White water rafting through the economy
2. Brains in your head, Feet in your shoes
3. The man who never makes mistakes

You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."
~ Dr. Seuss

Ah, the wisdom of Dr. Seuss!

Whenever I start sinking into "victim mode", feeling like things just aren't going my way, it's good to remember this quote from the good doctor.

Here's my distillation: brains + feet + steering = power!

Things are tough right now, with a huge amount of economic uncertainty out there. Everybody's wondering what's going to happen next, where we're headed, how bad it's going to get. Running a travel business, I certainly see the economy impacting our industry. So, what to do?

Fact is, I can't answer for the national economy. I don't know who needs to do what to fix it. I have some opinions on the topic, but it's WAY over my head, and out of my control.

All I can answer for are the things in my direct sphere of influence. I can make decisions about how I'm going to deal with the economic situation personally, and how I want to steer my business given the current state of affairs. Viewed this way, there are still opportunities. We adapt our business strategy based on the environment, and I have some ideas that I'll be rolling out over the next few months as a result.

The point is that in every situation, there is still a range of options available to you. It could be that your previous options are no longer there. I've been laid off by big companies before, and I know how that feels. It's out of your control, and all of a sudden you find yourself back in the job market. Some avenues may be closed to you right now, but look around and you'll find others that are open.

There are always options.  It's up to you to recognize them, decide which direction you want to go, and then start moving.

Just remember: brains + feet + steering = power.

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We just announced our new Belize 'reefs & ruins' trip in yesterday's newsletter.  While that's not part of a new business strategy (we've been working on it for some time), it's certainly a cool direction to go! 

Related posts:

1. Women wore flashy shoes 27,500 years ago?
2. Moving forward in today's economy
3. Never forget: This very moment we can change

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The New Mexico connection:

Dawson, NM was a booming coal mining town in the early 1900s. The population was as high as 9,000 people, and there were schools, churches, a hospital, hotel, even an opera. After a couple of tragic mine explosions, the town was abandoned. Today there's nothing left but a graveyard.

Dawson hotel

I just found out that my grandfather built a family home out of Dawson's remains.  Here's my dad's version of the story (so "my dad" in this tale is MY grandfather):

Around 1952 my dad's best childhood friend, an adventurer named Gene Prather heard about a mining town in NM that was being closed -- Dawson. Phelps Dodge wanted the place cleared out entirely, so Gene bought the hospital and my dad bought the hotel. They each took a bunch of workers (in our case a few nephews and some others) and took off. As I recall, it was late fall, the elevation was above 8,000 ft and it got COLD at night. All of the houses in town were simply abandoned, so we had our choice of residences while the work progressed.

No-one had any experience in dismantling multi-story brick buildings, but my dad figured to make a profit off the furnishings, etc. Of course, by the time we got there (I was only a part of this experience for short periods of time), various vandals and cannibals had already made off with most of the stuff that had supposed value -- the telephones, radiators, the best furniture, the x-ray machine from the hospital, etc. But the buildings remained, and they were disassembled board by board and the stuff was all hauled back to Tulia, TX.

In addition to saving any reusable lumber, the wrecking crew also saved any larger nails that happened to come out straight.  And the hotel had, of course, wonderful hardwood (probably oak) floors.  As the crew tried to take these up, the wood splintered and became unusable.  Some wise man advised my dad that some evening before they stopped working they should pour buckets of water over the floor.  The next morning, the wood had swollen so much that the nail heads were popped loose and came out easily.

At the time, we lived in a nice house on Gaines. But my dad used the materials from Dawson to build a new house for us at 17 Norfleet Drive. That hardwood flooring from the hotel was used in our new house. Aside from some fleeting occasional help, I believe he did everything himself.

Prather ended up in Brazil, occasionally dropping by with cases of aquamarines and emeralds ...."

Grandparents & house built from Dawson hotel

Photos: Dawson, NM -- then
Photos: Dawson, NM -- now

Is that cool or what? It makes me want to go visit Dawson, and imagine the town full of people, and the old hotel when it was in business.  Probably all the mining officials and opera singers who came to town stayed there.

Then my relatives taking it apart, and hauling it board by board to Texas, where my grandfather reincarnated it as their family home.

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I'm in New Mexico now for our Santa Fe and Taos tour. Afraid I won't have time to check out Dawson on this trip, but I can tell it has the makings of a cool future adventure!
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Related posts:

1. Mining and New Mexico - have times changed since 1872?
2. Ahhh... back to the red rocks
3. Photo: The miraculous Santuario de Chimayo

Those are pretty common questions.  A lot of women wonder if this could be for them, but they're uncertain about who else would be along.  Who goes on these women-only trips, anyway? A new article on Connections for Women has the whole scoop.

C4W is a relatively new site, and you can see why it's getting so popular! It's free to register and have access to all the resources, so it's worthwhile checking it out. They have a broad array of articles for women, everything from finances to fitness, and mental health to the Mediterranean. Oh yeah, travel... that's where we came in!

Solo travelers find such groups ideal. It’s easier, safer, and more fun, than going alone. The number of adult women in the US who are single is now greater than the number that are married, for the first time in history. Many of these women want to travel, and why let the lack of a husband stop you?

Of course you could go by yourself, but a lot of women don’t feel comfortable, or don’t enjoy, traveling alone. And if you burst out laughing when you’re dining at a table for one, others in the restaurant may look at you oddly!"

Find the rest of the article at:

* Women's travel - Who does this? (article link, requires registration)
* Connections for Women (home page, you can sign up here)

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This is one of the most common areas of uncertainty for people new to our women-only travel tours. If you've ever wondered who goes on tours like this, or if you'd fit in, this article could help you out!
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Related posts:

1. Why we travel, and old-world travel advice
2. Women wore flashy shoes 27,500 years ago?
3. Air travel better than ever?

An oh-so-critical hard disk

Yes, I love my mac, but I was disappointed that the hard disk failed after less than a year, and I was worried about lost time and productivity.  Heck, I was worried about whether I could survive Labor Day Weekend without it!!

After an earlier unbacked-up-laptop-crash fiasco, I now had 2 complete backups:

..a) Mac Time Machine hourly backup to external drive.  Effortless, automatic, and quick.
..b) Mozy.com daily backup to their servers.  Effortless and automatic, but slower.  Files are uploaded to their server, and it can take quite awhile if you've got photos or videos. But a HUGE advantage is it's all off-site so in case this building burned down, I'd still have backups. Another advantage is that you can backup your latest work of brilliance from a hotel room!

Results of this year's crash?

..a) Time machine backup was wonderful. After new disk install & Time machine restore, almost everything looked just like it did before the crash. Same desktop, same toolbar, same preferences. Great!  BUT, it failed to get Aperture working again. I got the software working again, and restored most of my work, but was still missing a few hundred treasured photos!
..b) Mozy.com saved the day. I was able to find the missing files, and re-import into Aperture. It took some time finagling to get everything back again, but I *think* I've got it all set now!

Lessons?

I strongly recommend mozy.com backups for everybody (works on mac or PC). At $4.95/month for unlimited storage, it runs automatically on a schedule you set, and gives you the peace of mind of knowing you always have an off-site backup. Now tell me that's not worth $5/month!

If you've got a mac, definitely set up Time Machine! External drives are cheap, compared to the time & angst of restoring a system from scratch. Even if you've got the data files on Mozy, restoring after a crash will be easier, faster, and more thorough using Time Machine.

As I discovered, having one backup isn't always enough. 2 can't hurt!

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The photos I lost (and recovered) were all my Argentina pictures from our last Patagonia women's tour.  I'd really hate to lose those...  It's a long way to go back and get new ones, and I doubt I'd ever get the armadillo to pose so nicely again!

Related posts:

1. Are you sharing files with everyone in the airport?
2. PCs, Macs and the change slider
3. It's three o'clock... and what have you done?