Follow your passions and expand your relationship with photography - Join Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.
Looking for your next adventure, or simply a fun week exploring your love of photography? Join Santa Fe Photographic Workshops for a workshop experience in historic Santa Fe, New Mexico, and change the way you see the world.
Or, sign up for one of their on-the-road workshops and tours in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Tuscany, and Provence, Ireland, Australia, Morocco, Thailand, Tanzania, Big Sur, and the coast of Maine.
Uproot yourself from the ordinary routines and obligations of home and catapult yourself into a world of new challenges, insights and inspirations. With self-expression as a key component of all their offerings; move your creative side to center stage.
Do something for yourself this year and…
- Stimulate your creativity.
- Invigorate your passion.
- Expand your skills.
- Discover new ways of looking at photography as an expressive medium.
- Find your voice through creating images.
- Learn to use the latest digital imaging technology.
For more information call 505-983-1400 or visit www.santafeworkshops.com.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Meet The Women & Children of South Africa With This Unique Mother’s Day Tour
The Cultural Explorer, a US-based tour operator specialising in cultural and philanthropic travel in South Africa, has announced an exclusive tour “designed to introduce adventurous North American mothers and daughters to the resilient women and children of South Africa.”
The trip, billed as a “celebration of women”, offers an ideal opportunity for mothers and daughters “to spend quality time together while improving the lives of others, seeing spectacular sights, even going out on safari.”
According to Cultural Explorer, travellers will visit innovative organizations that work to improve the education and work skills of disadvantaged women in South Africa, meeting several women along the way who have “made a real difference in their communities”.
Guests will experience gourmet and traditional foods and stay in charming locally owned hotels and B&Bs. They will also visit an exclusive game reserve dedicated to the conservation and preservation of the wildlife and communities around it.
The trip, running from 3 to 17 May (taking in Mother’s Day on 11 May) and from 7 to 21 June, “will change perspectives and lives”.
Tour itinerary
Cultural Explorer travellers will start in Johannesburg, staying at a chic, woman-friendly boutique hotel with an organic cafe and a huge fitness centre right next door.While in Johannesburg, the group will visit the vibrant townships of Soweto and Alexandra, meeting and sharing experiences with some special township women, and shopping at stores that promote the arts and crafts of disadvantaged women. The city tour will take in the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill and downtown Joburg.
Then it is off to the majestic Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, where travellers will stay at a charming resort hotel with magnificant mountain views, a swimming pool and easy access to a variety of walking trails.
While in the Drakensberg, travellers will visit Didima Valley to learn about the San, or Bushmen - the first inhabitants of the area - and view some of their ancient cave and rock paintings.
The highlight, however, will be a get-together with Miss Lillian and her family in a small Zulu village where they survive and thrive with no electricity.
Next up is a quick stop in the coastal city of Durban, staying at an elegant hotel off bustling Florida Street. Then it is off on safari - with a leisurely drive north to a luxury, eco-friendly game reserve where the group will spend two full days observing African wildlife.
During the day travellers will search for cheetahs, lions, elephants, rhinos and giraffes, while at night safari they can enjoy a massage on their private deck listening to the sounds of Africa, or a sundowner with the other guests.
Next is South Africa’s up-market Garden Route, where travellers will stay in the local’s favourite resort town of Knysna, while checking out small coastal towns such as Wilderness and Plettenberg Bay.
Guests will meet Selina, an inspiring Sangoma (traditional healer) who lives in a township above Knysna where she “proves that one woman really can make a difference.”
From there the group will take the picturesque drive to Cape Town, stopping in one of the oldest towns in South Africa, Swellendam, for lunch. In Cape Town they will stay at a traditional hotel along the Atlantic seaboard. Here the guests will meet women from the townships, an Afrikaans mother and daughter, and women entrepreneurs.
They will take excursions to Cape Point and Simon’s Town - to see the jackass penguins - and of course, Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for more than 20 years.
“All long the way, Cultural Explorer travellers will have plenty of time to get massages, take walks or workout, relax on the beach, tour interesting galleries and shops, and discover unique gifts to take home.”
Costs and contacts
This trip is for women only, and for ages 15 and above, as travellers will witness and discuss the impact of Aids on families and communities.The trip costs $4 599 per person, including: all hotels, all group ground transportation including airport transfers, all entrance fees, all safari costs, all meals as indicated, and driver/guide expenses (except tips).
Not included in this cost are: international or domestic air travel, the domestic flight from Durban to George, alcoholic beverages except where included in dinners, personal expenses (laundry, cleaning, room service, massages, tips), and personal transportation expenses apart from group activities.
For more information, contact Pat Walker at +1-415-387-7593 or visit www.theculturalexplorer.com.
SOURCE: eTN
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Does following your bliss seem impossible? An unattainable pipe dream?
Actually, it could be easier than you think.
I should know: At the age of 35, I traded a successful academic career for the wild blue yonder, setting out to explore the world and myself. Six continents and nearly a decade later I’ve turned passion into profession and am blessed with a life of discovery, global connections and creative pursuits. You can do it too.
You know what you love, what makes your heart sing. So, break through inertia, overcome your fears, follow passion and start living it – today!
START SMALL:
Start somewhere. Anywhere. Follow inspiration. Join a club, take a class, sign up for that trip you’ve always wanted to take. Just get the ball rolling. The rest will follow.
DREAM BIG:
Don’t hold back. If you can dream it, you can be it. Create the blueprint for your new life in your mind’s eye. Indulge the dream with such passion and clarity that it feels real. Next thing you know, it will be.
SEEK ENCOURAGEMENT:
Find a mentor. Look around you for people already successfully turning their dreams into reality and ask for advice on how to do the same. It’s not hard. Build up your courage. People are nice. If they’re not, it’s not personal, simply move on to your next hero.
TAKE THE LEAP:
Don’t wait for the timing to be right. It never will be. Once you have an idea and a plan of action, do something immediately. Take one step towards your bliss right now!
“I know that I am following my bliss when my work is an act of love and devotion. Everyday is a joy to live.” Deepak Chopra ,Hay House Success Cards.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".