Passports with a Purpose

Those of you who came here from Wonders Never Cease … well, you know what’s up.  Today author and blogger, Becky Ramsey , and I are doing a progressive blog post – a little like a progressive dinner only without dishes to do afterwards. 

So, let’s start at the very beginning…  Check out Becky’s post about Passports, and THEN come back here for part two…

Part Two:  Purpose

Don’t you just love Becky’s blog ?  I read it nearly every day.  I love the photos, the themes, and the video clips.  And she has a purpose to what she does:  to help us think about everyday stuff in a new way. 

And that is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:  purpose.  Take gift giving… I am a big proponent of purposeful gifts.  Why waste money on trinkets?  Give a gift that is purposeful or don’t give a gift at all – at least that’s my philosophy. 

My favorite purposeful gift to give:  books .  You have to know someone well, though, to choose the right book for them. 

I also like to give plants.  Plants clean the air in your home.  They bring a little of the outdoors inside.

For children, I often give artsy playthings that require the imagination…

or games that the whole family can play.

And one of my favorite gifts to give:  a home-cooked meal.

But I think the best gift I’ve ever given was a water buffalo.  

Yes.  A water buffalo.  My maternal grandparents both grew up in rural communities.  My grandfather went on to become a particle physicist, and he and my grandmother have traveled the world making the globe accessible to both their children and their grandchildren.  So, when their 60^th wedding anniversary arrived a few years ago, the family was stumped.  

What do you get people who have everything they want and need?  

Well, we came upon the perfect solution:  we went together and bought them a water buffalo through Heifer International . 

Now, we didn’t actually present them with the buffalo.  The buffalo went to a family somewhere in the world who needed it.  In my grandparents’ honor, we gave a family a source of milk for their children.  They can now make cheese to sell in town in exchange for eggs or flour.  And perhaps that family’s children can now afford to go to school.  Maybe someday that family will be able to afford several water buffalo… and some chickens… and perhaps some sheep. 

That’s what I call a gift with purpose!

Becky wrote about Passports – those documents that allow you to travel internationally, to experience the world in all its wonders.  And I bring you the Purpose… Whether you have an active passport or not, you, too, can make a difference in another community. 

Passports with Purpose , a group of travel bloggers, is sponsoring a raffle with fantastic prizes.  A raffle ticket costs $10 – half of the cost of a flock of chickens.  Think about that… how many times do you spend $10 on something less purposeful than a flock of chickens?  

For each $10 ticket you buy, you are making a contribution to Heifer International , AND you are entered into the drawing for your prize of choice.

And the prizes ?  Well, they are pretty fabulous!  You can see the whole list here .

That $200 SkinStore.com gift basket is awesome.  It’s sitting right here tempting me, and I will happily ship it to you if you win it! 

There are so many prizes that there are still a few for which no one has purchased a ticket.  Those are REALLY good odds! 

So, hop over to the Passports with Purpose page , choose the gifts you want to win, and buy your raffle tickets.  Those raffle tickets make great, purposeful gifts, too! 

Many thanks to Becky Ramsey for joining me in this progressive blog post!  And don’t forget to check out her book, French by Heart, book # 7 on our 12 Travel Books for Christmas list.  

Photos of the water buffalo and chickens courtesy of Heifer International/Darcy Kiefel.  

12 Travel Books for Christmas: Number Six

Merry Christmas, just a little bit early!  My gift to you this holiday season is a series of 12 book suggestions to help make your shopping a little easier (for your friends or for yourself).  Read about how this started here .

12 Travel Books for Christmas

Today's book recommendation is from a great expat blogger who makes me laugh and cry (sometimes at the same time).  Check out her blog here , and follow her!  

Recommended by: MissExpatria  who says this is her standard book gift.

Pillars of Hercules: a grand tour of the Mediterranean by Paul Theroux 

Summary: "[Theroux's] work is distinguished by a splendid eye for detail and the telling gesture; a storyteller's sense of pacing and gift for granting closure to the most subtle progression of events; and the graceful use of language. . . . We are delighted, along with Theroux, by the politeness of the Turks, amazed by the mountainous highlands in Syria, touched by the gesture of an Albanian waitress who will not let him pay for his modest meal. . . . The Pillars of Hercules [is] engrossing and enlightening from start (a damning account of tourists annoying the apes of Gibraltar) to finish (an utterly captivating visit with Paul Bowles in Tangier, worth the price of the book all by itself)." (Chicago Tribune) -- excerpted from BookPassage.com 

Are you adding to your list of  Twitter friends? And that list of book suggestions is growing, too.  How many of them have you read so far?

Don't forget...  a fantastic Christmas gift!

Passports with Purpose:  Buy a $10 raffle ticket benefitting Heifer International

More info: http://tinyurl.com/aknpwp

Eight Questions for The Most Interesting Person I've Met in an Airport: Jill Simpson

A few years ago as I waited to check my baggage at the Rome airport I struck up a conversation with a charming young woman in line ahead of me.  That young woman was Jill Simpson of Island Spirit Adventures , a travel company specializing in travel to Sardinia.  Jill's enthusiasm and passion for Sardinia truly impressed me, and we have the same ideas about travel, small groups, and the joy of all things Italian.  I thought you might like to meet her, too.  

Tell us about your first trip to Sardinia.
The first time I went to Sardinia, I actually had no idea where I was actually going. I didn’t even know that Sardinia was a part of Italy. I went there with a friend of mine whose roommate was Sardo. (I was living in Florence at the time.) The family totally welcomed us, fed us, washed our clothes; totally made us feel at home. I experienced my first “Sardinian barbecue” where they grill pig and lamb. I had no idea that the little pig I saw earlier that morning would be the same one we ate! They played a joke on me and put the pigs head on my plate to eat! I later learned that actually the cheeks are considered a delicacy.

What do you miss most about Sardinia when you aren’t there?
I miss the closeness, the proximity to friends. When I am there, if I go out for any reason, I am sure to bump into someone I know. It’s a small town and very familiar. That usually leads to a quick espresso and chat or an “aperativo” (before lunch or dinner drink).

When did you start doing trips to Sardinia? What are your favorite trips to do?
I have been going to Sardinia for the past 11 years, but I started leading hiking and sailing trips almost 4 years ago. I really enjoy our Wines, Hikes and History trip. It has a good overall flavor of the island. We visit ancient archeological sites, wineries, get in a few easy going hikes and naturally eat incredible food the entire time!

For someone who has never been to Sardinia, when would you say is the best time to visit? 
I am certainly biased on this one, because I like to be there and organize trips for people to go when there are few to zero tourists. This includes the months of April, May and June and then again in September and October. The touristy season is in full swing mid-July through August which means you won’t lack any services but you will share the beauty with loads of European tourists. The weather is almost always sunny, very hot in the summer and pleasant the rest of the year.

What is your favorite hidden place in Sardinia? Why?
Hmmm, I have many. Many of our trips follow ancient trails into the mountainous wilderness and there are some great outlooks overlooking the sea along with hidden caves and natural tunnels. I once “stumbled” across a cave that was enormous with at least 5 different rooms in it. One room was full of water. Thank God I had my flashlight that day!

Tell us about the foods of Sardinia. What are your favorite things to eat there?
I could talk weeks about the food! Basically, in Sardinia you eat what’s in season. It is so fresh and delicious! Fresh fruits like peaches, plums, apricots, strawberries and oranges. The vegetables are just as flavorful. There are lots of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and beans. The island is full of sheep and goats, therefore some of the best cheese made with their milk is found on the island. Each region has specialty pasta dishes and one I like in particular is called “Curlurgionis.” The are ravioli-like filled pasta with the filling made of this magical mixture of potato, pecorino cheese, parmesan cheese, a hint of mint and a few other ingredients that is kept a secret. They are to die for. The fresh pig and lamb roasts are divine and the seafood and fish platters are out of this world! So fresh! Did I mention the wine? Their native cannonou grape makes this hearty full bodied red that goes perfectly with everything!

What books about Sardinia would you recommend?
My first response to this question is “the one that I haven’t written yet.” I have so much to say about Sardinia and the experiences with the people and their rich history and culture. I haven’t found a book already written that engulfs it all. The most famous book that I know of Sardinia however is D.H. Lawerence’s “ Sea and Sardinia.” There is also a famous Sardinian woman author named Grazia Deledda. She has written several fantastic books and also won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.

What does the 2009 travel season hold for you?

We have added a Trek and Sail trip which is gaining a lot of popularity. We spend the entire week on a 50-foot Beneteau sailboat and sail up the eastern coast of Sardinia. We do 3 days of hiking which consists of our Captain dropping us off at one beach, in which we hike up into the mountains and down to the following beach where our Captain and sailboat meets us there. It’s getting the best of both worlds; land and sea. And of course the culinary experiences are unbeatable. We are also opening some doors into Corsica, France for some sailing and hiking.

Thanks, Jill! 
Jill chose book #5 for the 12 Travel Books of Christmas -- D.H. Lawrence's classic, Sea and Sardinia .  She also took all of the photographs for this story.  

So, who is the most interesting person you've met in an airport recently?

Update: January 12, 2010

For more information about Sardinia and a guide to driving around the island, check out Exploring Sardinia by Car.