Yeah, that’s right.  I’m leaving and it feels strange.  I’m not used to this.

I can hear you scoff.  “You’re always leaving, Marilyn!  You can do it in your sleep . . .”

Well, this time is different.  I’m experiencing anticipation from the other side … from your side – from the perspective of the paying participant.  I’m a traveler on a program that I did not research, I did not organize and I am not leading.  I’m just one of the participants.

Heck, I’m not even doing any site inspections!  Not a single one.  (Well, once I get there, I might have to pop into a few hotels.  An occupational hazard, I suppose.)

I travel a lot.  I go as a Travel Director (Trip Leader, Program Manager, Travel Staff – pick a title, any title) which entails exhaustive pre-trip preparation and planning – knowing every detail of the itinerary – down to the menu for the pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres.  I go on industry familiarization (“fam”) trips, as the guest of a country’s tourism board, airline, hotel and/or tour company.  I sometimes go on vacation (“not often enough,” says my husband), which frequently involve places under consideration for future programs and, necessarily include meetings and hotel inspections.  I go on site inspection trips in advance of a planned program to ensure that the hotel and venues and itinerary flow will work perfectly when it finally operates.  I go to industry trade shows as a hosted buyer … having everything arranged and paid for by a supplier.

To go as a participant?  Can’t think of a single time I’ve ever done this!

I’ll be part of a group of 14 women – all of us members of an organization called Dining for Women.   This is a two-week trip – longer than usual for me.  We’re going to Myanmar (or, Burma, since the two country names seem to be used interchangeably).

If I was the organizer, I’d be more informed about which name to call it.  If I was the organizer, I would know what hotels we’re staying at and how many nights in each place and what the temperature will be.  If I was the organizer, I’d be familiar with all the names of the travelers.  Instead, I have to read the final documents like I always instruct my participants to do!

Our itinerary, which hits all the highlights of Myanmar, includes several visits with Colorful Girls’ Circles in various locations around the country.  These Circles are weekly, structured after-school peer groups of adolescent girls who are at risk for trafficking, forced labor and violence.  In their peer groups, girls learn decision-making, leadership skills, gain self confidence, build friendships, learn about cultural and religious differences and plan for their future.

A group of “Colorful Girls”

Obviously, these girls have a strong role model in Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.  I’ll be fascinated to meet these girls and learn about their hopes and dreams for their future.

This is my kind of journey!   

To a destination that is exotic, unknown and untrampled.  I love to visit with locals as described above, often in remote villages off the touristed route.  We have a meeting with a professor from the Myanmar National Human Rights organization (they don’t get much good P.R. on this issue).  We will each have a session with a Burmese fortune teller.  We will help cook lunch and serve the meal to nuns at a Buddhist monastery.

At Inle Lake, we will prepare dinner and eat with the Intha people in one of their villages.

Intha fisherman demonstrating the traditional leg-rowing technique on Inle Lake

We’ll take an early morning balloon over the 3,000 temples littering the plains in Bagan.  We’ll take a cooking lesson – and I’ll come home with ingredients I’ll probably never use.  We’ll take a hike to some tribal villages and meet some women who have received micro loans from various NGOs.

Aaahhh yes, I could have organized this one.  But it’s awfully nice to NOT be in charge for a change!

Stay tuned for future blog posts from Burma (or, if you prefer, Myanmar)!

Comments are appreciated (they help my google rankings, too!).  Thanks!