I was recently reminiscing about some of my more “enlightened moments” – many of which occur when I’m traveling – freed up from the day-to-day routine, when my imagination runs amok.

• My most recent epiphany happened about a week ago, in Puglia. If you’ve followed my postings at all, you know how fanatical I am about this relatively unknown jewel of a destination in southern Italy. Traveling around with the irrepressible Ylenia Sambati, a native of Lecce, I had three days to explore, eat and drink, inspect hotels, eat and drink,  soak up its “joy de vivre” (or, more accurately: “voglia di vivere”), eat and drink and get inspired.  Ylenia unapologetically infected me with her contagious passion for the traditions, culture, cuisine, design and lifestyle of Salento.  Late one night as I sorted through that day’s photos – having burned through two fully-charged camera batteries and nearly all the juice on my iPhone camera, the lightbulb went on: I would start a new division called “CTPuglia!”  Stay tuned  . . . we’ve reserved the URL:  www.ctpuglia.com

• Going back in time – to 1979 – a momentous inspiration happened for me in Singapore. Just weeks into my backpack adventure through southeast Asia, which I was supposed to be sharing with my best friend, I found myself alone, frustrated and anxious. It’s a long story, but all my best laid plans had gone awry and I was feeling abandoned, frustrated and despondent. It was so bad that I was seriously considering throwing in the towel and coming home. While I waited for a traffic signal to change, a chance encounter with a sprightly and spirited older woman from Britain – recently widowed – was enough to smack me out of my pity party. If she could travel solo, at her age, than I could certainly do it, too!

• On the same trip, many months later, on a different street corner . . . somewhere in India, I observed a group of comparatively well-heeled travelers climb off an air-conditioned bus. Standing there in my faded cotton skirt and pink flip-flops, I thought smugly, “Those people are not having an authentic experience of India.” As if the only way to appreciate the wonders of India were to sleep on wooden benches in 3rd-class trains and eat dal and chapati from the street vendors. At the same time, knowing my journey was to end in several weeks, and recognizing that I might never again have the luxury of time to enjoy such an unfettered travel experience, I wondered, “Will I ever travel like those people?” Because at the core of my being, I knew that travel was my destiny, and that I would undoubtedly be one of those people – traveling in style … but hoping that such comforts would not “sanitize” my experience of a place and its people.

• And 25 years later, in 2004, an auspicious awakening:  I sat bolt upright in the middle of the night – something that rarely ever happened. “Wow!” I thought.  I vividly remember that moment, and how puzzled I was. But the ideas kept flowing on that fateful night. “W.O.W. – world of wonders. Wow, what a great name for a company!” And that awakening was the origin of The WOW! Travel Club.

Through the years . . .
Top Left – Philippines 1978; Top Middle – Rio 2011; Top Right – Kenya 2012
Left Middle – Cuba 2010; Middle Middle – at CTP 1981; Right Middle – Ireland 2012
Bottom Left – Cuba 2011; Bottom Middle – India 2004; Bottom Right: “I’m the Boss!” 2012