~ Marilyn Murphy

This is #2 of a series of posts in which I’ll prognosticate (I’m loving that word!) on what’s next for the WOW! Travel Club.

Last week’s blog, if you missed it, described two journeys we are confident about operating later in 2021: Japan (early November) and Egypt/Jordan (after Thanksgiving). I also predicted how post-COVID international travel might be different. And I promised to announce more places and experiences that we’re excited about developing for our wonderful WOWees.

We’re expecting BIG demand and will offer more WOW adventures than ever before! A couple of ever-popular destinations are described below . . .

Ireland . . . with a twist!

If you’ve never been to Ireland, it’s got to be on your short list. If you have been before, you know you want to return because there’s so much to see on this little island!

It probably won’t surprise you to know that I’ve got more than a few connections over there! Pat Crowley is one of my dearest friends in the industry and we’ve conspired together for many years on many projects. I’ve written about Pat a time or two in my blogs … once in 2014 and again in 2016.

Both of us are kinda/sorta retired – but not ready to hang it up. We love what we do – and we especially love conspiring together to come up with new and novel things to see and do! He loves his country SO very much … and he knows I’m always willing to see Ireland a bit differently than all the other travel operators out there. So we go to the special places where tourists don’t go. We stay out of the big, busy cities. We meet the locals. We capture the “essence” of this magical little country.

Dates are not defined, but I’m thinking late spring … maybe May or early June. Make a comment or send me an email and I’ll add you to our priority Interest List!

In the meantime, enjoy this slideshow with some of my pics from recent trips to Ireland:

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AFRICAN SAFARI … a bucket list destination!

We always feature moments more than monuments. Unforgettable experiences. Slowing down and taking the road less traveled. Going places that really blow your mind.

Kenya is such a place!

And just as we do in Ireland, we’ve got friends in all the right places. The “friends” include Richard Corcoran – a 3rd-generation Kenyan, ardent conservationist and a consummate storyteller. He makes a mean gin & tonic, too! Richard’s handsome son, Shasa – is taking the family legacy into the future.

The “right places” include the Maasai Mara, Tsavo and a Robinson Crusoe-style eco-lodge built atop the unspoiled dunes on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Certainly we see the animals – the lions, big tusker elephants, hippo, zebra, huge herds of wildebeest, etc. – but the experience is SO much more than that. We meet a man who was once a poacher, now employed as a gardener at the game lodge. We visit the laundry, where a staff member presses the linens with an iron heated with hot coals instead of electricity. We follow the water truck as it fills water holes for the big elephants. We smooch with giraffes. We meet orphaned elephants at the Sheldrick facility (not the busy one in Nairobi…). We go up, up and away in a beautiful balloon. Zooming along the sand dunes on a wind-surfer. Bush-walking behind a ranger with a rifle. And then there are the surprise sundowners . . . and s’mores . . . and SO much more!

Come with me to Kenya on an unforgettable adventure next year! Our last safari filled up quickly. Dates? Probably late summer/early fall. Let me know!

Pictures tell the best story:  

More to come!

Tune in next week for Prognostications, Part 3 to learn about additional destinations we’re considering for 2022 and beyond. As mentioned, there will be more travel offerings than in the past. So dust off your passport!

We really, really want to know what you think! Please comment below (or send me an email:  marilyn@wowtravelclub.com) with your questions, ideas, suggestions, desires, and bucket list destinations!

Asante Sana!       (“Thank you” in Swahili!)