Travel Leaders Holland MI

30/03/2020

We could all use a little extra something to keep our sanity right now. Here are 4 landscapes to give your mind a chance to daydream. Have you updated your device wallpaper with something that gives you peace? Tell us what locations you've used!

Top row images, from left to right:
Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Scotland; P. J. Hoffmaster State Park, Michigan, USA; Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal

Bottom image:
Durdle Door, Dorset Beach, England

29/03/2020

With all the talk of things spreading quickly, we thought we'd share a positive story about something going viral. In a northern suburb in Paris known for its gang violence, one woman, Hind Ayadi, launched an initiative to work with young people in her neighborhood to clean up trash from all over the city. They saw great success and took it one step further: they then challenged Marseilles via social media to do the same. Cleanup challenges have continued to be lobbed across locations and have spread all the way to Morocco and Tunisia. Let's remember to spread kindness and goodness!

29/03/2020

A lot of us are stuck at home right now without much to do and we going a bit stir crazy, if we're being honest.

A great distraction technique is to pick up a new hobby or jump back into an old one, like painting, playing an instrument, starting a blog, or reading!

What hobby are you losing yourself in right now?

29/03/2020

28/03/2020

Have you been feeling stuck staying inside all day? It's easy to stay in bed all day and catch up on TV shows and watch movies, but after a while, that can take a toll on our mental health.

Even if you're not going anywhere, challenge yourself to wake up at the same time every day and get yourself ready. Taking these small steps can help you stay productive and feel better about yourself!

28/03/2020

Hiram Bingham III: Although not without controversy, Bingham is given credit for publicizing the existence of Machu Picchu in 1911 and for being the first to conduct a scientific exploration of the ruins.

27/03/2020

During these tough times, it's important to take care of ourselves.

Adding daily meditations to your routine can help with anxiety, emotional health and can reduce stress.

Do you meditate daily?

27/03/2020

What brings a deejay, a town in Italy, and five weeks of silence together? The compelling need to preserve the sounds of priceless Stradivari instruments. Deejay Leonardo Tedeschi reached out to the Violin Museum in Cremona, Italy with an idea to catologue all of the sounds of the instruments in order to safeguard them. A team of sound technicians and musicians painstakingly began recording but ran into a problem - the ambient noise from the town around them was getting picked up on their sensitive recording devices. In an incredible show of community support, the town of Cremona went silent for eight hours, six days a week, for five weeks until the project was completed. Amazing things can be accomplished when we work together with the same goal in mind.

27/03/2020

Köttbullar are Swedish meatballs, traditionally served with a potato puree, lingonberries, and cucumbers with dill. These meatballs are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The use of allspice seasoning sets them apart from the Italian meatball.

26/03/2020

With everything going on it's hard knowing that most traveling has been put on hold for a little while.

Traveling gives us so many great experiences and memories to be able to hold onto, so we understand how painful this is. However, we still want to try and keep things positive, so we want you share your favorite travel memories!

25/03/2020

Running out of things to do with your kids? How about making flags of different countries? You can use regular printer paper with markers or crayons to draw and color the flag portion, and then glue it to sticks, straws, pencils, or whatever miniature pole-like things that might be lying around your house! It's even educational.

25/03/2020

We could all use a little extra something to keep our sanity right now. Here are 4 peaceful beach images to meditate on. What are your coping tactics right now?

25/03/2020

Can you guess how many champagne bottles that Champagne, France ships each year?
322 Million bottles!

24/03/2020

You've probably heard of the bystander effect (AKA bystander apathy) before, although maybe not by name. It's the psychological claim that people are less likely to help a victim when there are other people around them. A recent large-scale study used CCTV footage in Amsterdam, Lancaster (UK) and Cape Town to analyze violent incidents. In nine out of ten cases of violence, a bystander stepped in to assist victims, completely going against the bystander effect. Sometimes it's hard to see the good in people, but we might be a little bit better as a species than what we previously thought.

24/03/2020

Nellie Bly: Born Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, Nellie Bly made a name for herself (see what we did there?) as a pioneer in investigative journalism writing an expose on the brutality and neglect present at two insane asylums. In 1888, inspired by Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in Eighty Days," Bly decided to take her own trip around the world and beat the fictional record of the book. She made it, traveling almost entirely by herself, in seventy-two days.

24/03/2020

With fewer people visiting and volunteering at shelters, and some shelters closing altogether, folks are taking advantage of having to work from home and stepping up to foster animals. It's comforting to have a companion during these tough times.

23/03/2020

Green River Lakes is located in Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming. With 3.4 million acres of forest, it is the 3rd largest National Forest outside of Alaska. Green River Lakes is located behind the Wild River Range and is considered the headwaters of the Green River, which runs 730 miles through Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. It's the perfect place to enjoy the outdoors, with many activities such as fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and many more!

22/03/2020

Mount Hood is located about 90 minutes east of downtown Portland, Oregon. Visiting in the spring gives visitors the best of both worlds. Enjoy skiing in the morning and watersports in the afternoon. Springtime is also when the waterfalls are fully rushing, and wildflowers are blooming.

22/03/2020

Would you rather sightsee or shop?

👍 for sightseeing
❤️ if you need to shop until you drop
😆 if you can fit in time for both!

21/03/2020

Take a drive toward Mount Whitney and discover the beauty of the High Sierras! With snow-covered peaks in winter, gushing waterfalls in the spring, and wildflower meadows in the summer, this landscape is dramatic and wildly beautiful!

20/03/2020

Traveling with loved ones and creating memories makes us happy! What makes you happy?