Getting my WITS About Me: On Becoming A JourneyWoman

Reflections:

In keeping with my 2015 aim of tackling challenging tasks and reaching forth to grasp everything life has to offer, I booked my way to the 3rd annual Women In Travel Summit in Boston's Revere Hotel in March. This was a challenge for me, both in the financial arena as well as the logistical one.

I wanted to prove to myself that I could be my own travel agent; that I have the research savvy to connect accommodations and transportation schedules, in line with a planned event, in a way that maximized my comfort and enjoyment. What woman wants to be rushed and harried with scheduling conflicts, after all, on her way to a networking event focused on the empowerment of women through independent travel? I was determined not to be lost in the irony of bad planning (pun intended)!

The first task I set for myself was making my small budget work for the total event: meals, vendor purchases, the inevitable social club/bar meetup off-site with my new network friends. I figured whatever costs I incurred would be a tax write-off once I landed that lucrative travel-related job by the end of 2015, a veritable business-machine humming happily along.

I joined a travel writer/blogger group, Go Girl Travel Network (now relaunched as She's Wanderful), and secured a highly enviable discount as a bona fide member of Social Media. Now it was starting to feel real!

Although there was a strong pull to rush order some business cards in time for the conference, I decided to collect them instead and practice my virtual connections. I also wanted to gain some insights on the best way to rebrand myself, so I would not order them until I got those details figured out.

The most fun and rewarding out-of-the-box move I made was to join a book club not just to get more reading done, but as a networking medium for like-minded women travelers like myself. My first meeting with the New York Chapter of Go Girl Reads was held a mere two weeks before the conference,  and we tackled the groundbreaking autobiography by Cheryl Strayed, Wild. Strayed's book was a perfect ice breaker among the women in the book club, since we got to talk about not only our reactions to her amazing tale of determination, but also relate it back to what it means for us as women blazing our own trails.

As I anticipated would be part of the discussion at WITS, we discussed the practical logistics of being a biological woman in a less than ideal comfort zone, in transit. What does one do and use when she's menstruating, for example? What was an acceptable level of sociable connection while going solo, for safety, for preservation of one's mission and integrity?

Another poignant discussion point was the responsibility of being a Western-based female traveler. For me, this was interesting because there is a duality to my own perspective: I am of South as well as North America,  my worldview as a 1.5er very much influencing how I approach the road, and how I expect it to meet me. I am well aware of and learning so much more about the nuances of privilege from a traveler's context, so I strive to keep this sensitivity balanced as an advocate and writer.

Making connections in the reading group came naturally, since about four of us were going to the conference anyway. I made arrangements with on group member for a place to crash with her friends in Boston, and with another as part of her carpool. Eventually the carpool added a few other attendees, but the couch crash fell through. I dealt with it, and that led to my first Airbnb (stay tuned for another post about The Stranger's Couch).

In all of this planning and rearranging,  I learned what my sanity levels could withstand and how to face my travel anxieties. Knowledge is key for preparation, as is the willingness to try a different path than I've tried before. Results may not be guaranteed or predictable, but fueled by my desire to be less anxious and hesitant about stepping outside of my comfort zone, I've become a tad bit more social.

By osmosis, I've also developed more savvy with varying platforms of communication, the immediate benefit being way more connected to women that embody the fearless spirit to wander, seek truth and advocate positive power for and by women worldwide.

Perspective in travel is a valuable noun as well as adjective. I used to think that I could only call myself a traveler if I was leaving the United States. This thought process did not honestly attribute all of the wisdom imparted to me by my family and personal achievements, however. Yes, I did fly to Australia and study abroad for three months when I was 20 years old, but I also embarked on my first whirlwind bus-and-plane journey a year earlier, from New York to Atlanta to Toronto and back!

I appreciate Beth Santos and her team for the originality of such a network of independent and creative women, and look forward to pioneering new paths for women and young girls to go somewhere and do something meaningful!

Toughening Up: Women In Travel and The Gear that Loves Them!

So the March Madness has shifted into the Spring Awakening, as I continue my development into the savvy go-getter activity-prone woman I always wanted to be. I would be remiss, however, to not fill in the gap of the last two months, busy as I have been with conferences, day trips, event planning and new business research. It has truly been an exciting time, and I owe a lot of my newfound inspiration to the success of my Women In Travel Summit (WITS 2015) attendance. 

As I mentioned back in March, one of my goals for 2015 was to embark upon a series of travel- based discoveries to share with my readers and expand my reach to inspire other women who write and yearn to make distance. Well, mission definitely accomplished with the Boston WITS 2015 adventure! It took a lot of perseverance and planning, and I made some great networking connections that proved to be a worthy investment in my understanding of what makes the whole experience of being a woman on the move. I learned that we women who mean to take on the great wide world, going to far-flung places, often alone, really have to toughen up, in more ways than one.

I was especially excited when I first signed up for WITS 2015 and saw the sponsor list.

It was a veritable who's who of travel industry service providers: luggage, photography, booking agents, destinations, insurance providers and, of course, toiletries. Since I try to walk a rather sturdy line of practical and fun when it comes to packing up to go, I loved that there were so many useful demos and promotions going on at the conference.

One of the more unexpected sponsors was Corning® Gorilla® Glass. I knew of Corning Incorporated from my childhood; my mother's collection of durable, simple and elegant dishware, and later by making friends with my first college roommate who hailed from a nearby town in Upstate New York, Watkins Glen. I had connections to Corning that I never knew would take me this far. 

I was interested to see the presentation at our Saturday lunch, of which Corning was the supplier. It turns out that well-known glassmaker Corning was introducing their newest technology, Gorilla Glass 4, and its very valuable usage for all the travel bloggers in the room. I leaned forward, because, I subscribe to the club of anxious excitable manipulators of new technology. My poor battered-yet-functional digital SLR camera can attest to that! How many times have I dropped my phone trying to take an impossibly angled shot, and held my breath as I gingerly approach said phone, looking for signs of distress? Did I buy the monthly insurance, or was I feeling cheap two years back when I signed up (darn it)?! My recent exposure to the world of smartphones further solidified my adherence to modern standards of communication: instant talk, instant text, real-time emails with picture attachments, uploads galore, etc. 

I was determined to avoid the dreaded spiderweb cracks that plagued so many phones. Not me! I made it to Boston, secured my first-ever AirBnb reservation, and now I was in upgrade mode. How excited was I to learn that I was already reaping the benefits of Corning Gorilla Glass in my Samsung Galaxy S4? Gorilla Glass 4 has been making headlines over the past few years. For sure, and for good reason. It is in almost every new electronic device on the market: smartphones, tablets, notebooks and more. 

Why is Gorilla Glass becoming so popular? Because with Gorilla Glass 4, we now have Corning's toughest cover glass yet for all our everyday devices used. This is significant! 

During WITS 2015, Lisa Noni, the Senior Development Scientist at Corning Incorporated did a very thorough presentation of Gorilla Glass 4's durability, showing that it performs up to two times better than competitive glass designs in devices dropped from 3 feet high. She highlighted that for travelers and writers like myself, it was very important to have adequate protection for our devices that take pictures, record our thoughts, and generally keep us going. I appreciated that Ms. Noni went so far as to focus on the value of quality materials and components that went into the creation of Gorilla Glass 4. 

Corning created a glass screen that is more scratch resistant than most of the plastic screens on cell phones prior to 2007, yet is also lightweight for the thinnest of hand-held devices, and more resistant to sharp contact damage on rough surfaces. The first simulation used a tumbler which included a sample of Gorilla Glass 4, standard industry soda lime glass (used in about 40% of smartphones in China- large population), and hard bulky objects like a brush, keys, and a guidebook. As Ms. Noni demonstrated with simulated damage with a mini lever press test and applied pressure from 20 to 100 lbs, Gorilla Glass 4 withstood a higher damage resistance compared to soda-lime device glass covers, even with a surface pre-abraded with sandpaper. I could envision this scenario when I accidentally bury my phone at the bottom of my suitcase, which then inevitably gets tossed into the trunk of a car or bus rack. It looked to me like I could rely on Gorilla Glass 4 being there to help withstand that mishap. 

I was able to test the value of Gorilla Glass firsthand when I participated in the 4th Annual Brooklyn Bike The Branches tour on May 9th. Fast forwarding almost two months from the WITS conference, I got involved in this very physical challenge to ride all around Brooklyn with thousands of other bikers, attempting to reach as many of the 60 Brooklyn Public Library branches in the 8 hours allotted.  There I go:

The day started well enough, overcast and cool; not too hot. However, about an hour into my tour and already getting lost trying to find my next location, the rain starts coming down pretty heavily, making it difficult to see and keep a good grip on my handlebars and not slip my sneakers off the pedals. It goes on like this for several hours, as I meet up with other riders and we band together throughout the city, getting our library passports stamped. Here's a daring, yet well-orchestrated shot of my fellow bike-companion, taken with my tough yet durable Samsung smartphone with Gorilla Glass. Check to see if Gorilla Glass is on your device here!

All was well and good, and hours later I approached the end of the tour which was to culminate at the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza. 

Then, with two library stops left, I did the inevitable miscalculation of my speed and level of anxiety while attempting to jump the curb on a road bike (Note: skinny smooth wheels, very little tread); bad angle + bad execution of curb hop= total handlebar wipeout. The result is this lovely photo:

I must admit, this is a very awesome vantage point, one I didn't think was possible as I became airborne and slammed my (thankfully) helmeted head into the sidewalk. Somehow, my smartphone took a very smart photo, and managed not even a scrape as we both clattered to the ground! I was stunned for a while, and definitely scraped and bruised, but my phone was solid. 

I can honestly attest to the quality of Gorilla Glass. In the demonstration at WITS 2015 and in my own altercation with a Brooklyn sidewalk, Corning Gorilla Glass 4 helped protect the scrapes and bumps of everyday life. 

In my little accident, I learned how to be prepared for the worst by wearing a helmet and giving myself time to recover before hopping back on that bike. This is what we traveling WITS women do, toughen up and get out there, not being scared of a shortfall, but always pushing forward to the next level of development and success. Definitely "tough, yet beautiful". I look forward to purchasing and using more devices featuring the added protection of Gorilla Glass 4.

This blog post was sponsored by Corning Incorporated. I received compensation for writing this review, but all opinions are completely my own. I stand by my statements.