Lisa Niver's Blog: We Said Go Travel, page 29
July 31, 2023
Two Months to Brave-ish! Niver’s News
July News 2023 with Lisa Niver & We Said Go Travel:
Cover Reveal: Hot New Release! Thank you for making Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty a hot new release on Amazon! Launch day, September 19, 2023, is less than two months away! My book is available for pre-order as a paperback or digital e-book. YES! There will be an audio book!
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Thank you for reading my July Articles:
Thank you to Ashford Castle, Travel Classics Ireland and Tourism Ireland for my amazing adventures!
Enjoy more of my travels in Ireland
Listen to my interview on Swell
Thank you to Ms. Magazine for the Global Women’s Rights Awards! I was inspired by all the honorees!Thank you to the Jewish Journal for including me IN PRINT! I am honored to be part of your publication. I loved sitting at the Jewish Journal table at the Southern California Journalism awards where I was a two-time finalist!Thank you Blue Ocean Network for including me in your video, The Beijing Central AxisThank you Ambassador Geraldine Bryne Nason! It was my honor to interview you! Read her X/Tweet here.A pleasure to join @LisaNiver on her podcast during my recent trip to @IrelandinLA.
— Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason (@IrelandAmbUSA) July 20, 2023
We discussed Ireland’s work on the Security Council in advancing the rights of women globally, forward-looking at US-Ireland shared cultural heritage, and, of course, my love of Co.Louth. https://t.co/mnGqpd9rvV
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4 Zibby Owens, Book Messenger Extraordinaire, Igniting Literary Enthusiasm
5 Cead Mile Failte Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador Of Ireland To The USA
6 From Pen To Print: Insights From Prolific Professor Susan Shapiro
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Fortune Cookie SAID:“Embrace change with an open heart, and new opportunities will blossom before you.”
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BRAVE-ish, One Break-up, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
My book is available for pre-order
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July 30, 2023
Jews in Africa: the Abayudaya in Uganda 🇺🇬 and Beta Israel in Ethiopia 🇪🇹
Thank you to Judith Gigliotti and Peter Decherney for joining me on my podcast. Peter is an author, filmmaker and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania where we met when my class had a film and TV panel for our 30th reunion. May 2024 is my 35th reunion at PENN!
Judith took the author photo for my book, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty, and is an incredible artist and photographer. We met because of ceramics and belong to the same art studio, Members Only LA (MOLA).
Listen to our discussion about the Jews in Africa: the Abayudaya in Uganda and Beta Israel in Ethiopia 
Both Peter and Judith have spent years in Africa filming, photographing and helping.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT BELOW
Lisa:
Today we’re so lucky to be having a conversation with two remarkable photographers and filmmakers who know so much about the Jews of Africa. So Judith, tell us, what were you doing in Africa?
Judith:
So I got very close with a gentleman who was at the University of Judaism here becoming a rabbi, and he brought his wife and two children to, I was on a board called Jewish and Community Research, and they asked me to meet Gersham and his wife and two kids and get them set up at the University of Judaism. So I did. My sister and I met them, and we took them walking down the Third Street Promenade and he thought everybody was in costumes. They couldn’t believe their eyes. The kids were just in awe.
Photo by Judith Gigliotti
Photo by Judith Gigliotti
Photo by Judith Gigliotti
Photo by Judith Gigliotti
Photo by Judith GigliottiLisa:
Where was he from?
Judith:
Bali, Uganda, which is six hours’ drive from Entebbe or Kampala, Ethiopia. People more know Entebbe.
Peter:
I will be driving that road in August.
Judith:
Oh, bad roads. Bad, bad, bad roads.
Anyway, so we got very close with this family. We got them into school, we got them pediatricians, we did everything for them, and then they stayed three years here to become a rabbi with one year in Israel, We went to his graduation before he left. My sister and I felt he can’t just leave. We’re a part of his family. He’s a part of our family. So then we started going to Uganda every year to teach women to start small businesses. I went for 18 years, until COVID, and watched all the kids grow up.
Lisa:
So you basically adopted the Jews of Uganda.
Judith:
Yes. There are two groups in that area. They never have really come together.
Peter:
What makes them different from each other?
Judith:
One is more religious. We had a big temple built, a big shul built, you’ll see it. When people are not able to eat, I thought, oh, what are we building this big temple for, because they had a beautiful little temple that was good enough, but then a lot of people started coming. Also, they know on Shabbat they get free meals so a lot of people come. And it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. And Rabbi Gersham now lives in Kampala but he drives back. Especially if he knows you’re going to be there, he’ll drive back every Friday and then stay for the weekend.
Peter:
He’s now a member of parliament, right?
Judith:
He was. He was a member for parliament and that’s when I went to stump for him, which was fascinating. He was a member of Parliament for two years and then they revoted and he lost and he was, he is so upset. His goal is to be president of Uganda. Having said that, we know who is president and who has been president for 36 years, and he seems like he’s just getting worse all the time. Uganda is one of those countries that I’m not seeing progress, unlike Rwanda, unlike Kenya.
Photo by Judith Gigliotti
Photo by Judith Gigliotti
Photo by Judith GigliottiPeter:
I just got back from Kenya.
Judith:
Kenya is different because they have the tourism. They’re in better shape, way better shape. Don’t you think?
Peter:
Definitely.
Judith:
You made a made a movie about the Jews of Africa?
Peter:
Yes. I’m a professor of cinema and media studies at Penn.
Lisa Niver:
And we met for my thirtieth Penn College reunion because many of my classmates took your classes and are still involved, and then I found out that you have a film about Africa. So tell us what your film was, the first one.
Peter:
That’s right. You generously come back and meet with students and mentor them often, which is great.
Lisa Niver:
Thank you for the opportunity.
Peter:
In 2020 with a colleague at Penn, Sosena Solomon, we made a film about the Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia. There’s a lot written and films made about Jews, Ethiopians living in Israel, but it was actually hard to find information about the Jews who were still living in Gondar, what was their life like, and so that’s what brought us there and then over a few years led us to make to make a film about it.
The film is really just trying to amplify their stories, and we tell stories about their soccer team, amazing stories, and their circus, which is amazing, about a rabbi who moved to Israel, became a rabbi, and then goes back regularly to still be a rabbi in that community.
The film is on Discovery + and It’s called Dreaming of Jerusalem. But as we showed the film at festivals and synagogues and places, I was surprised by how little people knew about the story. I thought they knew, and if they know anything they know about the airlifts in the 80s and 90s, but not that there’s thousands of years of history before that and there’s still an active community and there’s a lot happening.
And so I went back the last couple of years post-pandemic and I’ve just completed a book of photography and text, and in a brief way, it tells the whole history from biblical times until today, and then it tells stories about people over the last few years, and it’s been a very intense couple of years, the pandemic…
Judith:
How many Jews are in Ethiopia?
Peter:
So there’s dispute, but around 10,000.
Judith:
Oh. That’s a lot.
Lisa Niver:
And how many Jews went in the airlift from Ethiopia to Israel approximately?
Peter:
About 40 to 50 thousand then and probably 50 thousand before and after. There are about 100,000 Ethiopian Jews living in Israel who were born in Ethiopia, about another 50,000 who were born in Israel.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7gN6...Lisa Niver:
Wow. It’s a huge communiy.
Judith:
One of the major differences is the Ethiopians’ bloodline is Jewish. The Abayudaya, Gersham and his, is not.
Lisa Niver:
In Uganda.
Judith:
In Uganda. And therefore people have said to them, you’re not really Jewish, and he’s been up against that often. He says, I know who I am. I kept saying to him, doesn’t that bother you?
After they’d been here a long time, he and I went out and he was wearing a baseball cap and his yarmulke under the baseball cap. People know he’s from another country, they don’t think he’s a black American. But I said to him, do you see a lot of prejudice here? And he said no. No. Why? Do you see a lot for you? And I said, for me? And he said, yeah, being Jewish. So I was talking about him being black, he was talking about us being Jewish, and for him it was like it didn’t exist. In his country it doesn’t. I’m the outsider in his country, or the mzungu.
Peter:
Right. So the Abayudaya converted 100 years ago and people say maybe they’re not Jewish, but actually, even though the Ethiopian community has thousands of years of Jewish history, people also say they’re not Jewish.
Judith:
They do?
Peter:
Yes. Very controversially, in the 80s and 90s, Jews who had moved from Ethiopia to Israel had to be converted to their own religion.
Judith:
Go through the mikveh and do everything.
Lisa Niver:
And there was a lot of racism in Israel.
Peter:
So hopefully in the film what you see, it starts out with a Torah service. I mean, 30 seconds in I hope you think, these people are really Jewish. They’re wearing kippot and praying.
Actually, 60 seconds in, I think they’re more Jewish than me.
Judith:
Were you raised reform?
Peter:
Conservative.
Judith:
Conservative. I was raised reform, very reformed. My father would say, you don’t have to go to synagogue on Yom Kippur but just don’t go shopping. We belonged to a synagogue but we didn’t go that much. But they say to me, do you know what this means? And they’ll sing a song and they’ll say, do you know what this means? Do you know? Do you know what Purim stands for? Do you know? They observe…they’re kosher, they observe the Shabbos, they really do. They are very devout. They consider themselves Orthodox.
Peter:
The Jews in Gondar left their homes and their farms in villages over the last 20 years and are living in the city. They have very few economic opportunities. They pray every day. They go to classes to learn Hebrew when they’re not praying. They’ve given up everything for their religion.
Judith:
Can they go to a rabbinical school?
Peter:
There is a rabbi from Haifa, Menachem Waldman, who comes and he’s there part of every month. There are hazzan, hazzanim, cantors who are there. The traditional Jewish rabbi-like figures are called Kessim, which is also the word for priest in Amharic.
Lisa Niver:
Judith met this family and became close to them. What inspired you to pick Ethiopia and Ethiopian Jews for your project?
Peter:
A few different things. One is when I was in college I went to a program in Israel and worked alongside some Ethiopians who had recently moved. This is after Operation Moses, before Operation Solomon, and so I’d been fascinated by their story in Israel for a long time. Actually, I was working on another project, another film and learning much more about the history of the community and about the community who’s there now and I couldn’t wait to make the next film and learn more about the Ethiopians, and I was really happy when I could.
Judith:
Did you research other places in Africa where there are Jews?
Peter:
That is the next project and that’s why I’m here to see you.
Judith:
So that’s not just Uganda.
Peter:
I’ll be in South Africa and then Uganda and Zimbabwe in the fall.
Lisa Niver:
Is the next film is multiple locations in Africa or they are separate films?
Peter:
We showed the film and realized that people really were desperate to know more, which caused me to go back and continue to do interviews and take photographs and I have a book now, it’s of photography and history, coming out.
Lisa Niver:
When does it come out?
Peter:
maybe about a year.
Lisa Niver:
Your film is on Discovery Channel and now you’re working on multiple books. It’s so interesting that you both have such a love for the people of Africa and making these projects.
Judith:
My feeling is it either is in your soul or it’s not, and the first time I went to Africa I was on safari with all my kids and I did love it. I loved it, but that’s a whole different thing.
The second, the next time I went was to go to Uganda, which was a completely different show, from beginning to end, but I couldn’t wait to go back, and each time I went there I just wanted to go back there so much and we were so involved. We had taught these women how to make paper beads and then how to make beautiful necklaces. We combined paper beads with metal beads that we traded and they were stunning. And then my sister and I would go sell them here. I would sell them to stores here and then send them the money. And my husband kept saying, why don’t you just give them the money? because without us they really couldn’t do it. There is no getting a job. It’s very hard there.
Peter:
I’ve been going to Kenya for many years and I collaborate with a film school there that’s in a refugee camp by the South Sudan border. The refugee camps is called Kakuma and the film program is called FilmAid Kenya, and I like to bring my students and we have made many films together over the years. I just got back two weeks ago, we were making films about music and politics in the camp. What connects is we’re filmmakers, they’re film students, I have film students, we’re working together on project.
Going to Ethiopia what connects us is we’re Jewish, and the first time I walked in and they started singing the same prayers that I know with the tunes I cried.
Judith:
A friend of mine started a program in Rwanda and she talked about Tikkun olam- To repair the world–There are no Jews in Rwanda, and so she was going to help the children of the genocide. She did the most remarkable job of any place I’ve ever seen. I mean, first of all, Rwanda is an amazing place, but these kids, they have a film school where she is. They have a school. She flew in teachers from Israel and from the States, and they’re producing filmmakers. They’re based out of New York but they’re incredible, and Rwanda is an incredible place.
Lisa Niver:
So it would be great for people to know about these programs. Maybe they want to support the Jews in Uganda or the film school or the Kenya FilmAid. Does it have a website or can people find out more?
Peter:
Yeah. So you can definitely just Google FilmAid Kenya and find out a lot about them. There are many organizations that support the community in Ethiopia. The SSEJ, the Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry is the organization that helps support the synagogue, the food program and the health clinic. When I was just there in March they were about to open a new clinic. They had raised funds the year before and it will now have 24-hour care for anyone under 18, which is amazing.
Judith:
We have a new clinic too but…you will see it, the day after we had the grand opening it looked like it had been there for 50 years. I mean, and the architect, whoever he was, you don’t build a big atrium in the center when it pours and have the rooms…you’re just slip and sliding. We decided we wanted to do a pharmacy. Gersham’s daughter went to school to be a pharmacist. Her husband is now here becoming a rabbi with her and their baby.
The young adults there, they can go to school and most of them go to Muslim school because it’s better there. They have a grade school, Hadassah, and then they go to another school, but the Muslim school happens to be a better school. They send their kids away to school. If they’re living in Bali, they’ll send them to Kampala to school. But they graduate with a degree and there’s no jobs. There’s nothing. There’s nothing they can do.
And I’m in love with this family. Gersham just came to town and we spent a day or two together. There’s a rabbi who got him speaking engagements all over the country.
Lisa Niver:
So if people want to help, what’s the best way to help?
Judith:
I don’t know now. I would have to find out. I really can’t tell you because all of the people that I worked with have all grown up, and when they grow up, they move to Kampala and Kampala is a big city.
Lisa Niver:
And that’s six hours away. And you’re going there for your next project?
Peter:
Yes. This summer.
Lisa Niver:
When you come back from Africa we’ll have to chat again because we’ll want a big update. It’s so inspiring to people that you’ve taken so much of your time to help people on another continent, people that maybe get forgotten about.
Judith:
I don’t know whether Peter has gotten this or not, people will say to me, there’s poor people here. I have an uncle who passed away, who I’m sure you knew, Haskell Wexler.
Peter:
Oh my God. Really?
Judith:
Yeah. He was my closest relative, he died at 95. He comes from a different generation. Here’s the difference, we have safety nets here. You may think that they’re terrible, but they have none. If they don’t have money to pay for health care, they’re gone. That’s it. They’ll die by the street. But people made me feel guilty thinking I should be helping more locally.
Peter:
What you’re saying is true. In the refugee camp in Kenya, in Ethiopia, it’s hard to think about what someone could do to make their situation better. There are very, very few options.
Lisa Niver:
I will put in the notes how people can find out more about your film, and Judith is an incredible photographer so we’ll put a link to her website. And when Peter’s film is done and the book is out, you’ll come back and you’ll tell everybody more. Thank you for all of the work you do and the change that you make in the world.
Judith:
You’re welcome. Thank you.
Peter:
Thank you.
Lisa Niver, Judith Gigliotti and Peter Decherney June 28, 2023 Santa Monica, CAProfessor Peter Decherney’s websitePenn Global Documentary Institute
Info about Dreaming of Jerusalem
Judith Gigliotti websiteLISTEN on APPLE PODCAST: MAKE YOUR OWN MAPLisa’s book: Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
The post Jews in Africa: the Abayudaya in Uganda 🇺🇬 and Beta Israel in Ethiopia 🇪🇹 appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 27, 2023
Enchanting Escapes in Northern Ireland’s Beauty!
After Travel Classics Ireland, we wandered on the Wild Atlantic Way and then went to explore Northern Ireland’s enchanting escapes-from Royal Residences to Enchanted Forests, Unveiling the Gems of Lough Erne Resort, Armagh Cider Company, Ballinteggart Farm, and More!
Welcome to the enchanting beauty of Northern Ireland, a land that beckons with its rich history, lush landscapes, and captivating experiences. In this mesmerizing realm, where past and present seamlessly intertwine, you will discover a tapestry of delights that span from majestic royal residences like Hillsborough Castle & Gardens to the charming allure of Armagh Cider Company and the serene charm of Ballinteggart Farm. Get ready to embark on an unforgettable journey as we explore the wonders of Lough Erne Resort, the majestic Slieve Donard Hotel, and the mystical Bike Mourne trails of Tollymore Forest Park. From the legendary realms of Game of Thrones to the iconic Guinness Storehouse Tour in Dublin and the stylish charm of The Grafton and The Davenport, Northern Ireland awaits with an abundance of enchanting escapes. Join us as we venture into this magical world where history, nature, and culture intertwine to create an experience like no other.
Where to STAY? Lough Erne Resort, Ireland Lough Erne Resort is an awe-inspiring property nestled amidst the breathtaking landscapes of County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. With its luxurious accommodations, world-class golf courses, and tranquil spa, it offers an unforgettable escape. Boasting stunning lake views, exceptional dining options, and impeccable service, it’s the perfect haven for discerning travelers. Additionally, younger guests can embark on a magical adventure through the resort’s captivating enchanted forest walk. This immersive experience combines the beauty of nature with whimsical sculptures and interactive elements, creating a truly enchanting experience for kids. From exploring the wooded areas to discovering hidden surprises, Lough Erne Resort ensures that guests of all ages create lifelong memories in this extraordinary setting.
I enjoyed my stay Lough Erne Resort with stunning lake views and the enchanted forest walk. Amy and I stayed in a 2 bedroom tower which we LOVED! AND!! we saw baby sheep near the golf course.
Dining at Lough Erne Resort is a culinary journey that delights the senses. The resort offers a range of exceptional dining options, each providing a unique and unforgettable experience. From fine dining at the award-winning Catalina Restaurant, where guests can savor innovative and exquisite dishes crafted with locally sourced ingredients, to the cozy and relaxed atmosphere of The Blaney Bar, serving up delicious pub-style fare, there is something to satisfy every palate. With impeccable service, breathtaking views, and a commitment to culinary excellence, dinner at Lough Erne Resort is a true gastronomic delight.
My morning stroll at Lough Erne
These photos are from my morning walk across Reeds Bridge before breakfast. I also loved our walk around the water! Thank you to the entire team and my group for a wonderful time!! I felt like a story book princess like Rapunzel in my second story bedroom in the turret tower!! Thank you!!
We experienced the serene beauty of Erne’s waterways on our all-electric slow boat tour, Island Discovery. Glide through the picturesque landscapes, enjoying the peaceful ambiance while minimizing your carbon footprint. Discover hidden gems and unwind as our eco-friendly water taxi offers a unique, sustainable way to explore Erne’s enchanting surroundings. We loved seeing the sights, the swans and tasting the specialty cocktails!
Armagh Cider Company
and Ballinteggart Farm 
Ireland Welcome to Ballinteggart Farm, a haven of apple enchantment. Stroll through the picturesque orchards, where vibrant apple trees bear the fruits of nature’s labor. I loved being at Armagh Cider Company!! I love APPLES! Taste the juicy apples straight from the branches, savoring their crispness and sweetness. We also ate delightful apple tarts lovingly crafted from the freshest harvest made with Armagh Bramley Apples PGI. Ballinteggart Stud is well-known for breeding Irish horses and ponies! They also have sparkling waters in many flavors and make Honeyhill Rosettes! You can stroll through the Heritage Trees which are registered with the Woodland Trust. WE LOVED OUR VISIT and cannot wait until Philip and Helen have a B&B so we can stay overnight! The Troughtons have been growing apples in Co Armagh for 5 generations since 1898. They produce an amazing 34 apple varieties from the 80-acre ancient plantation. My favorite dessert of the entire trip was the apple pie made from their apples!
Northern Ireland’s royal residence: Hillsborough Castle & GardensExplore Northern Ireland’s royal residence, Hillsborough Castle, where worlds and minds meet. Relax in 100 acres of picturesque gardens, explore the State Rooms still used today. Embark on a captivating tour of Royal Hillsborough Castle and its exquisite gardens. Marvel at the vibrant floral displays, tranquil lakes, and enchanting woodlands. Knowledgeable guides will reveal the castle’s fascinating history and incredible artwork. Explore hidden corners and meandering pathways, immersing yourself in the castle’s rich tapestry of stories. Discover the harmonious blend of nature and heritage that makes Royal Hillsborough Castle’s gardens truly extraordinary.
Where to STAY? Slieve Donard Hotel, Ireland Discover the rich history and unforgettable experience of Slieve Donard Hotel. Since 1898, this iconic destination has welcomed discerning travelers seeking timeless elegance. Set against the majestic Mourne Mountains, it offers luxurious accommodations, breathtaking views, and a tranquil ambiance. Immerse yourself in its grandeur, relax in the spa, and explore the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. Slieve Donard Hotel is a place where history and comfort intertwine, creating a truly remarkable retreat. AND! Step behind the scenes of The Seven Kingdoms at the official Game of Thrones Studio Tour. The Game of Thrones Studio Tour Package includes overnight accommodation at Slieve Donard!
Enchanted Exploring with Bike Mourne: Tollymore Forest Park, Game of Thrones and Bloody BridgeThank you to Bike Mourne! I had the most beautiful day in County Down, Northern Ireland. Some of my group went by e-bike while I had a walking and photo tour. I loved the rock sculpture, walking trails and coastal beauty near Bloody Bridge which gets its name from the Irish Rebellion of 1641. I took photos at Barbican Gate in the enchanting Tollymore Forest Park, at the foot of the majestic Mourne Mountains. It has been featured in movies and TV shows like “Game of Thrones.” The picturesque landscapes and biking and walking trails take you by the park’s ancient trees, bridges, and cascading waterfalls.
I loved 
taking photos at Barbican Gate in the enchanting Tollymore Forest Park, at the foot of the majestic Mourne Mountains. It has been featured in movies and TV shows like “Game of Thrones.” The picturesque landscapes and biking and walking trails take you by the park’s ancient trees, bridges, and cascading waterfalls. Thank you to Team Bike Mourne!
While hula hooping my way through the enchanting landscapes of Ireland, I added a playful twist to my adventures from Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland to Dublin. From twirling amidst the stunning mountains of Slieve Donard to dancing along the vibrant streets of Dublin, hula hooping infused my journey with joy and rhythm, creating unforgettable memories in both natural and urban settings.
On May 1, 2023, we celebrated Percy French’s 169th birthday at Slieve Donard’s Percy French restaurant which was one of my most favorite lunches! Amy and I hula hooped as a tribute to the renowned Irish songwriter and painter. and there is a Game of Thrones DOOR!
The Guinness Storehouse Tour in Dublin, Irelandhttps://youtube.com/shorts/8lByetgs9YQThe Guinness Storehouse tour is a captivating journey through the rich history of Ireland’s most famous #beer. From the brewing process to iconic advertising campaigns, visitors immerse themselves in the brand’s legacy. The panoramic Gravity Bar offers breathtaking views of Dublin while enjoying a perfectly poured pint.
Where to stay in DUBLIN? The Grafton
The Grafton Dublin is a unique and memorable hotel in the heart of Dublin’s city center. Housed in a historic building on Grafton Street, it offers stylish accommodation with modern amenities. Centrally located near Trinity College and Dublin Castle. I recommend it for comfort, convenience, and charm.
Dublin’s Dazzling Delights: Unveiling the City’s Charms and Cultural Gems!
Where to STAY in Dublin? The Davenport
Davenport Hotel Dublin: Timeless Elegance in the Heart of the City. Immerse yourself in the rich history and impeccable service of this luxurious gem. Stylish accommodations, delectable dining, and easy access to Dublin’s iconic attractions await, making the Davenport Hotel the epitome of hospitality.
Exploring Dublin’s Enchanting Bookstores. At Hodges Figgis, Ireland’s oldest bookshop serving Dublin and the wider world since 1768, I found two of my favorite authors— Lisa Barr and Elizabeth Gilbert! Books help us understand ourselves. Immerse yourself in a timeless tale and discover a treasure.
Saba Dublin: Embark on a Flavorful Journey to Thailand, Right in the Heart of Dublin. Indulge in Authentic Thai Cuisine, Where Vibrant Flavors, Fresh Ingredients, and Exquisite Culinary Craftsmanship Await. The FOOD is EXCELLENT and the signs made me LAUGH! I loved it all so much I forgot to take PHOTOS of the dishes. I have to go back!
What an absolutely remarkable and awe-inspiring journey in Ireland! From the heart-pounding adventures of skeet shooting and falconry to exploring the captivating landscapes of the North, this trip had so many highlights especially my travel partners! As I board my AerLingus flight home, I am filled with immense gratitude for the opportunity to attend the Travel Classics Magazine conference and learn so much. I LOVED seeing more of Ireland and my return to Ashford Castle.
See all my posts about Ireland and my videos:
Thank you to Ashford Castle, Travel Classics Ireland and Tourism Ireland for my amazing adventures!
Enjoy more of my travels in Ireland
Read more of my Adventures in Ireland in my book, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty!
The post Enchanting Escapes in Northern Ireland’s Beauty! appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 23, 2023
From Pen to Print: Insights from Prolific Professor Susan Shapiro
Thank you to Susan Shapiro for joining me on my podcast. We met this month at Zibby’s Bookshop for her live and in-person Los Angeles Summer Writing panels.
Lisa Niver, Yvonne Liu, Susan Shapiro and Melissa Monroe at Zibby’s Bookstore 7/11/2023Listen or watch our interview on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast platform
READ THE TRANSCRIPT OF OUR INTERVIEW BELOW
Lisa Niver:
This is Lisa Niver from We Said Go Travel, and I’m so honored and excited to be here with the prolific writing professor, Susan Shapiro. I’m so excited to actually see you live at Zibby’s Bookshop today.
Susan Shapiro:
My former student.
Lisa Niver:
She is prolific. She must’ve learned well from you.
Susan Shapiro:
She mentioned me in her fantastic memoir, Bookends. She talks about taking my class where she first got published.
Lisa Niver:
I did read about you in Bookends. You and I have a lot of connections, because I know in your book The Forgiveness Tour, you talk about the Los Angeles Press Club.
Susan Shapiro:
Yes. I’ve done great events there. I love the LA Press Club.
Lisa Niver:
I love the LA Press Club, too. One of the things everybody might not be know about you is that you have written 17 books.
Susan Shapiro:
I always say that I’m the author / co-author of 17 books my family hates. One of the rules for my class is that the first piece that you write that your family hates means you found your voice.
Lisa Niver:
You have a lot of very clever, pithy statements. What is the one about your class?
Susan Shapiro:
“Instant gratification takes too long” is my method where the goal of the class is to write and publish a great piece by the end of the class. Many people do.
Lisa Niver:
Many people have loved your books. The Book Bible, I think it’s a great name for it, because people really use that to get published.
Susan Shapiro:
Thank you, and Byline Bible, also. Byline Bible is to help people publish newspaper, magazine, literary short pieces, and in The Book Bible, I tackle 20 different book genres.
Lisa Niver:
Please tell people about your upcoming class this summer. In your book you talk about: pitch vs write and the core part of a pitch “why you, why me, why now?”
Susan Shapiro:
What’s really exciting is the online class. I taught in person for 25 years. During the pandemic, I realized how much fun the online classes are and how successful they are. The goal of the class, in five weeks, is to publish a piece in a good newspaper or magazine or literary journal and get paid for it.
Through trial and error during the pandemic, what I found was that what people loved the most was meeting editors, because especially people who were outside of New York just never get a chance to meet people from the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Magazine, and they just don’t know who to pitch. They don’t know which editor to try.
What I started doing is having as many great editors as I can during the class. What people hated the most was, in my long, 15-week, four-hour-a-week classes, we used to read long pieces that people wrote, modern blogs or a thousand-word pieces, and people hated that online. They just thought it’s really boring.
During the pandemic, it seemed as if there was a switch where, instead of wanting full, fleshed-out pieces, a lot of editors would prefer short pitches. So, you say the title of your piece and what your piece is about. As you said, why me, why you, why now? And a lot of editors were saying yes, and they’d prefer to see the pitch first with the title of the piece and the subtitle, one line about you. So, they like short pitches.
Since what people like the most is meeting editors and what they like the least is reading long pieces, I focused on pitches. The first time I tried it, it was like a miracle. Out of 40 people in the class, 30 got published right away in the LA Times, the New York Times, New York Magazine, 500 dollars, 1,000 dollars, and then in the Washington Post, and then people started selling books. They would publish a short piece, and an editor would say, “I love this. Is there a book in it?”
It just got so exciting. What’s really interesting is a lot of my students in New York just want a refresher course, so they started Zooming in too. Another great thing is that anybody that’s getting published, the five-week class is 500 dollars. So, everybody that’s making 500 dollars or more takes the class again because they want to meet 15 new editors.
I had one student that said one of the editors who pays 500 dollars a pop, she said she has done 12 pieces in a row for him. Because it is online, it’s not only all around the country now, but I’ve had Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brussels, India. On one Zoom, you’ll see people from Asia, and it’s light out, and they’re outside on their balconies in the morning, and in the same Zoom in Brussels and Italy, it’s night, and you could see that it’s dark.
What people say is that even if they have to start really early or stay up late, there’s really no other way to meet all these editors. I’m constantly switching them around because they’re all switching around themselves.
It’s perfect for a beginner. I’ve had a 14-year-old, and I’ve had a 90-year-old in different fields. It is okay if you don’t know where to start because you get these great editors that’ll just say, this is what I want. I’m looking for short, funny pieces that are 700 words that play off the news, and this is what I don’t want, and could you…and they’re so specific, and it’s exciting, and then, interestingly, I’ve been getting, lately, a lot of book authors whose agents and editors say to them, okay, your book is coming out. Now you have to do short pieces. Go try to publish a few short pieces in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and they say, how do I do that?
And they take his class. I’ve had a lot of authors, who you would think…they certainly know how to write, but they just don’t know how to pitch this specific thing. So, it turns out, I get this really fascinating mix of people, and I’ve got a lot of students who’ve taken my classes before, and what’s so funny is they say, I took it last time, and I published three pieces, but are they the same editors coming?
There’s some of the same editors, because if they keep buying stuff from my students, that’s the goal. So, I’m going to keep having them come, but I said, what? They were 15, and you only sold work to 3. So, that leaves 12 that you didn’t get a yes from yet, so might be worth it to take again, and then they take it again and get more clips. I didn’t expect it because I’m a technophobe, but it’s really fun.
I also feel like people have been publishing some really important stuff, especially during the pandemic. There were a lot of brilliant George Floyd pieces, including a book that came out of it. There’s articles in response to anti-Semitism and anti-Asian, horrible slurs that were happening. People have taken on a lot of medical misconceptions concerning what was going on with the pandemic as well as abortion. Important work is coming out of it which is so cool.
Lisa Niver:
Wow. I’m ready to sign up. It sounds fantastic. I know one of the things that I’ve read about you say: write the story only you can write. Can you talk a little bit more about what does that mean?
Susan Shapiro:
What happens is that some people write a straight A paper where they’ll write something well, whether it’s the humiliation essay, which is write about your most humiliating secret or the op-ed assignment, which is it really pisses me off when. They’ll write something, and it’s well written, and it’s well thought out, but you just heard it before.
We know that war is bad and that COVID sucks and that breakups hurt and public schools don’t have money. We already know that. Tell us something we don’t know.
People have asked me to record my classes.
But truthfully, I think the reason it works is I’m a really tough critic. I think that’s part of why people have luck, because, I’ll read a pitch, and I’ll say, yes, this is smart. It’s boring. I’ve heard it before. What can you tell me? And I’ll start asking…I’ve been in therapy a million years, so I’ll start asking really intrusive questions, and they’ll uncover something.
And I will say, “ Oh my god, now that, I never heard.” So, pitch that, and it’s not like getting an MBA or a medical degree or a law degree where you follow a certain path and you’re just going to be successful. It’s complicated and editors have to fall in love with what they’re reading to decide if they buy a piece or not.
I help my students figure out: is this original? Is it something new? Is there something we haven’t heard before, or is it provocative? I think it’s Arthur Miller who said the only thing worth writing is the unspoken and the unspeakable. I try to get people away from from their comfort zone and writing things that are too easy and to take a risk and be more provocative.
Lisa Niver:
You bought up years of therapy, which reminds me of your book that I loved so very much, The Forgiveness Tour.
Susan Shapiro:
Thank you.
Lisa Niver:
I really love that book and the journey you went on through different faiths. I’m also Jewish, and I have a memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty, coming out in September. The whole piece about– forgiveness doesn’t mean what someone else did is okay— really spoke to me. Can you tell people that haven’t had the opportunity yet to read The Forgiveness Tour about the journey you went on?
Susan Shapiro:
Thanks. The big question with The Forgiveness Tour was what if someone who you care about, who’s important in your life, hurts you and they refuse to apologize, and can you forgive them? And that’s what happened to me, and it was a confusing mind-bogging situation, because I wanted to forgive, but when I said I think you owe me an apology, he said, I’m sorry for the imaginary crime you think I committed. So, that’s not so great. That makes me want to commit a real crime.
I really struggled with it for a long time, and the book took 10 years to finish. I was trying to figure that puzzle out, and at the time, I was working at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen with the really brilliant Reverend Liz Maxwell. She explained to me the concept of forgiveness and when Jesus said forgive them, for they know not what they do. And then I have all these rabbis in my life, from conservative to Hasid to reform.
And I asked their opinion, and there were really fascinating stories about it. In Judaism, you’re mandated to forgive, and if somebody asks your forgiveness three times and you don’t give it, then you have to ask forgiveness for not forgiving. So, that was this interesting concept, and then, in the meantime, I had a friend who was Hindu and actually gave me a really brilliant, Hinduistic viewpoint, and Buddhist.
I wound up asking people from all religions to explain to me their concept of forgiveness and can you forgive somebody who doesn’t apologize? And just as I started figuring out I can and how I could do it…and by the way, you could forgive someone and decide never to see them again in your whole life. So, forgiving someone doesn’t mean that you have to continue the relationship in any way.
So, just as I was at the point where I was about to be able to forgive without wanting to see the person again, they came back and apologized. So, it was a mind-blowing…I mean, it pissed me off because one of the first critics of the book, on Goodreads said, I really liked it, but I didn’t like the ending.
There was a happy ending, and I wanted it to be more realistic, and I waited 10 years until I had a happy ending because I didn’t want to write this manically depressive book about someone who never gets the apology they needed and is bitter and angry. So, I finally figured it all out, and they were complaining that it was too happy an ending, but I waited a long time for that ending.
Lisa Niver:
I think that’s a really important story for aspiring writers to hear, that everything doesn’t have to happen right away, and I think you talk about that in your class. That you’re only one yes away from it working.
Susan Shapiro:
Right, and there’s also a difference when I say instant gratification takes too long, I’m talking about very short pieces. There are editors who will buy 3, 4 and 500-word pieces and 1,000-word pieces, which are 3 or 4 pages. I could absolutely teach somebody how to do that in five weeks. A book is a different animal, and there are certain books that I think one could do in six months or a year. My first novel, it took 13 years from start to finish. So, instead of a book launch, I got a book mitzvah.
Lisa Niver:
You’re so funny. You had a book mitzvah?
Susan Shapiro:
Thank you. I had a book mitzvah, and I had a cake, and people came up and lit candles, all the people that sort of helped me with the book over the years. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I did a lot of therapy, and I’ve had a lot of mentors. What’s actually exciting about teaching it, about writing the writing guides, is that it feels like all my mistakes are worth something.
I was writing full time when I was 20, and my first real book, Five Men Who Broke My Heart, came out when I was 43 years old. That took a really long time to figure out. What’s so great is that all the mistakes that I made —I could use everything that I learned to help other people so that they don’t have to go through all the suffering, and also, there are some shortcuts, and there are some things that I didn’t realize for a long time.
What is your goal? And you could have a different goal for each piece or each book, but everybody wants to have some standard rule, and there is no standard rule. What do you want? What’s going to make you happy in your life? For my classes, I ask people, what’s your goal? If you’ve never had a clip, sometimes it’s just really good to get paid for your clip, but some of my students already have clips. So, they want to give themselves a promotion and write for a better place.
Some people want to change the world with their opinion, or sometimes I have doctors and therapists who want to impart wisdom during a rough time. Some people want to sell a book, so let’s think of a short piece that’s going to get editors and agents interested in your book. Based on my own rejections and failure for so many years, I can work with writers at any stage and help them get to the next step.
Lisa Niver:
I know that you had written about Barbie and that you had 68 Barbies, and the movie’s coming out, and I loved your piece in The Sun about Barbie.
Susan Shapiro:
Thanks, and I just did one for Tablet, and I’m working on another piece, too, about, why Barbie’s a feminist and what the women’s movement always got wrong about her.
Lisa Niver:
It’s really interesting how people are mesmerized by Barbie.
Susan Shapiro:
Yeah, there’s good reasons. She was a very important role model. When the doll came out in 1959, a real-life woman could not get a credit card in her own name or buy a car or an apartment. And then you had this teen model who has not only one job, she had many. She could be a college grad, a nurse, an astronaut. She had all these different professions. And her own Dreamhouse.
Ken didn’t buy the Dreamhouse. There’s no father in the picture. She had her own Dreamhouse. She had her own car. Pretty soon, she had her own airplane, and that didn’t exist. For myself, I know there were really cool fantasies attached, and it was very empowering and a lot of people don’t realize how empowering it was.
It really wasn’t until 1974 that a woman was able to get a credit card in her own name without a father or husband co-signing. By that point, there were black Barbies, and there were president Barbies. So, Ruth Handler, the woman who invented it, she was very ahead of her time. She was really an important trailblazer, and I don’t think people realize that she made the doll in her own image.
Lisa Niver:
I knew her name, but I did not realize it was so much in her own image. That’s amazing.
Susan Shapiro:
At a very young age, her family gave her a car. She had her own car at 16. When she found her husband, the guy that she liked, she was the one who proposed to him. Her family let her go out to California as a teen and work at Paramount Pictures. She was living in an apartment with girlfriends, and this is the ’30s.
Ruth had a very unusually independent life, and then her kids were named Barbie and Kenneth. She named the dolls after her family, and she was a clothes horse. She was a workaholic and a clothes horse who loved jewelry and makeup. There was a lot of stuff from her own life in the dolls. She had experienced anti-Semitism, and so it was very important to her to have a black Barbie in 1968 during the race riots. That was a really important statement. Many people don’t understand how prescient and important the doll really was.
Lisa Niver:
Before you leave us, can you tell people about your new book that’s coming in November?
Susan Shapiro:
That’s called American Shield, and I’m co-authoring it with Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, who’s a veteran, and he was a sergeant who almost got killed during the January 6 insurrection. He wrote a great piece for the New York Times Opinion Section, “I was betrayed by President Trump.” So, while Trump was announcing his bid in his 70s to run for office again, the real hero Aquilino Gonell can no longer be on the police force based on injuries he sustained trying to defend democracy. The event I’m doing in LA tonight is with my Counterpoint editors for that book, so I’m excited.
Lisa Niver:
You have done so many incredible books and stories and helped so many writers. I want to read you one sentence I loved so much from your Forgiveness book, which was: “Forgiveness takes back your power. You refuse to let someone else’s misdeed rattle your soul any longer.” I think the book you’re working on now and the class you’re doing is really helping people change their lives. Thank you.
Susan Shapiro:
Thank you, and if anyone wants to email me, four of my books are about addiction. Now that I quit all my other addictions, I’m addicted to email. Message me: ProfSue123@gmail com
Lisa Niver:
Where’s the best place for people to find you on social media or your website?
Susan Shapiro:
My website is SusanShapiro.net, and I’m on Facebook and Insta and Twitter. I like all of them.
Lisa Niver:
Thank you so much for spending this time with me. Congratulations on the new book, and I’m going to sign up for your class, too.
Susan Shapiro:
Fantastic. Thank you so much.
Lisa Niver, Melissa Monroe, Yvonne Liu and Tara Ellison at Susan Shapiro’s event July 13, 2023My free L.A. Writing panel is Thurs 7/13 7:30-9:30 pm with @tomzoellner @AlisonSinghGee8 @latimes editor Elena Gooray agents Dara Hyde (literary) @michaelwilson (TV/film) Profsue123@gmail.com RSVP #writing #publishing #books #essays #reviews #opeds #memoirs #fiction #tv #film pic.twitter.com/3WwKcUAEAN
— Susan Shapiro (@Susanshapironet) July 8, 2023
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Susan Shapiro (@profsue123)
LISTEN on APPLE PODCAST: MAKE YOUR OWN MAPIn her new piece for @tabletmag, NBCC member @Susanshapironet mentions the upcoming "Barbie" movie by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, and several top Barbie books, along with research (and outtakes) from her own 2019 book "Barbie: 60 Years of Inspiration": https://t.co/wJjY6CPMcF
— National Book Critics Circle (@bookcritics) July 10, 2023
Lisa’s book: Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
The post From Pen to Print: Insights from Prolific Professor Susan Shapiro appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 20, 2023
Wild Atlantic Way Adventures: Ireland’s Coastal Gem
After our Travel Classics Ireland magazine conference, we went to discover Ireland’s hidden treasures! From the majestic Kylemore Abbey to the tranquil Lough Inagh Lodge, and the rugged beauty of The Lost Valley of Uggool, watch my videos below and join us on our journey through picturesque landscapes and enriching experiences. Delight in the speed of the sheepdog, indulge in luxury at Knockranny House Hotel, and explore the wild beauty of Achill Island. Relax in the rejuvenating Voya Seaweed Baths, savor the warm hospitality of Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, and uncover the craft at the Boatyard Distillery and Belleek Pottery. We uncovered the true essence of Ireland’s unique and captivating destinations.
Kylemore AbbeyKylemore Abbey is a Benedictine monastery founded in 1920 in County Galway, Ireland. The abbey was originally built as a private residence in the late 19th century, and was later sold to the Benedictine nuns who turned it into a monastery. The chocolate shop at Kylemore Abbey is known for its delicious and high-quality handmade chocolates and fudge, which are made using traditional recipes and techniques by the Benedictine nuns. The chocolate shop offers a wide range of flavors and varieties, including dark, milk, and white chocolate, as well as truffles, pralines, and chocolate bars. The chocolates and fudge are made with natural ingredients and locally sourced Irish butter, giving them a unique and delicious taste that visitors from all over the world come to enjoy. Kylemore Abbey also has a history as a school. In 1923, the Benedictine nuns established an international boarding school for girls at Kylemore Abbey. The school was renowned for its academic excellence, and attracted students from all over the world. The school remained in operation until 2010, see my next video about our garden tour.
The Kylemore Abbey Walled Garden is a magnificent Victorian style garden located in Connemara, Ireland. Built in the 19th century by Mitchell Henry, as a tribute to his beloved wife Margaret, the garden boasts a stunning array of colorful flowers, a vibrant central walkway and many apple trees! I loved seeing the gardens again.
Lunch at Lough Inagh LodgeLough Inagh Lodge is a luxurious fishing lodge situated on the banks of Lough Inagh in Connemara, Ireland. Renowned for its excellent fishing opportunities, the lodge has won the prestigious “Great Fishing Houses of Ireland” award for its exceptional hospitality and commitment to providing guests with an unforgettable fishing experience. With world-class amenities and a warm, welcoming atmosphere, Lough Inagh Lodge is the perfect destination for anglers and travelers alike.
The Lost Valley of Uggool The Lost Valley of Uggool near Louisburgh in County Mayo, Ireland is a magical place steeped in history, culture, and natural beauty. Explore this must-visit destination with Gerard Bourke, whose family has lived here for generations. We fed baby sheep, watched the sheep dog run and were mesmerized by the sheer awe-inspiring majesty of the landscape. It is the essence of the Irish countryside with authentic Irish charm.
Watching the highly skilled sheepdog work was incredible! These dogs help keep livestock safe and the one we saw was SO FAST! We loved being in The Lost Valley with Gerard Bourke, whose family has lived here for generations.
Traveling with my hula hoop is always a fun adventure, but hooping in the stunning Lost Valley of Ireland was truly unforgettable. The rolling green hills and picturesque countryside were the perfect backdrop for my hooping session, and the sight of baby sheep grazing nearby made it all the more magical. It was a moment of pure joy and serenity, and a reminder of the simple pleasures that travel can bring. I’ll always cherish this quirky and memorable experience in the heart of Ireland.
Where to STAY? Knockranny House Hotel, Ireland
Knockranny House Hotel is a member of the Original Irish Hotel Group and located in Westport, Ireland. It offers elegant accommodations with stunning views of Croagh Patrick mountain and Clew Bay. The hotel features a spa, gym, restaurant, and bar, making it a perfect destination for a relaxing and luxurious getaway.
Exploring Achill Island, Ireland Not only did we put out toes in the sand and chilly water at Keem Bay but we HULA HOOPED too! Achill Island, the largest island off the coast of Ireland in County Mayo, is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The island is known for its rugged beauty, with stunning beaches, cliffs, and hills. It is formerly the site of a basking shark fishery as well as the filming location for The Banshees of Inisherin
Hooping at Achill Island , IrelandThank you to my incredible Travel Classics Ireland group for being so supportive of my time in the hoop! I loved hooping with you in Achill Island and appreciate all your help with the filming!
Relax and Renew at Voya Seaweed Baths in Ireland Voya Seaweed Bath in Ireland is a spa treatment that provides a rejuvenating and therapeutic experience using hand-harvested seaweed. Seaweed has been used for centuries in Ireland for its medicinal properties and is believed to have various benefits for the body. I loved BOTH my visits!
The spa is located in Strandhill, County Sligo, which is known for its beautiful beaches and stunning coastline. The seaweed used in the bath is sustainably harvested from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, where the cold, nutrient-rich waters provide an ideal environment for seaweed growth. During the treatment, the seaweed is soaked in hot water, releasing its natural oils, minerals, and vitamins. The resulting bath is said to stimulate blood circulation, ease muscle tension, and promote relaxation. The seaweed’s detoxifying properties are also believed to help remove toxins from the body and improve skin conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis. Voya Seaweed Bath is a popular tourist attraction, offering visitors a unique and luxurious spa experience in a breathtaking natural setting. The spa also offers a range of other treatments using organic seaweed-based products, such as facials and massages. Overall, it’s an excellent way to unwind and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of nature.
Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, IrelandHarvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, Ireland, is a picturesque location that boasts magical grounds. The hotel’s gardens are beautifully landscaped and offer a peaceful oasis for guests to enjoy the stunning views of Lough Eske and the surrounding mountains. A lake walk takes guests on a scenic journey around the tranquil lake, while the fairy garden is a whimsical feature that delights visitors of all ages. The hotel’s colorful flowers and plants provide a stunning display throughout the year, making Harvey’s Point Hotel an enchanting place to connect with nature and experience the wonder of the Irish countryside.Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, Ireland is a luxury retreat with a refined elegance that exudes tranquility and sophistication. Nestled in the heart of the magnificent Donegal countryside, the hotel offers stunning views of the Lough Eske and is renowned for its world-class hospitality, exquisite dining, and opulent accommodations
For video #3 from Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, Ireland, enjoy our morning stroll and our decadent breakfast! Thanks to Amy, George and Susan for all of the walks, talks, photo tips and flower and bird information!
Tour at Boatyard Distillery, Ireland Boatyard Distillery in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, offers an immersive tour experience where visitors can delve into the art of gin-making. Explore the distillery, witness the meticulous distillation process, and savor the exquisite flavors of #Boatyard Double #Gin. Discover the craftsmanship and passion behind this award-winning Irish gin. We put our OWN LABELS on bottles!!
Irish
Art at Belleek PotteryOn our visit to Belleek pottery in Ireland, we explored the rich heritage of this renowned craftsmanship. I participated in the pottery-making process, painting green shamrocks on one of the Belleek pieces. I love ceramics and notably, Belleek pottery had the honor of crafting a coronation gift for the king.
Thank you to Ashford Castle, Travel Classics Ireland and Tourism Ireland for my amazing adventures!
Enjoy more of my travels in Ireland
Learn about my upcoming book, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty!
The post Wild Atlantic Way Adventures: Ireland’s Coastal Gem appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 19, 2023
Brave-ish: My Memoir is Coming Soon!
Thank you for all of your support for my writing! My memoir is now available for pre-order!
BRAVE-ISH: ONE BREAKUP, SIX CONTINENTS AND FEELING FEARLESS AFTER FIFTY
PRE-ORDER NOW
Although Lisa Niver has traveled in far-off locales from Vanuatu to Nepal and received numerous accolades for both her writing and her top ranked website, what people don’t realize is that this began from the wreckage of a rotten romance.
Newlywed Niver was on the adventure of a lifetime. She had quit her job, rented out her condo, and was traveling around Asia. To the outside world, Niver was a woman living out her dreams of exploring ancient ruins in Cambodia and seeing orangutans in Borneo. In private, she was keeping a dark secret. But, when she found herself lying on a sidewalk in Thailand, looking up at the sky in severe pain, she knew things had to change. At age forty-seven, Niver found the courage to set course on a new life.
Feeling like a failure, pushing fifty, and moving home to her parents’ house to start again from scratch, Niver started taking one tiny “brave-ish” step at a time to take her life far away from the old one and into the adventurous world of travel writing. These small hurdles led to the challenge of trying fifty new things before turning fifty. From diving into shipwrecks, swimming with sharks, bobsledding at 3 Gs, to indulging in wild escapades, Niver found herself traversing the world on a journey of reinvention, personal growth, and discovering what it actually means to be “brave.”
While Brave-ish chronicles Niver’s inspiring expeditions to distant corners of the world including Myanmar, Cuba, Morocco, Kenya and Mongolia this is more than a travelogue. Niver’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of perseverance. Brave-ish inspires readers to dream big, take risks, and embrace the unknown to create a life filled with wonder and excitement, even when courage seems elusive.
Find Braveish in the STRONG WOMAN section at Zibby’s Bookshop
Niver’s global travel exploits had me simultaneously chewing my fingernails and cheering her on as she challenged herself to greater and riskier feats in search of self. Compelling and engrossing. A must-read for fans of Wild and Eat, Pray, Love!
ALKA JOSHI
A New York Times Best Seller, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick- The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris
ABOUT LISA NIVERLisa Niver’s Brave-ish is a page-turner and inspiration for anyone who finds themselves at rock bottom in mid-life. Through both grand adventures and small, life-savoring gestures, Niver pieces herself back together after heartbreak and hardship. Readers will have the great pleasure of traveling the world through Niver’s stories and will be cheering her on. Don’t miss this book full of heart, adventure, and, of course, courage!
CHRISTIE TATE
A New York Times Best Seller, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick- GROUP and B.F.F.
Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel.
On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times.
Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Literary agent: Chip MacGregor
Publicist: Sara Stickney, sara@posthillpress.com, Post Hill Press
Download Brave-ish media kit here.
Author photo by Judith Gigliotti
The post Brave-ish: My Memoir is Coming Soon! appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 18, 2023
Cead Mile Failte Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the USA
Cead Mile Failte Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the USA!
Cead mile failte is Gaelic for “a hundred thousand welcomes.” These words capture the welcoming heart and hospitality of the Irish people!
It was my honor to interview Ambassador Geraldine Bryne Nason. She is currently the Irish Ambassador to the United States and for five years served as Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Nations, most recently during Ireland’s term serving on the Security Council as an elected member, working for international peace and security. Additionally, she chaired the 62nd and 63rd sessions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. In 2022 she received Concern Worldwide’s annual Women of Concern Award “in recognition of her outstanding career as a female leader within the diplomatic and civil service and her unwavering dedication to advocating for women’s rights at home and abroad.” Join me in warmly welcoming Ambassador Nason, a true advocate for diplomacy and a beacon of hope in an ever-evolving global landscape.
Ambassador Bryne Nason and Lisa Niver, June 28, 2023ENJOY OUR INTERVIEW:Lisa Niver:
Ambassador Byrne Nason, thank you so much for making the time to speak with me on this show and for your many incredible years of service. Previous to being the Ambassador of Ireland to the United States, you were Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Nations and secured the seat on the Security Council for Ireland, working for international peace and security.
It was my great honor to be invited twice to the United Nations as a journalist for the Champions of Humanity Project and to represent Ms. Magazine during the UN General Assembly and Gates Foundation Conference. Can you share with my listeners one of your most memorable days working with the UN Security Council and / or what you’re most proud of during your time in that position?
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason on her last day on the U.N. Security Council.Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason:
Thank you. So great to speak with you, and you’re right. I’ve just come from a job, a privileged job, sitting representing my country at the Security Council. That’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
So, probably my proudest moment was to be elected. We had to fight to get to that table in a contested election, but once there, we decided we would use our representation on that body to reflect what you’ve mentioned in your introduction, humanity, and I think Irish foreign policy and the way in which we have a humanitarian vocation in there was really expressed very well during our time on the council.
If I think of the memorable moments, I certainly, in a rather negative way, remember the 24th of February last year. I sat there through the night as we learned that President Putin had invaded Ukraine. That we had the Ukrainian Ambassador sitting at the table in the Security Council that night. I was looking at him, knowing his wife, his children are back, not knowing what was happening, as Russia invaded an independent, sovereign country. We stand full square with Ukraine still.
So, that’s a moment that’s very poignant, but in a worrying way. Two other things I might say that I carry with me still, at the moment, of pride really. One is that I chaired the work on Women, Peace and Security during our tenure. Women in Northern Ireland make a critical difference to peace in our country. We tried to bring that sense of the role of women being in the room and at the table, negotiating peace for their communities, for their nations.
We hold a record for having brought more women’s voices to the Security Council table, during our presidency of the council, than any other country ever. I was absolutely dogged in my pursuit of the issues that arose around Afghan women and the deprivation and the banning of Afghan children from education, young girls. So, we did a lot to work for women’s role in peace and security, and the other thing, just to finish off, I guess, is that Ireland is unique as a UN member in having an unbroken history of service in peacekeeping.
We’re a small country. We raise our defense forces to help keep the peace across the globe, and we had a groundbreaking resolution that we brought to the council during our time there, looking at what happens when those peacekeepers move on. How do we populate that space when the good work of peacekeepers is done? So, that’s just a flavor of what I was doing as Ireland’s Ambassador at the Security Council.
Lisa Niver:
That is so incredible. Last night, I was at the Ms. Magazine awards, and Nancy Pelosi was speaking, and they were talking about using the term gender apartheid, and it sounds like that’s some of the work you were doing, is recognizing how essential women’s roles and women’s voices and women’s choices are.
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason:
Completely. I mean, that was absolutely the case of the security council, and when I arrived at the UN, I was elected as the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women. That’s the only norm-setting body globally, anywhere in the world, and for two years, through some of the most toxic debates, remarkably, that you can imagine at the UN, we debated and came up with, to my credit, I will say, agreed conclusions on working on women and their access to public services, and that included reproductive healthcare. It included access to social welfare support, access to education, which, of course, is usually a public service.
Another year, we looked at women’s access to legal support frameworks. For some of us, we may think it’s quite normal that we can open a bank account in our name, that a woman can sit on a jury, or indeed, that a woman who works the fields, typically in Africa or in Asia, would have land right entitlements. None of those things are universal, so we worked on those. So, the UN does an incredible amount of that good, hard work in terms of establishment of norms and rights that goes unnoticed, but certainly, I felt that I tried to play my part in that respect with regard to women while I was there.
Lisa Niver:
It’s so inspiring, and for myself, I’ve been really fortunate to travel to Ireland multiple times, and I love the incredible history. I always tell people about how I visited Newgrange, which is a thousand years older than the pyramids, and in Kilkenny, I was so lucky. I had a lesson in hurling. They said I was good, but I don’t think that was true, but I tried. It’s the oldest sport, they told me, and there’s just so many iconic places to visit in Ireland. I’m sure people always ask you, what should I see? But do you have a secret favorite spot or maybe where your family is from?
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason:
Well, you just touched on the important matter there. I’m from County Louth, which is, in fact, the neighborhood of Newgrange, which I think is one of the most remarkable cultural assets that Ireland has to offer. It’s stunning, but a little-known secret, that next door, in the same district, are two other great tumuli, two other great burial chambers, one at Dowth and one at Knowth. So, it was a sort of a triangle of habitation and of course, of burial then, as the Newgrange Chamber is a burial chamber.
So, if you go to Newgrange, don’t forget that there are, in the district, two other UNESCO-recognized, remarkable burial sites just within miles of each other. The not-so-secret, but my favorite stop-off in Dublin, and I think I could give the tour myself, is Kilmainham Jail. It’s the jail that is so poignant, atmospheric, and still speaks to the Irish spirit of independence. It’s a jail where, famously, infamously, the 1916 leaders were executed as they fought for Irish independence and sovereignty.
And because, of course, I dedicated my life to the service of Ireland and I would hope, in some small way, what I do reinforces Ireland’s own sense of independence and sovereignty on the global stage. I like to go back, and that’s a touchstone for me, because sacrifices that were made in that jail by men who were executed, but there were many women who were imprisoned, and Cumann na mBan was the group of Irish women who supported the revolution or the liberation effort in Ireland, and a number of them were badly treated and imprisoned also in Kilmainham.
So, and finally, I’d say, in Kilmainham, what’s very moving is that many of the men saw their sisters, their mothers, their wives for the last time there. So, it’s a sort of pilgrimage thing I do when I go to Ireland, and if people can pick that up in their tour, it tells you a bit of where we’ve come from, as you arrive in a very 21st century Dublin and see what we’ve become, thanks to those who fought for that independence.
Lisa Niver:
It is a really moving place to visit, and when I was there, maybe not that surprisingly, it was raining, and that sort of added to the atmosphere.
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason:
Well, as you know, the 1916 rising was at Easter. It’s known as the Easter Rising, and the weather was not sunny and bright, neither metaphorically nor in reality. So, visiting it in the rain is probably very appropriate.
Lisa Niver:
My recent visit was almost completely sunshine, but one of the things you touched on today and what brought us here together today was that 30 million Americans claim Irish heritage. Huge numbers of people cross from the United States across the Atlantic on Aer Lingus, and that you have this new, incredible partnership with Due West and Aer Lingus, celebrating Irish artists. I know the programming is going to be available across the internet and also on the flights. When I was in Ireland, we heard amazing music. I heard Lisa Hannigan sing, who sung for the president, and today’s celebration is a way to discover more performers. Are there other ways that you’re working here in the US with your new position to promote all the incredible cultural heritage of Ireland?
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason:
Thank you for recognizing the incredible cultural heritage, and you mention one of my favorite Irish singers, Lisa Hannigan. When I was on the Security Council, she sang for us before we went to that big vote at the UN. It was all virtual at the time, but so many international people have asked me about her since. What we’re doing here now, in the United States, and particularly here on the west coast and with our Consulate General of Ireland, Marcella Smyth at the head of this.
They just produced a wonderful Spotify playlist for pride month. It celebrates Irish LGBTQ+ artists, friends, wonderful music and you can access that, and there’s more to come. I know that the consulate here locally, for those who are listening locally, is doing amazing live work on the ground at the Hotel Café and Winston House with new favorite Irish voices, artists, and in a series called Irish Friends.
A few names I’ll mention straight away: Levi Evans, Lenii, Eliza, Jay Pryor, Emer Kinsella, who we just heard play a violin in the most exceptional, inspirational way, and of course, many of your listeners will recognize one of our big stars in the series, Hozier, who will be back in LA playing, rounding up the series at the Hollywood Bowl on the 4th of November.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ireland In LA (@irelandinla)
Follow us at @IrelandInLA, and you can keep up to speed there on artists that are touring through the region and playing at those venues. Hotel Café, the Peppermint. Winston House, Largo, and the Troubadour. As I’m Ambassador to the United States, my parishes are right across the country.
Cultural Ireland is working on showcases in other venues including South By Southwest in Austin and Folk Alliance in Kansas. There’s a huge opportunity for your listeners to check in on the work we’re doing elsewhere, and a good way to stay abreast of all of the dynamic work we’re doing in the cultural sphere is to sign up to a really excellent cultural newsletter we have, which is called Green Light which gives up-to-date information on all Irish cultural events happening across the United States. For your listeners who may travel, and they may like to check in wherever they are with what might be happening locally, and our consulate in New York takes signups for that. You can also follow the Twitter of the Consulate New York and get more details there, as it’s a real resource.
Lisa Niver:
Those are fantastic resources, and we’ll put those in the listener notes so people can easily find them. I feel so fortunate to be in your presence. You have committed your work life to politics and making the planet better, and myself, I’ve loved, loved, loved all my time in Ireland, from participating in the ancient sports of hurling or falconry at Ashford Castle. Thank you for your time and for sharing this great information with my listeners.
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason:
Well, it’s been a pleasure, Lisa, and I can say, any woman who has survived a hurling expedition in Ireland deserves huge respect. I’ve really enjoyed talking to you, and I hope that we can continue the conversation another time.
Lisa Niver:
Thank you so much.
At the end of our interview, you can hear a performance by Lisa Hannigan who I recorded at the Travel Classics Ireland 2023 conference at The Lodge at Ashford Castle.
LISTEN on APPLE PODCAST: MAKE YOUR OWN MAPLisa’s book, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty, includes her visits to Dublin to be in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Kilkenny to learn hurling and Ashford Castle to walk with hawks!
The post Cead Mile Failte Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the USA appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 13, 2023
Unforgettable Ashford Castle for the Travel Classics Ireland Conference 2023
I loved returning to Ashford Castle for Travel Classics Ireland 2023. I first stayed there during our post tour from Travel Classics 2017 and fell in love with the history and activities. I knew when I walked a hawk at the Ireland school of Falconry that I would be back again!
Ashford Castle from Morning Boat Ride, Photo by Lisa NiverThere was a symphony of remarkable experiences, blending the comforts of a lodge stay, the intellectual stimulation of the Travel Classics Conference, and a plethora of enriching activities. From the moment I arrived at this magnificent estate in County Mayo, Ireland, I knew I was about to embark on a truly unforgettable adventure.
Nestled in the heart of Ireland’s stunning countryside, The Lodge at Ashford Castle is a destination that will enchant you with its rich history, captivating scenery, and warm hospitality. The Lodge offers a perfect blend of luxury and comfort to provide the perfect retreat after a day of exploring. From the moment you arrive, the staff will make you feel like royalty, with attentive service that anticipates your every desire.Staying at the Lodge at Ashford Castle was a delightful experience in itself. The elegant accommodations provided a tranquil retreat, enveloping me in a world of refined luxury. The attentive staff ensured every detail was taken care of, making my stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. From the cozy rooms to the inviting common areas, the Lodge became my sanctuary, offering a serene ambiance to relax and recharge.
Fountain outside The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Photo by Lisa NiverAs part of the Travel Classics Conference, I had the privilege of immersing myself in a community of travel writers and editors from around the globe. The camaraderie and collective passion for storytelling created an environment of growth and collaboration.
While on property, I had the opportunity to explore the enchanting grounds of Ashford Castle and participate in a myriad of activities. The hawk walk was again an unforgettable adventure, allowing me to interact with these majestic birds of prey in their natural habitat. With a falconer as my guide, I embarked on a journey through the castle’s estate, witnessing the awe-inspiring flight of the hawk and feeling a profound connection with nature.
Another thrilling experience was the clay pigeon shooting session, where I honed my aim under the guidance of an Olympian. The adrenaline rush and the satisfaction of hitting the targets propelled me into a world of exhilaration.
I am filled with gratitude to have experienced incredible outdoor activities and the opportunity to relax in the stunning spa and swimming pool. The warm hospitality extended by the dedicated staff provided me with an exceptional stay, cherished memories and a longing to return.
Ashford Castle Pool Photo by Lisa Niver
Lisa Niver relaxing at the Ashford Castle PoolAshford Castle will forever hold a special place in my heart as a destination that embodies the essence of travel, inspiration, and luxury. It is a place where dreams come alive, and where the magic of storytelling intertwines with the beauty of Ireland’s landscapes. It is also in my soon to be released memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty!
A Suite Stay: Elevated LuxuryA Royal Breakfast at George VExperience the beauty of Lough Corrib at sunrise with a boat tour from Ashford Castle. Glide across the tranquil waters as the sun rises, illuminating the sky with vibrant colors. Witness the lush greenery of the surrounding hills and the majestic castle from a different perspective.
Attending the history chat at Ashford Castle was an incredible experience. Finton’s passion and expertise brought the castle’s rich history to life. The stories and anecdotes shared were captivating, leaving me with a deeper appreciation of the castle’s place in Irish history.
Thank you to Ashford Castle, Travel Classics Ireland and Tourism Ireland for my amazing adventures!
Enjoy more of my travels in Ireland
The post Unforgettable Ashford Castle for the Travel Classics Ireland Conference 2023 appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
July 11, 2023
Zibby Owens, Book Messenger Extraordinaire, Igniting Literary Enthusiasm
Igniting Literary Enthusiasm: Zibby Owens, the Unstoppable Book Messenger Extraordinaire, Author, Publisher, and Advocate
Zibby Owens is a champion of books, authors, and the joy of reading. As a book messenger, her multifaceted roles include author, publisher, podcast host, book store owner, magazine editor and Good Morning America television book correspondent. Owens has built an impressive book empire that continues to captivate readers worldwide and you can now join her for both retreats and classes! Stop by her bookstore on Montana to find your next favorite read!
Owens’ love for books and storytelling ignited at an early age, leading her on a path towards becoming an author and book enthusiast. Her memoir, BookEnds, details her personal experiences and the events that influenced her literary pursuits, her passion and her relentless determination to share stories that resonate with readers.
As an author, Zibby Owens has penned a children’s book, a memoir, two anthologies and in 2024, you can read her novel, BLANK! Beyond her own writing, Zibby Owens has played a pivotal role in amplifying the voices of other authors as a publisher and a podcaster who has now interviewed over 1600 authors on Moms Don’t Have Time To Read.
Zibby Owens, the inspiring book messenger, has not only created a significant impact on the literary world but has also touched the lives of countless readers. Owens has fostered a community of book lovers and empowered voices that deserve to be heard. Her journey serves as a testament to the transformative power of literature and the enduring influence of those who passionately champion its cause.
Enjoy our interviewLisa Niver:
Good morning. This is Lisa Niver from We Said Go Travel and I am beyond thrilled and excited to be bringing you the New York publishing powerhouse Zibby Owens. Hi, Zibby.
Zibby Owens:
Hi, how are you?
Lisa Niver:
I am so honored to be here with you. You have really changed publishing and I just, I can’t thank you enough for being so committed to memoir and women’s books and being an incredible ambassador and book messenger.
Zibby Owens:
Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I have fun.
Lisa Niver:
You definitely do. And I know there is so much going on in your life, so thank you for taking this time. You’re in the middle of writing a new novel, Blank, right?
Zibby Owens:
Yes. It’s almost done but now we’ve been editing, copyediting, so very close to the finish line.
Lisa Niver:
Blank is coming out next year early 2024?
Zibby Owens:
It comes out March 5th.
Lisa Niver:
I love that it’s coming out during Women’s History Month.
Zibby Owens:
This year for Women’s History Month, our book, Women are the Fiercest Creatures, was timed to International Women’s Day.
Lisa Niver:
You are so much about empowerment, exercise and creating your own path. You decided== “I’m going to have a book publishing company.” And now you do! Tell us about Zibby Books.
Zibby Owens:
The industry itself is tricky to navigate as a new player, but we are a publishing company. Anne Messitte is our publisher and she used to run Viking and Anchor Books. She knows all the ins and outs of the business, and we have a great team. I started Zibby Books, because of my love of authors. I idolized authors my whole life as a huge reader. I’m still a huge reader and this business comes from a place of passion and fun. I read books all the time.
I read if I’m in a bad mood, in a good mood-it’s my go-to thing. Being able to publish other people’s books after I talked to so many authors on my podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. I’ve had over 1,600 episodes. After talking to so many people, I realized everybody keeps complaining about all these things about publishing. And I thought–someone needs to do something about it and who is going to do it? So, I waited and waited and I thought could I be the one to do something? So, I decided to try.
Lisa Niver:
That’s very Jewish. We say that the person that saves one life saves a whole world. And I love that you talk about being a book messenger and that you’re bringing books to life is incredible.
Zibby Owens:
Thank you. I get so much satisfaction when I recommend a book, and somebody reads it and then they say that book changed my life or I never would’ve read that book without you and I loved it. I love hearing that, that’s like my favorite thing.
Lisa Niver:
I loved your memoir, Bookends.
Zibby Owens:
Thank you.
Lisa Niver:
And I noticed in your book you really write a lot about the books you are reading at that time. And I know for myself when I’ve been traveling it was so interesting to me how books appeared to me and I thought this book is perfect. It explains either how I’m feeling or where I am.
Zibby Owens:
It’s so funny how that happens. I started this book Everything All at Once by Steph Catudal, I started it in the month it came out in May and I just didn’t have the time to finish it. It wasn’t on the calendar soon enough in my podcast lineup and so I just never had a chance to read it. And I even packed it on a few trips, and I was going to skip the line because I really want to read this one, but then I never ended up being able to do it.
Until finally I read it, and I was literally in Japan with my kids on our first big family trip and it talks about how she was in Japan. And I thought what are the odds? It’s so crazy. Things happen for a reason, I believe that.
Lisa Niver:
When something like that happens to me, I think I’m in the right place. It is confirmation I was supposed to pick this book up now, and I was supposed to be here now or you know you are supposed to be here with your kids on their first trip to Japan reading this book. I believe it is the universe’s confirmation — check, good job.
Zibby Owens:
Yes. I like that.
Lisa Niver:
In your book, you talk about love and loss and literature. You really did have so much loss, and I appreciate that you truly share with people how hard it was.
Zibby Owens:
For anyone who has lost someone, as I’m sure most people have at some point, or they will at some point, you know it’s not something you easily get over. And if the people in your closest circle aren’t familiar with grieving or don’t grieve in the same way, that can also be really isolating. There are no strings you can pull. The person is gone, you can’t do anything, you can’t redo anything. I’m all about changing things, shifting things, even with the publishing company. If that’s not working, so let’s try this. Or I’m going to change this, I’m going to change that. Or let’s not go here, let’s go there.
But with loss, there is no changing. There is no backup, let’s redo it and find a better way. It is nonnegotiable and I hate that.
It’s very humbling to learn how fragile life was from my mid 20s, which is late compared to a lot of people who have lost parents or loved ones early. But, losing my college roommate on 9/11 in such a big dramatic way was life changing. I would never say anything positive about it, but I will say one thing that came from it is this heightened appreciation for life and death. I was always an old soul, very aware, but something like that blew the gates wide open.
Lisa Niver:
I can’t even imagine how hard it’d be to lose that kind of close friend. I appreciate when people are honest about how hard certain things are. And at the same time, a thing I loved about your book was that you really modeled, and set clear boundaries that your book is about these things and this book is not about certain things in your family. My first marriage and my kids is private, it’s not in this book. I thought that’s really great boundary setting and an example showing people they don’t have to tell everything in every book and some things are just for you.
Zibby Owens:
It’s so funny because so many people told me I had to put all of it in, that you have to include it, you can’t just skip over this. And I decided, well, I’m not going to include it and I’m going to do it anyway. And I’ve had so many people reach out, even just an email this morning, I love that. Saying thank you for doing that and thank you for not including that. So, it all works out.
Lisa Niver:
Well, I think that we get fed certain messages about what it’s like to be an author, or what it’s like to be a mom or how to be divorced. And certain human emotions are common, but even like you’re saying about grief, we have this imagination that it takes this long. I imagine on her birthday every year you still miss her, and maybe even every single day and that’s your path. And I just really appreciated you sharing about your family in your way. And I see your books behind you, I know in your memoir, Bookends, you talked about how after having COVID you rearranged all your books.
Zibby Owens:
I did do this shelf during COVID.
Lisa Niver:
So, speaking about being out in Long Island, your life changed because of tennis.
Zibby Owens:
It did! Hence my t-shirt I’m wearing “Love Tennis.” My life changed because of tennis. I met my now husband Kyle when he was subbing for a friend of his to teach my then 8-year-old son a tennis lesson. And my son hated tennis at the time and only wanted to play football and I forced him to play anyway because that’s just what I did. I was much stricter then and I said its good for you, you get to run around.
He went out on the court and Kyle told me, “Your son doesn’t like tennis.” I said, “I know that.” He said, “I don’t think he should be taking tennis lessons.” And I said, “Well I do.” And he said, “He’s not going to take tennis lessons with me.”
Anyway, I was furious. He wasn’t even supposed to be the teacher, right? This is supposed to be his favorite teacher, Fabio. Anyway, I was totally annoyed by the whole thing, but I had bought all these lessons for my son. And I loved tennis, and my tennis pro at that place had just left. And Kyle had been coaching on the WTA tour, and running tennis programs and had just gotten out to The Hamptons to teach. And I thought–maybe I’ll take some lessons this summer. And I didn’t see him again for six months, and things had changed in my life by that point, and we got to know each other and the rest is kind of history.
Lisa Niver:
And you just had a big anniversary.
Zibby Owens:
Yes. We’ve been married for six years and together more than that. So, it was not a rebound for anyone who thought it was.
Lisa Niver:
And again, people make a big deal about that, but who cares. You’re in love and you’re happy.
Zibby Owens:
Yes, exactly.
Lisa Niver:
You can call it whatever you want. But I loved when you were talking about him in the book and you said, “My life was filled with Desitin diaper cream not destiny,” but it was.
Zibby Owens:
Yeah, that’s right.
Lisa Niver:
And I also loved in your acknowledgements when you thanked Fabio for not showing up the day that you met Kyle.
Zibby Owens:
Yes. Well, thank you for the close read of the book. And we’re still in touch with Fabio. They’re still friends and he came to our wedding.
Lisa Niver:
I love those moments when it feels like that movie Sliding Doors. When — I made the train and my whole life changed.
Zibby Owens:
Yes.
Lisa Niver:
And so, tell us, your whole life probably changed when you decided to open a bookstore in Santa Monica.
Zibby Owens:
Yes. My life changed when I decided I should start a podcast. It changed everything. I can’t even imagine; I could never had gotten to do the things I’m doing now had I not started that. There was like no path at all. It’s even crazy that, that led to this, to begin with, but that was the most life-changing thing I’ve ever had happen.
Lisa Niver:
So, you said you’ve already interviewed 1,600 guests.
Zibby Owens:
Sixteen hundred authors.
Lisa Niver:
Sixteen hundred authors. And I know you interviewed Hillary Clinton, you’ve interviewed the royalty of book authors.
Zibby Owens:
I go to the bookstore in the airport now to look around and I know everyone. I know the authors who are coming out today because I get pitched new books and from my own reading. And I have interviewed people who don’t even have any books, but who I’ve always loved. Growing up, as much as I loved books, I didn’t associate them with the author. I knew the author’s name, but I didn’t think about who the author was or their author photo. I feel very comfortable now in any bookstore environment seeing my friends on the shelves. It’s nice.
Lisa Niver:
And your bookstore, Zibby’s Books, in Santa Monica feels like a living room. It’s so cozy. I love the feeling in there and I love the labels on the shelves. Your bookstore doesn’t have the books categorized by history, travel, science fiction. It’s much more carefully curated.
Zibby Owens:
It’s very carefully curated. I started it with two women I’ve been working with for all the other branded things from Zibby Media to Zibby Retreats, Sherri Puzey and Diana Tramontano. And one night in my kitchen when they were staying over in LA, we just charted out how we could make it so that it was a curated experience when we couldn’t be there ourselves to tell people what to buy or recommend things. And I had been in the habit of always doing roundups on TV for Mother’s Day with a book list for the best friend, a book for the aunt.
So, I think it was Sherri, I don’t remember, if it was Sherri or Diana who said, put those categories. And then we said, let’s do it by emotion. I like to shop by emotion. I love books that make me cry or books to make me laugh, so we did some by emotion. And then we stayed up all night brainstorming and those are exactly the way the shelves are from the original drawing, which I should really frame and put up at the store, now that I’m thinking of it, before I lose that piece of paper.
Lisa Niver:
I love that. And soon my book, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty, is coming out and my book is going to be on the strong women shelf. It’s already in the digital bookstore for Zibby’s for strong women.
Zibby Owens:
Yay!
Lisa Niver:
I’m so excited, thank you. So, tell us is there a favorite author that you finally got to interview on your podcast? Or is there someone you’re waiting to interview?
Zibby Owens:
I was really excited, recently, to interview Curtis Sittenfeld because I’ve been reading her books forever and had tried and tried to interview her and she was great.
Lisa Niver:
I love her new book.
Zibby Owens:
Yes, so good, Romantic Comedy. I really liked it.
Lisa Niver:
Your memoir, Bookends, is out, which I loved. Your novel, Blank, is coming out next year, but not everybody might know that you’re also a children’s book author.
Zibby Owens:
It’s true, I wrote a children’s book that was published by Penguin Random House called Princess Charming. Spoiler, it’s about Prince Charming’s little sister and how she feels like she just can’t measure up and find her thing, inspired by one of my kids, and so that was great. And then I actually edited two anthologies of essays written by authors that I did during the pandemic called Moms Don’t Have Time To and Moms Don’t Have Time To Have Kids.
Lisa Niver:
So, I have a feeling that people listening to this might be curious if you ever sleep.
Zibby Owens:
I really don’t sleep that much. I am not proud of that. I think it’s taking a toll. I do catch up every so often, but to be fair I am divorced and remarried and every other weekend I don’t have the kids from Thursday night to Tuesday morning. And so, I can theoretically catch up on non-kid interrupted sleep and have all that time to supercharge forward without.
Because when my kids are here, I’m very much with them. It’s the middle of the day, and I had back-to-back Zooms except for 30 minutes, and my daughter showed up in her tennis outfit and said, “Do you want to go play tennis?” And I said, let’s do it. I will stop what I’m doing. I will catch up later. My priority is always my kids. I stop work every day, I go pick them up, I drop them off. There are four of them, they’re my whole life. And they’re all so fun and different and so that is my main thing.
But no, I don’t sleep a lot. I have really given up a lot of other things. I’m not trying to glamorize what I’m doing. I went from not doing this and doing it slowly to now like running a company. I have 25 people within the bookstore and all the different branches, the publishing company, and the classes, and retreats and the magazine, Zibby Mag, which I love. There are things we have to deal with like 401k’s and I think- what on earth? This is not what I meant to happen. I never wanted to work in a company and now I’m running a company. What the heck?
Lisa Niver:
But you come from a long line of people running big companies. You went to school and studied and know about all of things too, so in a way you found a path to have a company like other people in your family have had.
Zibby Owens:
Yes.
Lisa Niver:
An established brand, but you made it yours.
Zibby Owens:
That’s true. Yes, my grandfather started a company that made trailer park window pieces back in the day and ended up taking that public in Dayton, Ohio. And my dad started a big financial services company called Blackstone. And even my grandfather on his side started this very nice dry goods store in Philadelphia. And my brother started a movie production company. My husband started a movie production company. So, basically my model has been entrepreneurship, and trying to think through problems differently, and contribute and create.
I stayed home with my kids for 11 years and I thought I’m just not going to do that, but I had all this pent-up energy. Sometimes I think maybe I have like an attention problem because I always need new stuff, so I love to launch things and I love going from thing to thing. And when people say you’re doing so many different things, that’s how I think best.
Lisa Niver:
It’s interesting to me because there’s the bookstore, and the publishing company, and you’re an author and obviously an incredible podcast host. The parts all fit together like a mosaic! It sounds like you started with incredible partners and hopefully everything doesn’t fall on you to do.
Zibby Owens:
Right. I have a whole team who I really respect a lot and enjoy being with so that’s good. I’m making it work, but do I exercise like I used to? No. Do I see friends as much as I want? No. But that could’ve been happening, I guess, anyway and I could’ve not started a company, so.
Lisa Niver:
That is an excellent point. You are making your dreams come true of helping authors and being a book messenger. And, you mentioned something about retreats. Does that mean that people can join you or learn from you?
Zibby Owens:
Yes. You should come.
Lisa Niver:
Okay, I’ll sign up.
Zibby Owens:
We have only three spots left for our retreat in the Santa Barbara wine country September 22-24. We have a mini retreat in The Hamptons July 15th and 16th. We are going to go Austin, Miami, and Northern California, and more places around the country and maybe even internationally.
It’s a readers retreat. So, we always bring a few authors and have panel discussions, but not necessarily on craft. There is some craft, so if you are a writer, it’s helpful, but if you’re a reader it’s interesting.
Lisa Niver:
Wow. Where would people find more information about that?
Zibby Owens:
That’s on zibbyretreats.com.
Lisa Niver:
And you also mentioned you have a magazine.
Zibby Owens:
Yes, that’s zibbymag.com. And soon, we’re going to have a website where everything is on site with Zibby Media and everything will be under it. But zibbymag.com just won the Webby Award for best arts and culture website. We were really excited about that. And it’s all author-focused content, fun stuff, like book covers, book cover trends today as well as author spotlights and personal essays by authors, and roundups of an author’s best eight books of the season, things like that. It has an author lens to it.
Lisa Niver:
So, are you the kind of person that like needs a piece of paper by your bed, and you wake up in the middle of night and think I’ve got the podcast, but now I need a magazine? Where do the ideas come from?
Zibby Owens:
I have so many more ideas. And I’ve tried things that have not worked as well, and then I scale back and decide not to do them. I like to test in small ways when I have an idea. Test it, talk to a few people, talk to a few more people, what do you think? What do you think? I have this like vision–what if I launch bookstores all over and I could curate Zibby tours where an author would just have to like sign up? I could have it be easy for authors.
Because part of what I’m trying to do is help authors be more successful selling books and standing out because it’s so hard. And as an author, I find it very hard. I’m also up against a ticking clock. I’m 46-years-old and how much can I do? Twenty years, 30 years of work? I do not want to retire, and –if not now, when? is of my attitude right now. Strike while the iron is hot!
Lisa Niver:
Yes, if not now, when?
I agree with you book tours is a challenge because as an author you want to share and meet people, but there’s a problem that a lot of places people don’t show up. So, I love that idea if you create it. My book comes out in September, and my idea is –could I meet with a local author and we work together in their city. You’re right it’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and each author has to figure it out on their own. I think that’s a great idea.
Zibby Owens:
There are so many things. There are a lot of different directions to go in and the hardest thing for me is not jumping into everything as soon as I think of it. Because I get very excited and want to start things right away. I have to learn to slow down, think it through logically.
Lisa Niver:
Or maybe you don’t– because think of all you’ve built. You have a magazine, you have retreats, you have a bookstore, you have…
Zibby Owens:
We have classes. We have classes that we offer like writing classes.
Lisa Niver:
You do?
Zibby Owens:
Yes at zibbyclasses.com. And we’re starting in-person classes as well, so we have one starting in the bookstore, but we are going to partner with other local places and have Zibby classes offered around in-person around the country in various spots.
Lisa Niver:
And is that something you’re teaching or who’s teaching the class?
Zibby Owens:
No, I’m not teaching it, although I probably should teach one at some point. Authors are teaching the classes.
Lisa Niver:
That’s amazing.
Now, I know you mentioned your brother and your husband have production companies, so are you thinking about getting into TV and movies?
Zibby Owens:
I’m excited to help people who are already in that. I’m excited to help find content. I already informally do this for a bunch of producers and if I read a great book, I mention it. A couple of things have come of it, which is exciting, but I am not doing it in a formalized way now. Although, who knows?!
Lisa Niver:
Before we close, tell everybody about your work with Good Morning America.
Zibby Owens:
I have been writing their book picks of the month column online since 2020. And I go on the show and do a segment where I recommend different books. I’ve been on for all of my books, and when I launched my publishing company. They’re great.
Lisa Niver:
That’s amazing. I want to read one quote from your book that I loved, which is:
“Books for me are lifesaving. They have been my companions, my teachers, my entertainment, my emotional outlets, my escape. They have taught me how to cook, how to love, how to mourn, how to cope and how to feel. Many books came at just the right time.”
I want to say thank you for the incredible mountain of work you’ve done to support authors. And I, again, I’m so honored that you took the time to come talk with me on my podcast. And I can’t wait to read Blank, I loved Bookends, I hope there’s more children’s books and congratulations!! You are truly a book messenger.
Zibby Owens:
Thank you, Lisa. This was so fun and congrats on your book. I’m really excited to read it.
Zibby MagazineView this post on InstagramZibby RetreatsA post shared by Zibby Mag (@zibbymag)
View this post on InstagramZibby’s Book ClubStories are best when shared.A post shared by Zibby Retreats (@zibbyretreats)
I love Zibby’s Bookstore! My video from World Book Day at the store
LISTEN on APPLE PODCAST: MAKE YOUR OWN MAPLisa’s book: Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty
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July 6, 2023
Travel Classics Ireland 2023 Conference at Ashford Castle
In the realm of travel writing and journalism, few events can match the prestige and allure of Travel Classics Magazine Conference. This year, we celebrated more than twenty-five years since Maren Rudolph started the conference in New York and the magnificent Ashford Castle in Ireland played host to an exclusive assembly of top magazine editors from around the globe. The event was a true testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the timeless charm of travel.
Nestled amidst the breathtaking landscapes of County Mayo, Ashford Castle stands as a symbol of opulence and history. Its turreted towers and lush gardens have welcomed dignitaries and celebrities, providing them with an unforgettable retreat. However, during our Travel Classics Ireland 2023 event, the castle took on an even more enchanting role, becoming a hub of inspiration and exchange for the world’s leading travel journalists.
As the sun cast its golden rays upon the ancient walls of Ashford Castle, the halls echoed with lively conversations and the clinking of glasses, as editors and writers from renowned magazines gathered to share their experiences, insights, and passion for travel. The air was electric with anticipation with this gathering of like-minded individuals who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of capturing the essence of remarkable destinations in words.
We had many discussions on the ever-evolving world of travel journalism. We exchanged stories of far-flung adventures, shared tips and techniques, and contemplated the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. I love the camaraderie at our meals and networking sessions and feel inspired by the group.
In the realm of travel writing, where words paint vivid pictures and transport readers to distant lands, Travel Classics continues to be a beacon of excellence. Enjoy my videos below and in the upcoming posts to feel like you were there with us!
https://youtube.com/shorts/kdJDgKEJtEcOur unforgettable opening night dinner at Travel Classics Ireland 2023. The mouth-watering cuisine and enchanting musical entertainment set the tone for a conference with unparalleled opportunities. Networking with fellow writers, editors, and industry professionals inspires creativity and passion for travel writing. I look forward to gaining new knowledge, making meaningful connections, and elevating my writing career.
The bagpipes are a traditional part of Irish culture and are often used to create a grand and celebratory atmosphere at special events and ceremonies. For our welcome dinner at Ashford Castle in the George V Dining Room, the music of bagpipes evoked the rich cultural heritage of Ireland. What a memorable and meaningful start to our incredible evening.
We were immersed in music as we entered our welcome dinner! Thank you to the amazing teams at Ashford Castle, Travel Classics Ireland and Tourism Ireland for the inspiring conference, Irish music, the fantastic food and incredible service! Thank you to Glórnaróba!
Our festive night included the Irish Púca ceremony which is an ancient tradition that celebrates the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It involves lighting bonfires, performing dances, and making offerings to the Púca, a mischievous fairy creature. The ceremony is believed to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits.
Learning about IRELANDWhat to DO in IRELAND? Travel writers discovering stories at Travel Classics Ireland!
As part of Travel Classics Ireland, we enjoyed two elegant lunches at the George V Dining Room in Ashford Castle. Savor delicious cuisine prepared by expert chefs using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The opulent surroundings, impeccable service, and delectable food make for an unforgettable dining experience hosted by Experience Scottsdale, Arizona Office of Tourism and Visit Tucson on Tuesday and Destination British Columbia and Destination Vancouver on Weds!
Thank you Eimear CAfter a sumptuous dinner that tantalized all our senses by @Guinness, we were treated to an amazing vocal performance by Lisa Hannigan which mesmerized us with beautiful melodies and emotive lyrics.oughlanharpist for the #harp #music at The Lodge at Ashford Castle.Thank you Travel Classics Ireland for an unforgettable culinary journey from The Wild Atlantic Way. Our epic dinner experience at the Lodge at Ashford Castle savored the exquisite flavors of locally-sourced, sustainable ingredients elegantly prepared by your skilled chefs. It was a gastronomic adventure that celebrated the unique and vibrant culture of the region!
The Guinness dinner at the Lodge at Ashford Castle was a “brewtiful” experience! The chef’s imaginative use of water, hops, barley, and yeast in each dish was “hopsolutely” delicious, and the expertly paired Guinness beers were a “barley” believable complement. It was a night full of pun and flavor, leaving me feeling “yeasty” satisfied.
After a sumptuous dinner that tantalized all our senses by @Guinness, we were treated to an amazing vocal performance by Lisa Hannigan which mesmerized us with beautiful melodies and emotive lyrics.
One night after dinner we were treated to an incredible performance by Trad on the Prom— at The Lodge at Ashford Castle at Travel Classics Ireland 2023 April 25, 2023 Thank you Tourism Ireland and enjoy all 23 videos!
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