Lisa Niver's Blog: We Said Go Travel, page 337

Saying Goodbye in The USA

Saying Goodbye

Waves rushed up the beach, displacing frail shells and frosted pieces of sea glass with each surge. I sat at the top of the sandy slope, letting the lukewarm ocean water barely wet my feet. One by one, beachgoers packed up their towels and brushed off the sand clinging to their bodies. Three shirtless old men with leathery skin as bronze as the setting sun drank their tall beer cans, wrapped in brown paper bags, behind me on benches surrounded by intrusive pigeons awaiting food. I was going to miss Kaimana Beach on the south shore of Oahu, Hawaii, which sits a few hundred yards from the base of Diamond Head, a dormant volcanic crater. I was going to miss Hawaii and the continuous beauty it provided me my entire life.

I remember feeling an excitement laced with pain as the sun submerged below the horizon. Sometimes taking your home for granted is easy, but when you can call Hawaii home, under-appreciating proves impossible. The ocean, whether I snorkeled under coral arches to trail green sea turtles and spotted manta rays or carved waves on my surfboard, was a sanctuary unparalleled to anything I knew. I faced my fears out in the water, and escaped there to make sense of life when it seemed unexplainable. The ocean provided a regenerative cleanse, which inspired me to confront my father about his drug relapse, and yet it was comforting when aunt died. Perhaps the ocean connected me to my aunt, Lyn, whose ashes I scattered in the ocean when I was sixteen years old. Lots of Hawaii residents relinquish their mea aloha, loved ones, into the oceanic limbo to free them from any earthly ties.

The same ocean that has empowered me, however, has been humbling when I didn’t give it the respect it demanded. I nearly ran out of breath while free-diving through caves under the water. I snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, a marine life preserve, in the outer reef about fifteen to twenty feet below the surface. I dove down and swam through a small pocket in the reef to explore a cave. A small black and white puffer fish was my guide, like Virgil to Dante, through the hole into an opening, where the sun beamed into the darkness. While swimming through that opening towards the surface, I realized that I was too large to wedge through. First my shoulder scraped a purple, bulbous coral head, protruding out of the algae-ridden coral wall, in which spiny wana, sea urchins, hid. I grazed my ribcage on that wall, luckily avoiding the urchin needles, but then I got stuck. I started to panic and watched bubbles filled with my oxygen rise to the surface. Death resembled an incoming set of waves that I wasn’t ready to catch. Refusing to submit to death, I planted my hands on two coral shelves and pushed up, gouging my back in the process, squeezed out of the opening, and bolted to the surface.

 

I can’t explain why my near death experience resurfaced on my last day in Hawaii, while sitting at Kaimana Beach. As I looked down the Waikiki strip, illuminated by fluorescent hotel room lights and flaming tiki torches at beachfront restaurants, I wondered if I would ever find a place as stunning in the next chapter of my life. Perhaps leaving Oahu would be like dying, amputating my connection to home. But even beauty exists in death, and it’s in these moments that one catches a glimpse of the truth. Hawaii does comprise a large part of my identity, and it took removing myself from the island to realize that.  

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

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Sometimes It Takes an Ocean in Ireland

“After work tonight, I have to get me-dad some dog food,” our taxi driver says in his heavy Irish accent. “He no longer drives or carries thee bags.” 

This jolly-fellowed man knows his Dublin. Sitting next to my husband Bill, I rest into the cab’s backseat, listening to the driver’s melodic words. The cab seems to be sailing us from the airport to our hotel, and we turn our heads at the driver’s beckoning to note landmarks he describes with pride a-glowing.

I’m relaxed, restored. And Dublin with its unencumbered cityscape, stately and solid, invites me to be at home. After our three days in London, I’m ready to respond and search this lovely land, having been loosed from the tension tightening within me over the past few months.

Something had happened in London while Bill and I were sitting in the Phoenix Theater, enraptured by the play Blood Brothers. The musical by Willy Russell is the story of two brothers, twins, separated at birth. By curtain’s end when death prevailed, a flood of tears overwhelmed me. It was unimpeded crying, a force rebelling from being buried too long. It was the sobbing one only releases in private. Except that I was in the middle of a London theater, knowing no one but Bill. While we stood to give our Bravo! applauses, I wept and I gasped at times by its mighty force. 

Bill understood. Our past seven months had been emotionally tumultuous. Our own reality was as heartbreakingly dramatic as the play’s. Across the Atlantic in the center of America, our family had faced the riveting reality that one son, 24, was diagnosed with brain cancer. The oncologist’s time stamp gave him three years. Another son who had signed up for the National Guard had just completed his basic training. The Iraqi War had the Army calling in all of its resources. That young son, 19, could be called in at anytime now. I could be the mother at the end of the play.

Ironically I had kept a stiff upper lip as any a Brit would do because I had to appear strong for these two young men. Only now, with distance could I face my most vulnerable self. Traveling does that for us.  It lifts us up and away so we can look back with a new perspective, more focused, thus, strengthened as a result. By my stepping away from the daily grind of living, I realized how I was in a simply-surviving-mode. And only I could choose to remove my automaton covering to feel again, live again. 

Up and down the streets of London, the architecture spoke its history and I related. We’re a people who survive and rebuild . . . with the beauty of hope, or so tells St. Paul’s Cathedral. And much like one being freed from a prison in the Tower of London and Big Ben ticking off the hours in our lives, I can live straight and tall and strong, going forward, freely living forward.

Those familiar sights from my art history books offered the perfect prelude to the simple, yet grand, landscape of Ireland. Ireland’s trying past with its life and death has cultivated beautiful souls, lovely throughout. Ireland invited me into its arms of rolling lush land with verdant gardens to captivate me. One garden with its statue of Oscar Wilde lounging on a rock still makes me laugh. In that same Merrion Square Park is a bust of Michael Collins. Who can measure the impact of one life? I sat with the monks from 800 AD, viewing the Book of Kells at Trinity College. Priceless.

On one of the last mornings our tour bus led us out of Dublin into the elegant estate of Powerscourt. Every inch of the 19 hectares (47 acres) breathes growth with its flowers and fountains, a rose garden, Italian garden, Japanese garden, even a pet cemetery. We had lunch at Johnny Fox’s Pub, established in 1798. And more tears welled up when I saw on their walls life-sized shadow boxes. One had a NYPD uniform; the other a NYFD uniform. Their 9/11 bravery honored. 

Yes, this life with death brings heartaches. But if we live vitally, courageously, our hearts pump stronger. Nine years later, the young son works with computers. The older son with brain cancer is healed and is an oncologist. His faint headband scar is a reminder of hope for others and each of our days with Big Ben’s ticking off time. And what will we do with that time? Be grateful, strong, hopeful our histories will one day inspire others to live richly, kindly, lovingly, heartily.

 

Sometimes it takes an ocean to see. 

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

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My Haven in Israel

My Haven.

The voice on the inspirational relaxation CD instructed me to “Find a place where I could relax and feel comfortable. Study it. Commit to memory how it looks, how it sounds, how it smells and above all how it affects my feelings.”

The theory was that if I could internalise the actual sensations of peace and positiveness; later I could sit anywhere, shut my eyes (and ears) and bring to mind my little haven of tranquillity enabling me the ability to find the strength and energy to tackle anything! My difficulties wouldn’t disappear, but they would become not only manageable, but resolvable. Life would become relaxed and filled with successful achievements. I certainly liked the sound of those ideas.

I had listened to the CD a dozen times, wondering if I would ever find the safe harbour the speaker was describing. Then one day, out of the blue I discovered IT!

I was accompanying my three grandchildren up the hill to the swimming pool. Climbing the slope was hot, tiring, thirsty work. We stopped half way up so I could rest on the seat, in the shade of a huge carob tree and take a drink from the mandatory bottle of iced water. When I’d quenched my thirst the children took the bottle from me, squabbling over it as they carried it further up the hill.

I sat and looked about. The sun was hot in the cloudless blue sky, but in the shade of the old tree the leaves rustled slightly, the birds twittered and all around was a sea of greens with bright yellow flowers scattered everywhere. I had discovered my haven.

“Grandma, Grandma” the children shouted impatiently. Reluctantly I returned my thoughts to the immediate time, I got up, changed back to loving, happy Grandma mode and we all continued to trudge up the hill.

Next day, with the grandchildren all at kindergarten, I returned to my little oasis to really enjoy it and to imprint it into my brain. I sat on the bench, in the shade of the the huge old carob tree with the sun shining in a cloudless blue sky. Everywhere was green, brown and yellow. There were green trees, carobs, pines and even date palms, green flowering bushes and green grass, with brown tree trunks and paths and a myriad of bright yellow flowers hanging in the trees and gently floating in the air as they joined their fellows carpeting the huge expanse of grass.. Above and around the various birds flew; sparrows, finches, tits, herons, crows, pigeons and larks all twittering, warbling, cooing and cawing at each other. Sweet-scented yellow blossoms perfumed the air, while a few bushes of red or orange nectar centred flowers also attracting the softly buzzing bees. In every direction there were sights, sounds and smells that I drank in and committed to memory.

This would be my oasis of peace and contentment. This is where I would go, in my mind’s eye, to revitalize my thoughts and restore my positivity. My haven would enable me to relax, gain the strength and inspiration I need to solve life’s problems.

 

The knowledge that I had found my haven at last, gave me the feeling I could cope with anything life threw at me, like I was almost immortal.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

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11 Million Impressions: #LuxeExperience

Thank you to everyone who shared, tweeted, retweeted and commented on my #LuxeExperience articles, videos and instagram photos. Thank you to Luxe Hotels for hosting me and to The We Said Go Travel Global Alliance for the team work.

On January 14, 2015 9amPST, the hashtag #Luxe Experience had a rating of “zero.” This morning January 20, 2015 9amPST, it reads as 11 Million impressions or timeline deliveries. Enjoy all the articles and videos, links below.

 

Here is the photo from January 14, 2015:

 

Here is Hashtracking on January 20, 2015

Location and Demographics:

 

USA Demographics

 

Read more about my #LuxeExperience:

Delicious Dining on Rodeo

A Staycation on Rodeo Drive

Beverly Hills 90210 Drinks at Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel

Making Chocolate Souffle with Chef Olivier 

A Luxury Staycation at Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel

Dining at On Sunset with Chef Olivier

Click here to see all my videos from Luxe Experience Hotels

 

The post 11 Million Impressions: #LuxeExperience appeared first on We Said Go Travel.

India: Priceless Lessons from a Penniless Society

Priceless Lessons from a Penniless Society

The rickety bus, ornamentally embellished in psychedelic colours, pants for breath as it pauses while scrambling up the corkscrew contours. A little girl runs towards the bus, her thin legs kicking up a cloud of dust all along the trail. Her hair and the envelope in her hand – both are flying in the gentle mountain wind.

“Uncle, you could take this to my father?” she asks the driver, handing him the envelope.

The driver nods. The girl stands there, smiling and waving to us as we resume our journey.

The image of this girl keeps returning to me and reminds me of a unique world and of my days spent there, where simplicity was not just another word but truly a way of life.

The remote Himalayan village of Gangoli, sitting on a forested ridge and facing the eternal snows, is too insignificant to be acknowledged with even a feeble dot on even the most detailed map of India. A benevolent NGO had taken the initiative of training the hill people in the techniques of earthquake-resistant construction and deputed me to this village for the project. Before sending me there, they had briefed me about life in the village and I had reluctantly mentally readied myself to spend the next few months with uncertain electricity and without running hot water, with just a radio and without the luxury of remaining 24 X 7 connected with the world down below. 

I had no car, not even a bicycle, and depended on the overcrowded local buses for transportation. My temporary home, a room in the house of one of the villagers, comprised of a mattress on a wooden floor, my clothes and a few books. My suitcase doubled up as the writing desk or dinner table as the situation demanded.

The children of the village, though they went to school, barely had money for educational accessories like pen, pencil or paper. Yet, one of them would often come running after me yelling, “Didi (Sister)! Didi! You forgot, Didi!” waving my ballpoint pen in the air which I had absentmindedly left behind. What I lost, they protected. What I assumed would always be available to me, they never took for granted.

Some of the days, I used to make my own dinner. My quantitative judgement of the grain was never exact and there was always an extra spoonful, which was happily lapped by the two children of my host. What I considered waste, was delicacy for them.

The gift of Gangoli was the boon of limited options and for a full year, I was under the tutelage of an extremely efficient and effective economy, where every single thing was put to multi-task and recycled till it faded naturally, but never forcibly destroyed. My empty toothpaste was remodelled (top part cut off) and used for storing spoons. The empty pails of paint were used as buckets for storing water. Any trash was always examined over and over again for salvaging the scrap, which might well be the missing piece needed to resurrect a radio.

 The nights in Gangoli were bitingly cold, and in spite of the branded blankets I had carried up from the plains to counter the climate, I shivered, which made me curious as to how the villagers with their meagre resources tackled the problem.

I asked the old lady, the mother of my host whom I found perpetually basking in the sun all through the short day, but never sitting idle- either chopping onions or mending clothes while sunning herself.

 Hearing my question, a smile surfaced on the sea of wrinkles as she nonchalantly pointed to the bundles of hay spread out in the sun.  “Keeps us warm all through the night!” She looked at me from top to toe and pointed to the layers of woollens I had piled on myself, “Remove these and let the sun seep into your blood and bones! Too much of a good thing only makes it bad! If you keep on adding sugar to tea, after a point it no longer tastes sweet, but bitter!”

The words of the wise woman remained with me even after my stint was over, when once again I had access to everything I had been “missing.” It was only then I realized that I did not require or even enjoy much of it. I craved for the soothing simplicity, the blessings of few possessions and almost nil distractions, which had allowed me to connect to myself and the world around, where nothing was needed and nothing was extra.

I still do.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

The post India: Priceless Lessons from a Penniless Society appeared first on We Said Go Travel.

An Inner Journey: Yearning For A Place To Call Home

I moved around a lot growing up and at times felt like an alien or an outsider in my own life. Like a chameleon, I learned to mold and blend and change my colors in order to survive and connect with the world. I attended nine different schools spread between three geographical locations before college. My experience of not putting roots down anywhere for too long created a deep longing for a perfect place where I could settle into the real me, the me that didn’t have to change my colors.

For years, I yearned for the perfect place where I would feel at home and would feel free to express myself, to make sense of the world around me, and to explore its wonders and curiosities. I desired a place where my passions and ideas would be supported, where I would feel a sense of belonging and feel understood on a deep and meaningful level. This desire drove me to purchase a home at nineteen years old as a college freshman. I thought if I had a one place to call my own that I would be okay, that I could be happy and be myself and live my life. Even a house of my very own however couldn’t satisfy my void and I continued longing for a place outside myself.

Through all of my dreams of being elsewhere, somewhere other than where I was, my mother would remind me that “wherever you go, you carry yourself with you.” I’d listen, but stubbornly hold on to my dream of this somewhere, this elsewhere that I could escape to where all would be well. When I traveled, I did so with a mindset of looking for a place to fill the void. I couldn’t be content in the here and now and always planned and looked toward another there at a different place in the future.

Then, last summer, my body became quite unwell. I simply didn’t have enough energy anymore to engage in life and to go out and do things outside of those necessary for survival. I had to settle into the here and now and accept the place that I was in, I couldn’t go anywhere else. My lack of wellness gave my mother’s saying a new wisdom. In order to move towards a state of being well I had to travel and journey through all of the places that I had been avoiding inside as I sought to fulfill my needs outside myself. I left no ground undiscovered, exploring the scary parts in the dark nooks that held my deepest and darkest fears and also those spaces of light and life which I had locked away in an attempt to protect my deepest desires and passions.

I realized that my perfect place had actually been inside of me all along. My thoughts, emotions, perspective, and actions color my lens of viewing the world and no matter where I go or what I see, if I don’t use a different lens my perspective will remain the same. No place or space in time could change my relationship with myself unless I chose to. If I was always moving towards the next place when would I ever arrive? How could I enjoy what I experienced in traveling if I only viewed it from a perspective of fulfilling lack? Place is relative to the observer and if I wanted to create my utopia, I had to create this type of space inside myself.

 

Now, inside my mind, I can experience true freedom. I do take who I am with me wherever I go and because of that, I created a place inside that is loving, supportive, and comforting where I can be safe and free to live and learn and explore and know that I always have a place to call home. No matter where I travel to physically, I know that I can meet life head on and handle what it brings because I myself am strong, hopeful, and free and will carry that in my spirit, head and heart wherever my travels lead me. I’m grateful for my mother’s wisdom and for my own restless spirit because both guided me to the place I am in today. The next time I travel I can seek out the places where I can enjoy being alive and share in the experience of life rather than looking for a place to fulfill me.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

 

The post An Inner Journey: Yearning For A Place To Call Home appeared first on We Said Go Travel.

Delicious Dining On Rodeo Drive: #LuxeExperience

Delicious Dining On Rodeo Drive: #LuxeExperience

Dining on Rodeo Drive was FANTASTIC! The food was amazing and the atmosphere was superb! After dinner, it is a short stroll to Spaghettini and the Dave Koz Lounge. Gerald Albright was incredible and watching him Dave Koz and Marcus Miller was outstanding. Surprises happen in Beverly Hills. Be a part of the magic!

I loved my stay in the Penthouse at Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel. Try all the special Beverly Hills 90210 drinks! Enjoy your stay! Lisa

VIDEO: Dinner On Rodeo Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel

Reserve #Table1 @luxerodeodrivehotel be seen in #BeverlyHills #luxury @lovebevhills

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 7:14pm PST

VIDEO: Gerald Albright performs at Spaghettini & the Dave Koz Lounge Dec 26 2014

@luxerodeodrivehotel Beet salad with baby arugula, burrata, walnuts & sherry vinaigrette and apple salad with butter lettuce, chives, shaved cucumbers, goat cheese and white balsamic vinaigrette #luxury dining on #Rodeo A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 8:08pm PST

Delectable dining on #Rodeo Drive: Filet Mignon, King Salmon from New Zealand and Drunken Shimp #Beverlyhills

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 9:14pm PST

Decadent and delightful dessert: @luxerodeodrivehotel remarkable guittard chocolate soufflé and chocolate chip bread pudding with caramel chocolate sauce with Dows tawny 20 port exceptional #excellent #luxury service @guittardchocolate A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 9:30pm PST

@spaghettinibeverlyhills where dreams come true! Listening to @geraldalbright with @davidstephenkoz! Incredible #music now lives in #Beverlyhills. Dress by Aqua, @Bloomindales, jewelry @desert_diamond.usa @bobbibrown_makeup by @fabulous_jason #luxury

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 10:57pm PST

Stunning surprise @spaghettinibeverlyhills last night! @geraldalbright with @davidstephenkoz and #MarcusMiller. Wow! Video soon! @lovebevhills! #BeverlyHills A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 27, 2014 at 10:49am PST

Read more about my #LuxeExperience:

Making Chocolate Souffle with Chef Olivier 

A Luxury Staycation at Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel

Dining at On Sunset with Chef Olivier

Mixology 90210 On Rodeo

A Staycation on Rodeo Drive

Click here to see all my videos from Luxe Experience Hotels

The post Delicious Dining On Rodeo Drive: #LuxeExperience appeared first on We Said Go Travel.

How to Thank a Whale in Tonga

The driver of the boat was leaning over us as we scrambled to secure our fins and snorkels.  I’m sure he was barking instructions and urging us forward into the water but all I heard was the rush of my blood pulsing past my ears.  Steady now.  Be calm.  Don’t splash, just ease into the water.   Swim as quickly and as quietly as possible.

Once my head was under water there was only the sound of my adrenaline fuelled breathing and the fading purr of the boat engine.  Open water swimming always peaks my senses but this was something different altogether.  I fought to keep my breaths regular and controlled; my mind sprinted forward to envision moving shadows in the water before me.   We flanked our guide, scanning the blue layers of water underneath us, searching for signs of the massive creatures we had spotted minutes before from the surface.

Our guide slowed and pointed to a large shapes materializing front of us.  A humpback whale calf later estimated to be two weeks old was swimming slowly towards the surface to take his next breath.  My heart flooded with joy and threatened to explode with each ensuing beat.  We treaded water a distance away and I instinctively scanned the water around us for the calf’s mother.  Several metres below us I spotted a submarine sized defect in the otherwise uniform dark water.  She was completely motionless, an enormous shadow suspended in the infinity of midnight blue.   I nudged the friend treading water to my right and pointed down at her.  Though we only communicated through hand signals, the awe and reverence of her presence rippled between us.

The giant shadow’s calf had spotted our group of wetsuit clad strangers and swam directly towards us for closer inspection.   The feeling of privilege mixed with a twinge of terror at being approached by one of Earth’s most massive creatures splashed over me with the waves.  The calf slowed the motion of his body to ease towards us, with flippers held still and downwards like rudders of a ship.   I held breath as he rolled away so one of his eyes could appraise me before swimming down to drink beneath the shadow below.  I felt as though I had just become acquainted with the most amazing creature the ocean could possibly produce.  And then the shadow stirred beneath us.

She rose into the layers of lighter water majestically, unrushed and seemingly unconcerned by the humans bobbing at the surface.  She had a distinctive splash of white along her belly like a skirt laced with barnacles.  Her calf brushed against her and playfully clicked soft tones of affection.  The jet of air the mother whale released spouted spray metres up into the air and she rested at the surface for a few moments, baby at her side, before descending.   Several purposeful pumps of her fluke against the water and she faded from view, leaving no one in doubt of what speed and power she could utilize if necessary.  Her calf remained within sight of us, indicating his mother was still nearby in the depths.  In that moment I wanted so desperately to whisper to the mother whale with the barnacle skirt.  I wanted to convey my thanks for her tolerance of our presence, my compliments on her beautiful calf, and my appreciation of her gentle existence.   How does one thank a whale?

 

Back on the boat we were giddy with excitement and chatter.  In the days that followed we saw many more whales.  Each entrance into the water brought something new and unexpected: males singing undulating songs for potential mates, juveniles playing in the warm Tongan waters, and the water-churning thrill of males vying for female attention.  Each time I was humbled, each time I was washed over with gratitude for this vast blue home of amazing creatures.

Beneath the Tongan waves the white-skirted whale is queen, but it is the decisions of the land-dwelling humans that hold her kingdom in the balance.   She swims hundreds of miles to reach the shallow waters where she gives birth and feeds her calf, yet she must share this domain with hundreds of boats and people.  Upon leaving Tonga I renewed attempts to minimize my own impact on the ocean:  I decreased use of plastic bags, continued my quest to buy sustainably produced foods, and pledged to pick up every piece of trash I encountered on my riverside walks.  I made an album of my week spent swimming with giants and captioned the final page “People protect what they love.” It reminds me even as a small person in a modern landscape, I can still be a voice for ocean shadows. This is the only way I know to thank a whale.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

 

The post How to Thank a Whale in Tonga appeared first on We Said Go Travel.

Gratitude in Nigeria

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates vision for tomorrow- Inerspace.

Being a good guy as mama would want was not very easy. Her ideas were considered archaic and ludicrous until recently when I realised that those ideas were to prepare me for the responsibilities in the future. Mum and Dad has always wanted the best for me but somehow, I was not giving my best. We lived few streets from my grandma whom we fondly called Nene.

I was busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the kitchen in November 2005. The heat was much and the sun happily smiled all the way. We have had power failure in our town for two weeks. I had to pull my shirt because of the heat and I also wanted to wash plates. Mum came Cunningly and gave me a slap that sent waves through my spines because I have missed the Sunday mass. The ceramic plate in my hand fell to the floor and was shattered. Mum simultanously gave me the beating of my life. The punishment for this was to go without supper. Although, I knew I must take supper if dad comes around. Mum was still very angry with me so I had to flee for safety. I soon found myself in the next two or three streets in Nene’s house my grand mum.

Granny was happy to see me but since I came alone, she knew that if it is not a message from mum, then all is not very well. Nene was fond of yam porridge which she always added vegetable. She had a vegetable farm at the back of her small house. She made arrangement to prepare the porridge which I also ate with relish. Nene is fond of stories especially when she talks on gratitude. She will always tell us that it was because of her gratitude that made her mother in-law introduced her son to her who is my grandfather. Though I never knew him. Sad!

Soon the porridge was ready and as nene would always do, she presents you with a small portion. If you eat and grumble that would be your meal for the time been. If you eat and appreciates her, she tells you were she kept the pot so you could go and serve yourself. When the little portion came as asual, I ate and thanked Nene and she in turn showed me were she kept the pot. I got more ate to my satisfaction and finally slept off until in the night when mum came around to look for me because I had to go to school early the next morning for morning functions.

Gradually as life unfolds, I realised to be a man is not a days job and all the hard work of mum payed off. She is a supper human. Nene always wanted me to grow up and become responsible. Thanks a million to Nene though she died few years ago. I have always felt strong, inspired and hopeful. Although things are not working all well now, I know it is a matter of time.

I finally got admission to a state university and realised I have learnt so much from mum, dad and nene. This enhanced my relationship with my lecturers, course mates and all. Surprisingly, very recently, I realised that all my room mates are gradually taking after me and would appreciate every little thing no mater how little.

Thanks to dad, mum, nene and all those who contributed to my success. You have made me a pace-setter. This character developed over time, has and still inspires me, making me stronger and hopeful.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.

The post Gratitude in Nigeria appeared first on We Said Go Travel.

A Staycation on Rodeo Drive: #LuxeExperience

Stay at the only hotel on Rodeo Drive: Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel is your place for a #LuxeExperience

During my stay, the Christmas lights were wrapped around the palm trees and throngs of people were shopping on the most iconic shopping street in America. I loved discovering the parts of this hotel. You can have an intimate board meeting with Marilyn Monroe on the wall, stay in the penthouse and eat on your private terrace or dine right on Rodeo Drive! I loved eating at Table #1. Jesse taught me to make the specialty cocktails based on the characters from “Beverly Hills 90210.”

 

VIDEO: Discover Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel

Enjoy #luxury life on #Rodeo drive @luxerodeodrivehotel #Beverlyhills @lovebevhills

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 27, 2014 at 10:57am PST

Breakfast on the penthouse terrace with a view of #BeverlyHills city hall @luxerodeodrivehotel #luxury

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 27, 2014 at 10:52am PST

Ready to explore @luxerodeodrivehotel #Table1 for dinner and drinks! #Beverlyhills

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 5:39pm PST

From Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel

Reserve #Table1 @luxerodeodrivehotel be seen in #BeverlyHills #luxury @lovebevhills

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 26, 2014 at 7:14pm PST

Stunning surprise @spaghettinibeverlyhills last night! @geraldalbright with @davidstephenkoz and #MarcusMiller. Wow! Video soon! @lovebevhills! #BeverlyHills

A photo posted by Lisa Niver (@wesaidgotravel) on Dec 27, 2014 at 10:49am PST

“Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel is an intimate AAA 4-Diamond Beverly Hills hotel located on world-famous Rodeo Drive. This premier travel destination for fashionable jetsetters combines classic warmth with minimal chic and the relaxed spirit of Southern California with the elegance of Beverly Hills. The only hotel on Rodeo Drive, the Luxe offers unique easy access to world-class shopping, dining and entertainment. Rolex, Patek Philippe and Michael Kors boutiques are located on the property.

As a distinctive choice among hotels in Beverly Hills, Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive catapults you into the crux of Los Angeles’ most glamorous destination. For legendary shopping along Rodeo Drive, you’ll never have the need to leave our boutique hotel’s world-renowned thoroughfare. With West Hollywood, West Los Angeles, and the Sunset Strip just a minute’s drive away, there is no better destination among Beverly Hills hotels for a weekend getaway, shopping excursion, or business meeting in Los Angeles.”

Read more about my #LuxeExperience:

Making Chocolate Souffle with Chef Olivier 

A Luxury Staycation at Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel

Dining at On Sunset with Chef Olivier

Mixology 90210 On Rodeo

Click here to see all my videos from Luxe Experience Hotels

The post A Staycation on Rodeo Drive: #LuxeExperience appeared first on We Said Go Travel.