Lisa Niver's Blog: We Said Go Travel, page 96
June 1, 2020
#COVID19: 8 Books That Transport You
Thank you to Roxanne Szal and Ms. Magazine for publishing my article: 8 Books That Transport You
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As an avid early reader, I have been getting lost in books since I was three years old, and have been voracious ever since I began to turn pages.
Whether going to the eye doctor across town or getting on an international flight, I always have a book with me.
When I worked on cruise ships, I used to check books out of the library wherever we had our ports. I had library cards in Juneau, Alaska; Fort Lauderdale, Florida—and would even mail books back to my mom to return to the library in Los Angeles.
During COVID-19 #SafeAtHome, I have been reading nearly every day. I wanted to share some of the books that have transported me out of quarantine and into the worlds carefully created by the authors.
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This book begins in Havana in 1947, and the descriptions by author, Susana López Rubio, made me feel like I was back walking along el Malecón.
I loved my travels in Cuba when I spoke Spanish, danced salsa and of course— drank cuba libres! Whether you have visited Cuba or not, this book will make you will feel that you are walking the streets and into El Encanto—one of the most luxurious department stores in the world.
Our young protagonist, Patricio, flees Spain and creates a new life. He makes friends and enemies on both sides of the tracks, and learns that his ability to make someone laugh can change your life.
Of course, when you move countries you bring yourself and your problems with you! I loved that the twists and turns in this tale matched the politics of the government and my feelings about being inside for COVID-19.
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While author Alka Joshi’s story starts in 1955 in Jaipur, India, I have to admit some of her descriptions reminded me of my travels there in 2013. I spent three months on the public bus traversing the sub-continent—and her descriptions of the colorful saris, delicate samosas and other tasty treats reminded all my senses (especially my sense of smell) of my adventures.
Women’s lives are intertwined from the village, to town, from one town to another and one life to another. The way that boys become men, and men act like boys, causes many dramas and traumas in this tale. The women find ways to run away from one life but are often surprised by the ways it catches up to you.
I felt compelled to continue reading to discover how each part is embedded into the life of another—just as a henna artist may secret the groom or bride’s name into her designs.
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Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
It is surprising to me that I never read Wild by Cheryl Strayed before quarantine. Her book came out in 2012 while I was on an 18-month adventure in South East Asia. During my travels, I conquered my fears and did two eight-day treks in Nepal with no sherpa.
I fell madly in love with this book and Strayed’s honest account of the challenges on the Pacific Crest Trail. When she named her backpack, Monster, I remembered when I had a breakdown in the REI store because I felt so overwhelmed to think that all my belongings had to fit in the bag, and I had to lug it around with me.
I am in awe of her accomplishment and raw feelings—and her black and blue toes, which lost nearly all their toenails.
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Re-reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s tale of Italy, India and Indonesia during quarantine felt at moments like a gift of gelato and pizza—and at the same time a punishment of being locked in one location.
In so many ways, her book unlocked the conversation for women about wanting something different or something more. In part, she left her marriage because she did not want to have children. It was not the right place for her anymore and she searched in new places for clues to how her new life would unfold.
As Glennon Doyle writes in Untamed:
“What is better: uncomfortable truth or comfortable lies? Every truth is a kindness, even if it makes others uncomfortable. Every untruth is an unkindness, even if it makes others comfortable.”
Like Doyle, Gilbert showed us her truth. The ways she was uncomfortable led many others to try something new.
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I have loved Jodi Picoult’s books for decades and read every one. I learned from one of her tweets that the musical about a book written by her and her daughter, Samantha van Leer—Between the Lines—would not be opening because all of Broadway was closing for COVID-19. I felt her disappointment and decided to read it.
Most of the books on the list have taken me away to an amazing bucket list destination—yet this story led me into a book something I dreamed of doing as a child. I always wanted to walk into my books and meet the characters. My adult and childhood selves loved this journey so much, and I have recommended it to many mothers and daughters to read together.
You can continue the experience in their next book together, Off The Page.
And mark your calendars for September 22, when The Book of Two Ways, Picoult’s newest will be available for purchase.
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This book was on my radar last summer because when a book becomes a major motion picture, I always want to read the book first. I finally read it while #SafeAtHome—which felt humorous as her home and the creation of it is so much a part the lead character’s story.
Bernadette’s relationships with her house, her child, her husband and herself—as well as her lack of relationships with others, except for her virtual assistant and endless online orders—become somewhat comical, but also tragic. There is jealousy and the destruction of others’ creations and homes.
My final continent to visit is Antarctica, so even without the compelling interpersonal drama, I would have been enthralled with going somewhere with Bernadette far away in nature and perspective.
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While Netflix’s series Unorthodox (loosely based on Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots) captivated viewers during COVID-19, I was reading Naomi Ragen’s An Unorthodox Match—about a different choice: to join an Orthodox community, not about choosing to leave.
Walking into or out of the world of religion can feel like discovering a new world. Being able to participate in my synagogue was one of the reasons I returned from full-time travel in Asia. Humans need community.
In Ragen’s tale, a California girl chooses to enter an ultra-Orthodox enclave in Boro Park, Brooklyn, against her family’s wishes. Hidden secrets on all sides create questions and issues of how to belong, should you belong and where do we really belong.
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Reading Emily Giffin’s newest book during COVID-19 quarantine was very triggering for me: I was in New York City on September 11, and my company went bankrupt within eight days. To be clear, I was one of the lucky ones—I only lost my job, where many people lost their lives or family members. I was grateful to be alive.
But like many other people, 9/11 changed my career and my life. I nearly gave up on this book several times—but as Cecily struggles with whether to stay in New York City after 9/11 and who to love and what job will fulfill her, I realized that we too will get through this #alonetogether time. My hope is that someday soon COVID-19 will be context, not content, of the story—just as with 9/11 and The Lies That Bind.
I hope that this time at home has helped you clarify what you are passionate about, who you want to spend your time with and which location makes your heart sing.
https://twitter.com/emilygiffin/statu...
Thank you so much! So happy you enjoyed The Price of Paradise
May 28, 2020
#AloneTogether We Said Go Travel News May 2020
May News 2020 with We Said Go Travel:
This is my third #AloneTogether COVID-19 newsletter. I never imagined it would last more than the first two weeks but it is not over yet. At Shabbat Services on Facebook Live for Stephen Wise Temple, Rabbi Woznica said, “We are all in the same storm but we are not all in the same boat.” We are concerned about our own health and that of our family members, people who have lost jobs or might soon and financial health for ourselves, community and country. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and staying healthy of mind, body and spirit.
This COVID-19 time has reminded us all that life is unpredictable and uncertain. It always has been.
[image error]Flower from my walk around the block #LGV60ThinQ
I love my new phone! The LG V60 has an AMAZING camera!
Personally I miss traveling but I have been using this time to share my past favorite trips for inspiration in my new series, Tell Me More About:
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Thank you to University of Pennsylvania and Penn Momentum for including me in their Power of Penn Women Podcast!
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Thank you to Roxy and Ms. Magazine for publishing my two new articles!
“Untamed”: Brave Means Living From the Inside Out
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8 Books That Will Transport You
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Thank you to The Plug by XOMAD for interviewing me: Building a Creative Travel Blogging Business!
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Thank you Lindsay Tigar for including me in your CNN article: How to create the outdoor workspace of your dreams!
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Thank you to our THEY SAID authors for sharing their stories this month:
Inspiration for the 2020 Graduates: Life is What We Make It by Enock Masaki, Feeling Our Way with Cantor Emma Lutz and Yes! Our Live Animals can join your Con-FUR-ence Call! by Kangaroo Lanie.
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Did you watch Graduation Together 2020? My favorite part was the graduation medley by the Platt brothers! They went to University of Pennsylvania just like me but they sing much better than I do!
My recently published videos are animals from my December 2019 Galapagos sailing on Ecoventura’s THEORY. Enjoy sunset, black-neck stilt birds, colorful sally lightfoot crabs and sea lions. Find them all on this YouTube playlist.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND MY TRAVEL VIDEOS?
Here is the link to my video channel on YouTube where I have over one million views on YouTube! (Exact count: 1,195,000 views)
Thank you for your support! Are you one of my 2,690 subscribers? I hope you will join me and subscribe!
For more We Said Go Travel articles, TV segments, videos and social media: CLICK HERE
Find me on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and at LisaNiver.com. My social media following is now over 160,000 and I am verified on Twitter.
My fortune cookies said:
“If you’re happy, you’re successful.”
and
“Enthusiasm is infectious, stimulating and attractive to others. People will love you for it!”
Stay safe and healthy! We will travel again….
Lisa
[image error]Sunset in Santa Monica in Feb 2020
The post #AloneTogether We Said Go Travel News May 2020 appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 26, 2020
Coming Home to Greece with Diane Kochilas
For an expat like me, homecomings and farewells are part of the bargain of loving two countries: Greece and the United States. New York, Athens, and the Blue Zone Greek island of Ikaria triangulate my existence, and until this past March with COVID-19, I moved fluidly between them. My back-and-forth sojourns have been so frequent these past many years that I’ve been flying as easily as one takes the bus.
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From the extreme calmness of Ikaria, where my familial roots are, to the frenzy of New York, where I grew up, and the ancient-modern vibrant city of Athens, my home for thirty years, my life moved along just fine. I had the art of traveling down to an art form with all I needed nestled into one eight-pound carry-on. Then, of course, the world turned upside down.
These past four months, I spent holed up in an apartment in Jackson Heights, Queens, one of the world’s Covid-19 hotspots. My adult children were with me, one finishing up his college semester online and the other finishing up a series of painting commissions that brought her to New York for an extended stay. We landed back in Athens after a long but ultimately easy journey through three cities, tested negative by the uber-organized Greek authorities, and are now back home rejiggering our lives to the Greek reality.
And what a sweet reality it is! Sunshine and a relaxed, relieved vibe proved to be a much welcomed antidote to the intensity of the Big Apple. Athens is just returning to some sort of normalcy. New tourism guidelines are announced daily as the country tries to salvage its lifeline and summer.
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But beyond all the virus-related news, coming back to Greece was a return to many of the things I have loved about this country since I first stepped foot here almost half a century ago. It is those things that I have strived to share with Americans, in cookbooks and in “My Greek Table,” my travel-cooking show and personal love song to Greece, now in its third season on public television.
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Once our mandatory self-quarantine was over, my first outing was to the local farmer’s market. Just to see and smell everything that is in season and it lightened my heart: small piles of silky fresh grape leaves, blushing apricots and tiny strawberries with a big aroma, among them. I plucked up a handful of season-specific horta (greens), called almyra, which means salty because they grow close to the sea. I cooked the season’s first stuffed peppers and tomatoes, filling them with rice and a mountain of fresh herbs, mainly wild fennel, which is an arbiter of the Greek spring. We’ve been dining al fresco on the balcony every evening, a uniquely Athenian and Greek thing to do. It feels good to be back.
The Greece I love is in the markets, for sure, and it is that Greece, visible via its fresh, vibrant food, that I try to serve up in every episode of “My Greek Table.” This season took us way beyond Athens, with a focus on the islands and the coasts. Every island has its own culinary claim to fame.
In Mykonos, onion pie and pungent, soft cheese are local delicacies; in Tinos, a marble sculptor led me to Nicoletta, a well-known local cook who taught me how to make an ancient sesame confection and equally old sweet cheese cakes, among other things; Chios brought us to mastiha trees, from which a cure-all resinous spice by the same name is culled, and to a distiller whose fiery brew is made with figs; Messinian olive oil, more figs and great pork are two things we found in the southern Peloponnese; in Evia it was mushrooms; and a whole world of Venetian-influenced delicacies gave flavor the the Ionian Islands’ unique history, unlike that of any other part of Greece.
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The Greece I love is alive and well. Sunshine and that relaxed vibe are two great reasons to visit, but to me the best reason to travel to this ancient land is its food. Every bite is a delicious taste of history.
Order My Greek Table from Amazon and bring Diane and Greece into your home!
The post Coming Home to Greece with Diane Kochilas appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 25, 2020
XOMAD Interview: “Building a Creative Travel Business”
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Thank you to XOMAD for including me in their series on The Plug.
Wondering how you can build or maintain a travel business while in lockdown? Scope these tips on pitching editors, blog monetization, networking, and more from travel expert, writer, and frequent KTLA contributor, Lisa Niver, aka @wesaidgotravel.
Pitching Editors
Q: What are your top 3 tips for pitching editors to write about your creative business?
1.) Identify Needed Content
“One of my favorite things to do is read, and when I first started my website in 2009, We Said Go Travel, I would write to the authors of the books to learn more about them. After reading Laura Fraser’s book, All Over the Map, I reached out to her and asked her for help. We had many emails and I learned more about books, writing and publishing. I recently asked her what she would recommend to people looking to pitch and she said:
‘My tip for pitching editors is to think like an editor and solve their problem. They want to fill a hole in the magazine, provide content that suits their readers, is a certain length, hasn’t been done before, is fresh, and well-written. The pitch should convey all that–in a paragraph.’ You can follow her on FB at @WritingSoup!
2.) Take Classes
In 2014, when I read Amy Friedman’s book, Desperado’s Wife: A Memoir, I learned in her book that she was from Los Angeles. I wrote to her and she was so kind and helpful. I asked her about tips for pitching today, and she recommended the classes and information at the LA Editors and Writers Group.
3.) Be patient
I met Amanda Castleman at a journalism conference called Travel Classics. She teaches several writing classes including one specifically about pitching called, “Pitch like a Honey Badger.”
In terms of pitching during COVID-19, Amanda told me to remember “Be extra, extra patient with yourself and others. With 27 years of experience and a good reputation, I’m getting ghosted right now. So are A-list friends, who normally have to shoo away clients. It’s just going to be the unpleasant new normal for a while. All the crickets and rejections are absolutely no reflection on you, your work, or even the idea. Remember, even when you’re not landing work, you’re improving your skills and getting on editors’ radar!”
Stay Flexible
Q: How can creators monetize their travel blogging business during and after the COVID-19 crisis?
“I think the most important thing during and after the COVID-19 crisis is to use the “F” word—which is of course FLEXIBLE.
It is important to be sensitive at this time. Many people have family members in the hospital or who have lost their jobs. Every day I hear of another friend in travel or PR or hotels who has been laid off or furloughed.
During #SafeAtHome quarantine, I created a new series on my website called, Tell Me More About, which is information about my past travels. I decided that I will only write about past trips during this COVID-19 time.”
Recycle Relevant Content
Q: What strategies do you employ for boosting the reach of video content?
“My YouTube channel, which is called We Said Go Travel, is where I host all of my videos. I now have over one million views! In order to promote my videos, I put them in articles on my website and I share them across all of my social media.
I have also been using my videos when I am talking about travel on KTLA TV here in Los Angeles.”
Study, Network, Practice
Q: What skills should travel bloggers be sharpening while they are unable to travel? What type of content should they be posting?
“As a teacher, I am always interested in learning more. I participate in many workshops and conferences. I have focused over the past few years on my videos and prior to that mainly on writing. Each travel blogger has to find their passion and what makes their content a bit different than everyone else’s.
During #SafeAtHome, I have been writing every day and working with an editor. I am making progress [on a book I am writing] and using this quarantine as a “writing retreat” for my book at my home.
Take Care of Yourself
Q: What are common pitfalls for travel content creators you have seen during COVID-19? How can they avoid these pitfalls?
“The most important thing is to stay healthy! You need to take care of your physical, emotional and mental health. I have heard from content creators who never get out of their pajamas. I tell them you have to get dressed every day and brush your teeth and go outside. It is very important to have a routine. I have certain days that I post on social media and specific days when I post new articles on my website. I have been sharing fewer days on social and posting fewer new videos but I am still creating new content.”
Why not YOU?
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
“At one writing workshop by David Hochman from UPOD, his mantra was “Why not, you?” or “Why not, me?” In the beginning, when I was pitching a story to an editor, I would think they must have someone better, someone more experienced, someone they worked with before. I was worried they would not like my pitch or me or even open my emails. I started to tell myself: “WHY NOT, ME?”
If I do not ask, it is already a no. I kept asking and asking and eventually I had articles in print for four different airline in-flight magazines and one success led to another. I have written for many publications and been invited on incredible adventures.
I was recently interviewed by University of Pennsylvania for their Power of Penn Women Podcast! Although we did the interview in Nov 2019, it went live last week during COVID-19 quarantine. I was honored to be included and cannot wait to see what will happen next. My segment is called: Try, Try Again because that is how I make things happen. I never give up but I might change directions! Remember the Japanese proverb: “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”
For more information on Lisa’s TV segments, videos, articles, awards and other interviews, head over to We Said Go Travel.
Need content or want to meet more creatives? Contribute to our Tip Jar Series to get featured in our newsletter & socials, and gain visibility in our community! If interested, click here!
Wondering how you can build or maintain a travel blogging business during lockdown?
— The Plug by XOMAD (@theplugbyxomad) May 15, 2020
Scope these tips on pitching editors, blog monetization, networking, and more from travel expert, writer, and frequent KTLA contributor, @wesaidgotravel https://t.co/GOb83iQsRw #travelblogger pic.twitter.com/Xvv9gNw5Ez
Learn more from XOMAD and The Plug about quarantine content creation with these articles:
How to Adjust Your Creative Business Amidst COVID-19
Pitching Brands on COVID-19 Initiatives
How to Use Live Streaming to Stay Engaged During Quarantine
Spark Imagination and Cure Boredom
The post XOMAD Interview: “Building a Creative Travel Business” appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 21, 2020
Want to Work Outdoors? Lisa Niver on CNN
Thank you Lindsay Tigar for including me in your CNN article: How to create the outdoor workspace of your dreams!
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Use a real desk
Sure, you could plop down on a lounge chair, or maybe even sprawl across an outdoor sofa. But to ensure you remain productive, you need to be comfortable enough to go into full work mode. And to do this, says travel blogger Lisa Niver, a real desk is essential. While she’s on the road, she works almost exclusively outside, and now she’s doing the same during the lockdown. “I find when I am at a hotel with a couch and table I cannot work. I must have a good chair and a proper height table in order to work and not have back pain,” she says.
While you can use your outdoor patio dining room set, you should also consider a portable option, says Niver, like this laptop station. You can set it up in less than a minute, and when you’re finished using it, it folds up at the touch of a button. It even comes with a built-in fan.
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Consider an outdoor fridge
While reviewing a hotel one time, Niver worked from a cabana at the hotel pool that had a fan and a mini-fridge. These items aren’t essential for meeting a deadline or attending a Zoom meeting, but Niver says they definitely make it more fun and cooler. To avoid having to go back inside for a snack or to refill water, consider a portable mini fridge that keeps your goods cold.
And yeah, having a fan right around your neck doesn’t seem like a bad addition either.
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Want to know more about my cabana work experience by the pool?
The post Want to Work Outdoors? Lisa Niver on CNN appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 20, 2020
Wondering how you can build or maintain a travel bloggin...
Wondering how you can build or maintain a travel blogging business during lockdown?
Scope these tips on pitching editors, blog monetization, networking, and more from travel expert, writer, and frequent KTLA contributor, @wesaidgotravel https://t.co/GOb83iQsRw #travelblogger pic.twitter.com/Xvv9gNw5Ez
— The Plug by XOMAD (@theplugbyxomad) May 15, 2020
The post appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 19, 2020
Some of @wesaidgotravel's best books to get lost in, inc...
Some of @wesaidgotravel's best books to get lost in, including favorites from @jodipicoult, @GilbertLiz, @emilygiffin, @CherylStrayed, @alkajoshi, @_MariaSemple, @Naomiragen1 and @SusanaEscritora https://t.co/ywbQvPfHzt
— Ms. Magazine (@MsMagazine) May 19, 2020
The post appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
To be included with powerhouses like Gilbert, Strayed, P...
To be included with powerhouses like Gilbert, Strayed, Picoult and Giffin….WOW. Just wow! Thank you, Lisa pic.twitter.com/37cIKtDpoh
— Alka Joshi (@alkajoshi) May 19, 2020
The post appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 18, 2020
Finding Life Between The Lines
All my life, I have been in love with books. Whether traveling across town or across continents, I must have books with me. I have been drawn into the worlds that Jodi Picoult creates for decades. I included her book, A Spark of Light, in my Ms. Magazine article, “Feminist Fiction Books to Curl Up with for the Holidays.”
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I was thrilled to learn that the book she wrote with her daughter, Samantha van Leer, called Between the Lines was set to become a Broadway Musical. However, that was before COVID-19 and the closing of many openings. While we are all #SafeAtHome, there are no new musicals right now. I hope that it will happen in the future.
While we are #TogetherAtHome, I wanted to share some of my favorite lines from their book, Off the Page:
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“Going to high school is a little like being told you have to get up each morning and run headlong at sixty miles an hour into the same brick wall.”
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“Everyone has a story. You might think it’s not worth telling, but then again, it’s a story no one has ever heard.”
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“What you do, what you say, how you carry the plot, just might leave a mark on someone.”
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“Because that’s what stories do. They help you escape, and they give you the chance to do things you never imagined you would or could. They let you feel heartbreak you’ve never had and experience adventures from the safety of your own room. They are dreams for those who are still awake. They can be as comfortable as an old pair of slippers and as unnerving as the blade of a knife. They possess the power to change you, to inspire you, to open your mind.”
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“Stories are all around us, caught in the throats of the strangers you walk past and scrawled on the pages of locked diaries. They’re in love letters that were never sent and between the lines of every conversation ever spoken. Just because your story’s not written down doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Perhaps someone’s reading your story right now, in fact—imagining your eyes skimming over this page, your hands clutching the binding as you hurry to get to the last line.”
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And from Between the Lines, “The act of reading is a partnership. The author builds a house, but the reader makes it a home.”
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“So how do you tell an adult that maybe everything wrong in the world stems from the fact that she’s stopped believing the impossible can happen?”
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I am looking forward to Jodi Picoult’s next book, The Book of Two Ways, due out on September 22, 2020.
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All flower photos by Lisa Niver with #LGV60ThinQ during COVID-19 walks around the block.
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Read more about Between the Lines in my new Ms. Magazine article: 8 Books That Will Transport You
The post Finding Life Between The Lines appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
May 17, 2020
Thanks for including me on this great list, Lisa!
— Cher...
Thanks for including me on this great list, Lisa!
— Cheryl Strayed (@CherylStrayed) May 17, 2020
The post appeared first on We Said Go Travel.
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