Last night, at 6.45pm, seven Diverse Travellers braved the rain and joined me at the 5th floor bar and food in Waterstone's, Piccadilly.
The evening got off to a faulty start as I was delayed, due to the rain effect on the Bakerloo line, and we were seated in the wrong place.
I arrived on the 5th floor at the same time as our guest Alyssa, assistant producer at Outline Productions, only to find my group, Ellie, Maureen, Clare, Rachel and Kirsten seated in the very noisy restaurant, getting to know each by shouting out their introductions.
While Alyssa explained her project, she is looking for quick soundbite vox-pops of experiences people may have had while eating out abroad. I found the manager and, politely but firmly, asked why we were not seated in the quieter 'reading area' I had booked two weeks ago. Unfortunately the 'reading area' was full with other groups and people enjoying their after work drinks. Fortunately the manger couldn't say no to my brimming doe eyes, and we were showed to the closed off and secluded area of the Lecture Room. Ironically, the area we were given, a large half circle, comfy settee covered in black and grey velvet and a very large round wooden table, was surrounded by shelves of travel books. Perfect!
ShareNow happily secluded and relaxed, over drinks - the non-alcoholic pear and peach fizz cocktail is a must - we shared tales of travels to places worldwide such as Brazil, India, Canada and Thailand, and shared packing tips - Ellie's "Always take string," was my favourite.
As well as getting to know each other and sharing travel tales, the group discussed content they would like to see on the Diverse Traveller website. The idea of workshops was very well received, ideas put forward included:
- Packing tips for summer and winter travel,
- Constructive and comfortable travel writing group, and
- Photography - the idea of something along the lines of the popular Guardian newspaper's camera club and the resultant photos shared on the Diverse Traveller group page on Flickr].
Ellie asked me what happened to the idea I had of recording the Diverse Traveller stories for audio downloads. I explained I had postponed this idea while I searched for a volunteer to help edit the recordings. Rachel mentioned she might know someone, fingers crossed.
Raffle
I'd make a lousy bingo caller, as I messed up the raffle, or as Ellie said humorously, "It's good to know you are not good at everything." Goodness knows what I did with the raffle tickets as nobody had the first three numbers I called out. In the end I ditched the tickets and randomly called out numbers from one to ten, which worked. Rachel won a Diverse Traveller bag, something she'd wanted for a while, both Dawn and Maureen won a Diverse Traveller fridge magnet each.
Two hours and much travel talk later it was time to say goodbye. After years of maintaining an online relationship with many Diverse Travellers, I consider myself fortunate to be able to finally meet some of the women who have been with Diverse Traveller from the start, as well as meeting two who have recently started their Diverse Traveller journey. It was also time to say goodbye to Clare, who looks after the Diverse Traveller facebook pages. Clare is off to Thailand for a year, teaching and travelling, on Wednesday.
Sadly, I forgot to take photos, but who needs pictures as I have images of the evening playing on a loop, like an enjoyable movie, in my mind.
I thank Ellie, Maureen, Clare, Rachel, Dawn and Kirsten (and Nadine, who tried to join us but was told by the 5th Floor staff we were not there) for joining me last night in spite of the heavy rain and late start.
Diverse Traveller updates
To find out the details of our future meetings and events and to receive Diverse Traveller updates, join us in the following ways:
1) subscribe to the Diverse Traveller newsletter
2) join as an author
3) contribute to the Diverse Traveller Photography group on Flickr
4) Join us on Facebook
5) join us on Meetup
6) subscribe to this blog
7) follow Diverse Traveller on Twitter
If you have any ideas for workshops inc. venues, plus any events you want to bring to the attention of women travellers (doesn't have to be women-only events), please share with us.
