Tag: travel

A Case for Volunteer Travel

Amy Martin

Pack your bags, you’re going on a guilt trip. Many of us have resorted to spend time with our families. This resort style vacation with our family includes hours at the community watering hole, unfortunate group photographs complete with sun-burn lines and Caribbean-inspired braiding. As far as we know, we Read more

Amy Martin

Amy was born on the wrong side of the Holland Tunnel, and has considered this just-missed connection to be a metaphor for her life ever since. Later, she traveled north to New England and received her degrees in Philosophy, Theatre and French. The years to follow have been spent traveling the world and working on multiple projects in Kenya, in a desperate attempt to save humanity. Amy spends most of her free time daydreaming about being French — but you can also find her in the garden, in the kitchen or on her yoga mat. Amy writes about travel, ethics, life and everything in-between.

It’s Been Hell and It’s Been a Ride

JR Roessl

How do you cram 60 years worth of living in 200 words or less?  Let me try. It’s been a hell of a ride or as my older sister likes to say, “it’s been hell and it’s been a ride,” beginning at age seven, with our family’s ten year “project”– Read more

JR Roessl

After more than thirty years as a model and actor, JR moved to the Hudson Valley in 2006. She lives in an 1880 renovated barn with her husband and young daughter and three crazy bengal cats. She received her B.A. in creative writing from NYU and has written a memoir about her teenage years spent sailing on the high seas. She is thrilled to be writing for the Feminine Collective.

Babes in Borneo: The Search for Mary

Bert Woodson

This is the story of a group of wild women I am fortunate enough to call friends. They were all living in Indonesia 20-some years ago. Twila is graceful strength personified. She is tasteful, dignified, and brilliant. There’s also a bit of a wild monkey buried in there that comes Read more

Bert Woodson

Bert Woodson currently lives on Florida’s Gulf Coast in Cortez, with his Rhodesian Ridgeback, Colt, and Colt’s kitty Woof. (Yes, he named him.)

Incredible India: Rhinos, Rats, Potholes and the Taj Mahal

Michele Rigby Assad

I have never been so happy to survive a vacation as I was my first trip to India. The roads of this enormous country should be classified as the 8th Wonder of the World—because it is a miracle that anything arrives at its destination in one piece.  This is due Read more

Michele Rigby Assad

After obtaining a masters degree in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Michele applied—along with hundreds of others from the university--to work for the CIA. After a long and grueling hiring process and a year of intensive training, she became an intelligence officer for the National Clandestine Service, the covert (operational) arm of the Agency. Serving for a decade as a counterterrorism officer, Michele worked in all of the awful places you hope you’ll never visit, including Iraq during the height of the war. To date, Michele has traveled to 45 countries, lived in six of those, and has a lot of crazy stories to tell about life overseas. While working for the CIA, Michele initially decried the traits that made her different from senior male officers, but later realized that these traits were what made her a great intelligence officer (empathy, intuition, strong interpersonal skills). Now she’s on a mission to show women that they have the elements to be a Femme Fatale—the incredibly intelligent and operationally astute woman that gets stuff done. After years of service to her country, Michele has left the undercover life behind and now works as an international management consultant focused on Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She has a more “normal” life now and a lot more time to do the things she loves: writing, cooking, traveling for pleasure, walking on the beach—and most of all, inspiring others!

The Sophisticated Traveler Costa Rica Style

Bert Woodson

Trends in international travel are changing, drastically.  I experienced this first hand as proprietor of Bella Vista Lodge in Dominical, Costa Rica. Ticos (Costa Ricans) have a saying:  Pura Vida.  It means “pure life”.  It’s used as a salutation, as a reply to an inquiry as to one’s health and state Read more

Bert Woodson

Bert Woodson currently lives on Florida’s Gulf Coast in Cortez, with his Rhodesian Ridgeback, Colt, and Colt’s kitty Woof. (Yes, he named him.)