So why is it I FEEL like a winner?

I think when you travel to another country (or even another region within your own) you develop a special relationship with that place, don’t you? PwP has done that for me.

1. Because when I get appeals from Heifer International, I remember the modest beginnings of Passports With Purpose, when I was not yet an official travel blogger, so I could only contribute personally, not participate. But I was happy to contribute because Heifer is such a terrific organization, and I was blown away by what the community of travel bloggers had undertaken. How mind boggling that they could raise $7,500.

2. Because every time I think of Cambodia, a place I fell in love with when I visited,  I see in my minds’ eye a school that I helped to build (if you don’t want to get a lump in your throat, don’t click that link, from Michelle’s blog). That year the effort DOUBLED its goal of $14,000 to raise $30,000.

3.Although I’ve never been to India, I was part of an effort that enabled people to live in solid houses because Passports with Purpose, in its third year busted right through its goal of $50,000  and raised $64,000 to build a whole village. (Beth wrote about her trip to watch the building) A part of India will always be a part of me.

4. Because now I know that kids in  villages somewhere in Zambia will have access to books in TWO new libraries, because once again, bloggers from around the world and YOU, the readers of travel blogs, were so generous that instead of raising $80,000, PwP raised nearly $90,000.  I’ve never been to Africa, but I am now connected to Zambia.

5. Because each year, Passport with Purpose has introduced me to

• new-to-me charitable organizations, like this year’s Room to Read;
• enabled me to form closer ties with sponsors I love;
• made me part of a team of incredible writers with interests similar to mine.

Yep! I’m definitely a winner.

But some people contributed their $10 and walked off with some sensational prizes.  They are winners AND Winners with a capitol W.

I don’t know who all the winners are, but I do have the names of those who won the prizes I sponsored.

I do not yet have permission to use the name of the people who won the New Orleans 3-night stay at Hotel Monteleone. (They possibly are around the world in another time zone and we just have not connected yet).

But I will put them into this post as soon as I get them.  Meanwhile, if you’re checking to see if YOU won a prize from another blogger, check your e-mail messages–and be sure to check the spam filter, too. Not there? That’s okay–trust me, you’re still a winner.

Hotel Monteleone

Justin Lindblad of Willing Foot will travel to New Orleans for a three-night stay at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Congratulations to Justin and thanks again to the wonderful Hotel Monteleone.

Interlink Books

Winner: Caitlin Fitzsimmons,  writes a wide-ranging travel blog at Roaming Tales (“Travels on Planet Earth” –see! I said it was wide-ranging).  Caitlin’s $300 book library from Interlink Books should fuel her future travels. Congratulations, Caitlin and thanks again to wonderful Interlink.

MacMillan Audio Books

Winner: Monique Rubin, a runner, ex-pat and mother, Mo  writes about her travel at Mo Travels.  She’ll surely enjoy listening to some audio books as she travels, thanks to the generous prize offered by MacMillan Audio Books. Congratulations Mo and thanks again to MacMillan, who have provided me with some great travel-inspiring novels.

You’re probably glad that I’m going to shut up about Passports With Purpose (until next year) and stop nagging you to donate. But I do have one more favor to ask.

Please, when you have a chance, utilize the products and services of our sponsors. And tell them thanks while you’re on line some time.

Sponsors from A Traveler’s Library:

• Hotel Monteleone
• Interlink Books
• MacMillan Audiobooks

The Heavy Hitters Who Underwrote the Whole Shebang this year:

•  RTW with Us (Platinum Sponsor)
•  Traveller’s Point (Silver Sponsor)
• HomeAway (Bronze Sponsor)

I can’t begin to express my awe and admiration at what Pam, Beth, Debbie, and Michelle have accomplished over the past four years. You go girls! What’s next? buy a small country??

Whatever it is, A Traveler’s Library is IN.

So, tell us–are you a winner, or a Winner? And if you’re a Winner–what goodies did you take home?

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

is ba-a-ack with a basketful of temptations for you, and A Traveler’s Library is sponsoring TWO great vacation prizes.

• Here’s WHAT it is
• HOW you can win prizes like fabulous vacations and travel gear
• WHERE the money goes

PWP Ingredients

We are so fortunate to be able to read and to be able to travel. And I feel fortunate to help to repay the universe by joining with other travel bloggers to raise money to build a village in India. The organizers are Debbie Dubrow (Delicious Baby), Beth Whitman (Wanderlust and Lipstick), Michelle Duffy (Wandermom) and Pam Mandel (NerdsEyeView), but dozens of bloggers will be participating. (The founders say they do their planning over cupcakes, so I think of them as the 4 Cupcakes. All those other bloggers are just frosting on the cake.)

Let me tell you that quartet is pretty amazing.  The first year, they raised $7,000 for Heifer International, one of my very favorite charities. I had just started blogging and wasn’t able to sponsor a prize, but I spent lots of $10 bills and won a couple of nice things.

Last year, I couldn’t wait to participate as a blogger sponsor, because the recipient country was Cambodia, a favorite destination of ours. The 4 Cupcakes set a seemingly impossible goal of $14,000 to build a school in Cambodia. Except that we all raised $30,000 instead. So the school got a nurse, clean water and  extra bookshelves. I couldn’t be happier to show you pictures of the result.

So…$7,000; then $30,000; (you can see where this is going, right? )…

The Cake is Rising

This year the 4 Cupcakes decided that one building is mere crumbs. This year, they said, we’re gonna build a VILLAGE in India.  The goal is $50,000, which will build 25 homes for people who never dared dream they would have a house to call their own. Passports Village in Karunganni, located in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

The money raised goes directly to the humanitarian organization LAFTI (Land for Tiller’s Freedom). That organization has won many humanitarian awards for its work with the people called untouchables in India.

A Traveler’s Library prizes

WIN A STAY IN NEW ORLEANS

Hotel Monteleone

Would you like to win a two-night stay in New Orleans? This year the return donor Hotel Monteleone, includes welcome cocktails in the famous Carousel Lounge and breakfast for two. Get ready to party in New Orleans. When Ken and I go to New Orleans, this is our first choice hotel. (The fine print: Three  day, Two night stay in deluxe accommodations at the historic Hotel Monteleone located in the heart of the French Quarter, New Orleans (room charges only, excluding Friday and Saturday nights).  The package also includes a welcome cocktail for (2) at the famous Carousel Bar, and American breakfast for (2) daily in Le Café.)

G-normous thanks to the classy Hotel Monteleone for their generous donation, second year in a row. What pals!

WIN A DUDE RANCH VACATION

The horse corral at Rancho de los Caballeros

And if New Orleans isn’t your style, how about a three-night vacation for two at a luxurious guest ranch in Arizona?  Rancho de los Caballeros provides a prize package worth about $1500, including all meals for two and riding activities. Ken and I stayed there recently and trust me, whether you ride or not, this is an awesome place. (The fine print: The ranch choses from the end of May through the first week of October, and this stay excludes the months of March and April. Activities other than riding may incur extra charges. See web site for details). This gorgeous ranch will welcome you because of the generosity of the owners and the manager who hosted me and then made this offer. Thank you for your amazing generosity.

Recipe for Success

I know you’re already getting packed for your trip, so quickly, let me tell you how to win. Go to the Passports With Purpose web site and donate $10 to LAFTI for each time you want to be entered into a drawing. Put all your money on one prize, or spread it out–your choice.  And it will not be easy choosing.  Chocolate, vanilla, banana, caramel, carrot cake—oh, sorry, that’s cupcakes.  I meant to say more than 100 prizes to choose from. Contest starts today and closes end of the day on DECEMBER 13th, 2010.

See all the prizes and make your choices at Passports With Purpose web site.

Read more about Hotel Monteleone.

Read more about Rancho de los Caballeros

Thank you sponsors:

• BootsnAll,
• LiveMocha,
• Round the World with Us,
• HomeAway,
• Traveller’s Point,
• Hostelling International,
• Quintess,
• Raveable,
• TravelPost,
• Uptake.

Those companies have donated from $1000 to $10000 to LAFTI already. Because of them, we were more than half way to the goal on day one. Check them out and say thank you.

So after you click over to Passports With Purpose, and check out LAFTI and choose your favorite prizes, then come on back and tell us what you chose. Okay?

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Boy With a Flute in Cambodia

Of course we know that the really big winners are all those lucky kids  in Preah Vihear in Cambodia who will get a new school.  But there are other winners, too. Everyone who donated through the raffle or otherwise, can feel really good about what we have accomplished. WE BUILT A SCHOOL AND EQUIPPED IT!!! If you missed the raffle, you can still send a check to American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC). To make it easy, Passports With Purpose has a Paypal donation page.

Oh, yes, some people own raffle prizes donated by travel bloggers and their business partners.

Of course you would like to know who won the fabulous two-night stay at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans and the Periscope Book Light in a Book Cover plus a wonderful book?

Hotel Monteleone

MONTELEONE HOTEL, Literary Landmark Hotel, two-night stay  winner is: lbaran@pcsedu.com

Funny names people have nowadays, huh?  UPDATE: I guessed the lbaran stood for Librarian, and concocted a school the edu tied to. HOWEVER, the real name is Laura Baran, and she says: I’m a curriculum developer for a company that writes Science, Math, Robotics and Engineering curriculum using LEGO and KNEX. Yeah, really.. it’s what I do. www.pcsedu.com I play with toys and robots at the office.

When I asked why she entered the contest, she said: I love travel and wanted to see if I couldn’t convince my husband we needed a trip away from Idaho. (Where we are.) I donated to the school because education is important to me. It’s my job and I’m on the board and members of many local non-profits focusing on education and children.

That’s great, Laura, thanks for your contribution, and I know you’ll enjoy New Orleans (although Idaho is pretty darned nice, too.)

Periscope Book Cover with Light

PERISCOPE BOOK LIGHT IN A BOOK COVER and MISTRESS TO THE SUN , historic novel winner is:rozwrite55@yahoo.com

Okay, the winners name is Roz (Rosalyn, Rozalynne–???) UPDATE: Rosalind Cummings Yeates, who blogs as Far Sighted Flygirl is the winner. She was one of the travel writers who participated in Passports with Purpose, so this is a nice bonus for her. As soon as she contacts me, I’ll send her the prize directly. Roz, please contact me at vmb at atravelerslibrary dot com [Tuesday update: See Roz' comment below.]

Congratulations to everybody!! And Thanks, also!

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Although the thermometer may not reflect it yet, we busted past $26,000 at around 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time tonite (Monday, Dec.21). You have until midnight Pacific time to continue bidding, and get more equipment to complete the Cambodian School.

Last Day to Win Prizes

WIN BIG on the Passports With Purpose Raffle. And a NEW PRIZE has been added–aMatador Travel Writing Class. Great odds since the prize is a late arrival!

You will recall that we have raised $13,000 to build a school, and A Traveler’s Library is donating a bookcase full of books. See what the further contributions will do for our School In Cambodia and check out all the wonderful prizes. See how close we are coming–the thermometer to the right has the present total.

For only $10 a bid,  you can win a prize valued up to $2,700. But act now, because THIS IS THE LAST –FINAL–ULTIMATE–DAY.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Celebrate!

The goal of $13,000 seemed a steep hill, but the Passports With Purpose collaboration of travel bloggers, wonderful sponsors and our faithful readers have reached the original goal (see the thermometer in the right hand column). We have raised enough to build a school in Cambodia!! That means that I will be contributing $150 for a book shelf full of books, and you can do that, too.

Now we have a new hill to climb.  The team that put together this great drive have decided to raise an additional $13,000 to provide healthy additions. You can see some details about the school’s location and Passports With Purpose plans here.

School improvements: • Hagar water filter: $300 one-time cost
• 1 “Victory” vegetable garden,: $7,500 funds first two years, $2,000 each additional year
• School nurse: $5400/year

So  you can still buy chances on the wonderful prizes (Like two nights at the Monteleone in New Orleans or a Periscope Book Cover and Light) through December 21st, and help complete the school.  Your $10 contribution will make a big difference.

Please go to Passports With Purpose website and donate $10 for your chosen gift, TODAY!

And, remember, A Traveler’s Library Readers, you are challenged to provide a $150 bookshelf and books for our school. How many bookshelves can we provide? Get together with a book club, family, or group of friends and let me know.

And please, please, please, pass the word through your friends and social networking!!

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Books: You Buy ‘em!

Boy With a Flute in Cambodia

Because the Khmer Rouge routinely slaughtered anyone in Cambodia who was educated, the country needs to restore literacy to its nation, but how can that happen when children are wandering the dusty roads instead of going to school? It is heart breaking. But you can help.

Passports With Purpose: Build a School in Cambodia

As I explained last week, I have joined an effort by a group of travel bloggers to raise money to build a school in Cambodia. Dozens of bloggers will be participating. The money raised goes directly to AAfC, American Assistance for Cambodia’s Rural Schools Project, to build a school.

What You Can Do

For each $10 in donations that you make to AAfC, you will will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. The raffle opens on today, November 30th and closes on December 21. (Complete rules appear on the Passports With Purpose website, and you can see all of the prizes offered at that same addresss) 100% of all donations go directly to AAfC a 501 (c)(3) charity. And if you want to see first hand how the project works, see this video from ABC News.

What A Traveler’s Library is Offering for a Prize

Although I encourage you to go to the Passports with a Purpose website and contribute for lots of chances on various items, I know you’re really going to like what I came up with here. TWO NIGHTS AT THE:

Hotel Monteleone

YEP! TWO NIGHTS AT THE 4-star HOTEL MONTELEONE in the FRENCH QUARTER in exciting NEW ORLEANS. VALUE $600!

You have heard me rave about the Monteleone before, when I talked about Literary New Orleans here, and at Girls Getaway. I think of the Monteleone as my home in New Orleans, and if you win this prize, you will find out why I love it.

Fine print:

Two (2) night, two (2) persons stay in deluxe accommodations as guests of the historic Hotel Monteleone in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans. This offer is for room charges only and excludes Friday and Saturday nights. This offer is valid from December 1, 2009 – November 30, 2010 and does not apply during Special Events such as Sugar Bowl, Mardi Gras, French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest, Bayou Classic, etc. Total value $600.

This prize is available only to residents of the United States. (Sorry Canada, but you have different laws).

A COMBO PRIZE: LIGHT UP YOUR READING LIFE AND READ A GOOD BOOK:

Periscope Book Cover and Built-in Light

And so that you won’t be looking at a blank leather cover:

Mistress of the Sun

You can read more about the Periscope Book Cover here (it is number 3), and my review of Mistress of the Sun here. The Periscope Book Covers come in various sizes, but this one will wrap your standard hard back or trade paper back book in soft brown leather. An ingenious double lamp (an LED) on a periscoping arm, pull up out of the “spine” of the cover to illuminate both pages so you can read in bed without bothering the person on the other side or read in a darkened airplane cabin. You can fit your favorite book in the cover, but if you like historic fiction, or love France, you’re going to love the book I’m sending to go with your book cover. I will ship a copy of the book to the winner, and Periscope will ship their book cover directly to you.  Value $59.95 for book cover; Mistress of the Sun $26.00 list price.

This combo prize is available only to residents of the United States. (Sorry Canada, you have different laws.)

LAGNIAPPE

On your trip to New Orleans, you learn about lagniappe, that little something extra. Here’s the little something extra from A Traveler’s Library.

Since we are all about libraries here, I am pledging to contribute a bookshelf full of books to AAfC when Passport With Purpose hits the goal of $13,000. That is a $150 contribution to AAfC, and with your help, I would like to send more than one bookshelf. Would you like to contribute another bookshelf? Think about getting your book club, or your family to pitch in, and e-mail me directly at vmb @ atravelerslibrary.com, since this is a complement to Passports with a Prupose and will not show up on their web page. But please make your $10 donations to Passport With a Purpose first!!

Now run on over to the Passport With Purpose web site and choose the gift or gifts that your $10 donations are going to go for. I know my two are fabulous, but there are others just as wonderful in the total list.

Read more about the Rural Schools project in a personal account of participation in the program by the NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristof.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Boy With a Flute in Cambodia

Among the things we are thankful for: Good schools for our children and grandchildren. True, the United States education system is not perfect. What is? But compared to many countries, it is luxurious. Take the beautiful country of Cambodia, one of those places we have traveled to that sticks in our minds like a sad song.

In Cambodia, there were children begging and selling things like t-shirts and bracelets and musical instruments in front of the arches of Ta Prohm, on the grassy fields between temple buildings with elaborate carvings in the dark gray stone at Angkor Thom, in front of the bridge that leads to Angkor Wat–everywhere we went.

Our Cambodian guide, a father himself, frequently scolded the children, asking why they were not in school. He explained to us that the parents had to pay to send them to school because the government could not afford to build enough schools, and many people are too poor to spare their children from work at home. Because the Khmer Rouge routinely slaughtered anyone who was educated, the country needs to restore literacy to its nation, but how can that happen when children are wandering the dusty roads instead of going to school? It is heart breaking. But you can make a difference.

Passports With Purpose: Build a School in Cambodia

I have joined an effort by a generous and thoughtful group of travel bloggers to raise money to build a school in Cambodia. The organizers are Debbie Dubrow (Delicious Baby), Beth Whitman (Wanderlust and Lipstick), Michelle Duffy (Wandermom) and Pam Mandel (NerdsEyeView), but dozens of bloggers will be participating. The money raised goes directly to AAfC, American Assistance for Cambodia’s Rural Schools Project.

How It Works

For each $10 in donations that you make to AAfC, you will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. Come here and see what A Traveler’s Library is offering, or get links to other travel writers’ sites and then go to the Passports with Purpose website to make your donation and choose the prize you would like to win. The fundraiser begins on November 30th and closes on December 21. Winners will be announced in January.

(Complete rules appear on the Passports With Purpose website) All proceeds go directly to AAfC.

How to Participate

For each $10 in donations that you make to AAfC, you will will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. You can buy 5 chances on one fabulous prize, or if, like me, you have a problem making a choice–buy chances on several items. OR–and here’s a great idea–you can make contributions in the name of family members and give them for Christmas presents. The raffle opens on November 30th and closes on December 21. (Complete rules appear on the Passports With Purpose website, and on November 30 you can see all of the prizes offered at that same addresss) All proceeds go directly to AAfC.

What A Traveler’s Library is Offering for a Prize

Actually A Traveler’s Library is offering TWO Incredibly attractive prizes, with the help of two wonderful sponsors, but I can’t tell you about them until next Monday, November 30. Please come back then for the rest of the story.

Read more about the Rural Schools project in a personal account of participation in the program by the NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristof.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia

Destination: Cambodia

Book: Khmer: Lost Empire of Cambodia by Thierry Zéphir

I have to admit that I accidentally left out this book when I wrote earlier about Cambodia.

I hope that I can remedy the oversight, and people planning a trip to Cambodia, or people who just want to learn more about Cambodia, will be able to find this wonderful little history. From the full-page black and white photos of carving details in the front of the book to the tipped-in full-page color pictures in the center, Khmer: Lost Empire of Cambodia is a visual delight.

But just as appealing, it tells you things that ordinary guidebooks gloss over or ignore entirely.  I learned, here, for example, of the importance of water use in the ancient kingdoms, and how dereliction in tending the canals ultimately led to the downfall of the Khmer.  The book helped me sort out the many periods of battle with the Thais, the relationship with the land that is now Vietnam, and dozens of other little facts that enhanced my trip to Siem Riep. And for such a small book, it does an excellent job of covering the complexities of the Hindu and Buddhist religions and the back and forth of their influences in the Khmer kingdom.

The 127-page book not only shows page after page of illustrations of the art work in the temples, but aerial shots and maps to help you sort out what was where. A good index and plenty of footnotes and suggested reading makes it almost a scholarly work, but never dry and boring. The author, after all, studied and teaches at the Ecole du Louvre. No doubt all the archaeology that continues in Cambodia has drawn some new conclusions in the ten years since this book was published, but when you are dealing with a civilization a thousand years old, nothing essential changes in ten years.

Finally, without this book, I might not have known about the beautiful, delicate Banteay Srei, which has only recently become available to tourists when I visited Cambodia. I wonder what one fact that you discover might be the most important in your own exploration of the ancient kingdom?

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Boy with a flute in the forest near Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Destination: Cambodia

Movie: The Killing Fields

Guidebook: Footprint Cambodia Handbook

(I have added another essential book for Cambodia.)

People always ask a traveler, “What was your favorite destination?”  I have found something to love about everywhere I go, so choosing a favorite might be difficult.  However, I can answer without hesitation that the place of my travels that stays in my heart and mind is Cambodia.  I might feel quite different had I gone to busy and sometimes sad Pnom Phen. Instead I focused on Siem Riep and the temples of Angkor Wat.

The landscape of varied green trees and rice paddies all misty like a water color painting.  The romantic and relentless twining of fig tree roots around gray rocks that once were sturdy walls, now tumbled into abstract sculptures creating ponds for croaking frogs. The enormous and intimidating heads towering above the yellow-clad bicycling monks at Ta Prohm. The delicate carvings in golden stone at Banteay Srei, the Woman’s Temple.

I would like to find a book that reflects the Buddhist calm of the country (I constantly caught myself thinking, “How can they smile so much with such a dreadful recent history?”) and the beauty of the countryside. For now I am stuck with books that tell the stories of the worst days of Cambodia. Americans tend to freeze Cambodia in the years after the Vietnamese War. We have a sense of remorse and guilt, but the history is deep and rich before that time.

Fig tree and its embrace of death at Ta Prohm, Cambodia

A must, of course, for the wartime memory, is the movie The Killing Fields, with Sam Waterson. Our guide in Cambodia pointed vaguely in the direction of the killing fields near Siem Reap–the famous ones are near Pnom Phen–but didn’t want to take us there, because he felt it was best NOT to remember.

There are more good travel guidebooks to Cambodia now than when I went there ten years ago, but I learned much about the history, art and architecture of Cambodia from the Footprint Cambodia Handbook . The other books I read were about grim history and war, and I did not record their titles.

Here are some books I have not read yet:

• When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him, a memoir of what the Cambodians refer to as the time of Pol Pot.
• First They Killed My Father by Loung Un
• The Stones Cry Out: A Cambodian Childhood 1975- 1980
• Cambodia Now: Life in the Wake of War by Karen J. Coates. This one sounds very promising, and I am hoping my library has it, because the price is quite high.

Photos by VMB, who apologizes for the pre-digital qualiy. All rights reserved.

You can see an article I wrote about Cambodian monks at Killing the Buddha web site.

YOUR TURN. Before I launch blindly into adding one or all of these to my travel library, what are your recommendations? And have you found a good book about present day Cambodia, or literature of Cambodia other than memoirs of the Pol Pot times? Have you traveled to Cambodia? What did you read? And next we will talk about Vietnam.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.