“Hold on. I want to grab my phone and get a picture.” Sound familiar? According to Forbes 85% of the 1.2 trillion digital photos taken annually are done with smartphones. That’s not to mention the number of 4×6 paper photos stored in shoe boxes or photo albums for those of us who began taking pictures with film. Google shows 176,000,000 sites offer advice on how to organize your pictures.

It’s not just pictures needing organization these days. The Internet offers a treasure trove of recipes, DIY projects, quotes, news articles…the list goes on. In 2010, Pinterest stepped in to help. By Fall 2018, 250 million people used Pinterest monthly. Together they pinned 175 billion items on 3 billion virtual boards.

Collecting Meaningful Travel Ideas, Dreaming of Women Traveling with Impact

I’m a digital information collector. Specifically, I collect information about causes related to women and girls, women’s empowerment, girl’s education, and grass-root organizations facilitating change. I also collect information about women’s travel, meaningful travel, travel that serves. Why?

Because I dream about bringing together small groups of women who want to travel differently. The women I’m thinking about are curious about the world. They are interested in the lives of women and girls. The travelers I envision want to make personal connections. They want to get to know their global sisters. And then? They want to act!

The goal? To empower women and girls to succeed. I dream about a community of women whose travels inspire them to become storytellers. The stories they share help others understand why a village well increases the likelihood of a girl being able to go to school. They illustrate how education has the power to break the cycle of poverty. Their stories connect the listener to people the storyteller has met through amazing organizations like Peruvian Hearts or Room to Read – Vietnam.

Creating a Community of Women Around a New Kind of Travel

This week I read Melinda Gates’ interview with Abby Wambach. Abby advises to “build…a community…based on our unique and powerful voices, talents, dreams, curiosities, and courage,” Her words inspire me to move beyond my digital storage files and into a conversation with other women about important and thought-provoking topics connected to travel, girls’ education and women’s empowerment.

The folders in my digital file cabinet are overflowing! I’m passionate about material related to #girlseducation, #empoweringgirls, #women’sempowerment, #women’srights, #fairtrade, #socialentrepreunership, #makeadifference, and #NGO.

#meaningfultravel, #women’stravel, #bucketlisttravel, #womenwhoexplore, and #travelingladies describe travelers I’d like to know.

And, let’s not forget destinations like #Peru, #Vietnam, #Cambodia, #Ethiopia, to name just a few.

Ripple Effect Journeys embodies these passions and inspires a new kind of travel. Travel designed for women passionate about discovering the world while supporting initiatives improving the lives of women and girls in the places they visit through listening and collaboration.

Please contribute your voice, curiosities, and dreams to build a community where #shetravelswithimpact. You can do so by:
• Commenting on this post
• Suggesting a discussion topic
• Joining the Women’s Impact Exchange Facebook group
• Liking the Ripple Effect Journeys Facebook page
• Traveling with Ripple Effect Journeys.