-All photos courtesy of Nancy Dorrans
By Nancy Dorrans
Connections is a NY Times online game I play almost every day. It groups words that share a common thread. Connecting words is a game, connecting with people is an art.
My friend Matthew tells me I’m a natural connector. My friend Sara calls me a conduit. Making connections seems to come naturally to me. This may not be easy for you. If you read my article last month you’ll realize, in that regard, I’m a bit like my mother Joanie. I don’t have any problem talking to strangers and making connections… You just have to look up, reach out, say hello, and listen. It works for me.
Red Boots
For example, I was walking out of Whole Foods recently and noticed an older lady wearing cute red boots. I said good morning and told her, I really liked her boots. This sparked a lovely conversation.
She said they are waterproof but also are helpful in her garden where she spends a lot of time. So, I pointed into the back of my Subaru Outback, currently laden with garden tools, buckets, bags of compost, mud boots, gloves, and seed packets… Turns out she loves to garden, too. In fact, she used to be a garden designer.
Now in her mid-eighties, she thinks she spends way too much time in her garden and feels the aches a bit more. She forgets she’s not fifty years old anymore. I told her she didn’t show her age. She then shared her secret: She eats healthy, sleeps well, and gets plenty of exercise gardening and walking every day!
What a spontaneous conversation and connection we had. Gardening brings her joy, and it does me too. Just a simple “hello I like your boots” sparked a connection, and gardening was the bond.
Travel Connections
This art of connecting with people is essential in my business. I stay connected with my clients via Facebook, calls, emails, and an occasional email newsletter. It takes me a long time to put together these newsletters and I’m never sure of the reaction they will generate. Recently I sent out a newsletter and in just over an hour over 500 contacts (out of 2000) opened the email. This was encouraging!
Staying connected and making new connections with travel industry colleagues is also essential. As I write this, I’m preparing to fly to Europe to attend two different adventure travel trade show events. The first in Slovenia “a country that embraces you at every turn with lush greenery reflecting our commitment to sustainability. In this unique land, the Pannonian, Alpine, and Mediterranean worlds converge to create a tapestry of natural, cultural, and culinary richness…”
The second is the ATTA Adventure Elevate event being held in the alps of Northern Italy (Trentino) and Kitzbuhel, Austria. There, I’ll connect with a whole new group of adventurers. I’ll discover and share stories about sustainable adventure travel and community-based tourism in the region.
I’m excited to learn about even more “out of the ordinary” adventure opportunities in these parts of the world. Plus, I’m sure to come away with more genuine connections. Then I’ll be able to share these with you and connect you to more adventures! Stay tuned…
Connecting with Life
I’m also trying to be connected to not just people but to the rest of the living world. I have a reciprocal relationship with my gardens, native plants, and seedlings. We connect. I tend them, and they bring me joy now and nourishment later on.
The peas, onions, and lettuce seeds are already in. Hopefully, when you come across this article, the risk of frost has passed, and I’ll be ready to start planting in the rest of my garden.
“When times are easy and there’s plenty to go around, individual species can go it alone. But when conditions are harsh and life is tenuous, it takes a team sworn to reciprocity to keep life going forward. In a world of scarcity, interconnection and mutual aid become critical for survival.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
This season, I hope you can make some new connections and find some time to be outside and sow some seeds in your little corner of our world.
