E2C_Travel

Not all travel is into the great unknown... some takes you 'home', to your people. I found my roots again after the pandemic with an aluminum love child named Bella and the 50 aunts and uncles who just can't seem to get enough of her. The Airstream community took me completely by surprise, but it's not the campers that create the connection -- it's the love of outdoors and nature, working hard to prepare an obscenely over-the-top family meal "just because", and genuine affinity for the stories that brought each of us here.

Any experience where you have an opportunity to learn the stories of others, try new foods, see how people live differently - each of those moments changes your life just a little. If you're lucky, your worldview becomes a patchwork of all those experiences. Mine has.

#mycuprunnethover

ABOUT ME

Hello Peeps.
This is my Why.

Part journal, part treasure map, part petri dish of thoughts about the future – this website is the synthesis of years of informal (and informed) study of the human condition… coupled with an unyielding need to explore every old tree trunk, breathe in as many back alley spice markets as I can find, admire the monarchs in every protected estuary along the coast, and climb the hillsides on gas-powered mules those few precious days the poppies raise their gorgeous orange faces to the sun. I'll do it all - every single mile - while my hands can still manage the camera.

The more time passes, the more I understand Thoreau's beloved Walden and his need to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." With Bella and an increasingly more amazing collection of people in my life... my physical footprint has been smaller these past few pandemic-impacted years, but my "heart-print" has never experienced more reach.  To those who are with me, you are everything to me.  To those who will join our treasure hunt, I promise we're going to see the world... and see it differently, #together.

   

E2C_Connection

So many amazing people come into my life and teach me unexpected things. They make my life fuller and more interesting in more ways than I imagined. These connections are what drive me - they’re my secret sauce, my signature strength. Every success in my life is, quite simply, based on my love of people and bringing people together to do wonderful things.

This summer I joined the Board of a publishing company that enables people to publish their personal stories online (here’s mine if you’re curious: Tonya's Cues & Views). Working with this commitment, I’m even more convinced of the importance of sharing our journey to connect with others. I see firsthand the difference connections make when people recognize how much we are alike… not different. With that as my goal, I look forward to sharing my journey and story - sharing my connections and creating new ones on the way. Exploring2Connect. Join me.

#onwardandupward

Tonya2

Welcome…

to the portal for my collection of travel blogs known as The Tonya2 Series… I started this innocently enough in October 2007 when I made my first trek to India. I knew that I’d see and experience things that I’d…

Tonya2

Sunday at home.

Home — with friends. As if I weren’t spoiled enough alreadddddddyyyy! I was treated to an absolutely incredible lunch at the home of my new friend Shalini. Lovely home, complete with a housekeeper that works 7-4 each day for the…

Tonya2

W.O.

[Yes, Denise – that one’s for you!] So – along my travels yesterday, I made friends with a local (political) celebrity. While having some masala dosa in an outdoor garden restaurant (“truck stop”) on our way to Halebid & Belur,…

Tonya2

Tomorrow — NOT just another day at the office!

So – my first “real” weekend… and the spoiling continues! My friend who last year took me to Iskon – the fabulous contemporary Hindu temple here in Bangalore… she and her fiancé are taking me temple hopping to ancient temples…

Tonya2

Death by pothole.

The trip to Halebid and Belur were an eye-opener. Not so much for the beautiful temples (and they were!)… but for the amazingly terrible road conditions. This woke me up to the fact that if India had decent infrastructure (we…

Tonya2

A stitch in time…

Saves none, actually, but where in the States could I get such one-of-a-kind pieces? I’ve been getting a little restless. Being in the office from 8:30am to 10pm most days, the proverbial walls are starting to close in on me….

Tonya2

Home is where you hang your hat.

I develop routines on these long-haul trips. I open my balcony door while I’m getting ready for work every morning. It’s perfect fall weather here (as opposed to Tennessee where it has been down in the frigid 30-degree range several…

Tonya2

And now, a word from our sponsors.

This is, of course, a work trip. And I avoid talking too much about work (as I’ve said – what idiot would want to hear THOSE stories)? But there’s one I just have to share… So Sunday (after my 3am…

Tonya2

My Passage to India.

The three sweetest words in the Traveller’s Language: All Luggage Arrived Life is good as I sit here beside the pool enjoying breakfast. This is no ordinary weekend – it’s the weekend before Divali, the Festival of Lights (equivalent to…

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