I liked having that poster up there. It made me feel relevant, modern, and smart as if I was truly unafraid to deal with things. As if I understood something.
What I didn’t know was that I had just set myself up…. A few weeks after the interactive service it was an average Sunday where something special seemed to be happening. You see, we had a presence of the Love of God in the service that day. The kind of “presence of God in the meeting” atmosphere that pastors long for and pray for all the time. My associate pastor had opened with the story of a man in heaven being asked by Jesus if he had learned to love well. Her message was about being unafraid to get involved with Jesus even in the messy things that cost us or make us uncomfortable. Then, as we closed the service a young women came up and asked to say something. Usually we like to know people before handing off the mic to them but that day our lead pastor simply handed it to her because it seemed in that beautiful presence of God’s love that whatever someone said would be a lesson from heaven. She shared that she had never felt more loved and accepted than she did in our church, and that she wanted to let everyone know that she was gay, and she wanted to “get involved” just as we had preached. She stood there. So emotionally naked. So vulnerable. In that thick, thick love of God. Just waiting…………………………………………………………………….. for us. I came up and stood next to her, putting my arm around her, facing the congregation with her. I could feel so many things in the atmosphere in that moment: -the older people terrified of the issue -the even older theologians angry about it -young adults weeping because someone was finally addressing in church, the issue they are dealing with every day -the wrenching hearts of those who clearly feel her pain, yet don’t agree with her theology -even a layer of relief as a few young adults in the congregation quietly cheered her “coming out”. They were are all looking at us, waiting for an answer. It was all all out there. All suddenly on the table, and the church had been avoiding it a long time. As I stood with my arm around her, she turned into me and brokenly cried in my arms. It was no longer a poster. It was now a person…. in my arms… crying…..a person… a broken…. sad….person…. not a poster. I spoke then to the congregation about who our neighbor is, and loving our neighbor who is gay whether or not we understand or agree with their choices or beliefs. I asked the congregation if we would be willing to learn to love well? And I believe it is God who asks us all this question…
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It all begins with your mouth
Creating a life that’s blossoming with physical, emotional, and spiritual health has a lot to do with what goes in and comes out of our mouths. You may not have thought about it much, but it’s not only the toxic food we consume too much of that destroys our physical health, it’s also the toxic and negative way that we speak about ourselves, our bodies, and change that can defeat our mental health and our ability to bring about real transformation. Let’s talk for a moment about both of these issues. In my book Encounter Weight Loss, the chapters follow an acronym that spell E.N.C.O.U.N.T.E.R. and the first E is the starting place for lasting change. E=Eat Real food. Jack LaLane who was a pioneer in the fitness movement and who lived to 98 years old, had a very simple saying. “If God made it eat it if man made it don’t”. Or if you are an atheist you might say… only eat foods that come directly from nature. These foods are “one ingredient foods”. For example, an apple has .. one ingredient, a piece of broccoli … one ingredient, rice… one ingredient.… You get the idea. Human’s originally ate, and still thrive on one ingredient foods. When I am working with women in weight loss coaching, they are often more obsessed with weight loss than their health. They are trying to get into a certain size or bodyweight at all costs and so they don’t learn the lessons that lead to a long healthy life. They are pursuing a quick fix, rather than permanent change, and so they often end up eating what I call “Frankenstein foods”. These are man-made diet foods with so many chemicals and additives that they bear little resemblance to real food and although they may help you lose weight, they also poison your body. We had an adorable West Highland Terrier, who was poisoned by melamine being added into the dogwood we purchased. It was a big scandal and many dogs died. Our Westie lived but had kidney damage. It was easy to make the connection between the poison and illness because it happened really fast. It is more subtle when it comes to what we buy in the supermarket, but let’s take a moment here for a reality check. If every added ingredient in the food you buy, was considered a step away from real food, how many steps away from “REAL” are the items in your grocery cart? Pick up a box of kids' cereal or fruit rollup and start counting. You will be up to 30 added ingredients before you know it. So that food is 30 steps away from being real! So my challenge to you is to let go of the number on the scale this year if you are going to pursue real transformation. Most of your “diet” attempts have not worked anyway. I will share some key’s with you in the following weeks about how to trigger lasting weight loss. But this is the starting place, Eat Real Food. Let go of all the diet rules and fears and eat one ingredient real foods for as much of your diet as possible. So that’s what goes into your mouth, but how about what comes out? Do you realize that the person that you believe the most is yourself? I have an interest in and have studied quantum physics over the years. One thing that I learned is that the vibrations and frequencies around us, impact us. Like a tuning fork in music, we tune ourselves to the frequency of what we hear. So when we hear someone speak positively we are inspired and tune into that, and our body and mind will follow. When we speak negatively, we tune to that, and our body and soul align with exactly what they are hearing. “I can never lose weight”, “I have no energy”, “I always fail” and other statements need to STOP! It is time for you to make an important announcement to your body, your soul, and the universe. In 2021 I am making a change. I am taking back my health. I am getting fit and loving it. Start to talk to everyone you know about the change you are making, and your body, soul, and spirit will sit up and take notice! The bible says in the book of Hebrews 11:3 that God framed the world with his words. Now it’s your turn. How are you going to frame your world in 2021? I would love to hear about that in the comments. If you lose your health, you lose your future. Or as some would say.. “If the devil can take away your health, he can steal your destiny”.
However you look at it, the reality is that we too often ignore the warning signs of weight gain, the loss of mobility that comes when we are not active enough, the low and powerless feeling that comes when our mental health is not at its best, and the long term effects of habits that we can not seem to shake. We know “we should” make a change, but it’s something that it’s easy to put at the bottom of our list of things we are focused on. Particularly as women, when we allow the needs of others to dominate our focus. I want to challenge you to change your mindset this year and put your health at the top of your list. It actually is true, that if you lose your health you lose your future. I would like to tell you a bit about an awakening I had recently that changed my whole perspective on making my health a constant priority. 2020 was a very tough year for me. I was in a big transition having just left my full-time job as a pastor in a local church to take on a new role as the leader of Women on the Frontlines. Then a hurricane of problems hit and many of them affected my health. I was at a healthy body weight but, but strange and concerning small symptoms were appearing in my health. I ignored it at first, because I was "too busy" but eventually listened to the small nagging voice of my body telling me it needed my attention. I was told by my doctor after some blood tests that my body was not absorbing enough nutrition from my food. I was traveling a lot to do events for WOFL and grabbing a meal here and there, and although all my meals were low carb, and my weight was stable, on the inside trouble was brewing. “How could this be? I’ve written a book on weight loss and now I’m sick? Wow, I had thought that the tiredness I was experiencing in the afternoons was just aging… what a reality check! My health continued to spiral downward in the coming months as Covid set in, and my sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I was now faced with actively watching someone lose their future due to a loss of health. I was then hit with constant nausea and other gastro symptoms as a result of the issues with my body. Many tests later, there was no answer to the nausea and stomach issues except for “stress” due to life events. Finally, as the nausea was brought under control, my body responded with a rebound of weight gain. My sister passed, and covid level five lockdown came to my city, depression, and feelings of despair hit full force. It can be very hard to come back from a loss of momentum. From a weight gain where you have previously done the work to lose it, from relapse when you have been addicted, or from a place of depression that becomes so severe that you don’t even want to do anything. But that was what I was facing, and I decided that a broader approach to restoring my health was needed. So my focus in 2021, is a spirit, soul, and body approach to health. I knew that it was time to stop ignoring the needs of my soul, and the quiet but insistent voice of my body. I decided that since my call is to run WOFL for the next many years, I would have to stop allowing the demands of ministry to squeeze out the time for exercise and pursue, nutrition above simply losing weight. Of course, I know the facts necessary for change, and likely so do you. It’s not knowing the truth that’s the issue for us as humans... it’s acting on it! I will be sharing my health journey with you this year, a few times a week on WOFL through my blogs. I’ve been teaching on various aspects of health for many years including being a weight loss coach and I will be sharing both my journey and the non-fad-based approach to change that I believe will help us all in the process. I want to invite you to give yourself the gift of your health this year, not only as an act of self-honor but as a seed towards your future so that it will be long and fruitful. Whether it is weight loss, an addiction, aging symptoms, or depression I believe it's time to put yourself and your health on the list of your priorities. Would you join me as we journey together? I have to find the whisper. The voice that’s talking just to me. In the middle of all noise. The conspiracy theories. The politics. The economic forecast. The prophecies. The mass shooting. The pro-vaccine, anti-vaccine, vitamins C, D, and everything health advice… and the fear of what if this happens again… and when will it end? ...being proclaimed far and wide. You see I like to be educated. I was raised to be smart, and to think for myself and weigh things out. So I feel like I am standing in the middle of a raging stream of information trying to capture handfuls of what matters. I need to move away from it and listen quietly to God. Because even if it is all true or all false, at the end of the day what matters is what He is telling me personally to do with my time, and my choices during my days. He has been there through every plague, world war, famine, and financial fall… and He knows what I need to do. So like Horton the Elephant I am leaning in, and getting quiet. I am listening for the whisper … 1 Kings 19:11-12 A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; but after the fire (came) a gentle and quiet whisper. And God said... Over the years I have read many many books about those who survived World War Two in Europe during the 1940s. It’s been a favorite reading theme of mine. Images brought to life of people with ration cards standing in line trying to find food during shortages, society girls now in rubber boots with pitchforks turning the soil as they transformed their formal lawns into victory vegetable gardens, and tired women measuring 5 inches of water into the bathtub to do their part for the war effort. So many people giving up their personal freedom for a cause that for most of them involved an enemy that they would never actually see themselves. Then, of course, there are the darker images of those on the frontlines dealing with the trauma, death, and pain of losing so many lives before their time. As I read these books I would wonder what it was like to be trapped in a situation for years that had no specific end date, and I would wonder how they coped, living like that with the "not knowing". Those years were dark and challenging, and as the war ended there were shortages everywhere and the world's economies were a mess. Yet within a few years the world stepped into an unprecedented time of prosperity and growth such as had not been seen before. As I have pondered that feat I have realized that there were three gifts that the challenges of the war gave to that generation, which served them well moving forward. The challenges they faced made them as resilient as people. As they went without, as they stood in line, as they dug potatoes, their character was stretched, and their selfishness banished for the greater good. They were stronger at the end than they were when they started. The challenges they faced made them decisive. They had gone through a time of loss. They had to face their own mortality and they were awoken to the fact that life is fragile. They chose to translate that into a decision to live fully and intentionally as they rebuilt their lives. The challenges they faced made them grateful. They never forgot what it was to go without, and to to be hungry, and the joy of small things like hot water and the big things like personal freedom. They were changed for the good, by their engagement with the bad... Resilience Decisiveness Gratitude May we receive the same gifts from this "The Great Pause" that is taking place around the world. I’m super excited to announce that my first “real” published book has arrived and is now also up on amazon for purchase. In the past I have created workbooks to go with courses I’ve taught, but this is the first book of mine that you will be able to find on the bookshelves of a bookstore or order online. I’d like to share the story behind this publishing journey because I think it will be an encouragement to any budding authors out there who have faced rejection or discouragement along the way. It's a bit of a cinderella story that I have to tell... Encounter Weight Loss is a unique book that focuses on the parts of weight loss that are usually ignored by the diet industry such as resolving emotional eating and the other triggers behind food addiction, as well as teaching about the latest changes in nutritional science. I started my journey towards this book in 2014 when I decided to launch a weight loss program in my local church after successfully breaking free from emotional eating and resolving my own battle with food addiction. This came after years of trying every kind of diet on the market which only dealt with the physical aspects of weight loss, with no lasting success. Then applying my knowledge of identity issues and counseling to weight loss and seeing that this was the missing key to long term freedom. After two years of development in a classroom environment, I began to write Encounter Weight Loss as a book and later that year had an opportunity to approach a publishing rep through a mutual friend to discuss the idea of publishing my book. Well, that meeting was very discouraging. The rep I spoke to told me that they wouldn’t consider looking at my writing because I didn’t have a public platform, online following, or public speaking schedule. So I went away from that meeting feeling pretty low and decided that I would finish writing the book simply because I believed in the message and the program had already helped a lot of people. I decided I would self-publish and just share the book as much as I could. A year went by as I worked on the book, and at the same time, I transitioned into leading Women on the Frontlines which is a large global women’s organization. So I now had the “public platform” I had been told was the barrier to having the book looked at by the publishing rep. I told myself "this time it will be different" and booked a second meeting with the rep to talk about my book. As we sat together, I excitedly announced “Guess what, I now have the public platform you told me was the barrier to you looking at my writing." I had my manuscript in my bag, my heart was beating with anticipation, and I had a wonderful image in my mind of handing it over to be read, loved and published. I’ll never forget the response I received: “What is your book about again?” “It’s called, Encounter Weight Loss and it’s a book about breaking free from emotional eating.” “Oh, we wouldn’t even consider that, we only publish spiritual books.” I started to argue, “What could be more spiritual than getting set free from a life-destroying addiction?” Then realized I was sounding defensive and clearly this rep was not interested in me or my writing. Rejection number two in case your counting.
I think that that is what rejection is good for. As long as you don’t get bitter, it can cause you to ask hard questions such as -“Do I believe in this enough to do it even if I am the only one who sees the value?" So you can imagine my surprise at what happened next. It was June of 2019, I was attending a conference in the USA and had just been introduced to a person who also worked for the same publishing company I had approached in the past. I teasingly joked as I was introduced to this person… “Oh, you work for the company who won’t even look at my writing." What followed was a conversation about my book, which ended with this person asking me to send him my manuscript to look at. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to send it because he might be able to give me some constructive feedback before I self -published it. Besides, I have become pretty good at handling rejection so what's one more? Three days later I received an email from him saying he had read through the book and felt it was “very good” and would like to set up a meeting to chat. This was not at all what I had expected, because I had already cleared the emotional hurdle of deciding to publish on my own. I also knew that when you work with a publisher it can take a year and a half to release a book and I didn’t think I wanted to hold off releasing Encounter Weight Loss any further. Decisions, decisions… Well here is the fairy tale ending to my book writing Cinderella story. The publisher who I met with that day became my behind the scenes guardian angel helping me bring the book up to a higher standard so that I could self publish it now rather than waiting another year. Over a period of weeks, Micheal and I got to learn a lot about the difference between most self-published books, and those done by major companies. It was humbling, to say the least, but the end result was beautiful and in the words of my behind the scenes friend, "something to be really proud of". And.... at a certain point in this process I was also invited by my behind the scenes friend to submit a proposal for my next as yet unwritten book. It was recently accepted and now will be released in 2021!
So the moral of the story to all budding authors is this. Never give up! Believe in yourself enough to do it on your own, and you never know what God is up to behind the scenes to help you get you where you want to go. I tried to place myself with the wrong person in the wrong moment for me, and then God placed me with the right person, in the right moment! You can find both the book and a ten lesson audio coaching series for Encounter Weight Loss at www.encounterweightloss.com Part of our trip plan was to spend a week in Croatia which is Murray’s ancestral home. So we set off from Switzerland and decided to stop in Austria on the way there. We had a choice of cities and decided on Vienna as I knew it to have a lot of history around art and opera. Vienna has a beautiful Cathedral and in fact almost every building in the city is architecturally stunning even down to apartment buildings. We decided to skip the palace tour as we are experiencing “palace burnout” from seeing so many and so instead we went on a tour of the opera house. It was really fascinating to see behind the scenes of the opera. The stage is over fifty feet in depth and has dozens of curtains and backdrops that move up and down for quick scene changes. We thought that the opera hall was really lovely until the tour guide showed us how it had looked before being bombed in the war. The reception room below was all that survived but the entire opera house was apparently done in the amazing style below prior to World War Two. After Vienna we were off to Croatia where we camped in three different places. None of these campgrounds was next to a train station, (although there are many near stations throughout the country), but in this case we had decided to rent a car as we wanted to visit Murray’s relatives and there town was not accessible by train. So we took a train to Zagreb and rented a 4 door smart car for 25 Euros per day which was a great price and it used very little gas. Just enough room for two travellers and our bags. The first camp ground we stayed at is called: Terme-Lendava and it is a campground with five different mineral pools to soak in. You can find it here: https://www.sava-camping.com/en/lendava-camping/terme-lendava-camping It was a great campground and our camping neighbour was a typical Croat. We stepped out of our tent in the morning and he was standing there with shot glasses full of plumb brandy which he had made himself and which he wanted us to drink in order to make friends. That was an interesting moment! This campground was close to Murray’s ancestral home in Sveta Maria and we visited his relatives there. I do have to say that Croatians are probably the most hospitable culture we have encountered. You HAVE TO stay in their home , and you just HAVE TO eat! This is how they show love and they are incredible cooks too, making everything from scratch! This is the church in Sveta Maria where Murray’s Family comes from. The church is incredibly beautiful and very old. The choir was practicing when we toured it and their voices give a rather gothic feel to the video I shot of it. From Sveta Maria we drive down to the coast of Croatia to camp on the Adriatic Sea. Our campground was in Medulin which is just next to Pula and you can camp right in the ocean. Below is the view from our tent. https://www.arenacampsites.com/de/campingplatze-istrien/camping-arena-medulin We visited the Roman Colosseum in Pula which is still used to this day for events. We also took a day cruise on the sea where we were able to swim in a cave and feed the sea birds by hand. The Mediterranean Sea is a beautiful region and we will likely go back again. We finished our time in Croatia with a visit to Plitvice falls which is considered one of the more recently discovered wonders of the world and it is truly breathtaking. It is a series of lakes with azure blue water and waterfalls running throughout. We camped just outside the park in a wonderful campground at Korana Campground where they said “Just camp wherever you want” and everyone picked their own sites and got along great. https://np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/de/ Today’s Camping Tip-How to keep things cold.As North Americans we really like our morning coffee with real cream. They’re is just one problem. Nowhere in Europe serves it that way. So knowing this from our last trip I set out to solve the problem. I knew I could buy cream at the stores in Europe, but how would we store it while camping without a refrigerator. After thinking through the problem I had the idea that if I could find a really good thermos then maybe we could carry cream. I researched many thermoses including Yeti and the reviews were less than stellar. They are usually very heavy and don’t live up to the hype in real testing. Except one. It is simply called “Coldest” Water bottle and it’s beats all the others hands down. This bottle has exceeded our expectations and when we put ice in it, the ice is still there two days later. https://thecoldestwater.com/product/the-coldest-water-bottle-21oz/ Now in order for this to work for us and to keep cream and butter cold for a couple of days, I wanted to be able to add ice cubes to it and store our cream inside it within another container so that the ice didn’t water it. How do we accomplish this? By using disposable baby milk bags, as seen in the photo below. We simply pour our cream into one of these zip locked milk bags, add some ice cubes, and slide it into our thermal bottle. It has worked even in 40 degree Celsius heat and stays fresh for two days with along with the ice. We also store small butter pats in here too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thermal bottle that has impressed me this much before! In my next blog I will visit Italy and chat about how we deal with our dirty laundry!
We were very happy to arrive in Switzerland. One of the most beautiful and expensive places on earth! We decided to use Interlaken as our home base as it’s a great jumping off point into the alps and also on a gorgeous lake. Our campsite was called TCS Interlaken 6 and the information for it can be found here: https://www.eurocampings.co.uk/switzerland/bern/interlaken/tcs-camping-interlaken-6-107082/ As with all things Swiss the campground was almost perfect with spotless bathrooms, a canopied area for cooking during rain and even a building called “the living room” with sofas and tv. Murray liked to go in there at night to do some work on his auto dealership . When I say that the Swiss do everything perfectly, what I mean is that they are very innovative and they think of details that make sense and make life easier. Below is a simple example. The sink in the laundry has a built in wash board to make hand washing effective. We saw details like this everywhere. Our main tourist goal in Switzerland was to hike and to see the alps. Our first day there we took a cruise on the lake. The water is as blue as the Caribbean and clean enough to drink. On our second day in Switzerland we decided to take a local train up into the alps. Somehow we misunderstood the signs, which were in German and Swiss and got onto a private tourist train. When the conductor came to check our passes, he told us they were not valid. So I asked him what happens now? He could have given us a big fine but he was pretty nice and sold us the cheapest ticket back ... and then promptly put us off the train at the next stop in the middle of nowhere Switzerland! We have learned to laugh at these mishaps, as it’s all part of having an adventurous spirit! In order to celebrate being ejected from the train, we stopped for dinner at the off-limits, high in the alps town where we were not supposed to be and had a Swiss fondue. After coming back down to Interlaken, we decided on a hike up one of the trails on the lake, which ended at a resort that you can only access through a cog train or hiking. It was truly beautiful. The cog train which we took back down is the oldest in Switzerland. You can have lunch up on the terrace of the hotel once you get to the top, and we did. Our final highlight in Switzerland was a train trip on the Glacier Express which takes you through the highest parts of Switzerland. The train leaves early in the morning, so we arrived in Zermatt the home of the Matterhorn the evening before we left. Zermatt is a tourist town much like Banff Alberta with lots of hotels and high prices. We simply pick up some food from the local grocery and eat in our room in theses situations as the prices for food are approximately 4x the normal cost. Murray is happy to be sporting his Jets gear in competition with the local mascot! They had these sweet little Heidi dresses for sale in the shops. We were up at 6:30 am and raring to go on the Glacier Express! The train took us through some of the highest glaciers in Switzerland and the views are the ones they use for postcards! We went through many tunnels and deep gorges along the way. It’s hard to see due to the reflection on the glass but they were spectacular! At a certain point in the journey I got woozy due to all the twists and turns. So I decided to try out these motion sickness glasses. They have water in them that stays level and is supposed to trick your brain into feeling better. Sure enough after 10 minutes of everyone in the train staring at me I felt great! Today’s Camping Key-How to choose your footwear.Your shoes are among the most important items you will buy for your trip and I do not recommend going cheap in this area. You will be on your feet 15-20 hours each day, walking, climbing, hiking and stepping in water and mud at times. In addition your shoes or boots need to provide a good foundation for the weight of your pack which you will be carrying. While there are many options out there I will share what we chose on this trip and then give you some general tips for choosing your own footwear. My husband Murray has been buying Merrell shoes for years and he swears by their quality. He has owned many versions including hiking boots, but for this trip he decided he wanted a sturdy shoe that would be good for walking, and even light hiking, but which would also double as a dress shoe as we are considering a cruise at the end of our trip. This shoe is called the Merrell World Vue and can be purchased here: https://www.merrell.com/US/en/world-vue-lace-wide-width/30967M.html?dwvar_30967M_color=J94355W#cgid=men-footwear-shoes&prefn1=isOnSale&prefv1=false&start=1 For sandals Murray chose these Merrell Traveler Tilt leather sandals. He says they get full marks for durability and comfort. I normally wear lace up hiking boots due to an ankle injury, but on the recommendation of my adult kids, I decided to buy a pair of Blundstone boots which they seem to live in. Sure enough these boots are super comfortable and have great traction for climbing along with ankle support. Plus according to my daughter in-law they can be worn with a dress in today’s bohemian fashion culture. You can find them here: https://www.blundstone.com/ For my sandals I always wear Romika brand which are Italian leather and have four adjustable straps which make for a perfect fit. They can look both casual or dressy depending on what you pair them with. https://www.zappos.com/b/romika/brand/137 Now that I have shown you the shoes we wear on our trips, I’ll give you a few quick tips for finding and wearing your own. - Do spend the money to buy quality leather shoes or boots and think about the activities you will be doing on your trip so that they will be a good match. If you are only going to be walking in some cities, hiking boots may be a waste of money. However if you plan to do even some hiking, they can be worth the investment. - Do start breaking in your shoes or boots at least a month before your trip. You don’t want to be dealing with blisters while you should be enjoying the sites. - Leave your high heels at home. They take up space and add weight, and will likely only be worn once or twice. Finding leather sandals that look good with both shorts and a dress is a better plan. . - Do invest in two pairs of these incredible anti blister socks by wigwam. They were recommended to us by guys who hike the pacific trail and they keep your feet warm and dry and wick away sweat. We have not had one blister while using these socks. https://www.wigwam.com/ - And just in case you do get a blister, Pack a role of this Leukotape which hikers swear by for treating blisters and which will not come off even when wet. In my next blog we will visit Austria and I’ll show you how to keep your food cold without a refrigerator.
We arrived in Amsterdam during a heat wave with record temperatures being set during the time we were there. Fortunately the temperature dropped down to a reasonable level at night, so sleeping was fine. The campground we stayed in is called Gaasper Camping Park and it was very convenient for travel by train. It was less than a two minutes from the metro station which connected directly to the central train station. It was clean and organized and also had a grocery store and restaurant. Here is the link for the Gaasper Camping Park https://www.gaaspercamping.nl/ During our first full day there we traveled to Delft where they were having a traditional market day. There were many stalls with different hand made and local items to buy. Delft is the home of blue and white Dutch pottery. It’s all very cute and you start to feel as if you must have some. However it’s not compatible with our travel style to haul China and so I limited myself to a very tiny set of blue pottery Dutch clogs about an inch long. Bikes seem to be the main mode of transportation in Amsterdam. They were everywhere we went and although they have dedicated pink roads for bikes, as tourists we felt like we were on an obstacle course whenever we needed to cross the street, with three layers of traffic to look out for (cars, bikes, and trams). I think we must have looked like excited chickens with our heads bobbing each way, darting back and forth trying to avoid being hit. Our friend we visited told us that you are more likely to be hit by bike, than by tram or car and her advice was “keep moving” don’t stop and they will steer around you! We were only in Amsterdam a couple of days as our main goal was to visit a fellow Woman on the Frontlines leader Arlene Westerhof. Arlene is an amazing leader and has done a lot of work in helping to stop the trafficking of women in the red light district of Amsterdam. She has also started a conference called the European Economic Summit which looks at practical ways to influence and change culture through governmental and business movements. It was our intention to head straight to Switzerland from Amsterdam to do some camping in the mountains, but the forecast was for 100% chance of rain for two days, so we decided to stop in Frankfurt along the way and stay in an affordable hotel. A quick tip for those who are traveling with a Eurail pass is that hotels are priced with supply and demand and you can save a lot of money by staying just outside of a major tourist area, or in a transportation hub where hotels are really competitive. This is what we did in Frankfurt. We chose to brave the rain and went for a walk and a coffee in Frankfurts Old Town. You can see the traditional German design in many of the old buildings. We also stopped in at McDonald for a drink at one point and I was surprised to see that they have many items that we do not have such as breaded shrimp and chicken wings. I think we should begin to campaign for chicken wings in North America because so many are on a keto diet. Well, every trip has its bad moments and unfortunately as we were leaving Frankfurt we had what turned into a very distressing experience on many levels. First a minor issue, (although as travellers it took some time to rectify). We were on our way to the train station and just as we were arriving, my wheel suddenly flew off my suitcase. This of course left us at a standstill trying to fix it at least long enough to get into the station. Well that’s when something happened that it’s even difficult to write about, but I said I would share my journey and this was part of it. Here is what happened ... As we were trying to sort out the problem with my wheel, about 10 ambulances and fire trucks and police pulled up at the train station. I immediately began to pray as I knew it had to be a terrorism act or something similarly bad that was taking place. Well it was very bad. A crazy person had started pushing people onto the tracks in front of an incoming train. A small boy was killed and his mom barely survived. The station was in an uproar as we came in with police running, and people crying and devastated. Police tape was everywhere and the tracks closed and news people with cameras were arriving. We felt sickened and horrified by what had happened. We eventually decided to leave the station and take an Uber ride to a sports and camping store to buy a new suitcase. We returned to a very sad and quiet station later that day to continue our journey. Please say a prayer for the mom and family of the little boy. It could have been any of us in that station. We could have been on the same platform had my wheel not come off. The police have told all travellers to be extra alert on platforms due to copy-cat crime possibilities. So of course we are being extra aware, and we are just shocked and saddened by this senseless tragedy. We were very glad to leave Germany behind and get to Switzerland! Today’s Camping Key - Packing the Kitchen sink.One of the ultralight setups we bring with us is our dishwashing equipment. Pictured on the table above is a compact bucket, kitchen sink, rubber sink stopper, scraper, two sided dish cloth with bristles on one side and cloth on the other, tea towel and dish soap. Probably the most important item on display is the rubber stopper as this turns any sink into a place for laundry or dishes, and hotels and campgrounds will not supply them. Here is our bucket. It holds about a gallon of water and folds up onto this tiny pouch. I have put my hand in the photo so you can see how small it is. It is made by sea to summit and you can order it here. https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-Folding-Bucket-Liter/dp/B007IGOTXI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Sea+to+summit+bucket&qid=1564746561&s=gateway&sr=8-1 Sea to summit also makes a portable kitchen sink like this one, for about $30.00 but we bought a knock off from eBay for $6.99 and it works great. The water fills it up and holds the sides rigid. A bit like a swimming pool. You can order it here. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Camping-Hiking-10L-Folding-Washbasin-Water-Wash-Basin-Bucket-Pot-Bag-Outdoor/262752112375?epid=2095096569&hash=item3d2d3f0ef7:g:ol4AAOSw5cNYRSKU My next blog will be Switzerland and choosing your footwear
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Wendy Peter is the North American Director of Events for the Women on the Frontlines Organization.
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