The Friday Wrap: New Moon Girls, Boston Book Festival Audio, and EMPOWER! Video

Great news -- Alex and Sage are featured in the November/December 2012 issue of New Moon Girls, the popular tween magazine.  Look for them on page 19!

The Boston Book Festival recently posted their 2012 audio files.  I shared the stage with Deni Bechard and John Spooner for the "True Story: Personal Visions" session.  Anthony Brooks moderated.  It was a fascinating and fun-filled 45 minutes -- Deni Bechard had quite the interesting childhood with his bank-robber dad, and John Spooner gave excellent and entertaining advice on how to get a job in this horrible economy.  I, of course, spoke about Up and how Alex's original quest for the NH48 changed the lives of me and my children.  To listen to the entire session, click here and scroll down to TRUE STORY: PERSONAL VISION.

GirlVentures sent me a video of my October 3 EMPOWER! Breakfast talk.

That wraps up our week...kind of.  There are a lot of fabulous things going on in terms of GIRLS ON THE WAY, but I'm not yet in a position to talk about them.  Soon, very soon.  In the meantime, please visit the site and donate to GirlVentures and/or Global Fund for Women in honor of GIRLS ON THE WAY.

Thursday Things: Organize a Walk for Charity (#9)

Please join us this Saturday at the Boston Book Festival!  We'll be in the Boston Public Library Commonwealth Salon at 1pm. 


I'm pleased and proud to introduce GIRLS ON THE WAY, our blog about hiking the 500-mile Camino Frances route of The Way of St. James (El Camino de Santiago).  Over the next few months, GIRLS ON THE WAY will document our preparation for the hike of a lifetime.

We finally did it.  We finally decided on one huge hike, something spectacularly grand and exciting, something that might make it possible for us to raise a decent amount of money for others. 

Alex, Sage, and I have been talking about doing something for charity for over a year.  First, Sage wanted to walk across the United States.  I jumped at the idea, but it didn't pan out because neither Sage nor Alex wanted to  be away from home for the many consecutive months it would have taken for us to walk from coast to coast.  Next, we thought of hiking or biking 50 miles in each of the 50 states.  Again, however, that would have meant too many months away from home.  The girls need their routines; they don't mind being gone for two months or so, but after that they want to see their friends, hold their pets, go to their extracurricular classes, etc.  Totally understandable.

Then, at our friend MadRiver's suggestion, we rented the film, The Way.  All three of us loved it.  When the film ended, we talked about the possibility of doing the Camino.  A week later, the plan was set, and I reminded the girls about our responsibility to help others however we're able.  Our recent trip to San Francisco reinforced our desire to start where we are, use what we have, and do what we can...I therefore sent emails to Global Fund for Women and GirlVentures, and now here we are today.

I've stated in other posts that I want to raise $10,000.  That's a HUGE amount of money and I've no idea if we'll reach that goal.  We'll do our best, though.  My first public announcement regarding our Camino adventure (outside of social media) will be at this weekend's Boston Book Festival (I'm giving a talk on my book, Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure).  Next week, I'll begin the fundraising campaign in earnest.  We've four months before we leave for the Camino, and I'd like to raise as much money as possible before we go. 

Please spread the word and let others know what we're doing.  Share the new website with them -- www.girlsontheway.com.  Help us raise money to help promote the good health, economic security, and human rights of women around the globe.

Start Where You Are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can -- Arthur Ashe

Please join us on Saturday, October 27 at the Boston Book Festival.  Click here for details.

The girls and I spent twenty minutes in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco last week.  I didn't bring them into the area on purpose; the blocks changed quickly and by the time I realized where we were heading, we were already there.  We did an about-face soon enough, but as we walked six short blocks up and down Jones Street, we saw at least a dozen people sleeping on the sidewalks, three men openly smoking something that was definitely not tobacco, and one inebriated woman shout-singing, "Henry the Eighth I Am."  The girls took it all in and, as we walked, they asked me a lot of questions.  Why were those people sleeping on the sidewalks?  Couldn't the rich people of the world give them money?  What were those fellows smoking?  Why is it illegal?  If it's illegal, then why were they smoking it and why weren't they afraid of being caught by the police?  Why isn't alcohol illegal, if alcohol makes you sing loudly down the middle of the sidewalk? 

I tried to answer their questions as best I could.  There are programs out there for homeless people but not everybody can take advantage of them for certain reasons, I'm not exactly sure why some things are legal while other things aren't, and I don't know why the men didn't seem afraid of getting caught.  The girls' questions continued -- their biggest concern was why, in this land of relative plenty, the government can't offer help to every person in the country.

I'm not a politician so I won't play one on this blog.  Suffice to say my responses fell short of my daughters' expectations.  They wanted concrete answers regarding how to help and house all the homeless people we saw and all I could give them was a bunch of I-don't-knows.

We left the area with a new resolve to do our part in this world.

For at least a year, the girls and I have been talking about hiking for a charitable organization.  Specifically, we've wanted to do our part, however small, to help empower girls and women around the globe.  Alex and Sage are quite aware that, in far too many countries, women are considered property and do not have access to education, adequate health care, or equal rights.  My daughters are also aware that right here in the United States, in the year 2012, women do not receive equal pay in the workforce, maternity/paternity leave is practically nonexistent, and the vast majority of our elected officials are men.

After we walked through the Tenderloin, I asked the girls if they wanted to change the target of our future fundraising efforts.  Their answer was no...and yes.

No, for now, they want to stay focused on female empowerment.  Therefore, we will dedicate our March/April 2013 hike of the Camino de Santiago to the nonprofit organizations Global Fund for Women and GirlVentures.  Global Fund for Women offers grants to female-led organizations and promotes equal rights for women around the globe.  GirlVentures is the San Francisco-based nonprofit that leads adolescent girls through outdoor wilderness adventures.  I will write much more about the Camino, Global Fund for Women, GirlVentures, and our fundraising efforts in the weeks and months to come.  A new webpage devoted to this 500 mile journey will soon be constructed and linked to this site.

Yes, the girls definitely care about the homeless and would also like to raise money for them.  Therefore, if the Camino goes well and if the girls remain enthusiastic about hiking for charity, then we may do another fundraising hike in 2014.  That walk will likely focus on helping the homeless. 

The girls are young and I don't see their love of hiking fading away any time soon.  May as well raise money for others while we're walking.

Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.