We have some amazing women who join us on AdventureWomen trips! In this e-news, I would like to introduce Angela Weathers, who came on this year’s Caribbean Sail, Snorkel, and Scuba Diving trip in the British Virgin Islands. Angela is an incredible role model for all women! Here is her inspirational story:
“In 1974 I went to live for 3 years in Benbecula, one of the islands in the Outer Hebrides off the West Coast of Scotland with my husband and 2 small children. There wasn't a lot there to keep a person like myself busy or entertained since I wasn't totally into fishing or bird watching. So I decided to take up scuba diving. It was a challenge and the local scuba group wanted to encourage more women to learn to dive, so I suppose they thought that if I could do it anyone could.
My husband encouraged me in my endeavor and gave me a wet suit for Christmas that year. The wet suit was a do-it-yourself kit. Two pieces, as far as I can remember, and I simply lay down on the floor while a friend cut the neoprene around my body to make a snug fit, then we just stuck it together with the glue provided. I also had boots, hat and gloves.
I did my dive training according to the British Sub Aqua Club training program. The British Sub aqua club has been the UK's leading dive club and the sport's National Governing Body since 1953, providing an internationally-recognised diver training and development program via a network of clubs and centers across the UK and overseas.
Here I am on the right side of the photo
(1974, Benbecula, Scotland)
It was January and although it never gets really cold in the Hebrides because of the gulf stream that flows down the west coast, it is almost always windy, and usually raining. Not a lot to see under the water except for a few lobsters and seals and sea urchins. Our tests were carried out in a small loch and the open water tests were done in a larger loch where we entered the water from a small dingy.
And here I am in the middle.
I got my 3rd class BSAC diver qualification in April of 1974 and continued diving until we moved from the Hebrides. I didn't have the opportunity to consider diving again until last year when I decided that if I wanted to do some warm water diving I'd better do it soon while I was still in good health. AdventureWomen provided the opportunity I was looking for. As an enthusiastic sailor I have always wanted to sail in the BVI's and sailing on the Cuan Law was the perfect opportunity for me to sail and dive the Caribbean.
Once a diver always a diver and a diving certification lasts a lifetime. However, after almost 40 years, I thought that there probably had been enough changes within the sport and equipment that it would be a good idea to get re-certified with PADI. I took my confined water tests through my local dive shop in Maryland. They were very similar to the tests I had done in Scotland. I also stepped up my exercise routine, doing pilates, lifting weights and doing aerobics at my gym.
I completed my open water diver certification on the AdventureWomen Caribbean vacation in March 2010 by diving from the Cuan Law with great people and support. That’s me (below) in the middle, with my dive instructor on the left, and Mel Carney, who also got certified, on the right.
Angela Weathers (center) on the Cuan Law
March 2010
Seeing all the marine life in the Caribbean and diving the numerous wrecks around the shores was awesome and well worth the work it took for me to get back to diving. I'll be back again next year!”
– Angela Weathers, Cascade, MD
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Following is an email I received on May 30. Thank you Diane for sending this. Dorothy was so enthusiastic and positive, and I loved having her on my trips. Not only that, but she would send me postcards from time to time, telling me how much she enjoyed all her AdventureWomen trips, and asking me about what new trips I was planning. I always followed this with a call to her on the telephone, and we would talk more. Aside from a love of travel, we also shared a love of Chicago, a hometown to both of us (and where AdventureWomen was born!) My condolences to you and to all of her family. I KNOW how much you will miss her.
– Susan Eckert
Dear Susan and Staff,
I just came across some old correspondence on my computer from the Lorraine Barge trip [in Burgundy, France] in June 2005 and it dawned on me that you might want to know the following.
My mother, Dorothy Mirsky, one of your long time "Adventure Women," recently passed away in Chicago on Feb. 1, at age 88. Only 2 weeks before, we discovered she had pancreatic cancer, and we are grateful that she did not suffer long.
You may not know this but AdventureWomen was a very important part of her life. She proudly talked about all of her trips to anyone who would listen. My mother loved to travel and see foreign places. You enabled her to live out her dreams, long after most of her peers had stopped traveling. She kept detailed scrapbooks of each one of her adventures---Africa (twice), Indonesia, Montana, and France. My sister (Caren Brown), cousin (Barbara Osborn) and I (Diane Scholnick) were fortunate to accompany her on her last trip with you [down the Burgundy Canal in France] on the barge, Lorraine. By then she was 83, and having trouble walking. So we carried her wheel chair with us, and took turns pushing it over the cobblestone streets at each stop along the way. She was determined to make one more trip with you, even if it required her family to support her. Of course, your staff were all very helpful and made our adventure a real vacation, too.
Dorothy's legacy to her grandchildren and nieces and nephews became very clear at her funeral. All talked about loving and respecting her adventuresome spirit. And all acknowledged learning from her the value of never being afraid of trying new things, meeting new people and finding ways of living out your dreams and interests.
Thank you for being a part of that legacy. We will all miss her.
Sincerely,
Diane Mirsky Scholnick
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With fall just around the corner, there’s no better time to book an AdventureWomen trip of a lifetime and train for it at sizzling summer savings.
We’ve teamed up with Fit for Trips so that you can participate in your adventure in prime physical form. Travel with us to hike in the English Cotswolds in September, explore Costa Rica, discover Egypt and Jordan, absorb yourself in Vietnam and Cambodia, trek Nepal, and sea kayak Baja — all in October — and receive a 40% savings on a trip-specific Custom Fitness Program if booked by JUNE 15th.
When you book your fall AdventureWomen trip before June 15th, we will give you a special promotional code. Then purchase your Fit for Trips program and use the promotional code we provide to you to receive your 40% off the listed fitness program price. It’s that easy to get in shape for your adventure!
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