I checked out my site today and saw the message on the left from my TripIt widget.
It’s good to be home.
But I had a great time doing fundraising training for the last few weeks in New Zealand. I taught 9 times in about 10 days: 5 times at the TONIC conference in Tauranga and then 4 “Ask Without Fear!” seminars around the North Island. I must say, Kiwis are among the most hospitable people I’ve had the opportunity to visit yet!
I took my 8 year old daughter with me. We had a great time learning new things about the English language (“car parks” instead of parking lots) and driving on the left. I even got to learn new ways to order coffee
- “long black,”
- “short black,” and
- “flat white.”
(I stuck with long blacks–double espresso shots.) And of course we got to see many of the places where The Lord of the Rings was filmed.
One of the most striking things about the trip was the government’s help in bringing training to nonprofits. Through Kerri Tilby, many of the seminars were sponsored and hosted by regional authorities. I love seeing that sort of collaboration. (And the regional councils loved having charities learn about other funding streams!)
I also took the time to experiment with a new blogging project Pitman Travels–a blog with tips and tricks culled from my 15+ years of professional travel. I haven’t traveled enough to be impersonated by George Clooney, but I have learned a thing or two over the years.
So it was a great trip but I am glad to be home and have the TripIt widget claim I have no upcoming trips. I do (2011 is filling up nicely) but I’m going to enjoy being in Waterville right now!
