Passports with a Purpose: How you can help build a village in India

A few months back, I heard about a really amazing campaign among a group of travel bloggers called Passports with a Purpose. Last year, this group raised an astonishing $30,000, which was used to build a school in rural Cambodia. You can read about the school here.

This year, the goal is even loftier: $50,000 to build a village in India. My husband traveled to India a couple of years ago. He loved every minute he spent there (especially the food!) but was astonished at the poverty he witnessed (and he was being shuttled from major city to major city, so I doubt he saw the worst of it.)

How does a group of travel bloggers raise that kind of money? It's pretty genius, actually. Many of the bloggers procure a prize from a generous sponsor. Then they encourage their readers to donate to the cause. For each $10 donated, you can register to win a particular price.

I don't have an amazing prize to offer. But I am including Passports with a Purpose in my holiday giving plans, and I hope you'll consider doing the same. While I'd love to win a prize (you can see a list here), my motivation and heart lies with a group of Dalits (India's untouchables) who desperately need housing, training and agricultural assistance. All money donated goes directly to Friends of LAFTI Foundation, an NGO that specializes in assisting impoverished Indian villages.

It's none of my business what your world view is, how you choose to spend your hard-earned money, and who you choose to help. But me? I firmly believe that never in history has our world been more interconnected. To some, that's scary. Instead, I think it means the horizon never really ends, and that we're all neighbors on this great big planet. It's why I travel, it's why I want my son to grow up traveling. So what's the use in building one village in a country where thousands, if not millions, of others need help? Well, to those people, my neighbors, it's everything.

Now you know what the PwP button on the left is all about. I hope you'll give it a click. Over the next few weeks, mostly on Tuesdays, I'll be profiling some of the other participants and their prizes.

Today I'm linking up with Best Family Travel Advice. From here, you can see a few of the posts people are writing today in recognition of Passports with a Purpose's launch.

Something for all the senses

The arrow saw some of us sniffing the plants found in the Steele Herb Garden at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and he just couldn't resist joining in.  Luckily, dad was happy to give him a lift.  You can read more about our visit to the Gardens here and the rest of our trip here.

This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

Let me introduce you to Go Explore Nature!

I've said this before, but finding amazing blogs to read has been the best part of starting a blog of my own. These blogs inspire me, humor me, and humble me in so many different ways.

The arrow begging to go outside. A daily routine.

A true favorite of mine? Go Explore Nature. This was the case even before Debi was kind enough to ask me to do a guest post on how my family enjoys nature in Indiana. She posted it today, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to share this information. If you're visiting Arrows Sent Forth from Go Explore Nature, welcome! My blog isn't entirely nature-focused, but as you'll see if you scan through some past posts, we spend a lot of time outside.



If you're a regular reader of Arrows Sent Forth (hey mom), I hope you'll visit Go Explore Nature. She's had some fantastic guest posts covering many different locations that have me daydreaming about all kinds of fun trips. But she has also convinced me that Los Angeles would make a great outdoorsy destination. (Otherwise, I'm fairly certain I would have spent much of my time there trying to meet Matt Damon or be an audience member on Ellen. Which I will probably still do if I ever make it there, but I'll do a lot of cool things outside too, thanks to this blog!)

Top 10 Tricks for Flying with a Toddler

Since I've only taken two flights with the arrow, I feel very unqualified to offer up advice on flying with a toddler.  But I did pick up a trick or two on our to/from Phoenix flights that I wanted to share. And my best piece of advice? Just do it. You'll survive, I promise!

Running around the terminal.

1) Waiting in the terminal is not the time to be a lazy parent. Get up and move with your toddler! Find an empty waiting area, explore the people movers, if nothing else, stand at the windows and look at the planes. Just move.

2) A well organized activity bag. I spent a lot of time packing our two carry-ons for maximum toddler entertainment. I think I'll be blogging more about that in the future. If you're the top of person who throws a few things in a bag before heading to the airport, you might want to put a little more thought into your carry-on when flying with a little one.

3) Stock up on drinks before boarding the plane. The arrow was a thirsty guy on the flights, and it helped his ears to pop. But the beverage carts only come around once, so I was glad that I had an extra bottle of water in my bag to refill his sippy cup before we landed. Also, there wasn't milk offered (or at least our US Air flight didn't have any.)

4) Put the plane to work for you. The arrow had fun looking out the window, especially while we were on the ground. We pointed out the guys putting bags on the plane, the orange wands they waved to direct the pilot, and the buildings below us getting smaller and smaller. He liked playing with the window shade. So we spent as much time on all these things as possible, which meant we didn't have to dip into our bag of tricks as often.

5) Don't be terrified of crying. First of all, the engine noise really does mute it. You'll probably only be bothering those seated immediately next to you. We knew when the arrow had reached the point of exhaustion and then we stopped trying to entertain him. He started to cry, so I rocked with him in my arms and whispered some songs he likes in his ear. He continued to cry, but two minutes later, he was sound asleep. I'll take 2 minutes of crying in exchange for a 45 minute nap, and I'm sure my fellow passengers agreed.

6) Divide and conquer. When boarding, my husband got on as soon as he was allowed to with all our bags. He got us situated, bags stowed, etc. Then I waited with the arrow (running around the terminal, remember?) until most passengers had boarded. This cut down on our time on the plane by at least 15 minutes.

7) Pick a few favorites, and a few new items. We brought a lot of the arrow's favorite books, because I knew he liked looking at them over and over. But I also packed a few new treats, and he really enjoyed playing with something new for a while. We saved the new things for when we were struggling a bit, and the novelty of whatever it was reduced the fussiness.

8) Snacks. Always a good time killer. Like the tip above, I packed some of his favorite snacks, and also a few things he'd never had before that I knew he'd like. Same strategy as above. And a shout-out to the Gerber Graduates Juice Treats. Not something I'd ordinarily feed the arrow, but they were really chewy and helped his ears to pop.

9) Forbidden items. Is there something your toddler loves that you never let him play with? Is there a way to take advantage of that on a plane? The arrow has broken two pairs of sunglasses and constantly tries to swipe my husband's glasses, so they are always off limits. Before our flight, I bought a cheap pair of kiddie sunglasses, and packed that in our carry-on. He was thrilled to finally be able to play with glasses!

10) Read what the real experts have to say. I relied greatly on the wise advice of Delicious Baby's flying suggestions. Find a blogger with kids your age, and see what they do to pass the time on a plane.

This post is a part of Top 10 Tuesday at Oh Amanda.

Desert Botanical Garden

One of the highlights of our trip to Phoenix was an outing to the Desert Botanical Garden. On a previous (kid-less) trip to Phoenix, I visited the Gardens first thing in the morning. The only people I remember seeing besides my mom and sister were a few employees. On this trip, when we pulled into a packed parking lot around 11 a.m., I feared I may regret coming. But it was surprisingly still a fairly peaceful way to talk a walk in the desert.

My favorite aspect of the Desert Botanical Gardens is the variety. You'll see so many unique plants and landscapes when you visit. There are also examples of homes that desert dwellers built and lived in back in the day, along with small exhibits about other aspects of desert life. The arrow thought the huts were pretty cool and we adults learned a lot.

There are a variety of walks and trails at the Gardens. All were very stroller friendly. It was fun to let the arrow loose and watch him romp around a bit, too.

If you go with kids, you might want to think through your strategy of which trails to cover and in which order. We tried to see as much of the Gardens as possible during our visit (beginning with the Desert Discovery Loop Trail, which runs throughout the Gardens, then the Herb Garden Trail, followed by the Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Loop Trail, and ending with the Desert Wildflower Loop Trail). By the time we got to the wildflower trail, the arrow was getting a little cranky.  The Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail would probably be the most interesting for kids, especially those a little older than the arrow.

So on this chilly Monday, I'm dreaming of cactus lining my path, sun on my face, and beautiful desert scenery all around me. This post is a part of Mondays are for Dreaming at The Mother of All Trips.

A delicious date night

I know I blog about adventures with our son. But every once in a while, I love leaving him with an adoring grandparent or two so that my husband and I can have a quiet meal or sometimes even an overnight away. We try to do this once a month, although admittedly we're not always successful.

A couple of weeks ago for our anniversary, we headed to our favorite restaurant in Columbus, Tre Bicchieri. I blogged about our dinner there and other Columbus dining options at the Indiana Insider this week.  We're lucky that even though we live an hour away from Indianapolis, we have several great local restaurants here in town that are perfect for kid-free evenings.

Nothing says date night like having a cocktail to start the meal! This is one of Tre Bicchieri's signature drinks: Tuscan Lemonade. Vodka, limoncello and lemonade. It was dangerously good!

These scallops melted in my mouth. And while I over-did the appetizers and couldn't finish that pile of risotto, it was heavenly the next day for lunch.

Kid-free time continues this weekend when we head to Connecticut for a friend's wedding. I openly admit to being thrilled to be boarding an airplane with a People magazine and my knitting needles instead of a 20 pound bag of toys and treats to keep the arrow entertained. Although I know we'll miss him!
 
This post is a part of Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick.

Drum roll please...

Happy to announce that Random.org selected Comment #10 as the winner of the Yo Gabba Gabba cd. Jessyca, I've sent you a message with all the details, be sure to write me back by Nov. 7 or another winner will be selected. Thanks to all who commented!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!  The arrow spent the day chasing after his cool older cousin (who is very worthy of the arrow's affection) and acting totally annoyed with his younger cousin (who is the sweetest, most beautiful 10 month old girl ever). We love when my sister's adorable family comes to visit.  In the evening, the arrow-turned-dragon hung out in the front yard and helped me pass out candy. All in all, a fantastic Sunday!

Looking for some kids as cute as the arrow?
Let me introduce you to my niece and nephew.

He wasn't so sure about the costume at first, but by the end of the evening
 he refused to pull down his "hood" even when we came inside the house.