Cuppa Connections Episode 13: Meena Thiruvengadam; A Natural-Born Explorer

What can you say about a woman who has visited 60 countries, 47 states, and 6 continents? Inspirational is one word that comes to my mind.

Meena Thiruvengadam has been a writer for over 20 years, and has written for publications such as Travel & Leisure and The Wall Street Journal to name a few. She's as authentic and as fun as they come. 

This episode showcases a woman who has traveled the world as a writer and an explorer. We not only hear about some of her cool coffee experiences, but of some of her inspiring adventures, like the time she climbed an Alaskan Glacier. 

We hope you enjoy .

Transcript

Portia: 0:00

Hey guys. Welcome to Cup of Connections. I'm Portia, and we're here coming to you from our virtual cafe Better with a Cup of Coffee. We are savoring relationships with coffee lovers around the world and sharing their experiences that have been better with a cup of coffee. Hello everybody. Today's episode is something special. I always say that about my episodes. I gotta say this is true because I'm introducing a woman who is amazing. She has traveled the world. She has traveled 60 countries, 47 states, six continents. She loves to explore. She loves coffee as we coffee lovers do. Okay. But we're gonna talk about her coffee experiences in other countries. The cultural differences, likes all of that great stuff. And I have to introduce Meena Thiruvendagam. I said it right. Did I?

Meena: 0:59

Close. Meena Thiruvengadam.

Portia: 1:03

Oh shoot.

Meena: 1:03

Look very close.

Portia: 1:05

Here I am tooten my own horn. Well, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you so much

Meena: 1:13

for inviting me to be on the podcast.

Portia: 1:15

People are, so they're interested in traveling, but it's about learning the cultural experiences that really intrigues me. And that's via coffee, that's via writing because you are a, a travel writer and, and amongst other forms of writing. So talk to us about how you got so interested in traveling.

Meena: 1:39

I've been interested in travel as long as I can remember. My best guess is, um, when I was born, my mom was a student in the Dominican Republic, and she took me back with her, and I lived there probably for the first couple of years of my life. I'm guessing something about that first flight just, you know, stuck with me after all these years cuz I've just always wanted to go and see and do an explore and especially to fly.

Portia: 2:09

Now you are living in Chicago.

Meena: 2:13

I am.

Portia: 2:13

You travel so much. Is your luggage unpacked? Do you? Do you You can.

Meena: 2:19

I did unpack it after the last trip, but sometimes if I've got back to back trips, I basically will have a suitcase and kind of all the pieces that will go into it, toiletries, makeup, whatever. I've got things like a second toothbrush, so sometimes just swapping out clothes. Sometimes you gotta actually swap out the suitcase. So, uh, yes, there's a whole art that goes into it.

Portia: 2:44

So when you travel, Do you find, say if you're in a hotel or Airbnb, do you scout out where the locals go to find the best coffee? Give us a story as far as, say, Where you have been and you have had some of the best coffee.

Meena: 3:01

I mean, usually, honestly, if it's in the morning and I haven't had my coffee, my goal is the closest coffee and I will go from there. Yeah. And then in terms of coffee, the best coffee I've, that's gonna be a little bit challenging, but I will say the one drink that I think about a lot is this iced pistachio latte I had in Paris at Galleries Lafayette. Was uh, this very cute, one of those very Instagramable cafes and everything was just surf so beautifully, and it was really nice. And I loved it because it wasn't a super sweet drink. I usually drink my coffee black, but it was just this little subtle hint of pistachio.

Portia: 3:47

Hmm.

Meena: 3:48

And it was also nice to, you know, watch it all kind of become green and you know, it was a whole experience. It was one of those things where you're like, I'm paying a lot of money for this coffee compared to, you know what, I would pay for a coffee, but it's worth.

Portia: 4:01

First of all, I know that Parisians and, and, and French, they love their type of coffee, but are they evolving more into, uh, creating lattes or are they, are they about espressos?

Meena: 4:13

You know, I feel like I'm seeing kind of all of it everywhere. It seems like these boutique coffee shops where you can get all kinds of coffees are just kind of around if you know where to look for them. Um, you know, I'm sure I could have gotten a much cheaper cup of coffee in, uh, Paris, but I was in a beautiful place and it was sort of beautifully and it was a nice experience. So I think there's a lot of folks like me who are looking for that kind of,

Portia: 4:40

So what, what section of Paris were you in?

Meena: 4:42

Uh, Galleries Lafayette. So right in central Paris. I think the first Arrondissement

Portia: 4:48

I'll never forget you told me the time when you wanted just an iced coffee and where did you. Because why?

Meena: 4:56

Starbucks, you know, the, a few years ago iced coffee was a lot harder to find in Europe than I think it's been for my travels the last year or so. And it was a hot, sunny day. I really wanted a coffee. But I certainly didn't want a hot coffee. So, you know, in search of ice coffee, I went and all of these local coffee shops were like, well, I guess we can pour some ice in a coffee. But, you know, I knew Starbucks would have me with its cold brew. So I went, I succumbeded, I had the cold brew and it was fantastic.

Portia: 5:28

Where were you?

Meena: 5:29

You know, I think that time I actually might have been in central. Starbucks worked out well cuz it also had wifi, which I'm pretty sure I needed at the time.

Portia: 5:39

Yeah. Because of all your work.

Meena: 5:41

Yep. I mean, but if I'm in a work, you know, overlooking the Opera House or something beautiful is not a bad way to do it.

Portia: 5:48

What of a cultural differences? So for example, I mean you've been all over the world. You've been to parts of Europe, Africa, um, Australia.

Meena: 5:58

I mean, I think there's a lot of similarities in that, you know, we all have to do these certain things to live.

Portia: 6:05

Mm-hmm.

Meena: 6:05

Uh, so I think there's a lot of elements of, we are very similar and if you, you know, I've lived a lot of different places and, uh, you know, at the end of the day it's like, you need a place you can live. But there are differences in a lot of similarities. It's like your day-to-day life isn't necessarily that different living in, you know, New York versus Chicago where I am now. Everything's a little bit closer than it is, but I still need to do all of the same things in my day-to-day. That said, there are lots of ways to do it. Um, you know, Also, there's a lot of things that blend. Like I remember back in the day, you know, if you ordered a takeaway coffee in Paris or Italy, it would be like, what on earth is wrong with you, you American? Now I can walk in and, you know, granted they place me as an American, but it's not as weird when they give me the paper cup. It's like, okay, you know, you got someplace to go with your coffee, just whatever. And it feels, it feels a lot less judgmental.

Portia: 7:07

That's another one. That's a good thing you mentioned because. are these businesses, these people realizing, hey, we should probably branch out and, and target more demographics, more people than just our local people. Is that the whole reason behind it? Or?

Meena: 7:24

Some extent? One thing I noticed when I was, um, in the Alsace region of Francewas, there were a couple of places where you could find things like cold brew and iced coffee. So I think that as more people get around, more people try different things. They wanna take some of those things that they may be found and loved with them. For example, you know, I've figured out my local coffee shop has a pistachio latte. So now I've been drinking that. Yeah, I've been drinking hot though, cuz it's like 25, 30 degrees outside. So we're not in a cold coffee territory. But I also think that, you know, there are places where it's like, you know, you've got a lot of tourists, you know, you've got a Starbucks, so how can I actually compete a little bit? So I do think that you see that. People do want an independent experience, but it's like kind of that original situation. I really want an original experience, but I am not about to walk, you know, down the street on a 90 degree day with a hot cup of coffee.

Portia: 8:19

Makes sense girl. I'm telling you. We're talking about, of course, the basic similarities and the differences of cultures, of course, the day to la, day-to-day living. But I read something about what of your experiences that really was touching, and I don't know if it had anything to do with coffee or not, but it didn't matter. It was so touching and it was a place that you went to. Let me see if I'm saying it correct. Zaandam?

Meena: 8:48

Yeah, and I think so. I don't know. Everything in Dutch just sounds Dutch.

Portia: 8:56

So when you were writing about your experiences in Zaandam, it was very touching because of, you were talking about how women of color, Were just so welcomed you. A woman of color was just welcomed by the locals. Can you shed some light on that as far as maybe even talk about, you know, to women of color and how these cultural experiences can catapult you to just keep on traveling?

Meena: 9:29

Yeah, definitely. Um, it was one of those places where I was just really surprised. It was just outside Amsterdam. There was a cute hotel there, you know, I was like, I'll go and check this out. And I think that in some places where you travel and it looks really diverse, if you look a little bit closer, you're like, well, all of the travelers look like one thing. And all of the people working here look like another. And, that was the thing to me that was so different about Zaandam.. It was like all mixed up. There were people of color who were running their retail shops and their small businesses, but also shopping around or eating at restaurants and bars. And it was very much first like being in a real place and then second, like being in a place where, not just me, but everybody kind of blended in.

Portia: 10:16

When you were talking about people who were just, either working or traveling, uh, where a lot of these people, what was it that you had mentioned? That a lot of these women were, um, Muslim. Is that?

Meena: 10:27

Yeah, there were eventually quite a bit. There were some refugee communities that have been there.

Portia: 10:31

Yes.

Meena: 10:32

So there were a lot of Muslim people, uh, as there also are in places like Amsterdam. A lot of Indian people.

Portia: 10:39

Mm-hmm.

Meena: 10:39

So it was really an interesting mix of people who were not just there but living there.

Portia: 10:44

Right. And then you had said something about one of the locals she was talking to a, uh, was a local newspaper and she was talking. I'm paraphrasing, but she was saying she learned Arabic. And then it was just very warm. And it showed that that culture is trying.

Meena: 11:03

Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, the Netherlands has a history and um, you know, in some ways as a country, its institutions are trying to acknowledge that history. But I think people like her really put it well. It's like, we're here because of a lot of strokes of luck. So if someone else needs to be here because those strokes weren't as lucky, that's okay. And I think it's also just that curiosity. Like I know that I'm a person who has a lot of curiosity. I go in and I hear some language that's unfamiliar and I wanna know what's going on. And I think a lot of people have that too. And in Zaandam it's to show that, you know, approaching a situation like that with curiosity and saying, who are my new friends, can really be far more enriching than say, do I need to be worried about these strangers?

Portia: 11:53

Right. I imagine since you've traveled so many places, you have developed friendships over the years. Right? Because you've been, I don't know how long you've been traveling, but you've been, you told me that you have been writing for 20 years.

Meena: 12:10

Yep.

Portia: 12:10

Now and your writing takes you to various countries cuz you have written for The Wall Street Journal, you've written for Travel and Leisure, and to name some others. Developing those friendships can mean a lot for someone's growth, uh, and developing relationships. How important is that to? Because I, no, please go ahead.

Meena: 12:33

It's hugely important. I look at it in, you know, my friends, even the ones I never set out to make, have had huge impacts in my life, whether that's just being welcoming in a time that I need it. Or you know, saying, Hey, there's some really weird political stuff happening in your country. I got a guest bedroom and you're welcome to it at any time. Um, you know, but it's like everybody, it's. I try and approach people with this, what can I learn from you attitude. And I think that doing that internationally, I've met people who have really become lifelong friends.

Portia: 13:10

Yes. That is so key, just to understand different cultures and so that we can grow as a person and then wherever we are in our own community. I think that's extremely important. So you had touched about the curiosity, on about the curiosity of you, the explorer, the adventurer. You said, you had mentioned that you got the bug when you were young. And so when you, you had this inner desire, right? To just travel.

Meena: 13:39

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 13:40

Uh, to be an adventurist. Did you, in your wildest dreams, ever think that you were going to climb a glacier in Alaska?

Meena: 13:49

No. In fact, five days before I climbed that glacier, I had no intent of climbing that glacier about an hour before I climbed it. I had no intent of it. But I'm still so very, very glad I did. It was one of those things that I was on an assignment for, uh, Departure Magazines. And I didn't. I thought I was gonna set this one out, but the guides we were with were like, well, we went ahead and brought some hiking boots anyway, in case you changed your mind. So I tried out the little trial area at the bottom. There was actually a PR rep for United Airlines there. He did it with me. He decided he was not about to go up there. I decided it wasn't so bad and one of the travel agents that was with me was like, I'm doing it with a torn ACL. And you know, I was like, well, seems all right. So I guess I'm gonna do it. And I did it.

Portia: 14:39

Girl.

Meena: 14:39

Definitely the one who fell behind and, you know, buddy with a torn acl. L was like, how's she doing back there? And left the guide with me cuz they're like, you sh you should go back with her. Cuz she girls dunno what she's doing. Somehow I made it, made it across the top. If it was a group effort. Bunch of strangers help me make it across the little tight rope situation. They were right. It was totally unforgettable. I'm glad they, uh, I'm glad everyone encouraged me to do it.

Portia: 15:05

When was this?

Meena: 15:07

This was July, 2018.

Portia: 15:12

How high was this? I, I've seen glaciers, but is it where he, yeah. Uh, is it a mountain or the glaciers and mountain?

Meena: 15:20

Yeah. So it was basically like this rocky cliff that was like 13, 1500 feet maybe. Um, it was on a glacier, 80 miles from our highway. Had to take a helicopter there. It was a whole thing.

Portia: 15:33

So you were scared outta your mind.

Meena: 15:36

I think in some ways it seems fine when it was climbing. It wasn't until we got to the last part where I was like, I'm gonna have a panic attack, where it's like, here's this little rope you're going to walk across. And I'm like, what the hell? And you know, I'm all strapped in, which is great, but I'm sitting there thinking laws of physics. Even if I fall and the thing catches me, then I'm just dangling above this crevice. And who wants that? So I talked to the guide who at this point was like my friend. We talked about income inequality, and like, living as a non-rich person in Connecticut and like learning how to trust yourself in therapy. It was a, you know, I mean, we had time. And I was like, all right, what, what? Can I go back? Like, how does this work? And it's like, you could, but trust me, that's not gonna be the easy way. So he, uh, you know, he kind of, he helped me out. He is like, okay, this is going to be a thing. Everybody's on the other side cheering for me. Yes, I did the little rope and I was like, okay. You know, I used to, I skate, I used to dance, and I share as the hell am not looking down. So I channeled every yoga class I've ever taken and somehow managed to get across. Never have I been so happy to see a helicopter come to get me.

Portia: 16:50

Girl. You talking about, I've seen these pictures of these people dangling on these ropes and above the crevices. Like people disappear in these crevices.

Meena: 17:00

Right? Which is why I normally don't do this kind of thing.

Portia: 17:05

You're like, nope.

Meena: 17:07

But I will say I had a fantastic guide. Um, and I think that that really was supremely helpful. And also these random people who were like, we're gonna get her across. Let's send the guy back with her cuz, you know, she's back there and we at least have a clue what we're doing and we're with this guy. So, I think it was, uh, it, it was a really good experience in a lot of different ways. Even a bunch of strangers might have your best interest at heart in ways you didn't expect.

Portia: 17:35

That is so cool. That's almost like a marathon. You know, you've seen those pictures of a marathon where people, you know, you've got the winners, you've got the

Meena: 17:41

mm-hmm.

Portia: 17:41

middle of the pack, and then the last ones, they're still people there are cheering you on.

Meena: 17:46

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 17:46

And it sounds like that. That's very inspirational. What other adventures have you done, or do you wanna do?

Meena: 17:55

Oh man, I, you know, I just, sometimes I look back and I'm like, I can't believe I got to do all of this stuff. I've gotten to follow boring government officials to super interesting places. Spent a week in Arctic Canada once. Spent a week and a half in Istanbul. I've gone on, you know, safaris in Africa. I spent a few weeks covering the climate conference in Egypt. I have gone all around Europe. I have packed, I've done it with a little carryon. I've done it with a suitcase. Friend of mine I actually met backpacking Europe, God, probably 15 years ago now is like you just come back every few years with a different piece of luggage and do kind of a similar version. But it's interesting, cause you get more money and the trips get better and where we meet for dinner gets nicer. It's definitely been a ton of, ton of kind of crazy. Fun adventures.

Portia: 18:51

And there's more to come, right? I mean, you still have this bug in you, don't you?

Meena: 18:55

I mean, there's still a lot of the world left to see, and then there are all the places I wanna go back to. All the new friends I gotta go visit. All the random things like climbing glaciers I didn't know I needed to do yet. So. It's like, I feel like until I've seen every corner and done everything and met every person, like when am I gonna be done? It's like, yeah, there's not enough time to do and live everywhere and do all the things, so I'm just gonna do as much of it as I can.

Portia: 19:22

Absolutely. You know, when you come back, or like for example, you take your trip and then you come back home. I know for me, I don't know how it is for you. You have that itching. Where do I go next? Do you have that?

Meena: 19:35

Not anymore. I found the key.

Portia: 19:37

What's the, what do you mean the key?

Meena: 19:39

You have the next trip booked by the time you come home from the last one. It is the game changer because then you don't have that like post vacation blues of, oh my God, I've gotta go back. There's reality. It's just, I gotta go back, I gotta get my stuff done and I gotta go on to this next thing. I dunno who told me that, but ever since I started doing that. Total game changer.

Portia: 20:03

That is a game changer. I'm feeling kind of the blues of mm-hmm. because, you know, I had this epic road trip last year and we did so much 19 days seeing all of these states and having all of these experiences. I'm, and I'm still, there's this hunger. and I miss it. But that is such a good idea just to book the next trip before you get back, you said?

Meena: 20:27

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 20:27

Oh yeah.

Meena: 20:28

And you can always, I mean, so many flights are refundable and hotels are refundable. Doesn't mean you can't change your mind, but at least you got an idea of what you're doing and what you wanna do, and you know that next thing is on the horizon, which for me makes it a lot easier to come home because most of the time when I'm going to the airport I'm like, well, I could get on this flight I should be on, or I could go there.

Portia: 20:49

Mm-hmm.

Meena: 20:49

And there is very attractive. Except they gotta go home and at least change out the clothes in my luggage. So.

Portia: 20:57

Going back to coffee though, I'm curious about something. Since you've been to Africa and you've been all over Africa, what is your, what was your experience with coffee in Africa, people and the culture around coffee? Uh, have you been to Ethiopia or places of that nature?

Meena: 21:16

I have not, but Ethiopia is high on my list. Um, you know, honestly a lot of my African experiences on safaris, it was just the best coffee and food you've ever had somehow magically appears in front of you. Um, and that was all really great. But I think Egypt was a really interesting place for coffee culture cuz everybody's drinking coffee all the time. And I'm sitting here thinking it's like 11 o'clock at night and everybody's sitting around drinking coffee. Of course they are cuz there's so many Muslim people. It's like drinking and going to a bar isn't what people do. They just drink the super strong Arabic coffee all day and all night long. Which to me was interesting. I mean, I'm good with coffee, but like I know to cut it off around two o'clock, three o'clock.

Portia: 22:05

That sounds like my kind of place. Are their coffees smaller since it's a stronger, more condensed coffee?

Meena: 22:10

Yes, definitely. It's like a teeny little coffee. Ah huh. At list, the coffees that I had were teeny little coffees.

Portia: 22:16

Do they, do it differently? Do they, um, create it differently? Is it like, uh, a Turkish coffee with a little bit of sugar or Cuban coffee? Or?

Meena: 22:24

Um, so I'm always like giving my coffee black, so I opted for no sugar, but it reminded me a little bit of a Turkish coffee. I was also though there for the climate conference, so for most of my time in Egypt I was in this strange little UN bubble where coffee was surprisingly hard to come by as was food and water.

Portia: 22:43

What?

Meena: 22:44

Yeah. It was one of the most interesting experiences I had. I'm like, well, usually covering finance events, somebody brings you a coffee and food.

Portia: 22:54

Right. not there.

Meena: 22:56

You know? Yeah.

Portia: 22:58

You had mentioned to me, uh, when we had talked last week when you were, were, you were in Turkey and you were having. Is it Turkish coffee?

Meena: 23:08

No, I was actually in Greece. And Greece. I, you know, in Athens, Greece I think is one of the most underrated places on earth. Most people on the internet were like, spend a day there, go to the Acropolis, it's fine, whatever move on. I, um, was doing a cruise, so I ended in Athens. I'm like, I'll spend a few days there, why not? Um, and the one thing that really stood out to me is there are these like adorable cafes. everywhere. It felt like a city almost made for Instagram. Oh. And you know, I walked into one of'em just because it was super cute and you know, I'd heard that Greek coffee was a thing. So I ordered it and you know, talked to the woman. It's like very clear. It wasn't like Turkish coffee. It's kind of similar on this side, but whatever. And it was great. So she brought me the coffee and normally I'm, you know, she's like, just fyi, it's very strong. Um, are you sure you don't want sugar? Like yeah, I don't want sugar. Like I saved that stuff for cookies cuz I love my cookies. So I had the coffee and at first I took a couple sips and I was like, man, and somehow I drank the whole cup. It was actually fantastic. By the end of the cup, I'm like, all right, I like this. I'm in. Yeah. I mean I was just like, yeah, it tastes a little like it. It just had that texture, a little bit like Turkish coffee and it was like, how can this tiny thing that doesn't really seem so strong really be so strong? It was strong.

Portia: 24:30

It's just amazing. I've had Turkish coffee once and I was in California, Southern California. I went into this, uh, it's called Spice and Tulips in Tuston, California. And this gentleman, he had just opened this coffee shop, I mean, not coffee shop, spice shop. Girl when he made me that Turkish coffee and it was this, you know, the little coffee.

Meena: 24:53

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 24:54

And I, at first I was thinking, in my mind, I was thinking, what is this gonna do?

Meena: 24:59

Right. Exactly.

Portia: 24:59

Because it's so small. But I tasted this, and it's just like a whole culture just burst in my mouth with

Meena: 25:08

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 25:08

the, the sugar and the strength of it, but the complexities of the coffee. And then having the spices around me and the smell of the, his spices around me. It was amazing. Never

Meena: 25:22

The experience and the delivery and the little saucer and all of it, it just kind of makes it.

Portia: 25:29

Yeah, that was so cool. Your website, your business is Travel with Meena, and you had spoken about you like to help people of color to either live vicariously through your words, your images. What advice can you give, say, for example, young women? Of color who are just, you know, young and have this desire to get out and to explore, to learn about other cultures because it's more to life than just their circle, you know, just their little community.

Meena: 26:10

Yeah, I mean, I think for most people it's not so much that the desire isn't there, it's just never really been presented as an opportunity or a choice. You don't just go places because you can, you don't just do this by yourself. If you have friends who wanna go, great. But I think the idea of doing it for you isn't something that we've really thought about or been encouraged to do. For me, what I tell people is to find a way to go. If you don't have a lot of money, you probably have a friend or a pen pal that lives somewhere you don't. Go and stay with them. Um, you know, maybe you've got miles. Maybe you enter these contests. Maybe you, uh, look for study abroad opportunities. There are so many different ways that you can experience, um, the world. And then sometimes it's, you live in a place, go and do all of the things there, cuz that might be a place that people really save up and work hard to go. So I think that, yeah, once you go out and do these things and experience these things, even in your backyard, you're thinking how can I go and do this more broadly? And I think that a lot of us think, well, you have to have a lot of money. And the truth is, if you have a lot of money, it's much more comfortable. But you really ultimately don't necessarily have to have a lot of money. If you've got a car, you can road trip anywhere. uh, you know, if you don't, you can find a cheap flight. If you've got a friend somewhere that is a built-in vacation. If you've got a work trip, the last thing you should do is only see the meetings you're at in the inside of your hotel room. Take a few hours and go to a museum or to, uh, you know, a concert or a local bar or something that gives you that experience. Um, so I think that, you know, starting somewhere is the key. You know, your first trip doesn't have to be something wild and exotic and, you know, five country safari in Africa. It can be a, you know, two hour flight to New York to spend the day gawking at skyscrapers.

Portia: 28:10

Right. I don't know. Sometimes it could be daunting for people to think about, uh, the money aspect of traveling. Mm-hmm. but I always said if you have some gas, I mean, sometimes it's just a, a nice little getaway whether, you know, I'm, I'm in Greensboro, North Carolina and driving to say, Charlotte, North Carolina is about 80 miles.

Meena: 28:29

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 28:30

you know, if you've got, you've got a full tank of gas, um, you know, maybe you have about five or$10 in your pocket. You don't necessarily have to eat at the best restaurants.

Meena: 28:39

Right.

Portia: 28:39

Some people love fast food or some people love some good sandwiches or pack your own lunch.

Meena: 28:45

Yeah. I mean, I've seen people who are like, I'm gonna take this 20 Euro flight to Paris and get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the grocery store, and make it work. I think there are lots of different ways that you can make it work, and can have that experience. I mean a lot of the places like Paris and New York, even Amsterdam, what I've come to realize is the best thing you could do is walk around, and it's free. And I spent my layover to Egypt's, uh, walking nine miles in Paris. I think I bought like a croissant. And a coffee maybe?

Portia: 29:16

Right?

Meena: 29:17

A train ticket cost me 20 bucks. But like what I did is I just walked.

Portia: 29:22

Oh, and you see and hear so much.

Meena: 29:25

Yes, you learn. I'm in my favorite neighborhoods, walked by some beautiful buildings. It was a nice sunny day. Sat in the park. It was exactly the Parisian experience I wanted.

Portia: 29:37

Mm-hmm.

Meena: 29:37

And that I think is the thing is, you know, you can go and visit Jim Morrison's grave. You can see the Eiffel Tower. You can see the outside of the Louvre. You can see the Seine River. You can, you know, walk charming streets. None of those things cost a dime.

Portia: 29:51

Amen. Tell us, um, I, I, first of all, I've experienced this with you. You've helped me with my writing.

Meena: 29:59

Mm-hmm.

Portia: 29:59

Um, my travel writing. As I mentioned, you have been writing for over 20. How can you help say someone who would love to get into something that you're doing or just scratch the surface of having a, a nice blog talking about their experiences?

Meena: 30:19

Definitely. I mean, I think the thing you gotta do really is just do it. Um, you know, if you want a blog, find yourself a theme you can live with and put up a blog and start writing. If you don't know what or what your style is or what you wanna write about, read everyone else. See if there's somebody that you might aspire to be like. You can take apart their writing and learn a lot from it. And that was one of the, you know, early trips, early in my career was figure out who you like and then figure out what they're doing. You don't always need their assistance for that. Um, and so I think that's another thing that really applies to travel writing. If your goal is to get published in a magazine or a newspaper, start with what you know and who you know. Maybe you've lived in Greensboro, North Carolina longer than everybody, and you see the, you know, newspaper in Raleigh keeps screwing it up, saying, this is what you gotta do, but it's wrong. Craft a pitch. It should explain why you're right. See if you can sell them that story. See if you can find the right email address. There are lots of different ways that you can kind of try and carve out spaces for yourself. There's a magazine that you really, um, wanna work for, just Google the name and see if they're accepting pitches. Take a look on Twitter, see if there's a story that you have to tell that might work for them. I mean, really, it's figuring out how to do the thing you wanna do, and then who's gonna give you that first chance to do it? Because once you get the first chance, a lot of other chances will follow it. But finding that first yes, and then figuring out what to do with it, that's all you really need to start.

Portia: 31:53

How can people get in touch with you? I I know that people will be curious, possibly to reach out to you and maybe learn from you even further.

Meena: 32:01

Definitely. Um, you can go to travelwithmeena.com, M E E N A. I'm also on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Buy Me a Coffee, probably a few other platforms that I've forgotten login information for. Um, but travel with mina.com and you will find, uh, all of me.

Portia: 32:22

I tell you guys, she's so amazing, inspirational. I am. I'm grateful.

Meena: 32:28

Aw, thank you.

Portia: 32:29

I'm not even claiming that I'm gonna be this great writer or what have you, but I'll give it my best shot. I don't even claim to have the best podcast, but I'm gonna give it my best shot because of people like yourself. No joke. Just,

Meena: 32:42

I mean, that's kind of my career was like, okay, there are lots of reporters who are way better at this. Like, no, I'm not, I don't know about you with your whole, I just came from a war zone for six years and like lived in a backpack. Like, that's not me. Um, so at first, you know, I was just like, well, I'm just gonna put this stuff out there I put out there and trust the universe to do whatever it is it's gonna do. And that's all we're, you know, really trying to do because I'll put something out there that might just be, you know, in my mind, well I'm just gonna randomly post this to X, but someone sees it and it makes a difference. And you know, I think that's kind of the best way to get started is it doesn't have to be the best. It doesn't have to be the only, but I will put it out there and trust that whoever needs to find it will find it.

Portia: 33:27

Mm-hmm. And it doesn't have to be perfect at first.

Meena: 33:31

Oh no. I mean, it's, look to me like a piece of writing. You can keep revising it forever. It's done when someone's yelling at you to give it to them, that is when it's done. Um, and I think most writers are like that. Like, there's no such thing as finished. It's just in by deadline. So, you know, I think if you can learn how to let it go and, you know, realize I'm gonna write something else and next week I'm not gonna remember what I wrote last week, and I, I can't remember what I wrote last week. So, you know, I think that's, uh, that kind of helps you to separate from it.

Portia: 34:03

Words from a true professional. I am grateful for this conversation. And guys, I have to say, traveling is a great learning experience and Mina is a testament to that. She has given us lots of words. To just ponder over. I'm grateful. Thank you so much.

Meena: 34:25

Thank you. Indeed. I'm about to go get me another one of those pistachio lattes. Get the dog cup. It's gonna be great.

Portia: 34:31

I know, right? Thank you. I'm Portia White, and I hope you've enjoyed today's conversation. I'd like to give a special thanks to our sponsors betterwithacupofcoffee.com and peeztees.com. If you want to be our guest on our show, email me at cuppaconnections@gmail.com. And if you liked what you heard, please write and review our podcast. And, join us again soon on Cuppa Connections.