February 2022

February 27, 2020

Guest: Shibesh Shrestha, Managing Director, Nepal Travels & Tours

Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams, a member of SKAL Boston, interviews SKALleague, Shibesh Shrestha, who is a member of SKAL in Nepal. This international organization of leaders in the travel industry brings people who are passionate about travel and tourism together in a unique commuunity that transcends distance, language barriers and cultural/political differences. Learn about touring Nepal with Shibesh. . . who Stephanie says, “. . . is the Shi-Best!”

www. CNKNepal.com.np

February 26, 2020

Hour 1 Guest: Gerry Murray, Forensic Accountant, former Business Editor of “The Derry Journal” newspaper in Northern Ireland, contributor to TV and radio shows on politics and economics, and author of “Peace & War: A Maiden City Childhood,” about growing up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Listen in as Gerry, whom Stephanie and her husband, Mark, met in County Kerry while Gerry and his wife, Nora, were on holiday on March 13-15, 2020, just as the Covid outbreak was about to shut down travel within Ireland and Northern Ireland. During the 2 days and evenings when they were staying all staying at Carrig Country House on the Ring of Kerry, the two couples spent hours together chatting and, in particular, about the period in the 1970s during The Troubles which, ironically, matched the 1970 period when Stephanie and Mark Visited Belfast and much f Northern Ireland in May/June 1970 visiting Belfast when the streets were filled with soldiers carrying bayoneted riffles. Join this historic first person account from Gerry Murray. Just click on the audio link below!

Hour 2 Guest: Diz White, Diz White is an author, screenwriter, and actress who played the holographic prostitute in the Star Trek ” The Next Generation” episode, second season: “Elementary, Dear Data.” She is also the author of “Haunted Cotswolds.” You’ll want0 to hear about haunted places in this enchanting and enchanted region in the midlands of England where village after village is a storybook experience for the visitor in a “picture perfect” region of sheer joy . . . except, perhaps, for ghostly encounters!

Hour 3 Guest: Malachy McCourt, Actor, Author, Humorist, Radio, TV & Film featured player and host best known for his NYTimes Best Seller, “A Monk Swimming,” and his continuous appearances on daytime TV dramas as the bartender on “Ryan’s Hope,” and the priest, Father Clarence, on “All My Children.” Malachy’s visits with Stephanie Abrams are always a joy filled with the unexpected! Prepare to giggle! www.IMDB.com

February 20, 2020

Guest: Ciaran Marron, Resident of Northern Ireland who found a message in a bottle on a beach in Donegal in the Republic of Ireland which was launched into the North Atlantic in 2018 from a boat off the shore of Ocean City, Maryland by Sasah Yonyak who was then 11 years old. Learn about how the two connected and plans for Sasha to visit Ireland and Northern Ireland! Amazing story!

February 19, 2020

Hour 1 Guest: Gary Thulander, General Manager, Chatham Bars Inn, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. www.ChathamBarsInn.com

Hour 2 Guest: Vladimir Yonyok, father, and Sasha Yonyak, son, discuss the miracle of Sasha’s message in a bottle reaching Donegal, Ireland where Ciaran Moran found from West Belfast, Northern Ireland, found it while walking on the beach in Donegal!

Hour 3 Guest: John Kelly, Education Officer at the Free Derry Museum/Bloody Sunday Museum and one of the founders of the Bloody Sunday Foundation in Derry, Northern Ireland. John is also the brother of Michael Kelly, one of those massacred on Bloody Sunday in Derry on January 30, 1972. John refers to him self as a, “walking artifact.” He has been instrumental in keeping the truth of that day alive and protected for posterity. This is an interview you cannot miss! www.museumoffreederry.org

February 13, 2022

Guests: As part of the 20th year of broadcasting Travel WITH Stephanie Abrams, these interviews are presented as examples of memorable and historic conversations with special people who have earned a special place in travel and tourism:

Captain Norbert Woefle, the first pilot to fly the Boeing 747 when his employer, Lufthansa German Airlines, took delivery of the very first 747! Sit in, now, on a bit of airline history! www.AviationCompetence.Com

Joe Sutter, Former Chief Designer of the Boeing 747 Aircraft, Seattle, Washington, USA. Joe shared with Stephanie, at a Lufthansa German Airlines dinner salon created by former Lufthansa Director of Communications for the Americas, Nils Haupt, the drama behind successfully bringing the 747 aircraft to the travel marketplace during an era when Boeing executives were focused on shutting down production of that iconic aircraft. Don’t miss this interview! Joe Sutter

February 12, 2022

Hour 1 Guest: Update with Ciaran Marron, Finder of Message in Bottle in Donegal, Ireland Launched Three Years Earlier from Ocean City, Maryland, USA!

If you don’t believe in coincidence, this story will be significant to you! Sit in on this conversation between Northern Ireland resident, Ciaran Marron, from West Belfast, who understood better than most the underlying destiny of this bottle and his connection to Sasha Yonyak who launched the bottle into the Atlantic Ocean from a boat off the shore of Ocean City, Maryland. You’ll enjoy this story!

Hour 2 Guest: John O’Driscoll, General Manager, Strokestown Park House & The National Famine Museum, Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland

Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams met John O’Driscoll over a decade ago on her first visit to the historic home and gardens at Strokestown Park where John took Stephanie and her husband, Mark, on a tour of the house and grounds. Now, Stephanie and John reconnect for an update and insights into what has been done to enhance the experience of the visitor who learns, first hand, of the period in Ireland known as “The Famine,” which Stephanie prefers to refer to as “The Starvation,” since food was available in abundance in Ireland but was not being shared to those in need. One click on the audio play button will buy you a seat to this reunion of Stephanie Abrams and John O’Driscoll at Strokestown Park House & Famine Museum and the lovely gardens there that John also oversees.

Recommended: Listen to the interview with the General Manager of the Arigna Mining Experience which is very nearby to Strokestown! When visiting Ireland, be sure to visit both of these unique and historic venue. www.StrokestownPark.ie www.IrishHeritageTrust.ie

Guest Hour 3: Matt Wheeler, Curator, Johnstown Castle, County Wexford, Part of Irish Heritage Trust

You’ll enjoy this chat with well-informed and charming Matt Wheeler about this historic castle in Wexford, Ireland and the surprising information about a missing artifact from the castle that currently adorns a local tourism venue in the region that “walked away” during the time that Johnstown Castle was abandoned and easy to raid. It’s quite a conversation that you won’t want to miss!

www.JohnstownCastle.ie www.IrishHeritage.ie

February 6, 2022

Guest: Niall Coffey, General Manager, Harvey’s Point, Located on Lough Eske, County Donegal, Ireland

Join travel expert Stephanie Abrams as she chats with Niall Coffey, GM of Harvey’s Point, a resort on Lough Eske in Co. Donegal, Ireland where the scenery alone is worth the investment in the trip! Service in a hotel/resort starts at the top and this interview will assure listeners of the quality of service as explained by the resort’s charming general manager! You’ll learn why, when there are so many other options, Harvey’s Point MUST BE on your travel itinerary on your next trip to Ireland. Note that, while the resort is in a fabulous location, after a very brief visit years ago, when the hotel was under different ownership and management, Stephanie visited the property and, because she deemed the quality of service not in keeping with her standards for worthiness to be featured, never talked about or wrote about Harvey’s Point and vowed not to check back in to see how the property was evolving until new ownership and new management were in place. When she learned that there was “a new wind blowing through the property,” she did her research and contacted the new GM, Niall Coffey who, upon “interrogation,” Stephanie explains, “had all the right answers and the background and experience that is truly necessary to get it right in tourism and hospitality! I’m so glad that a fresh breeze has swept through Harvey’s Point and I an finally feel confident sharing this gorgeous location with my audiences. The last thing I would have wanted would have been to feature this place under its last administration and have any of my listeners subjected to anything unpleasant! Today, you’ll find Harvey’s Point as it should be and then some!” You’re going to enjoy this! www.HarveysPoint.com

February 5, 2022

Hour 1 Guest: Ciaran Marron, Finder of Message in a Bottle in Donegal, Ireland, Resident of West Belfast, Northern Ireland

While travel expert Stephanie Abrams came to know Ciaran because he and his partner, Rita Simmonds, found a message in a bottle washed ashore on a beach in Donegal taht was placed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coastline of Ocean City, Maryland three years earlier by a boy, 11 years old, hoping to drop it into the current of the Gulf Stream to take the bottle on a long voyage, more than one interview was done with Ciaran because he grew up in Belfast during “The Troubles” and was witness to the events of 1972 and the 50th anniversary commemorations of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland. It is recommended that you listen to this and other interviews with Ciaran Morran to get insider information from one who has lived through it all!

Hour 2 Guest: Shibesh Shrestha, Managing Director, C&K Nepal Travel & Tours, Nepal, Asia www.cnknepal.com.np

Take advantage of a unique opportunity to travel in your armchair to Nepal as travel expert Stephanie Abrams chats with the Managing Director of C&K Nepal Travel & Tours, Shibesh Shrestha, halfway around the world! Although the two have never met, they already have strong bonds as each are members of SKAL, the prestigious organization of travel professionals with clubs worldwide! While Stephanie belongs to the Boston, Massachusetts, USA club, Shibesh is a member of SKAL Nepal! In expected style, Shibesh and Stephanie, as SKALleagues, who have never met nor barely chatted before in arranging the interview time, you’ll note that they have an instant friendship and bond!