Lead. Travel. Pray.

Show notes:

According to ECU, Equality challenge unit, unconscious bias refers to a bias that we are unaware of, and which happens outside of our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.

Implicit bias refers to the same area, but questions the level to which these biases are unconscious especially as we are being made increasingly aware of them. Once we know that biases are not always explicit, we are responsible for them. We all need to recognize and acknowledge our biases and find ways to mitigate their impact on our behavior and decisions.

(Source: Harvard’s Project Implicit) The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is commonly used to measure implicit bias in individuals. The IAT measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., black people, old people, or gay people) and evaluations (e.g., good or bad) or characteristics (e.g., athletic, smart, or clumsy). The IAT is based on the observation that people place two words in the same category more quickly if the words are already associated in the brain. For example, the rate at which a person can link the words “black” or “white” with “good” or “bad” indicates their implicit bias.  

On an Ohio State University website they mention “Our brains are incredibly complex, and the implicit associations that we have formed can be gradually unlearned through a variety of debiasing techniques.” Some popular debiasing techniques include:

• discounting commonly held stereotypes
• using context to influence implicit responses
• changing the way an out-group member is evaluated and categorised
• using contact to change the level of threat evoked by an out-group
• using motivation to change responses to an out-group
• encouraging people to take responsibility for their implicit biases

Resources:

Good overview video: https://youtu.be/OoBvzI-YZf4

Thinking fast and slow – Daniel Kahneman

• Book summary
• Video summary (10 min)

If you have any suggestions or recommendations to share on the topic, please comment so our readers and the Lead.Travel.Pray. team can benefit from this knowledge.

Check out our twitter feed to read or hear more about each of our core topics of leadership, global travel and faith. We appreciate you!

• How to decide if you should rent:
  • Consider what mass transit and ride share options are available
  • If trying to cover a lot of ground and see a variety of sights, you will probably want the convenience of having your own car.
  • Costs can also be a factor. Sometimes it is cheaper to rent a car to get to and from your destination than ride share or taxis.
• Rental tips:
  • Loyalty programs can have advantages for rates and efficiency – often getting to skip past the rental counter and go straight to the car
  • Cars may also be cheaper through 3rd party booking sites like Orbitz, Priceline & Expedia
  • Prices can fluctuate so it is worthwhile to look frequently in case a better deal is now available. Most reservations can be cancelled ahead of time with no penalty so you may decide to rebook a cheaper rate or to upgrade to a larger car class.
• Reservation tips
  • Never pay full price – look for coupons (like in the Entertainment book)
  • Pay attention to what kind of deposit the rental car company expects – this can vary greatly when you travel global
  • Research the baggage space to know you have enough space
  • Smaller cars generally work better in Europe
• Check the car before you leave the lot
  • Take picture of any damage on the car before you leave the lot
  • Don’t sign a damage form before looking the car over
  • Adjust your seat, mirrors, etc. before you leave the rental lot
  • The gas gauge tells you which side to pump the gas

• Planning:
  • Plan your route ahead of time
  • Leverage GPS
• Entertainment:
  • Audio book options- Libby & Overdrive
  • Free Audible trial good for 30 days
  • Movies
    • Renting movies & TV shows is also an option on iTunes
    • Download movies before your trip – you’ll likely need WIFI to do the download
  • Road trip games – apps & bingo cards
  • Pack headphones if you want to listen or watch something different from your fellow travelers
  • See past posts for more tips
• Food:
  • Snacks – we like a variety of healthy (nuts & fruit) and unhealthy (soda & candy)
  • Yelp & Open Table are good for restaurant recommendations
  • Each kid might like their own snack bin – like a personalized kid bento box
  • Starbucks has nice protein snack pack options

Safety tip – For long trips, you might want to get a tune-up and have your car checked over by a professional before heading out.

More #roadtrip posts from our #100days100traveltips series.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ltppodcast/15_calling.mp3

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ltppodcast/episode+14.mp3

Additional suggested reading on the subject:

Breathe by Priscilla Shirer

https://www.cmaconsult.com/tips-on-achieving-work-life-balance/

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ltppodcast/episode+13.mp3

Occasionally we hear things- people’s fears, their hesitations their personal

Myths we tested on this episode:

#1: “It costs too much to travel to Europe”.

#2: “Cruises are boring. There’s nothing to do on the ship”?

#3: “Mexico is unsafe.”

#4: “Airbnb and other vacation rentals seem more complicated than booking a hotel.”

#5: “Lyft and Uber are dangerous.”

What travel myths did we miss? Please add yours below in the comments. And, we’re open to rebuttals on our “busts” above!

We’re not sponsored by nextvacay.com, but we’d be open to it!   Rebecca just flew to Iceland for a bit over $200 from a deal she was made aware of by nextvacay.com. For $25/year, they alert you to awesome deals and then you book as normal through the actual airline website or your favorite booking tool. We recommend you check it out!

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ltppodcast/12_personal_change.mp3

The Lead.Travel.Pray. team was excited to interview our first guest on this twelfth episode of this podcast we started exactly one year ago. Dale Kreienkamp, Author of How Long, O Lord, How Long? A Book of Devotions for the Unemployed & Those Who Love Him, joined us to talk about personal change, specifically how faith can guide us through things like unemployment.

Dale Kreienkamp is a Human Resources professional of 40 years who has served as an executive in the healthcare industry and as head of a successful consulting practice.  Dale has also served as a volunteer leader on numerous boards of directors, as well as in his home church.  Dale has experienced a personal journey of unemployment twice when, each time, his positions were eliminated in organizational restructuring. These personal experiences created a desire within him to help others impacted by unemployment through inspirational devotions.

Dale’s Email Address:  [email protected]

Website: https://howlongolord.org/

Book Facebook Page- https://www.facebook.com/HowLongOLord/  [Searchable Handle: How Long Oh Lord?]

LinkedIn URL – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalekreienkamp/ [Searchable Handle: Dale Kreienkamp]