I don’t even remember how I found this amazing lady but once I started following here, I just got more and more impressed by her way of thinking and her traveling. She has a Masters degree in Education and also works as a nurse anaesthetist. She cycled through Australia, New Zealand and Morocco but her most memorable journey is definitely cycling from Switzerland to Thailand, 16’008 km in 7 months

In this podcast episodes she tells me that she started cycling because she couldn’t afford a car and then it became her ultimate passion. There are so many things that we don’t realize when someone travels by bike, crossing borders, police behaviour, sleeping near petrol stations in Iran because she felt save etc, etc.

#cycling #thailand #traveling

Talking to Francesca Pinoni about growing up in San Francisco, living in Cyprus, the importance of community, walking The Camino, how she opened the first “New Age” Shop in Limassol, Cyprus, how she co-founded, the Mind, Body and Spirit Exhibition in 2001 and bio resonance.

Born in San Francisco, CA, Francesca completing her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of California at Santa Cruz, lived and worked in London for several years, then met and married a lovely man from the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus. They moved there in 1981 where their son, Alex, was born. She owned and ran Splash!, gift shops full of pretty things until her second marriage to Dr. Igor Cetojevic, from the former Yugoslavia.

Francesca Pinoni is a qualified yoga teacher and has studied various natural healing modalities including Reiki (Usui & Karuka Master), magnetotherapy, and biofeedback/bioresonance and Puruvian Shamanism. Her hobbies include dancing, music (Frame drum & djembe), art ( painting, pastel & mosaics), poetry and traveling.

Besides collaborating with her husband Igor on "Your Health; It's a Question of Balance", Francesca has published a novel for young adults under the pen name, Chess Capino, called "To the Rhythm of the Moon"

Together, they moved to the U.S.A. and lived in Woodacre, CA between '97 and 2000 then returned to Cyprus. Francesca is active in amateur dramatics, designing costumes for Shakespeare productions at the ancient theatre at Curium and also at Dominican University in Marin County, CA, doing costumes and also writing plays which were preformed as part of their one-act play festival.

Toolika is a Brand Ambassador of Uttar Pradesh

Ex- Indian Air Force Officer/ Mountaineer (Everest Climber)/

Motivational Speaker (TEDx, Toastmaster Keynote Speaker)/ Author/ Academician

Brand Ambassador SVEEP program of Election Commission of India, with Uttar Pradesh Govt/

Ambassador of India, Women Empowerment, World Leader Summit

Squadron Leader Toolika Rani is a multifaceted personality who has exhibited exemplary courage, determination and grit to prove her mark in several challenging fields. She has served in Indian Air Force for ten years and as Outdoor Training Instructor in Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, has trained hundreds of future officers in outdoor military training, including India’s first three female fighter pilots.

With 24 mountaineering and trekking expeditions in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Iran, Africa and Russia, she is the first woman from the state of Uttar Pradesh to climb Mt. Everest in 2012, and is the first Indian woman to climb Asia’s highest volcano Mt. Damavand in Iran.

A phenomenal speaker, she has delivered over 350 talks and interviews in India, USA, UK, Canada, Bulgaria, Italy and Malaysia, on forums such as TEDx, Toastmasters, Rotary International, Bayer Multinational Company, California Speakers Summit, ITC Infotech, Renault India Pvt Ltd, BHEL, Soliton Technologies Pvt Ltd Bangalore, Madras Management Association Chennai, educational institutions such as Lucknow University, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University Lucknow, Manipal University Jaipur, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Vadodara, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, CCS University Meerut, Byju’s, and Schools and colleges all over India, and multinational Radio broadcast in 50 countries, Doordarshan, Gyanvani (Education FM of India under IGNOU), Akashvani, CMS global community Radio and various TV channels and govt events conducted by Central Bureau of Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt of India, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and Ministry of Higher Education.

She speaks on India’s G20 Presidency and the Role of Youth and Women in it’, Power of Mind, Visualisation, How to Overcome Fear of Failure, Success Mindset, Stress management, Bouncing Back, Importance of Emotions in Material Success, Mental Health, Human Unity, and Gender Equality, and a range of other topics related to youth, women, diversity and inclusion, leadership etc. She is presently the G-20 Brand Ambassador of Higher Education Department, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. She is also the Ambassador of India, Women Empowerment Committee, in World Leader Summit ecosystem, and was the Brand Ambassador, SVEEP program of Election Commission of India, with Uttar Pradesh govt, to generate voter awareness in 2022 elections.

Her short stories, poems and articles on gender issues, travel and adventure sports, Buddhism, Tibetan community, environment and humanity are regularly published. Her highly adventurous and inspiring book ‘Beyond That Wall: Redemption on Everest’ has been published in October 2021 from Delhi, has received Sahitya Shree Award, and was displayed in International Kolkata Book Fair in March 2022. A discussion session was organised on this book in Military Literature Festival, and Lucknow Literature Festival. Toolika was awarded the ‘Young Writer Award’ for her book BEYOND THAT WALL by Military Literature Festival, Lucknow. She has contributed a chapter in the book 'Humans of Nurture Life' and is the co-author of the book 'Reach for the Sky and the Stars'. A co-authored book titled ‘Healing and Growth’ has been published and launched globally on 01st Dec 2022 from USA, and has been at Amazon rank 01.

For her outstanding achievements, she has been felicitated with 18 awards including Rani Laxmi Bai Bravery Award from Uttar Pradesh govt., Proud Indian Parliament Award by Central Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, U.P. Women Leaders Award, Outstanding Global Woman Award, Global Excellence Award, Hindustan Times Award, Radio City Icon Awards, AspiringShe Power Award for Courage and Resilience, The Real Super Woman Award etc. An ardent supporter of gender justice, environmental preservation, human unity and harmony, she is an inspiring combination of human will, intellect, powerful oratory and dynamism.

She can be contacted at [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqn-ldr-toolika-rani or instagram @‌toolika_14 for:

• Delivering a Motivational Talk in live or recorded events
• Interview on Youtube channel, Podcast, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Book clubs, Lit Fests
• Writing an article, feature, story, chapter on her in book, magazine, blog, newspaper

Internationally certified NLP Trainer, Personal Mindset Mentor & Coach, Timeline Therapist ™, Hypnotherapist, Speaker and Reiki Master. Founding member & secretary to BPW English speaking club. Sandra possesses considerable expertise and an array of methodologies, providing holistic assistance to individuals and businesses. She grew up in the UK, is originally from Portugal and now lives in Cyprus.

She has spent 30 years working in the corporate world, and this experience is a part of her life training which has prepared her for what she does today. She had the pleasure (most of the time) working with people from all over the world, gaining an understanding of “people” as well as developing skills in leadership and communication.  While this was rewarding, it did not ignite her soul. Somewhere deep inside she knew she was supposed to be making a difference in peoples lives, she just didn’t know HOW.

The institution she was working for closed, and this was a major turning point her my life. She was now jobless and had no idea what was next. At the time she didn’t know that this was a blessing in disguise as it led her on the most incredible journey of becoming who she is today.

Faced with uncertainty, broken after her divorce, lacking confidence and direction. Not to mention the fears and limiting beliefs that kept her imprisoned within her own mind. The constant self-sabotaging thoughts, that always played over and over; you know the ones, “you’re not good enough, who do you think you are? you’re a failure, you’re not intelligent or smart, you’re not destined to be successful or abundant.”

Fast forward to the present day and ……………….HELL YES she is successful, HELL YES she is intelligent, HELL YES she is financially abundant, HELL YES she is abundant in health and love and so much more.

https://sandradasilva.net/

Saskia is the producer and presenter of her own programme ‘SaskiaUnreserved’ for the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio 4, which has been recently named RIK Classic.

Saskia was born in Famagusta, Cyprus. Following the completion of her BMus(Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand, she joined the National Symphony Orchestra of South Africa as a violinist where she played under conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Victor Yampolsky, Yehudi Menuhin, Enrique Batiz, Efrem Kurz and Carlo Franci. Her entrepreneurial spirit and love of travel led her to open a tour operating company with its own aircraft and a cargo department.

Due to continuing violence in South Africa, Saskia moved to Cyprus in 2000, and joined the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, where she developed her own daily, classical music programme, PM Classics. Saskia also worked as a music critic in Cyprus, and had her own column in major English-language newspapers such as the Cyprus Mail and Cyprus Weekly. Interviews over the years have included personalities such as Nelson Mandela, Placido Domingo, Grigory Sokolov, Mahan Esfahani and Norman Lebrecht amongst others.

Saskia furthered her qualifications by attaining an MBA from Aspen University, USA in 2011. She was awarded the accolade Cyprus Business Woman of the Year in 2010 for the launching of an online ticketing system and for initiating the children’s gardening programme “Green Fingers”, which to date, has been attended by over 8,500 children. She has been CEO of Apollon International Connections, which developed into a multi-faceted company dedicated to the organisation and promotion of international concerts and festivals, in prestigious venues such New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Cadogan Hall, as well as launching the Cyprus International Food Festival.

In 2018, the ‘no-holds-barred’ programme – ‘SaskiaUnreserved’ was launched on the newly formed Classic Channel of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. As producer and presenter, she interviews high profile achievers across a broad spectrum of subjects interspersed with a selection of classical music.

Saskia is passionate about gardening, basketball and travel, and takes every opportunity to do so with her daughter, Sandra.

I met Chris (Christie, as we call him) about 40 years ago when he was doing an internship in a hotel in Limassol, Cyprus because he studied hospitality in the US. At the time when the tourism industry in Cyprus was booming, it seemed appropriate to study hotel management.

However, the Cypriot hospitality industry wasn’t his destiny, he ended up becoming a very successful banker, working for various Japanese banks and stayed in the US.

In April 2018, Chris left SMBC and joined, as a Senior Managing Partner, Kinisis Ventures Limited (KV), a business accelerator company that helps international start-ups expand in the U.S. market.

In addition to Columbia University, Chris is an adjunct professor for various colleges and universities including Fordham University, Baruch College, and Seton Hall University.

In his free time, Chris loves to tell jokes, mostly in Greek and sometimes in English.

https://www.youtube.com/@chrisdroussiotis

https://kinisisventures.com/

This is an episode with a retired Captain with a wonderful sense of humor, lots of stories to tell and a ton of useful information to share.

Marios Michael studied at the Oxford Air Training School and worked as a pilot for Air Anglia in the UK before he moved back home to Cyprus where he started working for the national Carrier Cyprus Airways in 1982. Who knows, maybe he flew me to Cyprus the first them when I came here to work.

At some point, he outgrew the airline because he wanted to fly more intercontinental and ended up spending 20 years flying for Emirates Airlines. Definitely a life journey that needs to be shared with others whose favorite smell is airplane kerosine.

Marios Michael is retired and still loves flying around the world, now as a passenger.

Grete Brokiene was born and raised in Lithuania and spent a lot of time at Vilnius airport because her father worked there and she was looked after by him sometimes. When she was younger, people used to call her Paris Hilton of Lithuania because her father is a hotel owner.

She studied law but didn’t really like it much and decided to become a flight attendant with Wizz Air.

With over 8 years of experience in sale & marketing industry, after her kids were born she managed to turn my biggest passion & hobby - nutrition & wellness into succesful business. She is now working on improving women health through diet and lifestyle changes. She uses an integrative approach, which means addressing the physical, social, cognitive, behavioural, spiritual and energetic aspects of life while calling attention to femininity and self-love.

Known as Mrs Lithuania and a mother of two children, she offers "One month - for all life programme" for the women who wish to fall in love with themselves by working on their eating & lifestyle habits. It is based on individual needs, which states, that fundamental background on nutrition & understanding of nutritional needs does not purely consist of food, but is also a part of socio-cultural backgrounds, and therefore in order to achieve feeling and looking great, requires a deep, intuitive understanding of yourself.

https://www.gretebrokiene.com/

Alexander Toufexis or Alexi as we lovingly call him is my son and he and his sister were on episode 11 where we were talking about all the traveling that we did together when they were kids. A lot has happened since and here he is again:

Alexander Toufexis grew up in Cyprus, where he attended an English school. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, which he received from the University of Zurich, with a minor in Chinese studies. This means that he is fluent in 3 languages and is on his way to acquire a 4th. He will facilitate this goal by attending a language course at Nankai university in China for a year. He loves to travel and has been to over 20 countries at only 25 years old. He is also very interested in history, politics and philosophy, and bringing about change in the world is something that he holds very dearly in his heart.

When I read Lisa Morris' Bio, the words Travel Guru immediately caught my attention.

Lisa began her professional career in theater at age 5 and has worked in numerous positions within the entertainment industry including: performer, talent agent, casting director, investor, teacher, and development associate.

After personally touring for 14 years, Lisa realized there was a better way to handle travel and improve life for those out on the road. She actually "gets it" for what is needed out there. She combined her knowledge of travel and her show business expertise to create Road Concierge Inc.

Having worked in nearly every facet of the entertainment industry, Lisa has developed a network of invaluable relationships. Her established industry connections, exceptional work ethic, and keen business acumen have resulted in substantial savings for clients, and a higher quality of life for all the road warriors out there.She founded Road Concierge, a company that provides travel, concierge, and logistical support for road shows, films, television, and corporate clients. They professionally handle all travel needs at NO cost to productions, and have excellent relationships with travel industry vendors. They get the best rates and provide superior customer service.

https://www.roadconcierge.com/staff.html