Author: Don McMinn

I love to travel with friends.

Twelve years ago I started hosting an annual international trip for friends. I truly wanted to use my travel-knowledge to help others experience the wonders of travel. If you’ve not traveled much, it can be intimidating, mysterious, and confusing. My trips make travel accessible, safe, reasonable, and fun.

It’s also beneficial to travel with others-as opposed to traveling solo-because experiences are magnified when we have them with others. When you have an “ah-ha” moment–like seeing the beaches of Normandy– have it with others and it will be more deeply etched into your mind. Also, deep friendships are formed when you’re traveling with a group. Some of the best friends I have are people that I have traveled with often.

Here’s a brochure about the 2024 Travel with Friends trip. I hope you’ll join Mary and me for a life-enhancing 17-days.

Baltic-Sea-Trip-2024-Brochure-110823-Fillable

Travel with Friends Information Meeting

Join me on January 22, 7:00p.m. CST for a 45-minute information meeting on Zoom about the 2024 Travel with Friends trip to the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe.

We’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of calls. The Q&A will answer all your questions. If you want to attend, let me know and I’ll send you an invitation. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.

Here’s the brochure that we’ll discuss. Baltic-Sea-Trip-2024-Brochure-110823-Fillable

If you want to attend, email me at [email protected] or call me at 214.783.4414

 

In 1981 President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to serve as a justice on the United States Supreme Court. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate 99 to 0. As the first woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court, Justice O’Connor inspired a generation of women — including the five female Justices that succeeded her — to chart a path that previously seemed unattainable. She was a well-respected jurist her whole career, being both pragmatic and moderate.

“Sandra Day O’Connor gave up lifetime tenure on the Supreme Court – a job she loved and one with extraordinary power – to care for her husband of 52 years as he deteriorated from dementia.

“That decision, in 2005, began a poignant final chapter of her extraordinary life. Her choice, at age 75, reflected her attempt to integrate the often conflicting demands of professional achievement and family expectations to changing gender roles and an aging population.

“Justice O’Connor, who died on Friday at the age of 93, had hoped to care for her husband at their home in Arizona. But when that soon became untenable, she moved him to an assisted living facility. He was unhappy about the move, but then something remarkable happened: he found romance with another woman who was a patient there.

“And Justice O’Connor, who not long before had been the most powerful woman in the country, was thrilled because he was content and comfortable again–even like a ‘teenager in love,’ as their son Scott put it. The justice kept up her regular visits, beaming next to the happy couple as they held hands on a porch swing.” (New York Times, Sunday, December 3, 2023]

Her deep commitment to her husband affects me deeply. Not only did she give up her career to care for him, but she continued to love and care for him when, in a state of dementia, he loved another woman.

I want to display that depth of love to my family and friends.

Travel with Friends Information Meeting

Join me on January 22, 7:00p.m. CST for a 45-minute information meeting on Zoom about the 2024 Travel with Friends trip to the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe.

We’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of calls. The Q&A will answer all your questions. If you want to attend, let me know and I’ll send you an invitation. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.

Here’s the brochure that we’ll discuss. Baltic-Sea-Trip-2024-Brochure-110823-Fillable

If you want to attend, email me at [email protected] or call me at 214.783.4414

 

Here are some highlights of my life in 2023 A.D.    It was a very good year.

Book – How To Know A Person — the Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks. This book is actually my favorite book of the decade. I’ve bought copies for all my direct reports; in 2024 we’ll process the book together one chapter a week.

Brooks is an American conservative political and cultural commentator who writes for The New York Times. In the preface he writes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.” In his book he teaches us how to do that.

Travel Moment – On the last day of the Travel with Friends trip to the British Isles, we visited the Beaches of Normandy where the D-Day invasion commenced. It is a quiet, reflective place that includes 9,387 graves where U.S. soldiers are buried. Suddenly, two Mirage fighter jets flew over the cemetery at low altitude and tipped their wings. The sound was deafening; it literally shook the earth. I wept. My son-in-law, who was a flight surgeon on an F-16 squadron, once tried to describe to me the thunderous sound of fighter jets in flight, but I did not understand, until that moment on Omaha Beach.

Wine – In this annual “best of” list I usually share the name of the best wine I had during the year. But this time I’ll share a good suggestion on how to buy wine. 

First, take a year or two to decide on your personal “house wines” (moderately good and moderately priced wines that you’re pleased to drink on a regular basis and that are consistently available). For instance, the McMinn’s house-red is Alamos—a Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina; our house-sparkling is Lamarca—a Prosecco from Spain; and our house-white is Rue de Perle—a Vouvray from France. 

About four times a year Kroger’s grocery store has 25% off all wines. That’s when I stock up on house wines.  I can buy Alamos for $6.75 per bottle. What a deal.

Group of friends – I am blessed that every week I visit with some of the best friends I have on earth – members of the Stonebriar Community Church music ministry. I love the staff and each musician who serves. Here’s a picture of our 2023 Christmas concert.

Concert – In September I was with 48 friends in London at St Martin-in-the-Fields church near Trafalgar Square. The evening candlelight concert featured music by Bach and Handle performed by a 15-voice choir and strings. I heard sounds I had never heard before. The packed sanctuary of around 400 people were transported to another time and place.  

Thought – It’s certainly not a new thought—it’s been in my head for decades—but I continue to be amazed at its efficacy. All of us are smarter than one of us. It speaks of collaborative conversations and robust dialogue. A leader’s #1 job is to surround herself with smart, passionate people and then tap into their thoughts when crafting vision, solving problems, and planning. Any thought or plan will be improved by feedback from thoughtful people. I challenge you to try it in 2024.

Fun experience – In March, Mary and I had the privilege of leading worship on Chuck and Cynthia Swindoll’s trip to Israel. It was our sixth time to travel to Israel with Insight for Living. Chuck is one of the greatest men I have ever known.  

 

Family event – In October, my daughter Sarah gave birth to Claire Elise. Claire spent the first three weeks of her life in the NICU and then came home a healthy, robust baby. She has infused our household with a new sense of joy and excitement. She affirms my long-held belief that grandchildren are God’s reward for not having killed your own. 

Here’ something I’m looking forward to in 2024.

Travel with Friends Information Meeting

Join me on January 22, 7:00p.m. CST for a 45-minute information meeting on Zoom about the 2024 Travel with Friends trip to the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe.

We’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of calls. The Q&A will answer all your questions. If you want to attend, let me know and I’ll send you an invitation. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.

Here’s the brochure that we’ll discuss. Baltic-Sea-Trip-2024-Brochure-110823-Fillable

If you want to attend, email me at [email protected] or call me at 214.783.4414

 

I love to travel with friends.

I love to travel. It’s my drug of choice. Mary and I have a bucket-list goal of visiting 60 countries before we expire.  In April, 2024 we’ll visit #’s 58, 59, & 60 –  Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina. (I’ll then upgrade our goal to 70 countries.)

And I love to travel with friends. It’s a major source of joy in my life. I’ve written often about the benefits of travel. I hope you can join me on a future trip.

Here’s a video of the Travel with Friends 2023 trip to the British Isles.

Travel with Friends Information Meeting

Join me on January 22, 7:00p.m. CST for a 45-minute information meeting on Zoom about the 2024 Travel with Friends trip to the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe.

We’ll discuss the itinerary, accommodations, and ports of calls. The Q&A will answer all your questions. If you want to attend, let me know and I’ll send you an invitation. You can download Zoom for free. You can also participate via a conference call using your mobile phone.

Here’s the brochure that we’ll discuss. Baltic-Sea-Trip-2024-Brochure-110823-Fillable

If you want to attend, email me at [email protected] or call me at 214.783.4414