International Women’s Day

All over the world today there are celebrations and events in honor of International Women’s Day.  Here at HQ we’re sending out V-Day cards, courtesy of Eve Ensler’s organization which works to end violence against women worldwide; and eating red velvet cupcakes and clinking our fizzy water to two great American Texan Divas who passed this year, politico Ann Richards and columnist Molly Ivins. Ivins left us with this gem:  “Keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”

Iranian Divas Hit the Streets

On the eve of International Women’s Day, many of the leading feministas in Iran have been arrested while protesting, among other things, mandatory hejab and Iran’s draconian family and divorce laws. Here’s where you can lend your support and read about this breaking news story.  No doubt Shahla Sherkat, publisher of Zanan, Iran’s leading feminist magazine, is mixing it up. But strangely, her name is not surfacing in the papers… Read an interview with Sherkat and other Iranian divas, or get the our show on Iran for add’l, non-mainstream coverage of pro-woman activity in Persia.....

2008 Tours, our big "Today" spot, and a book with spirit…

This week, just as we announced our 2008 Diva Tours to India, New Zealand and Peru, we get a call and find out Adventure Diva Tours is going to be featured on the “Today” show on NBC. Hot dog! Guess the groundswell of women emboldened by wanderlust is headline news.  So if you’re not out climbing a mountain this Sunday morning, check us out on the little screen…

If group trips aren’t your thing but you need some direction, pick up a copy of the brand new, hot off the presses, 100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Elizondo Griest (intro by yours truly). There are reams of guidebooks that offer ample information about bus fares, hotels and arcane history – the kind of stuff that flies out of your mind the minute your find yourself dancing on a sturdy Greek table, or watching an offering glide down the holy Ganges, or gazing across Cambodia’s killing fields.  But this book is different; it offers the where and the why ; it encourages us to lead with our inspirations and chase down their manifestations around the globe.  The book is the brain trust of an intrepid traveler who filled out a few passports, and is now handing over all insider info so others can engage the world in a similarly spirited, pro-woman way.  And if you’d like to hear author Griest (and me) read from the book come on by the official book launch March 14 at 7 p.m. at the McNally Robinson store in Soho, NYC… —Holly