Remember the days when uncle Bob (okay, I don’t actually have an uncle Bob!) would force us through his slide show of the family road trip to the Grand Canyon?  Or then a decade ago we had to sit through that work Power Point presentation on Diversity Training?

Recently I discovered Pecha Kucha. I loved it.  This isn’t any ordinary slide presentation.  In Japanese pecha kucha (usually pronounced as “pe-CHA-k’cha”) simply means chit chat.

Pecha Kucha Night was started nearly 10 years ago in Tokyo, Japan by a couple of architects.  Most Pecha Kucha Night events follow this format:

• About 10 presenters
• Each presenter has 20 slides
• Each slide is shown for 20 seconds

Therefore, each presenter has just 6 minutes & 40 seconds to explain his or her ideas before the next presenter takes the stage. That’s it. Share what you got and move out of the way for the next presenter.  It moves fast and most speakers were entertaining and had some pretty interesting ideas to share.  Originally it was conceived as a platform through which young designers could meet, show their work, exchange ideas, and network. One of the attractions of Pecha Kucha Nights is the wide range of the 20×20 talks. Most consist of design professionals showing their creative work, but presenters often speak about their travels, research projects, collections, or other interests.

In 2004, PK began running in a few cities in Europe, and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, now running in more than 300 cities in almost every corner of the globe.

During our evening, I learned about “Pop-Up Art Loop”, Chicago’s initiative to turn empty retail spaces into temporary galleries.  I was introduced to an amazing new start-up website that tracks all the world’s buildings with maps and GPS coordinates.  One presenter focused on the real life Baltimore people that the characters in the HBO show, The Wire, are based on (I don’t even watch this show and yet the talk was fascinating).  And I was very entertained by, Yuri Lane, an amazing beat-boxer and performer.  The whole night was like a poetry slam meets a power point presentation meets a Ted talk.

The format keeps presentations concise, fast-paced and entertaining.  It was totally entertaining and informative. I learned about a number of things going on in Chicago that I had no idea of  and I am already looking forward to the next one.

I am thinking of presenting! Should I do it? Check it out and go to one in your city. I promise you will at least be informed if not thoroughly entertained. Interested?  The next one in Chicago is on June 7th.  Check out their website for other cities and more info.

This post is sponsored by Insure and Go.  Feeding your passion for travel – Insureandgo.com.

“The bathroom is in the back of the bus. Gentlemen, if you miss…you have to see me! Clean it up please!!”

‘Straight-to-the-point’ Douglas would be driving me and about 75 other passengers aboard a bus headed three hours southeast of Chicago to Indianapolis.

“Barring any traffic, we should be there on time, let’s just be safe. Indianapolis will be there,” he said during his slightly odd and slightly amusing pre-trip spiel.

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“Remove your shoes and belts!”
“Take out your laptops!”

I arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.  It was the first time I’d be going through security since the full-body scanners had been installed. I was happy to see that the scanners were barely being used and I whizzed through the line even during these holiday rush times.   Thankfully, no TSA guys would be getting a thrill looking at ‘nudie’ shots of me. But what I didn’t expect is that I’d be stopped because of my rollerboard suitcase.  I had dutifully put all my liquid items in a clear, plastic bag.  I’d slipped off my shoes.  I’d taken out my laptop.  I drank the rest of my water and kept my bottle to fill up on ‘the other side.’  I had a lot of gadgets and chargers and other assorted metal crap crammed in my bag and figured it was something in there that was showing up.  They’d spotted something ‘suspicious’ on their tiny monitors and called over a supervisor. They ran it through the scanner again. Then they took everything I’d packed so nicely out of it.  On the bottom of my suitcase, I’d managed to pack my empty daypack that I love using when I travel to carry my camera and other stuff I need during the day.  Can you see where this is going?

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For several years I celebrated Christmas very far from home.  Sometimes I was alone and sometimes I was with wonderful new friends. From a fabulous oyster lunch in Sydney, to a gastropub dinner in London pulling ‘crackers’, to a free Natalie Cole Christmas concert in Milan, it was always different and always more than I ever expected.  It was a little strange not being home for so long, but honestly, in many ways, it was more exciting and touching not to be.

Wherever you are home or abroad, with family or new friends…have a Merry Christmas from LL World Tour.

“Where’s your luggage?” asked the friendly, over-cologned Middle Eastern airport shuttle driver.

I was traveling even lighter than I usually do as I headed to Midway Airport in Chicago; the second city’s, second airport.  Besides picking up friends, this would be the only time I was heading to the airport and not exactly flying anywhere…well not anywhere in particular.

We had one other pick-up to make on the way and a couple of nuns entered the van.   So, two nuns, a Muslim, and a Jew are headed to the airport…okay, that’s not the first line to a joke, it is just how it was.  It was a real party van.

So where was I going? Well, first let me tell you where I’d been a week earlier.

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