Nancy's Adventurous
"Travel Stories"

By Nancy Dorrans – Originally published in The West End News, April 2020   I learned so much recently, listening to Court Whelan, Ph.D., Natural Habitat’s Director of Sustainability and Conservation Travel. Dr. Whelan reported on “the most miraculous and mysterious phenomena in nature.” Dr. Whelan began by saying that

Originally published in The West End News – February, 2021 As a travel counselor, I strive to navigate my clients on authentic experiences, safely out of their comfort zone and into an appreciation of other cultures, landscapes, traditions, food, music and people. In the spring of 2016, I organized and

Spontaneous Moments with Strangers By Nancy Dorrans – Originally published October, 2020 – The West End News Samantha Brown, host of several Travel Channel shows said this recently on a Facebook live broadcast: “…What I miss the most is spontaneous moments with strangers…That spontaneous moment of just meeting someone who you

– Originally Published in The West End News, March 2020 Going On Seven Years Celebrating and sharing successes and blessings… By Nancy Dorrans Adventure Marketplace was founded in the spring of 2014 to utilize my decades of travel industry experience (I went to travel school in 1980) and to offer superb

(originally published February 2020 in The West End News) Mountain and Forest Bathing… By Nancy Dorrans “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”  -John Muir John and

By Nancy Dorrans (originally published January 2020 in The West End News) If someone asked me a few months ago to tailor a trip to Poland, I would have asked… why Poland? However, this past November, I was selected to attend the debut European Travel Agent Forum in Poznan, Poland, to

Originally published in The West End News, July 2019 It should be obvious by now that flowers bring me joy. I’m hooked on gardening and my insatiable need to get my hands dirty and learn has led me to new friends I can identify with. This spring I’ve been learning

A flower journey though Amsterdam … and beyond. In 1994 as a non-traditional college undergrad, I spent three months in the Netherlands as an InterFuture scholar, conducting cross-cultural research. As academic as this may sound, it morphed into a color infused floral extravaganza, and one that opened my senses to

In 2014, after my traditional travel agent position I had held for twelve years ended, I took a brave step and ventured out as an independent travel counselor, launching Adventure Marketplace.   I was encouraged by a few colleagues and travel professionals to stay in the travel business and go out

My love of the African people, cultures and continent began in 1994. At that time, I was a senior at Suffolk University in Boston studying to become a certified social studies teacher. I applied and had been accepted into a study abroad program called “Inter-Future” (Intercultural Studies for the Future)

So long 2017. You’ve introduced me some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met and taken me to new places only dreamed of. To kick it off, we marched in DC and have since “Marched Forth” for justice and action, locally and beyond. From the winter wonderland of Quebec City’s

There’s a sense of freedom and control that wraps around me as I pump up my tires, don my helmet and head out and off the Portland peninsula on my bicycle. I don’t ride to race. I don’t ride in a pack. Sometimes, I ride with friends, but often it

Last month I traveled south just before Easter. While it was still cool, damp and gray/brown in Portland, where I was headed spring was in full bloom. My sister had invited me to join her and her husband along with my father, nephew and his girlfriend, and some other family

Earlier this winter I was invited by the Bermuda Tourism Authority to learn more about the island as an “Adventure Destination.” This is the tale of my Bermuda adventure! Bermuda is known around the world for its pink sand beaches, bright clear turquoise waters, golf courses, colorful architecture and sailing

One of my Facebook friends posted this plea in late January that we “Stop POSTING POLITICS EVERYONE!!” Okay I get it. Although I’m excited that so many citizens are getting involved, organizing their energy and action, there also is so much, too much true news, false news, fake news; much

While in Iceland last November, days after the election I heard the low rumbling across the ocean of a few women organizing a Women’s March in DC the day after the inauguration.  Through social media I learned that two of my friends had already purchased their airline tickets, and others

“Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now, with every breath I take let this be my solemn vow…” -By Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller in 1955 This song (initially written for and sung by the International Children’s Choir of the Granger Dance Academy in Long Beach,