I was walking with my friend, Molly, on the Montreal 'mountain', when out of the clear blue sky, she blurted:
“Let’s go to Borneo! We’re a perfect match for traveling. You're a columnist.
You can write stories about the trip, which will be published.
And I can go to the airlines, offer free publicity,
and in return get tickets and everything else an airline can offer!”
"Husbands?", I asked.
"No trouble. We'll arrange to meet them every three months on a South Sea island!"
The idea... never went anywhere.
The only thing I could think about Borneo was a famous American's son was burnt alive in a big pot!
Not what I would call a 'tourist attraction!'
And besides, Molly’s husband nixed it. He wasn’t the South Sea Island type.
Being 5 years before she divorced her husband, Molly obeyed.
But I was smitten with the idea. Suddenly, in one fell swoop, an idea took shape …and wings!
I was zonked!
I had a column in the Toronto star.
Which meant I had connections to the Travel Editor.
I had a unique idea for travel.
To go to Italy, visit four different cities, and with the help of Experiment in International Living,
live with families and share their lives.
A winner!
And the Travel Editor thought so, too.
“Write the article and I will publish it… for free, of course!"
That’s all I needed!
I called the Montreal manager of the Alitalia Airlines and arranged a meeting.
He loved the idea of free publicity in the most highly read paper in Canada.
I walked out on wings:
Free: 1st class travel with Alitalia . Wow!
Free: Italian government pass for the Italian railroads. Wow!!
I got wings, will travel! Wow!!!
The rest followed easily.
Driven by a vision of me a la Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday
on the back of a motorcycle driven by Gregory Peck,
with her white scarf wrapped around her head flying in the wind,
I was now in a position to offer free advertising in a prestigious Canadian paper in return for......
I got on the phone.
Olympia offered me a laptop computer for the trip.
(Had to refuse, I didn't know how to use the computer! Besides I have a talent for losing things!).
Ciga Hotels, the most prestigious 5-star hotel chain in Italy, reserved first class suites for me
in their hotels in Florence, Rome and Venice;
and Donna Karen (Inc. of course) gave me a wardrobe ...Well, almost!
They did make wardrobes available but my trip didn't fall into the narrow category.
Once landed, I almost blew it. When I was shown around the Ciga suite in Florence,
the assistant proudly stated that Versace had stayed there.
I replied innocently, “Who is Versace?”
Part 2
