Jeannie's Journal at NextTribe

Great Scots!

We talk a lot about how fun our NextTribe trips are, and they are that indeed. But I’m always amazed and moved by the deep, profound turns a trip can take.

For example, on our Scotland trip, which I just returned from, we certainly had a blast—on the trail of Jamie and Claire from Outlander, of Harry Potter filming sites, of Highland Cows (pronounced “Haylyn Coos” in the local brogue). But there was so much more.

Through our remarkable guide Johanne McInnis we were able to meet local women in their homes and at a special reception in one of the best restaurants in the Scottish Highlands. A hallmark of a NextTribe trip (besides dancing at every possible opportunity) is connecting with women who live and work in our destination. 

The stories of resilience we heard from these women moved many of us to tears, and then Joanne called on two of our travelers to tell about their own experience overcoming obstacles, pushing on and thriving against the odds.

“It made me realize that I’ve overcome a lot, that I’m strong too,” my little sister Judi said after the extraordinary gathering. I also learned just how inspired the Scottish women were by the event. Johanne told me the next day that they want to organize their own NextTribe chapter in their town in the Speyside area of the Highlands—so they can continue what we began that day.

I can’t think of anything more rewarding and satisfying. NextTribe’s mission from the beginning has been to bring women together to encourage and support each other through this chapter of life. And now to see it happening across international borders simply makes my heart burst with happiness.

While I Was Traveling…

My heart was going through other emotions on the same trip, though I tried not to let on. (So many of us are well practiced at putting on a good face even though we’re dealing with something daunting.)

My youngest son, Jeb, is on a Hot Shot firefighting crew out West. While I was cavorting in the Highlands, he was working loooong days in New Mexico, battling a raging fire that destroyed homes and took lives.

He and his crew were running up mountainsides carrying 70 pounds of equipment, sleeping sometimes only three hours a night in rough circumstances, narrowly avoiding burning trunks and limbs that fell to the ground or rolled down a slope.

“The thing is, Mom, they pay us so little,” he told me. “And if we get hurt, they’ll pay medical bills but not make up the pay we’re losing.” He said that many wildland fire fighters are leaving the crews because of the low pay and insecurity. “I can’t blame them,” he said.

Jeb and many other firefighters keep at it because of the camaraderie with their crews and because they want to make a difference. But it seems the federal government or people whose communities are at risk do not put sufficient value on the work—even at a time when wildfires are becoming more frequent and more devastating.

What can you do? You can make a donation to this non-profit, which advocates for wildland firefighers and urge your representatives to support this bill that would reform and enhance the pay and benefits for federal wildland firefighters.

OK, thanks for helping a worry wart mama.

Hugs—

Jeannie Ralston

CEO and Co-Founder

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