Lifelong Travel, Pandemic Survival as a Tour Operator, and the Joy of Language Learning with Paula from MP TOURS

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Hi! I’m Tara, a Canadian traveller with a thirst for knowledge and connection. This is my first time hosting a podcast. I’m so incredibly excited to bring you conversations with fellow travellers whose paths I’ve had the pleasure of crossing with around the world. 

This week on Travelling Through Life: A Podcast on the Go we meet Paula Stanghetta, the owner of MP TOURS and my mom! It’s thanks to her that I’ve got my travel bug. She joins us to chat about being a lifelong traveller, navigating the pandemic as a tour operator, missed flights and scary travel experiences, and the joy of language learning. Paula shares how she started MP TOURS, a small group food, wine, and culture tour company to off-the-beaten-path destinations in Italy. We also get deep, discussing how travel has renewed her faith in humanity. 

Travelling through Life: A Podcast on the Go is a fun and quirky show from Travel with TMc that delves into all things travel and adventures from the road, in the air, and in between here and there. Subscribe for weekly updates!

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CHECK OUT PAULA & MP TOURS:

Instagram - @mptours
Website - https://www.mp-tours.com 
Email - info@mp-tours.com 

MORE RESOURCES & LINK FROM TODAY’S EPISODE:

Paula’s Song Choice - Sarà Perché Ti Amo
Paula’s Song Choice - I’m Just a Kid
Italiano Automatico (Language learning tool)
Saje Peppermint Halo Roll-On for Headaches (Must pack item)
Tripit (Travel app)

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction to Paula Stanghetta, Owner of MP TOURS
02:41 First Trips & Childhood Experiences
10:10 Solo Female Travel Experiences
13:08 Travel Traditions
14:57 Scary Travel Moments: Danger in Germany
16:39 Missed Flights & Hitchhiking
21:55 Language & Travel: Multilingual Upbringing + Japanese & Italian Lessons + Favourite Phrase
29:24 Impact of Tech on Travel Style: Guidebooks, Paper Maps, & Missed Moments
33:43 Off-the-Beaten Path with MP TOURS
38:31 Personal & External Impacts of Travel: We're All the Same + Widened Perspectives
41:38 How to Respect Other Cultures as a Foreigner
46:25 Pandemic Effects on Travel as a Tour Operator 
50:00 Mother-Daughter Bungee Jumping
52:08 Where is Home? Living vs. Travelling Abroad
54:14 Necessary Travel Items
56:33 Safety Travel Tips Learned the Hard Way
01:02:02 Speed Round: River Cruises, Lunch in Vancouver's Savio Volpe, Best Travel Apps & Gifts
01:10:26 Until Nex

Transcript

Hello! Welcome to Travelling Through Life: A Podcast on the Go. I'm your host Tara and the founder of the blog Travel With TMc, which is where this adventure all started. Travelling Through Life: A Podcast on the Go is a fun and quirky show that delves into all things travel and adventures from the road, in the air, and in between here and there. Don't forget to subscribe so that you get notifications each week when a new episode is released!

I can't wait to share this season's conversations with you. We cover a variety of topics within travel, and it's my hope that you'll find one or many that resonate with you on a personal level. This week on Travelling Through Life: A Podcast on the Go, we meet Paula Stanghetta of MP TOURS. She's also my mom. It's thanks to her that I've got my travel bug. She chats with us about being a lifelong traveller, navigating the pandemic as a tour operator, missing flights, scary travel experiences, and the joy of language learning. Paula shares how she started MP TOURS, which is a small group food and wine tour company that travels to off-the-beaten-path destinations in Italy. Last, we get deep discussing how travel has renewed her faith in humanity, which I think is so important, especially in today's times. Okay, let's dive in!

Tara (Travel With TMc) (00:05)
Hi Mom!

Paula Stanghetta (00:06)
I didn't expect you to start with, hi Mom.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (00:09)
You are my mom. So for anyone who's listening today I do have my mom on the show. She is my very first guest on the podcast for great reason. My mom is the reason why I have the travel bug. Everything from languages and interest in other cultures and history stems from her and the

Paula Stanghetta (00:11)
you

Tara (Travel With TMc) (00:34)
amazing experiences that she provided our family growing up along with my father. So Mom, we're gonna get into about you and your travel story today.

Paula Stanghetta (00:45)
Okay,

I'm ready.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (00:48)
Okay, so yeah, why don't you tell everybody a little bit about yourself, who you are, what you do, and

where you're calling in from today, because we're not in the same place right now.

Paula Stanghetta (01:01)
So you're starting with the easy

questions, right? So let's start with the very easy one, which is I'm currently in my home and my home office in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where I've lived since 1983. And a little bit about me. So I'm a really...

Tara (Travel With TMc) (01:05)
Yeah, you gotta ease you in.

Paula Stanghetta (01:25)
lifelong traveller. People talk about lifelong learners and lifelong whatever. I'm a lifelong traveller. I can remember being very young and being excited when my parents would say we're going on a trip. Albeit it was a five -hour car ride with seven of us to visit family in Michigan in the U .S. But just the prospect of travelling

just conjured up for me so many opportunities and experiences that I've always been interested in travel. That love of travel turned into me becoming a tour operator 10 years ago. And so I operate a company, I own and operate a company called M P Tours, and I design and deliver travel experiences mostly to Italy. I can talk about where else a little bit later, but

And it's regional travel. So the kind of travel where you can savour and enjoy your time a little bit by spending more than a day or a night in a place. So that's a little bit of background on me. I'm sure that we'll get into other things. I don't know what I missed or, you know, that's a hard question to answer.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (02:43)
Ha!

Okay so we've got who you are. You're my mom. You're a tour operator. You are a lover of travel in the world. Yes and we've got where you're calling in from. So you kind of touched on my first question which was like do you remember do you remember the first trip that you ever took? I know you did road trips and stuff growing up but is there one or is there one that stands out for you in particular?

Paula Stanghetta (02:49)
Yes, you're my daughter. Yes.

I think, no. There's no one trip that stands out for me. And I must admit, as I get older, the ones that are closest to me stand out the most for me. But it's just the sense of being a child and the wonderment of going on the road and not knowing what's ahead and having your own ideas about.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (03:16)
Hahaha!

Paula Stanghetta (03:38)
what this trip might be and what we might be doing. So I do remember, however, that as a family of seven, so my four siblings and my parents, we first travelled in a station wagon and we had no seat belts and we had no restrictions on where we're supposed to sit. We just got in the car.

and drove and the destination was to family in Flint, Michigan. And I do remember this, I was always car sick. And so the part about travelling that I dreaded was getting into a car. And these were the days before Gravol and whatever else people would use to deal with motion sickness. But

Tara (Travel With TMc) (04:15)
Yeah, you've talked about it.

Paula Stanghetta (04:30)
I would just be flat out in the back of the station wagon and feeling nauseous the whole way. So the getting there was never fun. But once we were there and saw family and got to go shopping, which was a big thing for us, that was great. And the only trip I remember more in terms of driving was we got pulled over by another driver. My father didn't realize that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (04:40)
Mm.

Paula Stanghetta (04:58)
The station wagon was just spewing all kinds of smoke and the driver behind him saw these five kids jumping around and playing around in the station wagon and he motioned my dad to pull over. And of course we had some car trouble. So, you know, that's the worst that it's ever been. I know I'm trying to save something for you, you know, so.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (05:17)
gosh, I've never heard that story before. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (05:26)
Yeah, so it's you know car sickness, car trouble, but then the destination was always wonderful.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (05:27)
Do you think Baba or Nonno more so or do you think either of them influenced? So Baba for listeners, Baba would be the

gonna have to edit that out. Do you think that Baba or Nonno influenced or if either of them did at all influenced more like your travel bug? And for those listening, Nonno is an anglicized version of Nonno no, which is the Italian word for grandpa and Baba is like an anglicized -ish version of grandma for Poles and Ukrainians.

Paula Stanghetta (05:51)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I would have to say that neither of my parents, neither of your grandparents really inspired travel. Travel was onerous for them and it meant, you know, packing up and organizing children and dealing with all of these kinds of things that I think were more trouble for them than they were a joy.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (06:29)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (06:30)
And they never travelled. In fact, the first time they travelled was probably to Florida when I was in grade nine. And I don't recall them having any other travels until then, of course, they retired and travelled to different places like Las Vegas and Arizona. But in the meantime,

I introduced my mom to travel and as a part of my work, I took her to many places and she absolutely loved it. So I think there was a latent desire, at least for my mom, your Baba, to travel, but not my dad.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (07:13)
Yeah, I

could see that with Baba for sure. Nonno 's more of the home body.  How do you think your upbringing has impacted your troubled decisions as an adult or what you did with us as a family? Because like I'm one of four, which is similar to five. It's, you know, more logistics and more money and more.

Paula Stanghetta (07:17)
Yep, he loves his living room. Yep.

Right?

Tara (Travel With TMc) (07:39)
considerations in terms of what kinds of travel and even like I guess pre -kids like how do you think your upbringing because you travelled a ton before you had any of us.

Paula Stanghetta (07:48)
Yes, I think that perhaps it was my reading that inspired my desire to travel. And so I was a voracious reader. I also very early on, I can remember in grade three or four before learning another language in school was a thing.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (07:57)
Mm.

Paula Stanghetta (08:11)
that I was intrigued by people who could speak a different language and they didn't live in our neighbourhood. So I wanted to find out more about people who lived elsewhere and what their lives were like and learning their language was a step in that direction. So I would say my early experiences as a family didn't impact travel, but the kinds of things that I was inspired by through reading mostly had a huge impact on my

travel career if you want to call it that. Much more so. yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (08:44)
Yeah, desire to get out there. That's interesting.

Interesting too, when you talk about like, other people, like speaking other languages, because and you and I have talked about this a bit, I never thought of you as someone who grew up in a multilingual household. But like, there, you did, you grew up with Polish and Ukrainian and Italian around you in the house and in the community. And like, even today, we're finding out about some Russian.

Paula Stanghetta (08:54)
you

Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah. Yes.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (09:13)
you grew up with,

Paula Stanghetta (09:13)
And yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (09:14)
which was so random. But yeah, that was a part of your day to day too.

Paula Stanghetta (09:16)
I know, and it doesn't.

And, you know, we can look back and describe it that way, but I just kind of thought everybody grew up like that because we grew up in a very multicultural neighborhood.

and were exposed to different cultures, albeit mostly Italian because of where we lived, but very close around that, the Polish and Ukrainian. And then through my grandfather's general store in the early 60s, there were Russians and there were all kinds of different and Irish and all kinds of different cultures, the Finnish community as well. Absolutely.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (09:32)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

and fins.

Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (10:01)
In fact, not too long ago,

Tara (Travel With TMc) (10:02)
Yeah, yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (10:03)
I was back in the Soo, which is our home, Sault Ste. Marie, and I was driving past the Finnish steam baths that have now all been boarded up, but we grew up with those in our community. We didn't think twice about what was there, whether it was an Italian butcher store. It was just...

It was just what we grew up with and now we name it as multicultural or something else. It was just life as we knew it.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (10:32)
Right.

Yeah, so interesting. When was the first trip that you took on your own? Because I know you did a bunch of travelling in your 20s. When did that kick off?

Paula Stanghetta (10:45)
The

first trip that was solo, I...

arranged it, organized it, and went on it was in 1978. It was my first or second year of university and we did the quintessential Caribbean trip. We went to Ocho Rios in Jamaica. I went with two of my friends from university and we left Sault Ste. Marie with our heavy winter coats and landed in this sweltering humid Ocho Rios

What are we gonna do with these coats? They were on our laps as we went from the airport in this non -air -conditioned bus to our hotel and we just threw them under our beds for the next week. So that was the first one. It was like an all -inclusive as they call it today and that was the first one. It was amazing. It was so exciting.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (11:41)
There you go.

That's super cool. And then after that, like you were in Europe a few times. When did all of those happen?

Paula Stanghetta (11:50)
Yeah,

so during my 20s, I went on a two -week Caribbean cruise with my friend who then became my sister -in -law over the years. So that was wonderful. I also did a six -week backpacking tour of Europe, landed in England, went to Switzerland and France and Italy.

pre -internet days I may say because I know that's a big impact on travelling. I look back and I think how did that ever happen? But you managed and lots of travel happened. Yeah, why?

Tara (Travel With TMc) (12:21)
Hehehehehe

I'm a little jealous to be honest. I

feel like that's a whole other adventure. I swear that it's going to be a trend where people like hashtag travel without Wi -Fi. You know what I mean? Because it's a proper untapped experience. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (12:40)
Yeah. Yeah.

It is

and I mean people have been travelling for eons without the internet and have had quite spectacular travels so we can do that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (12:52)
Mm hmm. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (12:59)
and it's not an issue. But when I think of it now, what the internet can help you with, it's a whole different way of travelling. But so did that, went to Germany a couple of times to see the passion play and to meet a friend who was living in Italy at the time. And we just met up in Germany and travelled around there together. So.

You know that was really the extent of it other than little road trips going to Toronto for shopping trips and stuff like that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (13:35)
Yeah, definitely. So cool. Throughout your travels, I guess as an adult, either with our family or maybe from your 20s going forward, have you had any like travel traditions for yourself? Are there things that you are like themes for you when you travel or I don't know, little habits or things that you do when you're travelling?

Paula Stanghetta (14:02)
In the beginning, I used to keep a journal when I travelled. And you may laugh at that because I remember when...

Tara (Travel With TMc) (14:07)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (14:09)
We all went to Europe in 2002. I bought all of you journals because I thought if I liked to journal, then everybody would like to journal. And everybody but you, after the first day said, forget this journal, tossed it out the window. So I used to do that for reflection and for remembering things. I would send postcards home to everybody. Always tried to involve people because I did a lot of this travel solo.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (14:13)
you

Yeah. Screw it. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (14:38)
before solo travel was a thing. So I would think that journaling was part of it, trying to connect with others, but also just...

Tara (Travel With TMc) (14:39)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (14:50)
Trying to be open to whatever experiences were happening. I really had no idea sometimes. There was no set itinerary except knowing where I was going that my plane ticket was taking me. So, which is so unlike me because nowadays I do very structured travel.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (15:11)
Well, it's different being a mom because I feel like and being a tour operator, like in those roles, there does need to be more structure and planning, you know, because you're considering other people. It makes sense to me that you would have done differently before. as well. Did you ever have any?

Paula Stanghetta (15:21)
for sure.

Yeah, and when you're just taking care of

one person.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (15:33)
Yeah, yeah, so different when it's just you. Have you ever had any scary experiences? I don't think we've talked about this before. Have you ever had any close calls on a trip?

Paula Stanghetta (15:36)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I have been so fortunate that I haven't had close calls with the exception of one. And I was in Germany. I had gone, I don't recall where to. And I was leaving the place, walking on my own. And I thought I heard footsteps behind me.

And so I just started walking a little faster. It was nighttime and the footsteps increased behind me. And I had heard once that someone said, if you're ever in this situation, turn around and confront the person and say, are you following me? And I'm not sure that would be the greatest advice today, but that's what I did. And it was a guy and he just turned around and left.

I just came on very aggressively. Why are you following me? Are you following me? And he just left. And I thought in hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. And maybe it was innocuous, but you know, I read somewhere, do that. And other than that, I have so many more good experiences as opposed to scary experiences, really.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (16:39)
Almost.

Paula Stanghetta (17:01)
really fortunate. Yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (17:01)
That's awesome. Knock on wood.

I'm glad that that scenario worked out for you. That is not a good one to be and I'm sure many women can relate to that as well. Whether it's on the road or at home, that's a common one, unfortunately. Yeah. Have you? Okay. So I feel like I know how this is gonna come back, but have you ever missed a flight?

Paula Stanghetta (17:08)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Yes, I have. And thinking that, absolutely. So it was not for pleasure, it was for work. And here I was, I was just heading to Ottawa and flying out of Toronto. And one of the things that I do with travel is I really plan to get to the airport early.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (17:25)
Really?

Paula Stanghetta (17:46)
I always say better to be two hours early than two seconds late. So I was very proud of myself because my flight wasn't until eight. And I think I got there at six 30 or something, no luggage or anything. It's just a day flight. And I got there, checked my gate on my boarding pass, went to the gate and I'm sitting there and I'm feeling no stress. And I'm thinking,

Tara (Travel With TMc) (17:52)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (18:14)
Wow, I must be really early because there's nobody here. And so I just sat and I continued to read and it was about 15 minutes before boarding. I didn't clue in at all and there was nobody there. And I thought, okay, I'm just going to look around and I saw that the gate had changed. And so I ran, I ran to the next gate and I'm running up and they're going, are you Paula? And I said,

Tara (Travel With TMc) (18:34)
no!

Paula Stanghetta (18:43)
Yes, how do you know that? Well, we've been calling your name. They said your flight just left. And I said, that's awful because I had to be there for a business meeting.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (18:50)
Ugh.

Paula Stanghetta (18:55)
Luckily, my flight was booked earlier than I needed to get to the destination. They said, we've rebooked you on the next flight. This was a route that had many flights almost on the hour every day. So again, I was very fortunate because I got there early. I missed the early flight, got the next one and still got there in time for my meeting. Recently, I can share.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (19:20)
That is lucky, that's very lucky.

Paula Stanghetta (19:22)
Another quick story about missing a flight. We were just on a river cruise, as you know, and we had a two -hour window to make our connecting flight. But because of the intersection of many situations, our flight from Canada left late, and when we got to Germany,

Tara (Travel With TMc) (19:25)
Yeah.

right.

Paula Stanghetta (19:49)
the whole transfer situation was really tight. And I did something I've never done before, run through the airport with a migraine and with baggage and we got to our gate, no, we got to our seat, we were the last people on the plane at 1:19 and the doors closed at 1:20. So that was the closest near miss.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (20:16)
I kinda...

Paula Stanghetta (20:19)
Yeah, brutal.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (20:19)
I kind of wish

you and dad had a GoPro to film the two of you running through the airport.

Paula Stanghetta (20:22)
HAHA

Yeah, it was not a

pretty sight. It was pretty brutal. But we made it and so.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (20:32)
You know what though,

are you a traveller if you haven't had to run through the airport to catch a flight? I feel like that's a rite of passage.

Paula Stanghetta (20:39)
It

really is and I think maybe I haven't had enough near misses to talk about, but you know what? They're not pleasant to experience. They're pleasant when they turn out for the good, but they're not pleasant when in fact, and many people, you know, miss the flight, they miss a wedding, they miss a funeral, they miss an important event in life otherwise. And so travel.

can be exhilarating and it can be exhausting and sometimes on the same trip.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (21:12)
Yeah. Mom, have you ever hitchhiked? I don't think I've asked you this either.

Paula Stanghetta (21:17)
Yes,

this was on a trip to Los Angeles and

It was with your aunts Kathy and your aunt Susan. And we had done one of these fly -in drive trips that were popular at the time. So you fly into San Francisco or Los Angeles, and then you drive up the coast and fly out of the other place. So we rented a car that was part of the ticket and the car broke down. Picture this. Here are the three of us. Yes.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (21:50)
I have heard this story. Keep talking. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (21:53)
Sitting in the front seat, I was driving. Auntie Susan was in the middle, Auntie Kathy on the right hand side. The car broke down. So I pulled over. This was on a freeway, unlike any I'd ever been on. Multiple lanes. And I had left my hair in curlers because I figured it would be a good idea to keep them in curlers until we got to our next destination. So we pulled over and I said, we can't go any further. No cell phones at that time.

So we couldn't even call the rental car company or the travel company. Pulled over, hitchhiked, somebody pulled over and we told them the problem. Two of us went and left one behind. that's for another story. And we got a ride to the rental car company and they came back with another vehicle for us.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (22:41)
Oh my. no.

Paula Stanghetta (22:50)
That was the only hitchhiking very, you know, maybe not high stakes or anything, but on the highway. I yeah, anyway, You can't make some of these things up.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (22:59)
No it is dull.

Too funny.

No. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. I also want to ask you some stuff to do with language because as you alluded to, you are also a big reader and both of us are polyglots. We speak a few languages and we love words. So can you share with people which languages you speak and how you came to know them?

Paula Stanghetta (23:12)
Yeah.

Yes. So my mother tongue is English. The first language that I explored was French and that was kind of self study. So one of my teachers had a French language book that she shared with me when I was in grade four and I just worked through that on my own. And then as things progressed took French in school and then through travel added to that. So I'm highly functional.

in French. I'm not fluent in it. The same goes for Italian. That was mostly self -study and then university and a little bit of high school. Spanish is my favourite language. I love the lyric.

lyrical nature of it. I love the words. I love the intonation. I love the accent. So those four are my primary ones. Then I studied German for a year and lovingly and wonderfully just got an opportunity to practice a little bit of it when we were in Vienna recently. And so it was a wonderful return to that. And then in our home, we spoke nothing but English.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (24:39)
Mmm.

Paula Stanghetta (24:48)
but have snippets of Polish and I would say more common colloquial Polish and Ukrainian and I'm not even sure what the mix of I think it's more Ukrainian than anything so those you know so it is a mix of all of those and

Tara (Travel With TMc) (25:03)
Yeah, yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (25:08)
It's just something that I had an affinity for and an interest in. And I think whatever you have interest in, you follow. And that's where languages led me.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (25:18)
Sure.

You also took Japanese as an adult at U of W, did you not?

Paula Stanghetta (25:25)
I did, yes, and I still want to go back to it and return to it. When I travelled to Japan in 2010, I was enthralled by the culture, by the people, by...

Tara (Travel With TMc) (25:37)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (25:40)
the

beauty of the place and I wanted to learn more of the language and so when I came back I enrolled in an online Japanese course so I know very little about it but it's the most different language of all the ones that I've learned and it's hard to get your head around different conventions but I think it's beautiful and

When I was in high school, I did Japanese dance. And so it was almost like I was revisiting. Yeah. Yeah. So we had a course at school that you could learn Japanese dance. And I just found it so mesmerizing and so beautiful. And it was, yeah, It's still something that's there that in my spare time.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (26:13)
I didn't know this.

Paula Stanghetta (26:35)
I'll hopefully pursue a little bit more.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (26:40)
Yeah, that's cool. And I know that you do like with your tour company with MP TOURS and you having the tours in Italy, I know that for like a year or two, you took daily Italian lessons to be able to help liaise with your travellers and things as well. Like you had Italian prior to that, but you you stay pretty fresh with it.

Paula Stanghetta (26:41)
down.

Yes, I came across a language program that teaches a language differently than anything I'd ever been exposed to. You know, it's really strange because you learn a language for many years in school.

but you graduate not necessarily being able to speak the language. And that was certainly true for me. And I learned something fundamental about language acquisition, language learning. And that is the best way to learn a language is not to speak it. It's to listen to it. And this language program does that.

provides you multiple opportunities. It doesn't focus on memorizing grammar and memorizing all the conventions of the language. It exposes you to the language with topics that are interesting and fun. And you learn first by listening. And I think that's really important because think of it. Exactly. Think of it as children. We don't speak for the first two years of anything intelligible.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (28:05)
Yeah, it's more similar to an acquisition.

Paula Stanghetta (28:17)
We listen for two years and it becomes part of us and then we start to speak. But we never do that in learning a language. So I and so I did this with Italian. Very different. It accelerated.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (28:28)
Yeah, that's that.

Paula Stanghetta (28:34)
my learning of the language and really helped in being there because I remember 10 years ago I could not easily translate in the moment for my guests. Now I have no problem doing that because I've spent the past five years listening to more Italian and just being much more comfortable. Amazing.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (28:57)
Yeah, yeah.

What's the name of the program in case people are interested in checking it out for themselves?

Paula Stanghetta (29:04)
It's called Italiano Automatico. And you can just yeah, Alberto and his team of people are just fabulous. Yeah, it's a great program. And so It's a subscription that I renew every year. And during the pandemic really powered through it less so now, but I keep up with it as my time allows.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (29:10)
Cool, I will also add that into the show notes for people.

Paula Stanghetta (29:34)
The key to this is to do this every day, which I'm not as, how do you say, good at any longer, but yeah, perfect. Yeah, thanks for the word. Yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (29:44)
diligentness.

Speaking of words, do you have in any of the languages that you know, do you have any favourite words or phrases? Like anything that sticks in your brain where it just kind of makes you smile a little?

Paula Stanghetta (30:02)
So there is a phrase that has been part of my life for a long time and it was my Aunt, Elda, who was a big inspiration for travel, would always say, and it's the phrase "piano piano, va lontano". No, that's from an Italian song. It's the opposite of "piano piano, va lontano", which means slowly but surely.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (30:18)
Coo -doo -coo -coo! No, I'm joking. Sorry.

Paula Stanghetta (30:32)
or taking things slowly, you will go a long way. It's kind of that tortoise and the hare thing rather than rushing through anything, be it life or a conversation or work or anything. Slowly, slowly, you will go far. And so piano, piano, piano, va lontano.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (30:48)
Can you say it one more time in Italian for us?

Paula Stanghetta (30:54)
Yeah, so that

Tara (Travel With TMc) (30:55)
Beautiful.

Paula Stanghetta (30:56)
was Auntie Elda learned that from her. And You know what, it's funny because until you asked me that question about the phrase, I forgot that it was my aunt who was my supreme inspiration for travel. And yeah, I totally forgot about that. I don't know why, but she's been gone.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (31:14)
Yeah.

I could see Zia

Elda doing that for sure.

Paula Stanghetta (31:20)
Yes,

yeah, but she travelled everywhere and yeah, she was a big, huge inspiration. I want to be like Auntie Elda, Zia Elda.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (31:32)
Yeah, I could see that. I could see that. Okay, we're gonna we're gonna switch lanes a little bit here. We've talked a bit about this already, but tech and travel. Today have like such a huge influence on each other. But I'm curious for you because like you travelled in the age of no internet to begin as a traveller. How has tech changed the way that you travel now?

Paula Stanghetta (31:34)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Right.

Mm -hmm.

It's changed it in. Yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (32:03)
Like what, maybe,

I was gonna say maybe a better question would be like, How did you prepare or experience your travel before all of the tech that we have now and then, and how has that changed now?

Paula Stanghetta (32:15)
Before it was maps and books. That's how I planned travel. I would read about places. I would then get maps and have that visual, that physical right in front and say, well, what if we went from here to there and, you know, use a ruler to figure out distances and all of that. So it was more hands on and you had to do more work. How it's changed today is, I could say,

What are the best things to do in location X, Y or Z? And somebody else is going to tell me, I just have to know how to type and put it in. But I think the difference between travelling without internet and travelling with internet is not just about the prep. It's about what you're doing once you're there. And I think that's the bigger interference and the travesty of having the internet.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (33:07)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Paula Stanghetta (33:13)
while travelling and while being away. And I'll use an example for that. You know, when we travel with MP tours, Of course people want to take pictures and our phone is the way for doing that and it's so immediate. And I find that when you're so focused on taking pictures about what you're doing, you miss what you're actually doing. So our phones are good for all kinds of things, the least of which is perhaps taking pictures.

And I find that you miss the moment and that's where tech is having a huge impact on travel. You know, what you see through your phone lens is not the same as what you see by looking at the cheese maker or the pasta maker or on a boat ride, for instance. You just see through this lens. But yet when you take that phone away, your

field of vision has expanded so much. So I think we are so focused on documenting it and sharing that with other people in the moment that we lose what's really happening. And that's how tech for me really impacts the travelling experience. It's great to help beforehand and I don't dismiss that. And for, you know, seeing what the opportunities are.

But there comes a time when you need to put the tech away and live the travel versus only document it.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (34:46)
Yeah, Would you say the same thing for like Google Maps and translators or are you pretty happy to have those now? Maybe thinking from both perspective of when you're working on the tours, but also when you're travelling, because I assume that that answer might be a little bit different.

Paula Stanghetta (35:02)
So Google Translate, first of all, I rarely use it. I may use it when I'm there and I don't have a word that I need, but I don't use tech in that way when I'm travelling.

Google Maps, I must say I'm not very good at using them. Where I will use them is on an itinerary. If I want to know the distance from place to place, I will do that. I really rely on you Tara. That's why I love travelling with you because you're better at operating some of those apps and your ease and facility with it is just, I go, I wish Tara was here or when you're there, I'm just happy.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (35:33)
You

Paula Stanghetta (35:45)
to let you do those kinds of things. But where it can be useful is if I'm driving. I love the GPS. I love engaging that and it takes away so much anxiety around getting from one place to another. And I just love that. And I have no difficulty travelling in Italy, which is mostly where I travel.

I love that aspect of technology. So there are things I like and things that I could leave behind.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (36:19)
So true, so true. We've spoken about MP TOURS a little bit, but we haven't really talked about it yet. Can you share with people what MP TOURS is, how it came to be, where you take people?

Paula Stanghetta (36:33)
Sure, so let's

do the Coles Notes version of that perhaps. How it came to be. Back in 2013, and I won't do 11 years of history, there was a moment when I said, what am I going to do in the next chapter because the work that I was engaged in was diminishing as much as I loved it. And so change was afoot. And I happened to be on

Tara (Travel With TMc) (36:46)
Mm -hmm

Paula Stanghetta (37:01)
a WhatsApp call with a friend of mine. I think it was WhatsApp then if it was around. And She said, we should go into business together. And I said, what kind of a business would we be in? Because she lives in Italy. I live in Canada. She's a super duper salesperson in Italian furniture, and I'm a trainer facilitator. And then as that settled in, I said to her, well, you're in Italy and I'm in Canada.

And people love to go to Italy and I love to travel and I love to introduce people to new experiences. I said, why don't we do trips to Italy? And she said, no, not interested. And I said, come on, let's just try it once. I'll plan the itinerary. I'll do all the promotion. I'll do everything that's needed. You can just help me from a local perspective.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (37:46)
You

Paula Stanghetta (38:00)
where we're going to go and what we're going to do. Even though I'd been to see her many times, looking at it from a tourist perspective was different. So she relented and said yes. And that year was 2014 when we did our first tour, which coincidentally, this is 10 years since that happened, this September. And from then on,

Well, in that first year we did four tours, four or five tours that first year. She, Mara is her name, M-A -R -A, decided this was not her thing. Hospitality, travelling, groups and people and translating, no, that was not her thing. We agreed to part ways on a friendly way and I continued to do this. And so how it started was that I took people to the area that my

where dad's ancestors were from. It's the Marche region, M -A -R -C -H -E, which sounds like a strange Italian word, but it's Marche And after the first trip, people said to me, where are we going next? And I said,

same place and they said well no we'd like to go somewhere else can you bring us somewhere else in Italy and that's how Puglia came to be and Sicily then Piedmont and Sardinia.

And so that's the story of where we are today. We do regional based tours, one region at a time. There are 20 in Italy. I have no desire to do all of them, but I wanted to create a place where people could go to that wasn't nothing wrong with them, Rome, Florence and Venice, because lots of people do that. And those are the icons that one has to visit.

but I'm more interested in introducing people to places in Italy that they haven't been to. And then the newest edition is Portugal. So for the first time this year in October, I'll be taking a group to Portugal. Or shall I say, we will be taking people to Portugal because you're joining me on that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (40:17)
Yeah.

I'm pretty excited that that'll be a new country for me and it'll be cool to see what like I have been on an MP TOURS tour before to Puglia and I had no idea about where Puglia is or what to expect for that tour and I am I do not typically enjoy group tours but I loved I know I'm biased you're my mom but I loved the tour so I'm I'm pretty excited for Portugal. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (40:29)
Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. It's not a new

destination for me, but it's a new MP Tours destination in that.

We'll be doing things very much the way we do them in the regions of Italy. So four nights in one location, four nights in another, and four nights in a third location so that we can really, to the extent possible, immerse ourselves. You know, many tourists say, you're going to visit this place and be with the locals. Well, how can you do that for a day or half a day? So I like to have a little bit more immersion.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (41:23)
Yeah, so if anybody's looking for a small group food and wine tour, get on the MP TOURS website. We'll take you with us.

Paula Stanghetta (41:23)
So it's exciting. Lucky.

Absolutely.

Yeah, we're looking at 2025 and planning a couple of maybe new things that will be a reflection of our celebration for 10 years doing this. I'm excited about that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (41:46)
Yeah, Very

cool. We don't have too much left to cover, but I am curious to know, as travellers and as North Americans, we often talk about how travel has impacted us on a personal level. And so first and foremost, I'm curious to know how travel has impacted your life. So yeah, let's start there.

Paula Stanghetta (41:52)
Okay.

Okay, we'll

go there. Well, without a doubt, and I think this is true for anybody who travels, when you travel, you're never going to be the same person. The people that you meet, the conversations that you have, the food that you eat, everything about travel changes you because now it has

I'm at a loss for words in any language. Sometimes it's not great to have a whole bunch of languages. It opens you to experiences that you never have in your day -to -day life. And you can't help but be changed by meeting people.

who have such great talents or who have such wonderful hospitality. It renews my faith in humanity writ large. It reinforces my belief that we are all the same. We just use different words or we have different experiences that we come from. But essentially, wherever I go in the world.

there's always a connection with people. So travel has changed me in that it has opened my perspective in life. It has made me less insular than I may have been if I stayed just in one place. And it's made me excited for more of the same. So what else is out there that I haven't come across and who am I going to meet next? So, you know, It's had multiple levels of impact.

for sure.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (43:45)
Yeah. What's been the biggest surprise on your travels? Either like a place that you visited or how you have surprised yourself when travelling?

Paula Stanghetta (43:57)
That's a hard one Tara. I'm not. The biggest surprise is that we are more alike than we are different really. That you know sometimes in books or in media or in conversations people will talk about the Far East or the exotic this place or that as if it's so different from us.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (44:04)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (44:25)
But I guess what surprises me is no matter how exotic a place, no matter how far away it is, we are closer as humans than we expect to be. We feel the same feelings. We express them in different ways. But the world is not a strange place. It's more familiar. And the more you open yourself to seeing other places, the more you see that we are all one.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (44:56)
Yeah, so true. We of course also impact the places that we visit. It's not just a one -sided experience when we're travelling. And I know that with MP TOURS, you are very conscious about working with and highlighting local businesses because a lot of what you value through your own personal travels has been as local as you can interact with and support local communities. But...

Paula Stanghetta (45:18)
Mm -hmm.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (45:24)
Do you have any tips for people on how to respect local cultures or traditions when you're a visitor, a foreigner in another place?

Paula Stanghetta (45:34)
yeah, absolutely. So I'm reminded of the quote and I won't get it perfectly, but it's something to this effect that things are the way they are in another country, not for our comfort, but for the comfort of those who live there. And so with that in mind, I always suggest to people

Do a little bit of research, not a ton. Find out about the culture, the traditions, the customs of the places that you're going to. And I'll give a very simple example. In Italy, everybody knows about the pausa, that time of the day when lunch is happening, shops are closed and life slows down. And dinner doesn't happen until 7 :30 or 8 in the evening. Now,

That's not done to stop tourists and travellers from shopping, from eating, or from having dinner at the time that they're most used to having it. It's because of the life in that country. And it makes a lot of sense to do so. For instance, the Italians value food and eating food in a family situation.

It's also so hot in the summertime when we travel that in places where very often there isn't air conditioning, why would you continue to work in such an uncomfortable situation? Go home, go home from school, have lunch, enjoy your family, close the shop, and come back and work between four and seven or eight.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (47:06)
I'm sorry.

Paula Stanghetta (47:26)
It makes so much sense. It's not the North American way, but it is the way there. So for me, learning about the culture and traditions and accepting and being open to them is the best advice I can give. And learn not to judge what the tradition is, but to understand why it is the way it is. And I will say, you know, my view on those traditions may be very narrow because I do focus on Italy.

But whatever those customs are, take some time to understand those beforehand.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (48:04)
Yeah, definitely. I remember when you and dad took the four of us kids to Europe. I was 14 at the time. What was the youngest, nine, 10, nine, I think. Anyhow, so we were all like.

Paula Stanghetta (48:17)
Yeah, 10, 11, 13, and 14 or something.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (48:22)
Yeah, exactly. So we were all pretty young and I can remember us, it must have been in Italy or maybe it was in France when we first ran into that. And for all of us kids, that was new and we were like, why is everything closed? And you were already familiar with this because you had been to Italy several times, but we couldn't get over at that age why everything was shut down. But yeah, it is just a matter of understanding that things are different and there are lots of good reasons for that and going with the flow.

Paula Stanghetta (48:23)
Yeah.

I know.

I know. Yeah.

And I remember

somebody saying once, why don't they realize we're here to spend our money? Why aren't they open? And my response is, they don't care about the money that you have here to spend. It's not about that. It's about their culture and the way they do things. So, and you know, funny thing that when I took Baba and Nonno over,

Tara (Travel With TMc) (48:59)
Ugh. Ugh.

Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (49:14)
In 2008, my dad, as you know, is pretty strict. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, nine, twelve, six. And so when six o 'clock came around for my dad, he wanted to eat. And in his hometown, I'll never forget when I let our cousin know that my dad likes to eat at six.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (49:23)
Yeah. He likes his routine.

Paula Stanghetta (49:37)
They accommodated it for him. The restaurant wasn't open, but several of the older ladies in the town just came and watched us eat at six o 'clock because it was a curiosity to them. What are you doing eating your pasta and your supper at six o 'clock? It was rather hilarious to watch them. They were just, it was like the word had spread in town. The Canadians are here and they're eating at six o 'clock.

Let's go and watch this. Really? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we were the animals. In a fun way.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (50:10)
A reverse zoo experience, yeah.

That's too funny. That can be hard too when you're older, like he was how old when he went there to visit. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (50:24)
78 and that was the first time he'd been to Italy. Yeah 78 maybe he was 80.

Yeah so yeah that's a big difference and plus he had you know at that time you're yeah waiting until eight o 'clock no digestively that just would have been not so good. But yeah lots of fun.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (50:34)
Yeah.

goodness. How

has travel impacted your career? Because with, like you've already mentioned, your tour company was started in 2014, but we had the pandemic in there as well. And so can you speak a little bit to that?

Paula Stanghetta (51:05)
Could I just cry instead of speaking? It was a disaster. I mean, everything went dark. Our love for travel, the customers, the clients, the travellers, the prospects and the hope for the future because we had no idea what was going to happen. Of course, revenue and thank goodness for government programs that helped because they did help in a very dark time.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (51:08)
Yeah

Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (51:31)
We all talk about that five -letter word that I hope I never hear again, but pivoting. You know, everybody had to do a little bit of that. And what that looked like for me was doing online cooking classes. So because food and wine are really a key part of our travellers and focusing on that for the culture.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (51:37)
serious.

Paula Stanghetta (51:55)
I, on my own, but also in collaboration with my good friends Maria and Donna Marie at Relish Cooking Studio, we decided to put on some cooking classes and whether they were, you know, regionally based or others, it was really the, a bit of a life -giving force during a very, very dark time.

And so through that and also working with my wonderful friend and superb chef, Tara Sdraulig who owns Tavola di Terra, we taught people how to make pasta and how to make desserts. And one of my travellers, Rose Weidman, who's a superb baker,

I also hired her to do some baking classes. So it never replaced what I wanted to do, but it kept me in touch with people who love travel. And I used those cooking classes to talk about travel and to talk about other places. And the return to travel was a very scary one. So my first trip was May of 2022 to Tuscany to visit family. And

was really frightened to travel. I did not want to do it at all. I thought I couldn't do it and this was on my own. I was pleasantly surprised by such a beautiful trip. It did work well. I did enjoy it and I was ready to start again. So that was, I wasn't sure whether I was going to do any more travel after the pandemic, but I'm glad.

that I had that solo experience and I'm glad that that turned slowly. 2023 was, you know, a slow but growing time. Yeah, really. And I think travellers are coming back into it. And I mean, 2023 was that pent up people. it was ridiculous how busy it was.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (53:54)
A tentative year.

The revenge travel.

Paula Stanghetta (54:09)
It was and now it's kind of backing off a bit and different travel and I think people got those trips that they wanted to go on but couldn't go on done and so who knows what the future will bring but I'm glad that period is over.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (54:30)
You and me both. Yeah. Is there a type of travel you haven't tried? You've been backpacking, you've done road trips, you've now been on cruise, you've guided tours, you've of course been the head of our family travel. What kind of travel is there left to try and what would you want to try?

Paula Stanghetta (54:32)
and so many others. Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

I haven't had much time to think about that. I want to do more river cruising, not sea cruising. I'd like to try some adventure travel. Small A adventure. And I'm not sure about that, but I know.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (55:14)
Are we going, are we going bungee jumping, Mom?

Let's do it. Do you want to jump out of a plane or do you want to go bungee

jumping? We can make that happen. I'd be fine with that.

Paula Stanghetta (55:28)
Yeah,

no, I think, okay, my adventure travel would be a bike tour, e -bike, not regular bike, some other water tours. So, you know, perhaps the Antarctic or the Arctic, that for me would be adventure. And I know that can come with its own issues. And you know, I'm on the fence. I thought I always wanted to do a safari.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (55:39)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (55:57)
And I have a great company that I would go to for that. But on the other hand, I'm not sure because I hate zoos and I find safaris are like an open zoo. And I think, do I really want to do that? Do I really want? But a part of me does want to explore that. So I'm not sure. Yeah.

I'd have to think more about that. Now bungee jumping? No, I just see, yeah, I just see my spine, you know, being yanked apart and I'm not sure but who knows.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (56:28)
Interesting. Well, we'll have to get you back on the podcast.

Okay, well, we'll get you back on the podcast after we've gone skydiving then.

Paula Stanghetta (56:46)
Right, let's talk about that. Tara, you are the adventurer. You are the one who is open to so much more. And maybe I could bungee jump or skydive. Vi cariously. Send me a reel on that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (56:51)
you

Noooo

Okay, hmm, let me just I'm gonna edit this part out here. I'm just conscious of our time

Paula Stanghetta (57:20)
thing.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (57:22)
How are you doing so far, mama?

Paula Stanghetta (57:24)
Good girl.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (57:29)
I'm just having a look at my notes here.

Paula Stanghetta (57:30)
Yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (57:36)
Okay, okay.

Paula Stanghetta (57:37)
I've

never lived anywhere else, you know that already and we didn't talk about that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (57:42)
This is the next section

that usually I tackle. Yeah. -huh. Okay, let's do this. Okay, okay. So I know that you haven't, well, you have lived in different cities, but I'm wondering if there are any other countries that you would want to move to. Either places that you've visited and you've been like, holy crap, I would move here in a heartbeat or somewhere that you've never been that you would maybe be curious to move to.

Paula Stanghetta (57:46)
Yeah.

That's a very easy answer. I'm not interested in moving elsewhere or living elsewhere. I love Canada. I love calling this my home. Would I like to have an extended stay somewhere? Absolutely. And I'm thinking someplace like South America or Madeira, which is near Portugal. But

Tara (Travel With TMc) (58:18)
Okay.

Paula Stanghetta (58:37)
No, it does not interest me to move anywhere for a long time. I love being close to my children, my grandchildren, my extended family. To me, that is the greatest joy in the world and that travel is a bonus to doing that. So, whatever keeps me close to those I love the most is the best for me.

And I know travel is so much easier than it used to be, but home for me is where my family and friends are. And travel is a step away for that. So those are some of the places that I would consider.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (59:14)
Mm -hmm.

I think a lot of people can relate to what you're saying in that where home is where family and friends and loved ones are and that travel is a lovely addition to their daily lives. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (59:29)
Yeah, you know,

as Dorothy said, there's no place like home. And as I often say, as home is where your heart is, and my heart is with my family.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (59:35)
you

So when I move back to Ireland or New Zealand, you're gonna come with?

Paula Stanghetta (59:49)
Yes, to pick you up and take you back home. No, but you see, that's your choice and that will be your home and what you make it. And I would love to come and visit you. anytime.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:00:03)
Okay, we've got it on the record. I make no promises. What do you what's something that you do differently when you're travelling that you don't do when you're at home?

Paula Stanghetta (1:00:05)
Don't do it.

eat in restaurants, stay up really late. Yeah, I love to cook. The heart of my home and our home is the kitchen. And if I wasn't travelling, I'd be very happy travelling through cooking every day of the week. But besides eating in restaurants, talking to strangers,

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:00:26)
That's true, you are a very good cook. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:00:51)
I drink a little bit more when I'm travelling. You know, so. Yeah, I mean, on the river cruise, I drank every day, maybe more than once a day, but I don't do that at home. It's just not something that I seek out. I enjoy it, but it's just not part of my routine. And I stay up later and...

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:00:56)
This is where the podcast gets juicy, folks.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:01:20)
So I guess those would be some of the things that I do. I eat more gelato. I don't eat gelato here because it's just not quite the same anyway, but I enjoy it there. I eat more chocolate too because I'm thinking about you and thinking, well Tara loves this chocolate because I think you have a little thing for chocolate.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:01:36)
Sure.

Yeah, that's also I'm constantly sending you messages to eat more gelato and try all the tasty food when you're gone for us. Yeah. huh. Yeah. What are, what are two or three items that you always travel with? And I feel like one of them, I'm going to speak for you here. I feel like one of them is extra room in your suitcase for all the olive oil that you bring home, but so it's not really a thing, but it is. Yeah. What are, what are two or three items that you always travel with?

Paula Stanghetta (1:01:48)
Yes. Exactly. So yeah.

Darn, you stole that!

I always have my peppermint halo essential oil. It's great for soothing. If, you know, I unintentionally become dehydrated and get a headache, I have that there for comfort. I always have something that I can read in the downtime. Now, whether that's a small book or a short book or something on my Kindle or on my laptop, I can always have that.

And changes of shoes. I say one has to wear three different pairs of shoes in a day. We do tons of walking and all the people who say I wear the same pair of shoes for 10 days. I go, no, that would not work. As my cousin Teresa in Italy says, yeah, that too. As my cousin Teresa said, you have a pair of shoes for the morning, you have a pair of shoes for the afternoon, and you have a pair of shoes at night.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:03:04)
K -poo -tza!

Good.

Paula Stanghetta (1:03:15)
And so whether that's running shoes for the walking and then something different just for the change, because if your feet are sore, your whole body aches. And then something a little bit fancy and fun for going out for dinner in the evening. So shoes, books, and essential oils for stress relief or for just calming.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:03:17)
Teresa!

I'm with you on the peppermint halo and that actually, that can come in super handy if you're on the plane and someone is stinky. Do you remember when we went to France and there was somebody on the plane behind or in front of us who had, I think it was feet, if I recall correctly. And I know that we used like breath spray or something at the time, but if we had had that peppermint halo, that would have been...

Paula Stanghetta (1:03:44)
Yeah.

Yeah. I know. Yes.

And we just sprayed

behind ourselves. But now, just surround yourself with that halo. That makes a huge difference. And now, I just wear a mask on the plane all the time, and it has multiple purposes. The things you remember. Sage.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:04:09)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What the?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I'll put a link to the peppermint halo. It's

it was rancid. Yeah, yeah. We'll put the link in the in the show notes there so people can get their own peppermint halo. Yeah, speaking of like tips for people, do you have any safety tips either? You've done solo travel, you've led group travel and you

Paula Stanghetta (1:04:29)
Yeah.

Yeah, wonderful. Yeah, essential is wonderful.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:04:48)
as a family family traveller, you have any tips for any of those groups from a safety standpoint?

Paula Stanghetta (1:04:54)
Yeah, and some of them relate to tech, but some of them just relate to how you comport yourself when you're in another country. So how you present yourself in another country. I would say, whatever you can do, don't bring attention to yourself any more than your actual presence there does that. So don't speak loudly. Don't make yourself bigger than you are.

try to blend in with people more than anything. So, you know, having maps out and taking lots of photos and yelling to somebody, but, come and see this over here. I think the smaller you can make yourself, the better it is for you from a safety perspective.

And that's from personal experience, Tara, because if you remember when we were in Paris and people talk about, the pickpockets at the cathedral and, you know, at all at the Eiffel Tower and all of that. And here we were shopping in an H&M or something in the middle of the afternoon. Yeah. And I went to pay for the things that we had purchased and my wallet was gone.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:05:46)
Hmm

in an H & M

Paula Stanghetta (1:06:08)
It was on me in a crossbody bag. But when I think back to our behavior, here we were, you know, in the the change room saying, how does this look? And can you get me another size? Speaking in English in an elevated voice. Yeah, and I was robbed of my wallet, 1500 euro, my credit cards, the

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:06:23)
Yeah, five Anglophones just...

Paula Stanghetta (1:06:31)
only

thing that I still had with me, so here's the second tip, was my passport because it was in a different place. And so the second tip is guard your passport with your life. I carry it with me everywhere we go. In fact, in Italy, it is the law that you must have your passport on you because you can be stopped at any time and asked to identify yourself. yes, people say, I keep it in my safe in my room.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:06:41)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:07:00)
I take it with me, especially nowadays, all the time. It's always on me in a safe, you know, usually under the clothes pouch or something like that. So make yourself smaller, keep your passport safe and listen more than you talk. Be more observant than, you know, always having to talk and say something. And finally, this may not work for everybody, but

Have more eye to eye contact perhaps and a little less lens.

contact. So taking less photos perhaps. In some instances that may work really well, in others that may not work for people. So I just think we've lost that eye -to -eye contact. And that could be a safety issue as well because if you're so busy taking photos that distraction can be an attraction for the pickpockets.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:07:48)
Yeah.

Interesting. Okay.

Yeah, for sure. Alrighty, well we are coming to a close so there are two things we're going to do left here. The first one is as a bonus for the listeners of the Travelling Through Life: A Podcast on the go, we are going to offer a playlist. And so what I would like to know from you is what's one song that either sums up your travel style or is a song that reminds you of one of your trips.

Paula Stanghetta (1:08:11)
Okay.

You just leave all the easy questions, not for the end. My brain is fried. I have no idea. But one song that I do remember is an Italian song. I'm not even sure if I have the right name, but one of the bylines is, Perchè ti amo? Why I love you. Sara perchè ti amo.

I'm not sure if that's the right word, but it's upbeat and it's a great song and everybody, as soon as they hear it, they just start singing along with it. I'm sure you can find it. You're great at doing those things. Okay.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:09:01)
Hehehehe

Okay.

I will put that

down. I was wondering if you were gonna say, do you remember when we were all in Europe? I think it was the part where we were in Ireland. You know where I'm going with this, right? Sing it, mom, sing it. What is it?

Paula Stanghetta (1:09:20)
yeah, yeah I absolutely do. My life is no no I can't

sing it I'm just trying to get the words. I'm just a kid and my life is a nightmare.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:09:32)
Bye!

Nightmare. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:09:38)
No, no, I'm just a, yeah, I

remember actually that summer when we got back going over the Mackinac Bridge and I put that on the CD player and everybody was rocking their heads to it remembering, yeah, I'm just a kid and my life is a nightmare. I think that was, I forget who did it. Yeah, absolutely, that's a, put it on. Put it on the playlist.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:09:57)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so did -

For sure. That's going on the playlist. So to To To To paint

a picture for those who weren't in that very small European minivan with the six of us and all of our luggage, we had, I don't know, I had like a playlist or a burnt CD or something at the time. And I think it's Sum 41 or Simple Plan or somebody like that that sings this song. And,

Paula Stanghetta (1:10:12)
Yeah.

I think it's a Simple Plan.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:10:24)
Yeah, mom knows I love this. And the four of us kids are packed in the back of this van with all this luggage surrounding us. Dad's driving and you're in the front seat trying to keep everybody happy. And you're turning around like rocking out. I'm just a kid. And we're all singing along. And yeah, every time I hear that song, I'm back in that mini van and I can yeah, it's always. Yeah, I'll add that one to the list.

Paula Stanghetta (1:10:25)
I'm sorry.

I like it so much.

It's true. Okay. Well, together we made

that happen. Thanks for the reminder.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:10:53)
Okay,

we're gonna finish with a speed round. So you're answering in one question or with one sentence. Yeah, we keep this short, sweet and simple. Okay, all righty. Where was your last trip? Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:11:06)
Okay, okay. Do my best. Performance time.

The Rhine River. The Danube River! What am I talking about? Danube River.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:11:18)
And where is your next trip?

Paula Stanghetta (1:11:23)
Sault Ste. Marie followed by Sardinia.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:11:27)
And are you bougie or budget? Would you prefer unlimited time off with a tight travel budget or only one week off per year but unlimited funds?

Paula Stanghetta (1:11:40)
the first.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:11:43)
bougie.

Paula Stanghetta (1:11:44)
Yeah, I wasn't really sure with it.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:11:46)
of bougie is like you would have one week off

per year but unlimited funds.

Paula Stanghetta (1:11:52)
No, that I thought one do that again.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:11:57)
Okay, maybe I need to switch around the order of things. So bougie is like, you like the finer things in life, let's say. So that would be one week off per year, but unlimited funds. You would, I thought you would say unlimited time off with a tight travel budget. Yeah, I could see you doing that. Yeah, sorry. I should, I should reorder. I'm going to reorder that right now. Okay, we're helping.

Paula Stanghetta (1:12:04)
No.

Yes, yes, that's me. That's what I thought the first one was. Maybe it's the second. Okay, short -term memory problems.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:12:26)
There we go.

Okay. What is your favourite mode of transportation?

Paula Stanghetta (1:12:36)
Being on a river cruise, a long ship.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:12:41)
You've really loved this river cruise you were just on!

Paula Stanghetta (1:12:44)
Yeah, you know, it really was. I love being on water. It has a calming effect on me and it gets you to the next place. It was wonderful. I mean, the reality is, and I know this is more than one word, the reality is I can't get on a riverboat to get to Europe. And so, you know, I would say my favourite mode is the most efficient way of getting to the place that I'm going.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:12:52)
Mmm.

Paula Stanghetta (1:13:14)
So I'm not, you know, take the train. It's usually about the destination as opposed to the travelling, the journey. I want to get there.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:13:15)
Mm.

I'm with you on that one.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, get me there and then I'm gonna dig in. Do you prefer, I already know the answer, but I'm gonna ask you anyway, planned or spontaneous travel?

Paula Stanghetta (1:13:31)
Yeah.

I'm going to surprise you.

You

don't know the answer to this because I like a combination. I like planned spontaneity.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:13:47)
Yeah.

That is a thing though. It is a thing. It is a thing.

Paula Stanghetta (1:13:52)
Yeah, you leave enough time

so that will be spontaneous. So there are certain things that need to be planned, like your first night, your last night, and then some key things that you want to do. And then you plan for spontaneity. But I'm not a winged person. Yes. Okay. Okay, okay. I'm up for that because I'm with you.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:14:10)
And this is what we're doing with Poland, right? We're only... no, we're gonna wing it in Poland. It's gonna be crazy!

Paula Stanghetta (1:14:21)
And you're the person I can do that with.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:14:22)
Maybe,

maybe we should record a podcast episode in Poland.

Paula Stanghetta (1:14:29)
Yeah, I'd be up for it. Or would I be down for it? Down or up? I don't really know.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:14:31)
We'll have to come back to that. Okay, cool. Do you prefer... Up or down? You can say either.

Okay. Do you prefer... This is as a participant. Do you prefer guided tours or choose your own adventure?

Paula Stanghetta (1:14:49)
guided tours in a new place. When I'm in a place for a repeat visit, I like to choose my own adventure.

Overpacker! And I need to be cured of this ailment because I'm done with overpacking. Not because I can't carry it, not because of anything other than for the first time in my life I was charged for too heavy a bag and that's ridiculous. I don't need to do that. So that wasn't on the river cruise, it was on my Italy. But you know when yeah there are no excuses but I want to learn.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:15:07)
you

Hmm

That was.

Paula Stanghetta (1:15:33)
how to not underpack, but have enough packing and not be over the limit. Done with that. No, tell me.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:15:44)
You know what the cure is for not under packing?

A

credit card. You can just buy whatever you need if you don't have it.

Paula Stanghetta (1:15:52)
Hahaha

That takes time away from your travels. Like if I have to go and buy a pair of pants or a dress because I didn't have one for the occasion, now I'm wasting my precious time shopping and I don't want to do that.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:16:09)
No, now you're living like a local because you're getting into the shops and you're making some purchases, everyday purchases.

Paula Stanghetta (1:16:15)
But I do that,

believe me, I support the locals and I shop. You know, fill my, with olive oil, olive oil, yes, spices. I have more paprika than I'll ever use, I think, as a result of visiting Hungary. So come by and pick up your paprika.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:16:21)
Yeah, I know you do. I've seen the loot when you come home. -huh, -huh.

Well.

It's time to have a party. What is the most overrated destination in your opinion?

Paula Stanghetta (1:16:41)
Yeah.

Like, worldwide?

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:16:49)
Sure, it can be one that you've been to, so from personal experience, or it can be one that you just think in general is overrated.

Paula Stanghetta (1:17:02)
You've stumped me on that one because I think that's a value judgment because I say that a place is overrated maybe and so I don't feel that that's fair. So I'm going to just squeeze out of that one because I'm going to invoke the mum privilege of saying I'm not going to say because I just think it's unfair to yeah to say that my opinion of an under overrated is is accurate.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:17:07)
Of course it is.

you

Okay, plead the fifth.

Paula Stanghetta (1:17:31)
I think there are places that are over travelled, but overrated not. No such thing.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:17:32)
Okay, so.

Okay,

so I can't ask you about your most underrated destination then?

Paula Stanghetta (1:17:43)
No.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:17:46)
Okay, next, domestic or international travel?

Paula Stanghetta (1:17:47)
Ha ha!

I've been everywhere, every answer international.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:18:01)
Yeah, international. I knew you'd say international. What home comfort do you miss the most when you're away?

Paula Stanghetta (1:18:04)
Yeah.

my bed.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:18:14)
What's the best piece of travel advice that you have received?

Paula Stanghetta (1:18:24)
I'm sure it's something that you have said to me.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:18:29)
Hmm.

Paula Stanghetta (1:18:32)
I'm trying to think all the things that you have said to me that are great travel advice. And I think, you know, and that's where I was going, Tara, that it's more about let's just do it. let's just go. Just make it happen and give it a try.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:18:39)
Just do it, Mom! Jump from the plane!

Paula Stanghetta (1:18:54)
That's a great thing about you, your curiosity that turns into action. So where I may overthink something, you will just say, okay, Mom, let's go, let's do it. And I think that's great travel advice because I think if you overthink things,

And recently I've had a few friends who have been doing that. When's the perfect time? Where's the perfect place? What's the perfect length of time? There is no perfection in travel. Just look for the adventure and the joy. And that's great travel advice. So just jump in and be spontaneous in Poland. Yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:19:36)
Yeah, I'm hope we've got this on recording too. Okay,

what is what's the What's the worst piece of travel advice you've received?

Paula Stanghetta (1:19:50)
Don't stress about time. Whenever you get to the airport is fine. Whenever you get to wherever is fine. Yeah, we don't need to rush. We don't need to be there early.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:20:04)
Seriously, you're saying that it's a bad piece of advice to...

Paula Stanghetta (1:20:06)
That's the worst.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:20:10)
to get there early or you're saying that you don't need to get there early?

Paula Stanghetta (1:20:13)
People's

People say that you don't need to get there early. You don't need to be there three hours in advance. Don't worry about it. It's just when you get there, you'll get there.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:20:30)
That's the worst piece. Okay. All right. Okay. Window seat or aisle seat.

Paula Stanghetta (1:20:32)
Yeah.

always window on the left side, which would be the A seat.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:20:41)
I love how specific that was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you could go somewhere in the next hour, regardless of price or whatever else is going on in your life, where would you go?

Paula Stanghetta (1:20:42)
Because I like to sleep on this side. Yes, always.

next hour.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:21:00)
Yeah, if I was just like, right, go to the airport, you're going, where would you go?

Paula Stanghetta (1:21:07)
I think I'd go to lunch in BC at my cousin's restaurant Savio Volpe. I've been dying there to go there for a while. I'd go to lunch in BC in Vancouver.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:21:19)
I love that.

Okay. That's Savio Volpe. Okay. Describe yourself as a traveller in three words.

Paula Stanghetta (1:21:24)
Yeah.

curious, energetic.

insatiable.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:21:40)
That's a good one. This next one, I'm so curious to hear what you're going to say. Three characteristics that make family travel enjoyable.

Paula Stanghetta (1:21:54)
collective discovery.

spontaneous surprises.

returning home.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:22:12)
altogether. That's for another podcast. Okay, with two left, two left. What do you think is the best gift for a traveller? Like if you were to gift a traveller something, what would it be?

Paula Stanghetta (1:22:14)
Or maybe a psychotherapy session. Okay.

a book about the place that they're going to before they go or a podcast or a video of some kind depending on what mode they prefer or medium.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:22:43)
And.

Hmm. And what is the best travel app? Do you have one that you enjoy using?

Paula Stanghetta (1:23:00)
I like Google Maps or GPS for when I'm driving. I don't know if that qualifies as an app, but yeah, let me just check my phone here to see if... Well, I was just looking at that and I was thinking the best app for anyone, including me, is the app for the airline that you're travelling with.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:23:08)
Yeah, of course.

I know you've got your Air Canada app. You've got

Paula Stanghetta (1:23:27)
So always have that so that you can always track your flight and get information because often times the passengers will know before the crew that the flight's delayed or cancelled or whatever. And so yeah, I don't use a lot of apps in general.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:23:28)
Hmm.

Yeah.

I like it, old school, with a new school twist. gosh, I really like an app, I really like, I really like an app called TripIt, and it's where I send all of my itinerary information, and it's free, and it's clean, and it's easy to use, and you can share it with other people. TripIt is fantastic. Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:23:47)
What's your favourite? Yeah, what's your favourite? Travel out.

you.

And I have it on my phone.

I think my favourite app is sending everything to the printer and have it in a physical copy when I'm travelling. But yeah, I'm always paranoid about the phone being lost or whatever. Can I tell you one more story before we go?

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:24:20)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice.

Yes, please.

Paula Stanghetta (1:24:31)
Okay, so talk about phones and losing things and travel apps and all of that. So we were in Vienna and we were doing a tour and it was a great tour, dad, with a group from the ship and we started off by going to the restroom. So I did that and we were going through the tour and I wanted to take a picture or something and I said, shit, literally, I left my phone.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:24:43)
We being you and dad, yeah?

Paula Stanghetta (1:25:01)
in the washroom. And I knew exactly where it was and I said to the tour guide, I left my phone in the washroom, I need to go or as they say the toilet. It wasn't in the toilet. And I said I know exactly where it is. I'm not sure if it's there. But what do you suggest? So I got out of the tour, dad came with me, went to the washroom. Of course, it wasn't there. I asked the washroom attendant is the phone.

Did you come across a phone? No. And I knew that there was a security desk at the ticket counter. So I went up to them and I said, excuse me, but has anybody found a phone? I left it in the washroom. He said, a smartphone, an iPhone? I said, yes. He said, yes, it's over there. They had put it aside. They asked me to open the phone and show some ID and we walked away.

and crisis averted. It was a great, yeah.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:26:02)
Thank goodness. I like that they

asked you to show ID and to sign into the phone instead of just giving it to you. That's a classy move.

Paula Stanghetta (1:26:08)
And I had to sign

a paper as well saying it was mine. So all those three things. So anyway, apps and all that are great and phones are great. But wow, you can get so easily distracted. Put it down to wash your hands or whatever and put your valuables in the same place all the time. Don't change it. OK, I'm done.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:26:13)
Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah. Thanks for coming on the podcast, Mom.

Paula Stanghetta (1:26:38)
Thank you for asking me. You're doing such wonderful things. I hope. I can't wait to see and listen to all of the other interviews and all the wonderful people that you've gathered. And I can't wait to learn from them and you as well. It's been fun.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:26:56)
Thank you. And I can't wait to see where you take MP TOURS next. Can you tell people before we go, where can they find you? Your website, your Instagram, your email, where do you want people to contact you?

Paula Stanghetta (1:27:06)
website is so

check out the website i which is mp -tours .com i know you'll share that information i love speaking to people they can call me 519 -2 okay okay that's why so edit that out

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:27:24)
Don't, no, you're not giving out your phone number on this podcast. No, I'm editing that out.

Paula Stanghetta (1:27:32)
They can phone me, they can email

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:27:33)
Yeah.

Paula Stanghetta (1:27:33)
me info at mp -tours .com and send me a message, a DM on Facebook or Instagram. You know how to do all that kind of stuff because you are also my...

Instagram person, you designed my website, which I'm eternally grateful for. And I get so many compliments on it. And I said, that's Tara. And you do my Instagram without you. I'd never have anything on Instagram without you. I'd have next to nothing on Facebook and anything I would put up there would be a mess. So eternally great.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:27:55)
you

No!

not true.

You were being very kind. You had as much a hand in that as I did. All right, Maman. I love you. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for introducing me to the world and to travel and to languages and to just how great this place is to be and to explore. Thank you. I love you.

Paula Stanghetta (1:28:21)
No, wrong. Okay.

I love you as well. Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you. I love you. Travel well wherever you go.

Tara (Travel With TMc) (1:28:44)
Ciao ciao! Bye!

Paula Stanghetta (1:28:46)
Ciao ciao! Ciao!

Ciao ciao! Ciao!