Power of Play
Power of Play
Paying It Forward Through Travel with Special Guest Greg Bennick
In this episode of Power of Play, Amanda is joined by Greg Bennick, the founder and director of One Hundred for Haiti, a non-profit organization dedicated to long-term social development in Haiti. Greg is also a motivational speaker, speaking for TedX, Fortune 500 companies, and many major universities.
In 2010, Greg joined a sailboat run bringing 12,000 lbs. of supplies to Haiti after the devastating earthquake. He had been to the country eight months before and, wanting to check up on his friends, chose to stay there after landing. He then started his non-profit program, One Hundred for Haiti, which originally began as a relief effort, but realizing this creates a cycle of dependency, he chose to evolve into a development agency.
Greg is a well-versed traveler, spending time not only in Haiti but all over the globe. He and Amanda discuss their top travel tips, including seeing the area like a local and traveling with dietary restrictions.
Greg recommends seeing not only the top landmarks of an area but also visiting hangouts frequented mostly by locals. While he also recommends apps like Happy Cow which allow you to find plant-based and vegan restaurants, he stresses the importance of connecting with locals and how this can lead to more than just great restaurant recommendations.
Traveling is a fun adventure, but it is important to take time for self-care while on the move. Greg shares how he takes care of himself while he is traveling, as well as when he is home.
Check out One Hundred for Haiti at http://www.onehundredforhaiti.org/
Greg Bennick's Website at http://www.gregbennick.com
Greg Bennick's Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbennick/
Check out Largay Travel at https://www.pleasegoaway.com/
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Speaker 2:[inaudible].
Speaker 3:Today's guest is someone I am thrilled to have on the show. He is the founder and director of 100 for Haiti, which provides medical supplies and food to people in Haiti since the tragic earthquake. He is also a world renowned motivational speaker and focuses on the things that I love, creativity, passion and human connection. He has spoken at TEDx many fortune 500 companies, major universities, and his biggest engagement ever was the large a travel company retreat. He's not only a public speaker, but he's also an entertainer. He's juggled his way around the world, sharing his joy of life. Welcome to the show, Greg Bennett.
Speaker 4:Uh, thanks so much for having me. That's wonderful. I really appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Well, for those of you who don't know, Greg and I went to high school together. We were in the band and it's really fun. That's one thing I love about social media is that we get to stay in touch.
Speaker 4:It's incredible and the fact that we reconnected after so many years, many people from high school, from college happened to stay in touch. You and I dropped out of touch for 20 years and then came back in touch and did this tremendous event for large gay travel a few years ago, which was so much fun. Not just the event itself, but to reconnect with you. So yes, hurray for social media and bringing us together.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. So I know that you do public speaking around the world, but if you things about you really interest me. One is this 100 for Haiti. You actually got involved when traveling and I'd love to hear a little bit more about that.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Well, after the earthquake I realized that I had been in Haiti eight months before the earthquake and met the number of people and after the quake happened I realized that I needed to check in on those friends. Well, some friends of mine from Connecticut were actually going to Miami and they had a sailboat and they were going to be bringing medical supplies and food to the people of Haiti. And I joined that sailboat run right after the quake and we brought 12,000 pounds of supplies and food via sailboat to Haiti. We sailed for eight days and nights. We were the first private relief boat to make it to the Southern coast of Haiti as far as we've been told, and I stayed in Haiti when the boats sailed back to the United States because I wanted to check in on friends and check, you know, the conditions in Haiti. And I realized that the ongoing work was going to be necessary there. I mean, it wasn't a revelation on my part. Everyone knew that ongoing work and philanthropy was going to be necessary in an ongoing way. So I formed an organization called 100 for Haiti. The idea originally was that 100 people would donate$1,000 each to Haitian relief and that I'd continue supporting a doctor I knew in Puerto Prince who's giving away medical care and medicine for free. But what ended up happening was two things. One is that many, many, many donations at a much, much, much lesser amount per donation started coming in and that actually made the organization sustainable. But the other thing that happened was that I realized that sending medical supplies and food creates a cycle of dependency and people. So 100 for Haiti switched to being a development organization. And for the last 10 years we've been working on development projects in rural Haiti to really enhance an uphold and uplift communities.
Speaker 3:Wow. I have to say Greg, I mean I've worked with projects all over the world. What I love about 100 for Haiti, which I am a donor, is that you guys update us and let us know what's happening down there. And you incorporated this all because of a trip that you took and a passion that you had and friends that you made. And I just love it.
Speaker 4:You know? And the thing about travel is that we're always thinking, and this is a fault of ours not of travel. The thing about travel is we're always thinking about the next trip, right? So when we're in the middle of this one and it's great a part of our brains already thinking about the next one, like, wow, where am I going to go next year? That kind of crazy, just nonstop chatter in our minds. But the thing is is that I realized that I do that too, and I wanted with Haiti to stay committed to one project. So that one trip, that one travel experience on that sailboat to Haiti, I decided to make that my focus. And it has been for the last 10 years. Now of course I've done immense amounts of travel to countless other places, but the focus of my philanthropy and humanitarian work has consistently been the Haiti. And I feel really good about that. And I owe that to, of course, to travel itself, but then also resetting my brain a bit and thinking, wait a minute, I could come back and travel to the same place again. What a concept. Really build relationships there.
Speaker 3:Yes. Well, and I have that same connection. I work with America's share over in Kenya and I'll tell you, I have two children that I've sponsored over the years and it's fantastic, but I do understand that sense of anticipation and intrigue and, but I love that you've kind of grounded yourself back to that one project that you're passionate about.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I love it. I mean, I'm just so happy about it still. And more importantly, the people of Haiti who ultimately 100 for Haiti works or they're happy. So you know, we do what we can when we can with the resources that we have and we're always asking the Haitian people, what do you want, what do you need? And then we help make those dreams a reality. And people can find out more@onehundredforhaiti.org and I'm sure the link will be along with the episode.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. So not to move off that subject, but I'm going to move off that subject for a second. I know that you do public speaking around the world. I've seen your Ted talk, I've seen a lot of what you've done on video and YouTube and you've certainly inspired my company. Talk to me about you traveling and how you kind of manage your power of play when you're traveling.
Speaker 4:Well, I actually prioritize it and you're catching me at a really good, because for the last few months I've been focusing on self care here at home and I start every day with a yoga class. Like I've been to six yoga classes this week and then I'm eating right and I'm sleeping more and I'm just really taking care of myself and I find that when I travel, if I prioritize that to everything that I'm involved in on that trip, whether it's a keynote speech for a company, whether it doesn't even matter, it could be humanitarian work, whatever it might be, everything gets better if I take care of myself and have fun for myself on my own terms at the same time. So a couple of things. Whenever I'm traveling, say doing keynote for organizations, I'm always looking for that city. Wherever that event is for that city's highlight, whether that's a something to see or whether it's a restaurant or whether it's a park or an outdoor space. And I'm always trying to maximize those opportunities because if I'm in Paris and I miss the, you know, the Eiffel tower, that's, you know, that's heartbreaking essentially. But if I go see it, it's so uplifting. Or let's say I'm in Atlanta or New York city or California or Canada, wherever I might be, if I maximize local opportunities to see incredible things and interact with local people, it enhances the experience overall. So I find a lot of fun and those connections and those, you know, some might take typically sightseeing experiences, but they're typically sightseeing because they're awesome. That's why typical and you know, and that's why people flock to them. So I always try to look for those.
Speaker 3:Awesome. That's great advice. And I know for us it's one of the things that we really recommend, especially for busy business travelers. I mean, we call it bleisure. It's the business leisure that you can kind of put together and create a memorable experience. It may be, it could be a half a day, maybe it could be adding a long weekend. But that's awesome. Now there is one other topic I, you know I started in December doing this plant based diet and I have to say I loved it but when I travel it becomes difficult and I think that for a lot of people who had their new year's resolutions and diet is something that's really challenging. Talk to me about that cause I know that you are a long time beacon and would love to hear what you suggest.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I've been vegan for 30 years now and I actually find it gets easier and easier and easier while traveling. There's only a couple places on the planet where being vegan is tricky. Haiti is one of them. Being vegan in Haiti is tricky. Not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but a little tricky. But anywhere in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, it's actually quite easy and it's just a function of knowing where to look. And going back just for a moment to our last question like this we'll add to this one is that one thing I also like to do when traveling is seek out local destinations, things that aren't the Eiffel tower, say of a city for example. And I'm, you know, down the street from a coffee shop in Seattle, which would never be on anybody's radar if you were in the city, but it's where the locals go to get coffee in the morning. If one was to situate themselves in that coffee shop, you'd get such a great local experience, meet people who are just going about their day to day lives. And I try to do that sort of thing when I traveled to not just hit dramatic highlights of each city. Well, at the same is true for eating right on the road is that oftentimes it's not the main tourist destination type restaurants that are going to have what you're looking for if your diet is slightly different than the mainstream. So what I do is I use happy cow, which is an app and a website quite a bit. That is a destination where people have posted and where the app and website have posted restaurants and grocery stores and vegan and plant based options just about everywhere on the planet. So that makes things easier. But also I just, you know, I ask questions and that's an element of travel that I think sometimes gets overlooked in our technological age. We're so used to being immersed in our phones that we forget that in person communication and interaction is not only vital but can lead to some amazing connections and information. So I asked local people, you know, Hey, I and I happened to be vegetarian. Do you know of anything around here? All the time people are like, Oh absolutely. My uncle's a vegetarian. And then I've, you know, made a friend and maybe they're vegan, maybe they're vegetarian or they're curious about it. And I've made a friend and found out something about the local environment as well, all at the same time.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. And I think what we find as travel advisors is that when our clients actually communicate to us what they're looking for, what they like to eat, what their interests are, we can then build these itineraries that are specific for them as well as give them the information on the top 10 restaurants that meet their needs and that type of thing. So it's really fun and it allows us to just know people at a deeper level and then make sure that each time we're working with them, we're connecting them a little bit more. Um,
Speaker 4:absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, okay, last thing I want to ask you because this I love and I think this is what cracks me up the most. I know your speaking engagements are big and you're doing these amazing motivational talks and things like this, but I know you're also in a heavy metal rock band and I think it's so cool. Tell me about this stress reliever for you. I love it.
Speaker 4:You know, I love that you worded it that way as a stress reliever because oftentimes, you know, I do, I sing in three different punk rock bands and when people hear punk rock, they think loud, aggressive, abrasive, angry, and I've always been really vocal that punk rock and hardcore songs are cathartic. I mean it's an expression of passion and while it sounds intense, it's not necessarily rage or you know, rage, anger sake. It's actually expression and passion. So I find as I travel around the world doing those tours as well and then speaking to those sorts of audiences as well, that there's an incredible catharsis that happens when you open up to other people emotionally when you open up to them with ideas and create a situation where they can do the same meaning. When you create the conditions where someone feels they can be heard and they can be authentic and they can be genuine, then you've uplifted the possibility that they feel like they can grow into themselves. And all of a sudden then you've got an empowered conversation and empowered connection. And if you do that, you've got an empowered community around you. And even as I'm talking right now, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about the idea of empowered community because ultimately, you know, in our companies and corporations in our keynote speeches, we're trying to create empowered community. That's what I'm always trying to aim for, and that's what I'm always basing my success upon. Have I created in this moment, in this keynote speech, in this punk rock concert, whatever it might be, an empowered community.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. Greg, I love reconnecting with you, and I love what you do in the world, both with 100 for Haiti, both what you do in your motivational speaking and in your spoken word, concerts and music. And I'm just so happy. Thank you so much for coming onto the show.
Speaker 4:Oh, thank you so much. I look forward to spreading the word about the episode. This has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Thanks so much. Have a great day.
Speaker 1:You too.
Speaker 2:[inaudible].