Metroparks Meetup: Weekly Travel Shows Return

Back in person for the first time in 3 years is the Toledo Metroparks Travel Circle Series. Cosponsored by Maumee Valley Adventurers, the 13-week program allows Toledoans to showcase their world travels and inspire those who seek adventure abroad.

The presentations rotate each week between the Ward Pavilion at Wildwood Preserve and the Oak Openings Lodge. And each week brings a different speaker with a unique travel experience.

“It’s different from you know, watching a documentary on TV that may be fascinating, but you have kind of the same thing here but it’s people that are your friends and neighbors from right here in town,” explained Scott Carpenter, spokesman for the Toledo Metroparks.

The presentations are at 2pm every Saturday from January through March, and it’s free to attend with no reservation required.

“There’s always a question-and-answer period, and sometimes that’s the best part,” added Carpenter. “You’re answering the questions people have as they’re listening.”

A man who you’ll certainly have questions for when he speaks in late March is Vince Walsh. He’s been to South America, Asia, and Europe on a lifetime of adventure that began 50 years ago.

“Back in the 70′s as a Peace Corp volunteer I lived in southeast Asia in Malaysia, and it just became a part of me,” Walsh told 13abc.

Vince and the other speakers won’t just be recapping vacations; they embraced cultural experiences. Vince’s presentation will cover an 11-day journey he took through Spain, all the way from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.

“For me it touched every part of being,” said Walsh. “From the physical, to the mental, to the emotional, to the spiritual level.”

Vince calls himself fortunate for his half century of time on different continents, and says it made him a better person.

“Not everyone sees things the way that we have culturally been brought up to see them,” explained Walsh. “So, be open, and be accepting.”

When we asked Walsh where he was planning to travel next, he said, “I’ll have to check with my wife.”

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