Later this year, I'm going to be hosting a workshop called Travel Philanthropy at BlogHer '12, the biggest blogging conference for women on the planet. Not because I love to hear myself speak, of course, but because I love the idea of marrying the luxury of travel to the joy of giving.

In early March, after finalizing the details of an upcoming return trip to my beloved Galley Bay on the island of Antigua, I badgered my husband about making donations to the communities we travel to and vowed to not take another trip until we figured out how. Clearly The Universe was listening because on March 27, a mere 3 weeks later, I was online at just the right moment and saw the following tweet from @LuxuryLink..


LuxuryLink: #TravelTuesday: Make A Big Impact While You Travel with @Packforapurpose & @LuxuryLink. Find out how: Pack For A Purpose
12:00pm, Mar 27 from Postling

After following the @Packforapurpose Twitter link to the Pack for a Purpose Web site, it was love at first site. Pack for a Purpose founder Rebecca Rothney and I became fast online friends and after promises of home-made cookies and an e-troduction to the Public Relations Manager in Antigua that would accept my donation, I fully committed to packing for a purpose as often as possible and sharing her site with as many travelers and hotel properties as I could. If you haven't checked out the site, you should. Like now.

One to keep my word, I am delighted to report that I am leaving for the Turks and Caicos tomorrow and will - of course - be packing for a purpose. Likewise, and as the photo above shows, I was able to donate supplies to a few local schools via The Sandals Foundation during that trip to Antigua this past April and simply put, it makes me feel good. My reward? Meeting Giorgio Armani on the beach at Galley Bay. #supercool

The biggest reward? Knowing that I made an impact.