Hello and welcome to my blog CarolLee. Tell everyone a bit about yourself.
My name is CarolLee Miles, Author of “Getting Paid to Cruise: Secrets of a Professional Cruise Host” – a labor of love and peace, combined with personal, professional and philosophical sharing. For the past 25+ years I have taken tour groups all over the world, having traveled on all 7 continents, in over 100 countries and about as many cruises. I live in the Denver area and love the innocence and sense of wonder through children, especially my own two daughters and four grandchildren.
How long have you been writing? I started formulating the book in my mind in 2008, and actually writing in early 2009.
Tell everyone here about "Getting Paid to Cruise" “Getting Paid to Cruise” is divided by photographs into halves – the first half is a technical guide for using when a Cruise Host accompanies a group on board any cruise ship. The info is based on “Embarkation to Disembarkation.” The Cruise Host may be professionally trained as such, or may be a Travel Agent who goes along with the group he/she has booked. The second half contains personal, professional and philosophical “secrets” learned in my 25 years of experience, and leads the reader into the future with what I call a sense of inner peace. There are questions at the end of each chapter that also lead the reader on his/her own journey of self-discovery.
What brought you to writing this book? I attended a ytb (Your Travel Biz) Convention in 2008 where there were over 18,000 participants searching for any kind of travel information they could find. As many were new to the travel business and some had never taken a cruise, I decided I could help thousands of people by putting what was in my head down on paper so they would have a guide to use when they escorted groups on cruise ships. Since cruising was and is one of my passions, it seemed to “fit” my over-all goal in life – helping people.
What kinds of "secrets" do you share? Secrets shared are my personal life story, how I got started getting paid to cruise, how determination and focus can lead you to success, how to address fear in career change, how to replace F-E-A-R with L-O-V-E, personal stories from my career, a model for “conflict confrontation,” my personal Peace Journey, my definition of L-U-C-K (Love Until Creation Knocks), my motto: Dream it! Speak it! Write it! Live it!
Do you feel anyone can make money in Cruising? If someone has a desire to cruise and make money doing so, yes there are ways to do so. I believe anything is possible when a person zeroes in on a career leading to their highest good. If that includes cruising, so be it.
Oh, so this is a "self-improvement" type book also? Absolutely this book comes under the category of “self improvement.” There is a lot of psychology in the book as well as soul-searching if the reader chooses to use the book in that way. I love self-improvement. I believe when one decides to “go to the next level” of understanding a need to be a better person and proceeds in a given direction, the person has taken advantage of certain lessons learned and is moving on with life in a positive way.
Are you involved in any "causes" near and dear to your heart? Terrorist actions of any kind are near and dear to my heart. One creates “terror” when one abuses another, and I speak with various empowerment groups to educate those dealing with or having dealt with verbal, mental, psychological and physical abuse. Certainly one who abuses children is a terrorist in many ways. I am one of many building an “Army of Advocates” to educate parents about the subtle terrorism in today’s Internet world such as cyber bullying and child predators. I have traveled in Vietnam and Cambodia to educate myself on the subject of Human Trafficking, then came home to realize it goes on all around us in today’s day and age. I believe we all have an opportunity to help parents and grandparents realize what goes on and how to deal with such situations.
Can you explain your "Peace Journey" In 1996 I was given the words to a Poem entitled “Peace” while preparing for a trip to Israel & Egypt with a tour group. I personally was praying for PEACE in my own life because I felt I had none. A bomb went off in Jerusalem, shaking the windows of the hotel where we stayed. When I opened my window what I heard was a song of Peace. When I returned from that trip I was writing prolific poetry – 10, 12 or 15 poems a night. It was profound because I had never written poetry with any meaning before. Then I was led to various people in the music industry who told me what I was writing was song lyrics – so I asked them to put the words to music. In 1999, I published a CD entitled “Peace” that contains 18 songs made from my lyrics, set to music by 4 different composers around the country. The CD has made its way into various countries and many orphanages: Vietnam, Cambodia, Haiti, India, several countries in Africa, Iran, Romania, Russia, Mexico, etc. My life has been blessed a billion times over with this work. If I can help an abused child or adult, I believe I am fulfilling my life’s work here on earth.
Do you have any other books out or planned for the future? Not really. I once dreamed of putting my life story in a screenplay, but somehow it seems too personal. For now what I have written seems satisfactory as there is so much of my life in it. Perhaps one day I might do a children’s book series. My mind never seems to rest much, as any creative person knows. I’m always filled with ideas.
Obviously cruising has been a huge inspiration of yours, does anything else inspire you? Seeing people reach out to touch other people’s lives inspires me. Those that have made k-zillions of dollars reaching out to touch others with a cause near and dear to their heart inspire me. Talking with someone who has that deep sense of “inner peace” and is willing to share his/her story inspires me. Songwriters who touch the world with their music, especially as it relates to “forgiveness” or “freedom,” inspire me. Someone who touches the world because of deep-seated faith or spiritual presence (such as Mother Theresa) inspires me.
Favorites:
Travel destination: Antarctica, Holy Land
Pastime: Dancing, Sharing from deep within
Food: Salmon; Steak
Beverage: Red Wine; Healthy Coffee
Color: Blue
Movie: Dancing with Wolves
TV show: American Idol
Book: Bible. Right now reading “The Help” and loving it, Bridges of Madison County
Author: Various
Animal: Yellow Lab
Holiday: Christmas
Contact Information: Website: www.GettingPaidToCruise.com Email: CLMPeace@AOL.com Phone: 303-690-0405
It was a pleasure having you on my blog. I would love to send you a personally autographed book. It will be on the way shortly. THANK YOU for allowing me to be a part of your greater calling. I hope we can meet in person one day. Obviously where there is a will there is a way.
Stay tuned for my review of CarolLee Miles wonderful book Getting Paid to Cruise and my impression of her inspiring PEACE cd. I thoroughly enjoyed corresponding with her, and hope her book and story continue to touch the lives of others.
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