The thirty-nine ESL students, dark eyed and dark complexioned, each took their turn telling me their name and their country of origin. Mexico. El Salvador. Honduras. Cuba. Peru. Colombia. Ecuador. Lebanon. India. China. Korea.

It is with great, great pleasure that I share with you a remarkable story and video. It comes from Alex Berger, a friend and fellow international educator, who runs a fantastic site called Virtual Wayfarer (here's our interview with him!).

Michelle Belair is a wanderer, social worker, and writer who aims to share the beauty of the world - the nature that creates it and the individuals that inhabit it. With an interest in travel, self-development, and vegan living, she believes that the best way to live is by fueling your heart and energy with all the things that bring you joy and passion. To read more from Michelle, follow her at www.whirlwind-travel.com. She studied abroad in Barbados.

Originating from Paradise, Newfoundland, Morgan Chafe is completing her Bachelor of Commerce (Co-op) with a concentration in the field of Marketing and Communications at Memorial University. She is a lover of fashion, politics, travel and food while living on a student budget. Some of her favourite things include: coffee, Netflix, lipstick and peonies. Follow her on twitter and instagram @MorganChafe.

Deep Travel returns to Morocco this October, inviting you on a nine-day workshop to help preserve a fading art form: storytelling.

Morocco's ancient storytelling tradition stretches back over 1,000 years. For generations, masters of the art performed their iconic tales in Marrakech's main square, Jamaa el Fna. But in these days of TV and Internet, such a subtle art form is being lost.

There are a few things that Michiganders know, growing up. One is the beauty of a Michigan winter (good thing, because it is very snowy and cold!). Second is the incredible landscape we live in, from beaches to mountains, city to rural, and even a few islands thrown in. Another is our strong work ethic – arising from our northern European ancestors, and strengthened through winter and landscape. We honor this work ethic here, in a variety of ways.

There comes a time, in every holiday, where there is a high-point every bit as evocative as the view from the Eiffel Tower or the sight of the Acropolis, or a dip in a lagoon in Bora Bora – and I am not talking bomb crater in Afghanistan here! I’m talking about that most pleasurable of moments when you say, “I’m going home.” It happens no matter how great the holiday has been, no matter how many “I don’t want this to end” moments you have had.

Writers and seekers of place, there's a great new resource for us! Linda Lappin has penned a new book, called The Soul of Place: A Creative Writing Workbook, Ideas and Exercises for Conjuring the Genius Loci. And let me tell you, this is a book full of inspiration, guidance, and a great deal of thought. It will change your writing!