L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014 www.italoamericano.com 8 Dec. 21, Sun. – Tuscan Association of Oregon holiday potluck, 3:30pm at Carvlin Hall, St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, located on the corner of SE 16th And Division Street in Portland. For more information, contact Audrey Perino at audrey@wood- bloom.com Dec. 24 and 25 – Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses at Portland's National Italian Parish, St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, located at 424 SW Mill Street. For more information, visit www.stmichaelportland.org Dec. 28, Sun. – Italian Hour on KBOO 90.7 FM from 9:00 to 10:00am. Contemporary and classic Italian music, featuring news of the local Italian community. Listen online at www.kboo.fm Dec. 31, Wed. – New Year's Eve Celebration with Lucia Galizia, 7:00pm to 1:00am at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1441 NE 2nd Avenue in Portland. To purchase tickets, call 503-284-6989. Traveling like a Local with VoomaGo museum or go to any tourist des- tinations. What we did do was truly experience the day-to-day Italy. We got so much more out of that vacation simply because we were with a local who was sharing his life's experience with us." Riding a tour bus on a trip through Spain a few years later, Tyson felt something was miss- ing. "I couldn't grasp what it was, so I started thinking back to the last time we had traveled and I realized I was missing that authentic touch and personality and relationship that we had when we traveled with Antimo." Realizing the worth of having a local as a guide, an idea began forming in his mind; why not start a travel program where trav- elers are paired with locals? He called Antimo from his hotel that night and VoomaGo was born. Tys on is a graphic des igner/illus trator and as M anaging D irector for VoomaGo, he does most of the planning and documentary work for the business. As Director of Services, Antimo has become the face of the company. Having worked previously in events, hotel and restaurant manage- ment, Antimo understands trav- elers first hand. With his gregar- ious personality, he is a natural at Traveling to a foreign country is easy to plan. You make your flight and hotel reservations and you visit all the famous places with all the other foreign travel- ers. You see everything you possibly can before heading back home with a suitcase full of sou- venirs. The problem with travel like this is that you only skim the surface of the places you visit, never experiencing the true cul- ture of a country - unless you are lucky enough to know a local! "To me travel is about dis- covering authenticity," s ays Tys on S mith, co-founder of VoomaGo. "The tastes, sounds, smells and touches of a destina- tion are as important as the sights." Tyson was looking for an Italian language tutor several years ago when he met Antimo Cimino, an Italian w ho had immigrated to Portland in 1996. The two quickly became friends. When Tyson wanted to take his family to Italy, Antimo made plans for them to visit his family in Manduria (Puglia) in southern Italy. "A ntimo took me and my family to his hometown to meet his family and friends," Tyson recalled. "For two and a half weeks we didn't visit a single creating authentic experiences for people. "I like being that friend w ho brings s omeone inside local life, introducing friends and family. When Tyson told me his idea, it was an 'aha' moment for me. This is what I was meant to do." VoomaGo offers experiential travel; you literally dive into the local culture. Locals are person- ally connected to Tys on and A ntimo w ithin w hat A ntimo calls the "3 degrees of separa- tion" – locals are either family, good friends , or friends of friends . Building trus t and s trong relations hips is para- mount. "Our locals are regular people who love to share and are passionate about the town they live in, and who represent a wide spectrum of professions, experi- ences, and stages in life. All our locals are hand-picked and put through a dry run before w e accept them into our network." Clients are counseled as their trip is planned, determining why they want to travel, what they want to see and experience, what level of service they expect and what else is important to them. VoomaGo works to plan and cre- ate itineraries that are specific to each traveler or group. "The tip of the iceberg is the visible culture, the art, the arti- facts that anybody can see," says Antimo. "But underneath the surface are those things that they (travelers) don't see or don't know how to get in touch with, that experience of cooking in someone's home or visiting an artist's studio to see them paint." Unique to VoomaGo is the VoomaPass. "VoomaPass is really in essence a series of ser- vices ," A ntimo explains . "A lmo s t like paying for an exclusive membership to have access to our network. You are connected to a local to advise you before and during your trip. Our local will give you a phone to use. Perhaps you lose your credit card, get stranded, need advice or directions…our locals can act as a safety net." Whether as an individual or as a group, planning a trip with VoomaGo guarantees an unfil- tered experience of local culture through interaction, meeting new people, and spending a day in their lives. Imagine taking part in a grape harvest at a Sicilian vine- yard, or watching the production of Parmesan cheese and pro- sciutto in Parma, or fishing for sea urchins and snorkeling in the Ionian Sea. Although many of the local experiences are in Italy, V oomaG o als o has locals in other countries including Brazil, U nited K ingdom, P ortugal, F rance, the N etherlands and Dominica. For more information, visit www.voomago.com Antimo Cimino meets with locals throughout the year, this time with Agata in Taormina, Sicily Helping with a grape harvest is only one of many local experiences waiting for trav- elers who plan with VoomaGo Making homemade tortellini in Bologna was a highlight of a recent VoomaGo trip KERRY-LYNNE DEMARINIS BROWN

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