Talley Your Adventure – The Blog

Adventure Awaits!

At Talley Your Adventure, we don’t just plan luxury and culturally rich travel experiences—we live and breathe them. Our blog, travelingtalleys.blog, is where we share the real stories behind our adventures: kayaking alongside glaciers in Alaska, exploring temples in Japan, chasing waterfalls in Iceland, and wandering through storybook towns in Germany. If it’s unforgettable, chances are we’ve done it—or we’re planning it next. Impact-Site-Verification: 8a69d429-4a55-4b53-b8f6-72c437661af5

Nicolette brings deep experience in travel and heritage. With a Master’s in Public History, she’s worked as a Supervisory Park Ranger, Revenue Manager, and Program Analyst across multiple national parks for over a decade. Her career has taken her from managing interpretive boat tours in Alaska’s wild backcountry to overseeing large-scale visitor service projects with million-dollar budgets. And yes—she’s also a licensed 100-Ton Inland Master Boat Captain who’s led cultural and ecological tours from riverboats to remote beaches.

Clinton’s travel roots run just as deep. He’s worked in logistics and operations for the National Park Service and was a key member of the hospitality team aboard National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions. From managing guest services on remote international voyages to coordinating facility software systems stateside, he knows what it takes to deliver seamless, high-end travel experiences—even in the most unpredictable places.

Together, we created Talley Your Adventure to bring our experience, passion, and attention to detail to your travel planning. Whether it’s a fully curated group trip or a personalized vacation built just for you, we combine expert-level service with insider know-how—so you can focus on the magic of the journey.

Want us to help you on your next adventure? Head over to www.talleyyouradventure.com!

@talleyyouradventure_dv
Sakura Blooms – Inuyama, Japan

  • #NAI2015 National Conference, Virginia Beach!

    20151112_141829Hello bloggers! Hopefully you enjoyed my last post about the amazing exhibit at the Clinton Library! I will shift focus a bit towards a different department: Interpretation! I love the field of interpretation, and with the help of a lovely NAI (National Association for Interpretation) scholarship, I was able to fly from Little Rock to Virginia Beach for an entire week to learn, meet new people, and explore all the wonderful ways that people use interpretation across the country!

    The sessions are the educational part of the conference, and one of my 20151114_101558favorites ones was my very first one: You are the Voice of Interpretation! We learned through an exercise the value and importance of what we say as interpreters to our audience, and how inspiring we can be to visitors. The monumental task of educating the public about history, culture, animals, or nature is our goal, but we need to understand how impressionable we can be in the field to others. Another fantastic session was analyzing how Digital Media can actually add to guided interpretation, and not completely take it over. 20151113_154639There is much fear among the museum/interpretation field that eventually standing museums or sites will become irrelevant when technology takes over. It is up to us to make sure that we remain relevant to the public, and that can be accomplished by using technology to our benefit. For example, the video I created about the Mobile gas station at Central High NHS. In addition, a related session focused exclusively on Facebook, and the algorithm that Facebook has created to determine if your post gets viewed, or, again, how relevant you remain on social media. Now that I understand more about the algorithm, and the importance of remaining relevant in the digital world, I am ready to tackle the task even more than I already am!

    The extra experience I had at NAI include an exclusive meet and greet and 20151110_183107dinner at the Virginia Beach Aquarium, the Old Coast Guard Station Museum, and an all day guided tour of First Landing State Park! All of these adventures added to my enjoyment of the conference, and I was able to meet new friends and network at the same time.

    One of the benefits of going to these conferences is the amazing opportunity to network. Right off the bat, at the first-timers meeting, I met Marie…or rather, she introduced herself to me! Later that evening, I met my room-20151114_151032mate, Laurel. Marie focuses more on the nature aspect of interpretation, while Laurel wants to work in aquariums. Holly, another scholarship recipient, and Geoff, all introduced themselves within a short period of time, and it was fantastic to be able to talk to them about their background and experience as we navigated through our first NAI conference. I’ve been to a few conferences with friends, but this is the first time I’ve gone completely solo, and I am very happy to have walked away with new friends and memories.

    Visiting the beach, learning about nature and history, and meeting new people – what better way to spend my first time experiencing the NAI National Conference? Thanks to all who I met along the way, and those that I did not mention. It was a wonderful experience because of you!

     

  • Coca-Cola Exhibit Introduction

    20151106_183510Hello bloggers! Now that you have read all the backstory on how to set up a museum exhibit, let me introduce you to the finished product!

    One of the most intensive things that we did to set up, was to bring in an authentic 1949 Coca-Cola delivery truck. I helped the crew make sure that the truck was able to successfully make it through a small door frame as they drove the truck into the museum. Take a look!

    Hanging framed artwork is always a task, especially when the paintings are from Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell. This painting that I am standing next to is one of the most famous pieces of artwork by Rockwell. I am so proud that I was able to help with the process of evaluating the painting when it arrived, and then help set up part of the exhibit. It’s a team effort! Joseph and I worked hard throughout these past two weeks assisting the museum team and the Clinton Foundation in 20151106_200541installation and safety for these wonderful paintings, and you can see Joseph and I here in front of the Coca-Cola bottles. We helped measure and install the displays that they are in, and even got to use power tools!

    Clinton (my husband) and I went to the museum opening for 20151106_183903Foundation members and staff of NARA the night before the exhibit opened for the general public. There was a speech by President Clinton, and then the exhibits opened for us to view. It was great walking through and having people ask questions about certain pieces – and then I was able to answer! That’s the best part, in my opinion, when dealing with museums and the public. I love talking to people about the history behind an artifact, or even things like what is the general theme, and why did we pick a particular piece to display in a certain area. Here is a great example. See the bottom of the display that I am standing next to in the picture to the left? That is an authentic, 1930s Coca-Cola display of the boy fishing, taken from the Rockwell painting that you see in the first picture above. Seems rather strange that it would be in a display case, since it is so large and seems pretty secure. But, it is actually rather old and flimsy material that is not appropriate to put in reach of patrons. We want to keep the item as authentic as possible for further generation to enjoy, which is was the decision was made to put it behind a glass display. 20151106_200101

    You’ll notice in this next picture something you may have seen before in my blog – the matted pictures! After helping Stephanie and Joseph mat, we now can enjoy our work on the walls of the exhibit. It’s so nice to see all the hard work you do as a finished product for others to enjoy!

    If you are in the Little Rock area, don’t hesitate to stop by the Clinton Library and see this artwork for yourself! I promise it will not disappoint. Until next time!

  • Matting, exhibit set up, and Coca-Cola!

    20151027_120406Hello bloggers! Last week was pretty hectic packing, moving, and loading the dinosaurs to send to their new location in Florida. This involved wrapping the dinosaurs in foam and saran wrap to keep them safe during shipping, and then hauling them from the exhibit room to a loading truck and then waving goodbye! It’s been great having this exhibit here at the Clinton Library, but now we move on to COCA-COLA! I am so very excited. Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, and other artists will be featured, as well as original bottles of coca-cola and other great objects for display on the history of Coca-Cola.

    I feel as if I always learn something new every time I show up to work here at the Clinton Library. This is a great reason to have a graduate assistance job while you are in school. I am able to learn what I do and do not like about the museum world, and then figure out how to apply what I do like into a future job. In addition, I also gain additional experiences in order to not only add to my resume, but to learn the vast 20151027_143759amount of assignments you can have in a museum setting! Small things like how to hold a fragile, one of a kind object may seem like an easy task, but I definitely would argue the opposite! Throughout the last year and a half at 20151027_120336the Clinton Library, I have learned so much and I am very glad that I have this blog to explain it all!

    One thing I learned this week is how to mat a framed picture. We have some great original pictures that were sent with the collection, and they cannot go into just any frame. They need to go into a beautiful frame with UV protected glass and matting to accentuate the picture. And we did exactly this. Stephanie taught Joseph and I her skills at matting, and from there we were able to gain the knowledge and even show off our own skills with a few pictures! Math skills do come into play with matting, and it does take a bit to understand in order to perfect the skill. Luckily, Stephanie is a great teacher.

    The first step in starting to mat a picture is to understand that you are not in a rush. 20151026_151032There is a strong chance, especially in the museum world, that the picture you are highlighting is very fragile, rare, or important. Maybe it is even a one of a kind picture. In either case, it is not in your best interest to try to cut the board used in the matting process without first measuring. (Unless you have high tech equipment, anyway.) As you can see, we only had a cutting board and some rulers to use. This is probably the norm for most museums. The second step is measuring! Once you know how much room you will need in the 20151026_150829border, that is when you draw your lines. Most important!! Make sure that you put your picture up and compare it to the lines BEFORE YOU CUT! If you do not do this, you may cut the board too big for the picture, which means it is completely useless to you. As long as the picture fits in the lines you drew, you can now cut.

    The razor in the cutting board for matting has been angled at 45 degrees so that the picture is highlighted with a beautiful board. It accentuates the picture! You can see with the picture to the left the lines we drew, and the picture held in place to make sure that it fits before we cut. After we cut, we then put the picture back behind the cuts and 20151026_150843determined where it fit the best. You’ll notice that we taped the picture into place. Some of the pictures were originals, and therefore we created a pocket for the picture to rest in so that it was not sticking to the tape on the sides. If the picture was one from the Clinton Library museum that we printed (not an original!), we used the tape without the pocket. This is also important to note because when you receive an incoming loan, it is not yours permanently. Since it is on loan, DO NOT do anything to the object or picture that could potentially damage or leave a residue. You can easily destroy or damage a picture by being careless or rushing, so pay attention to every step until the final picture is safely in the frame! Then, all you have to worry about is hanging it…

    These are a few behind the scenes example of what we do here at the Clinton Library to get ready for an exhibit opening! Come by the Clinton Library to see the Coco-Cola Exhibit for yourself, and maybe you’ll see me around, making sure everything looks OK and safe!

    Until next time!