VERO BEACH — Retired stockbroker Ted Millett and his wife, Carol, have a knack for people. On a recent muggy May afternoon, they sat in comfy, wicker chairs in the sunroom of the Sea Oaks “cottage” that is their Florida home. They’re taking a brief break from packing for their summer migration to North Carolina in order to talk a bit about what has become a life passion.
He is a retired “old-fashioned stock broker.” She is a teacher.
Their mutual love of travel has taken them to some of the most exotic and far-flung places in the world, to numerous countries and most every continent.
Both are warm and gregarious, genuinely interested in the world around them and the people in it.
“Must have been 20 years ago,” recalled Ted, “that we realized we were tired of visiting cathedrals, palaces, castles, museums.”
“We might as well be watching National Geographic television,” Carol added.
The Milletts had realized that what they really wanted was not to tromp behind a guide or peer from the insulation of a sightseeing bus zooming past one famous, tourist-cluttered landmark after another.
What they really, really longed to do was to get out into the streets, villages, markets, parks and meet the people who worked, played , lived their lives there – to really get to know them and begin to understand their culture.
They wanted to talk with the people.
Ted, a long-time Rotarian, took advantage of a program the international service organization offered, through which Rotarians traveling abroad could contact fellow Rotarians in the countries they planned to visit, be warmly welcomed and given opportunities to enjoy foreign experiences not available to most travelers.
“We have done that in a number of countries,” said Ted. “And we have hosted Rotarians from other countries as well.”
The couple has also been involved with Global Volunteers, through which participants travel to foreign lands to teach English for three weeks.
“You do not have to speak another language,” Ted said.
There is intensive training, of course and, although Carol is the “official” teacher of the family, Ted has a natural gift for it as well.
Traveling and teaching with Global Volunteers, the couple has taught English in China, Indonesia, Hungary, Poland, Vietnam, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Mexico and Romania.
“We have taught all kinds people, from university students to police officers to field workers to nurses. In China, we found ourselves teaching English to English teachers. It was great,” said Ted.
He displayed a plaque from the young Chinese English teachers thanking the couple for their “exemplary and ongoing international service… in waging peace and promoting justice.”
As their love of traveling, teaching and meeting people evolved, Ted came up with a simple but brilliant idea. Name tags.
“In whatever country we visit, we make name tags that say. “Hello! My name is Ted (Carol)! Would you like to practice your English with me?” written in the language of whichever country they’re in.
That seemingly small idea has brought big results.
A large world map, densely covered with colorful pins, is tacked on a bulletin board in an upstairs room.
Tacked in rows along the bottom are dozens of hand made “name tags,” half a white index card on which has been written in black felt marker a brief message, in the local language.
“We like the markets,” Carol said. “People come up and read the name tags – and smile. Or laugh. Sometimes they’ll invite you in for a cup of tea. Or they’ll say, ‘My mother speaks a little English. Come and meet her.’”
Obviously, the mini-classes that spring from the name tag encounters must be fast, engaging and simple.
For this, Ted and Carol came up with another easy-breezy, clever idea – “Opposites” – which are handmade English language “flash cards” with a word on one side, its opposite on the other – easier words for little kids, more challenging for older people.
The Milletts get it going by showing a card and pantomiming, lady/man; high/low; smile/frown etc. Soon, the “students” eagerly vie with each other to get the word.
The name tags have – time and again – served as “tickets” to fascinating, serendipitous encounters.
On one private trip to China, the Milletts’ local guide’s sister turned out to be the head of the high school English department.
They enlisted her aid in writing a letter, which Ted dictated, explaining what they do.
“We took it with us to every other city and showed it at the schools. Usually, someone would come out and they would let us participate, and soon we’d be taking over the class. Sometimes they’d ask, ‘Would you stay and do another class?’ ” Carol said.
In Kunming, related Ted, “We had a chance to go sightseeing with a group, but I said, ‘No. I want to go to the park.’
“I had a little sign that said ‘Free English lessons’ and soon there was a little group around me,” said Ted as he shook his head.
“I sometimes just pinch myself. I say to myself ‘Here I am in a park in Kunming, China, giving English lessons. Wow!”
The Milletts’ most recent cruise was yet another offbeat adventure – five weeks aboard an old ship that is part of a small “niche” cruise line, Voyages of Discovery.
The ship, Discovery, as Ted puts it, “sort of wanders around” the oceans of the world.
In a former life, she was the Island Princess, famous, with her sister ship, as The Love Boat on the popular 1970s television series.
Ted and Carol went aboard in Singapore, and cruised up the coast of Malaysia to Burma, Thailand, across to India, then to Oman, and up through the Red Sea to Egypt and Jordan.
As the Discovery left the port of Mombasa, the passengers were reminded of the special challenges ocean travelers can face in those waters.
In 2010, the Discovery had been accosted by a speedboat full of Somali pirates.
The impressive defenses on Discovery – rolls of razor wire all over the stern rail, bundles of logs to be released to fall on any craft attaching itself to the hull – apparently deterred them.
Ted and Carol, of course, were impressed with these precautionary measures, as well as the four “British Seal types” who came on board and remained until the ship arrived, after a pirate-free trip, safely in Egypt.
The occasional pirate threat notwithstanding, the Milletts plan to continue their globe-trotting, English-teaching and being goodwill ambassadors at every opportunity.
With just the right mix of extrovert, joie de vivre, smarts and humor, they have undoubtedly already touched many lives in many, wonderful ways.
“People,” Ted said, “are just looking for a chance to be friendly.”
