I say it often, "the power of a tweet"! Either people get it or they don't. It's so much less about marketing than we think and as I find my space in the social media world a little more every day, I realise that social media is truly about people who get it ... that power of a Tweet.
There is so much that one can learn "how" to do ... but passion is not one of them.
Now, with that perfect ingredient of knowing the power of that Tweet and combining it with passion, I was served up the most amazing recipe for one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had a Tweeter/Blogger.
@ChefAndrewR has that magical combination I'm taking about. He gets that power of the Tweet and with that, invited myself and my Tweeeting sidekick @Liesldb to experience the Drakensberg Sun, on of the @TsogoSun resort hotels. We all know that Project Me is not about reviews, but about my life journey of how a moment in time taught me something and helped me take another step forward as I live my life as my own project. Amazingly, this post is going to be filled with comments on superb?hospitality, but it's not a review at all ... because the experience truly changed so much of who I am, how I see the world and what I want to head towards.
I've started coaching sessions (which is a post on its own) and I'm working on an exercise that it helping me find the end of what I want. That image of what I'm working towards isn't exactly defined in my head and the big questions was, "what if Twitter is just a phase and you need to do something else besides social media?"
Surrounded by the tranquil Drakensberg mountains didn't answer that questions for me completely, but it did give me a glimmer of what I am working towards. Every password I have or message that I give to myself has the word "passion" in it. Even when I was in beauty therapy recruitment, if someone didn't have the greatest skill, but was passionate, that was the one I would choose and mold into some great.
Passion ... Chef Andrew has it!
Passion ... @VernonBotha, who started off giving us a tour of the hotel and ended up hiking up a mountain with us, has it!
Passion ... Patrick, who served us fresh hot coffee as half a cup got cold & delivered wine to us for sundowners every night, has it!
Passion ... the staff singing "hello" in the passage, has it!
Passion ... the cook who made us special order french toast, has it!
Passion ... the boat driver who took us around the lake because he wanted us to experience it and not because we asked, has it!
Liesl and I could feel it wherever we went, from a stroll down the passage to a stroll past the reception and sitting among regular guests in the dining area.
Believe it or not, I'm going to do an entire post just about the food ... but I'm thinking I'll do that after an hour of gym!!!
So here us two Tweeting girls had been invited as guests, to do just that. It happens often. I get invited to many places to do what I do ... Tweet and then blog about it after. I never thought I would be so passionate about Twitter, but then silly me, I don't embark on anything I'm not going to be passionate about!!!
Believe it or not ... I didn't Tweet once because because I knew anyone was watching. I Tweeted because, from the moment we arrived to the emotional farewell 3 days later, we were treated like Queens.
Now this is where my project me story begins...
After Tweeting our way through dinner, Chef Andrew joined us for coffee and we shared the excitement of our hike (yet another upcoming blog) and the adventures of our day. We spoke about the number of Tweets we had done and the #DrakensbergSun hashtag. That was all good and well, but we were there for another reason too, according to Chef.
You see, both Liesl and I have been through a break-up. Both of our careers are tossed around like half finished green salad. Both of our living conditions could change at a whim and both of us are counting pennies in our purses. That's is why Chef Andrew truly got us down there ... and that's the big lesson I was reminded of.
The power of the Tweet brought Liesl and I together as amazing friends and then it introduced Chef into our lives. That very power told our stories online and the same power had the right people listening. Then, Twitter power gave us a reason to all come together under the roof of the most hospitable place I've known and my lesson became clear ...
Be treated like a queen!!!!
Through my entire relationship, I wasn't treated like a queen and there are many times I've been asked to Tweet something for a person where I'm not treated like a queen either. I've had men not, nor friends and people in the world around haven't either. I've felt less than queen like a lot in my life of late and needed that reminder of how I should be treated ... no ... how I want to be treated!!!
This is the catch ... No one faked the hospitality. If you asked the majority of the Drakensberg Sun staff what a Tweet is, I'm sure they would point to one of the cheeky birds who swoops down and tries to grab a guests croissant. Yet, but the time had packed the car and were heading home, we were waving "good bye" to strangers who had become caretakers and friends.
Is that so much to ask in life? I think not!!
I've woken up back in my own bed with a new attitude about what I want and how I want to be treated. I always give my 100% passion to what I embark on from loving a man, to doing a Tweet for a client and helping out a friend ... and from this moment on, that's what I expect in return.
Like attracts like and so I want to find myself surrounded by passionate people. I am throwing out into the world the experience that I had this weekend with Drakensberg Sun and saying "Life ... this is what I expect always! This warmth and care from Chef Andrew! This immediate bond and friendship from Vernon! This treatment and service from Patrick! This freedom of being from the cleaning staff in our room! This smiling "hello" from reception! This made-to-order breakfast from cook! ... This special chocolate cheesecake from the Drakensberg Sun family because Chef listened and heard it was Liesl's favourite! PS ... no more monkey who sneak into our lives and steal our fruit while we're not looking! "
A special thank you to my Liesl!!! We needed this time together and we needed it for ourselves too and we found the perfect time to do both. We have returned to reality after being treated like Queens by the Tsogo Sun family and I hope that you and me both never settle for anything less!!!
Words sometimes just aren't enough ...
I absolutely adore the Drakensberg Sun. Our anniversary was so amazing there that we have made it our mission to go back as often as possible. And each time we go back we are treated like returning friends. The staff remember us even if we skipped a year! Now that really is passion!
As for being treated like a Queen... Good on you! We should all be treated like that in every aspect of our lives.
I can see why it's so easy to return over and over! Within a few hours everyone knew who we were and just treated us so amazingly well.
And yes ... It's Queen time 🙂
What a stunning experience, sounds like the perfect place for some 'me'time. Great service motivated by sincere passion is quite rare in SA, its precisely because of this that I'll keep @TsogoSun's Drakensburg Sun in mind for my next getaway.
My best part is how genuine it all is there and I truly hope you give yourself the pleasure of the experience hun. Be sure to keep room for dessert ;p