Travelogue of My Life

Travelogue of My Life is an inspiring memoir celebrating courage, creativity, and human connection. As she celebrates turning 80, Sandy Biback shares vivid stories and photographs, inviting readers into a life shaped by love, resilience, and the restless pull of discovery, and the importance of a web of connections.

From coming of age to building a trailblazing career as a Meeting Professional, she transforms criticism into confidence, chaos into unforgettable moments, and a gift for bringing people together into a lifelong passion.

Her adventurous travels span Antarctica, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peru, Bhutan, Nepal, Tasmania, Africa, Europe, and beyond - each destination offers a lesson in beauty, injustice, culture, and the strength of the human spirit. Ultimately, her work extends to social change, pioneering efforts to combat human trafficking within her industry and to inspire action.

Part love story, part career journey, part spiritual voyage, this mesmerising legacy-memoir reminds us that learning from our good, bad, and ugly experiences can open a powerful path to purpose, compassion, and extraordinary possibility, and that it is never too late to begin again.

Author Biography

Sandy Biback, CMP Emeritus, CMM, has been a member of the conference, business, and event industry for over 40 years. Throughout her career, she has worked for planning companies and a hotel and has owned her own professional planning consulting company since January 1990.

For about 15 years, Sandy taught hospitality and conference management at several colleges. She has served on countless boards of professional associations. She has collaborated on industry textbooks. Sandy has spoken at many industry events and has been published widely. Along the way, she has continued to learn and grow within her profession. She has won several awards for her work, teaching, and mentoring.

Aligned with her retirement in 2017, she began researching the horrors of sex trafficking and discovered it WAS happening in hotels at all levels, at conferences and sporting events. She formed Meeting Professionals Against Human Trafficking (www.mpaht.com), a grassroots organisation led by passionate professionals to raise awareness and catalyse collaboration between planners and hotels. Ultimately, MPAHT wants to see every planner ask about training at every hotel they intend to use and see every hotel have training in place for all staff.

Sandy was honoured as a 2019 Smart Women in Meetings Award winner in the Visionary category. This distinguished award recognises women who are making a remarkable difference in the meetings industry and inspiring female leaders globally.

In 2022, Sandy received the prestigious Hall of Leaders recognition from the Events Industry Council for her outstanding leadership and significant contributions to the global business events sector (www.eventscouncil.org). Building on this achievement, in 2024, Sandy was honoured with the Joy Fox Award for innovation, vision, and leadership from CanSPEP (www.canspep.ca). Established by CanSPEP's board as a tribute to Joy, the founder, this award highlighted Sandy's remarkable and lasting impact on the industry. It was a special moment for Sandy, who had the privilege of accepting it directly from Joy Fox.

Sandy has been married to Stephen Biback for over 60 years and has two adult daughters, a son-in-law, and one grandson. She lives in Toronto and continues to travel and learn something new every single day.