No More Traveling Over Thanksgiving
It’s Wednesday, November 22, and it might as well be the holiday. Last night was the big crush of traffic on the highways, the airports were mobbed and according to NBC, more people will hit the road this week than ever before. Thanksgiving remains the only true four-day holiday we […]
S. Deerfield: How To Bring More Businesses In?
I met with a group of landlords and other folks who live or own property in my village, South Deerfield this morning to discuss what we can do to help bring more businesses into town and make the downtown more inviting. Present were Rick and Julie Neylon, Town Administrator Wendy […]
The Ups and Downs of Friendships
Friendships are important to me, sometimes I think I make them too important and I don’t realize that people are busy and they are not ignoring me–just living.
Why Do I Travel? The Answer is Clear
Why do I travel? Tonight, the answer couldn’t be clearer. Tonight, I am so aware of exactly why, and it’s given me an exhilaration and excitement about my upcoming trip. I’ve been sick and in bed way more than I ever have in the past two weeks, but now I’m […]
Life Is Good! Wake Up and Get Working
I can’t remember a time when I felt more energized and happy to be back in my office working. I think it has to do with the contrast from the previous few weeks when I was laid up with that leg infection. Everything I tried to do was awful, so […]
Bristol, England, Looks Back and Ahead
I had lunch with Martin Booth, the editor of the Bristol news, arts and lifestyle magazine B/247 today at a fish and chips joint called Salt and Malt. Nice simple food, well done and gluten-free batter. I asked him what a few of the topics were that people are talking […]
Sidmouth and Seaton, Twin Jurassic Coast Towns
I spent today wandering around two seaside towns on the southern coast of England. I took my time, absorbed the local history, and met local shop keeps and others who shared a bit about Seaton and Sidmouth. My original plan to walk ten miles on the Southwest Coast Path was […]
Speed Networking: Bloggers, Travel Pros Meet
How do you meet dozens of people in the space of just 90 minutes? In our industry, we call it speed networking, or, as some mistakenly refer to it, ‘speed dating.’ It’s where a group of 120 digital influencers (not sure I like that term, but…) gather in a big […]
World Travel Market 2017: Meeting the Movers
I arrived jet-lagged but ready to face the 9000 travel professionals who descend upon London’s Excel Center yesterday, the opening day of World Travel Market. This event is unlike any other in that there are no consumers—it’s only travel people, and boy there are a lot of booths to visit […]
A Widow’s Comment Reminds Me of Why I Blog
No matter what you do in life, your blog lives on. I realized that today, as I have many times, when I got a comment from the wife of a classmate from NMH, Tim Carroll, who passed away in July 2011. It was nice to read comments that my words […]
The Side Effects of Antibiotics
For the past eight days, I’ve been living in what feels like a twilight zone. I got an infection in my upper leg, which caused swelling and discomfort and had to have it attacked by strong antibiotics. If you take these powerful pills for a week, you begin to feel […]
Can’t I Just Stay 59 Forever?
Another birthday has come and gone. I think all in all, it was pretty darn good. I don’t know about you, but I am always a bit uncomfortable with a lot of hoopla over birthdays. I know that people really do enjoy knowing that day has come, and I was […]
As the Flu Shot’s Effects Wear Me Down
Today is one of those days when I feel a bit overwhelmed. I am still feeling the effects of a flu shot that I got on Saturday after I stopped by a free flu shot clinic at my local elementary school. I didn’t know that the next day I’d be […]
Travel Blogging: The Writing Still Matters
Travel Writing is an art, and despite having a large number of social media followers, many of the bloggers in the travel space today could write better and more clearly. In this presentation, Max Hartshorne, who has been the editor of GoNOMAD Travel since 2002, provides many examples and ideas […]
Inniskea Was Once Full of Human Life
Traveling along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, we’ve been treated to ocean vistas, towering reddish cliffs, and wide open stretches of land bordered by crude stone fences places there hundreds of years ago. We piled aboard a charter fishing boat for a visit to an island that up until 1927, had […]
Achill Island, Ireland: Dramatic Views, Splendid Beaches
I don’t remember ever seeing such a dramatic place as this island off the coast of Ireland in County Mayo. Achill is a place that people are passionate about, it is the home of about 2700 souls and in the summer up to 6000 come out. Some of the highest […]
Wild Atlantic Way Begins in Westport
Today we got a good look at the Irish coast and did all kinds of different things. We left Killarney at 10 for a long drive over many highways and winding roads bordered by hedges up the Wild Atlantic Way, stopping at Ennis and then to the waterside town of […]
TBEX in Ireland: Ready for My Time in the Sun
It’s Thursday morning and I’ve been here enjoying the fine company of hundreds of travel bloggers at TBEX in Killarney, Ireland. There is no place I’d rather be than here with so many people who live much the same life as I do–writing, traveling, photographing, and sharing their travels with […]