On the plane to Houston, I sat next to a contractor from Rindge, NH. He told me he was on his way to a fishing tournament sponsored by McDonalds. Ironically, most of the work he does is remodeling their restaurants so they can serve their new McCafe offerings, making the […]
I wrote last week about some of those little things in life that delight and entertain me. I’ve got another to add to the list. That is the most satisfying feeling you get after you’ve just been to the dentist and your teeth have been newly stripped of tartar and […]
Today I got a chance to visit the new cafe in Holyoke, the Dam Cafe, and got a chance to see how things were shaping up. Like many of the locals who are dying for an alternative to Dunkin’Donuts and his new cafe has a cozy couch, a flat TV, […]
I just finished a meeting with an unassuming guy whose work impresses me. He’s doctor Stuart Rose MD, who runs a site called travmed.com. On the site Rose dispenses information for travelers that runs the gamut from mosquito protection to how prevalent malaria is in certain Southeast Asian countries. Jackie […]
Once I took a ‘course’ in voluntary simplicity. It wasn’t really a course, more like a bunch of people who met once a week to talk about how to make life simpler and less stressful. At one point during a session, we all went around and talked about little things […]
A lovely evening of music began at a cafe that’s even smaller than the GoNOMAD Cafe tonight called the Blue House Cafe in Haydenville. We had been invited by our friend Chris Cappello, who was playing the drums for the Fran Ciccarcarelli Quartet. In the tiny space, a big bass, […]
I’m just back from Atlanta, and just barely made my connecting flight on Delta from Detroit to Hartford. For some reason I thought Detroit was central time…D’OH! So I ran like a greyhound and found the door closed. A sullen gate worker opened up the door and I ran down […]
In the Omni hotel, I’m packing up and getting ready to take the train to the plane. At the final session of Travelcom, I learned some interesting things about how successful companies can do better in recessions. We heard from Kevin Kowalski, a VP at Intercontinental Hotels, owners of the […]
I wrapped up my day of Travelcom at an awards dinner held by Travelzoo, giving out 23 awards in all sorts of travel categories. It was held at the Georgia Aquarium, and that gave me a chance first to see white Beluga whales gliding by, bumping their noses on the […]
It’s big news in the publishing world when somebody changes their rules and offers to pay money for travel articles. Sadly, content in our arena has become a commodity of plenty, so many outlets like Bootsnall never have paid writers for stories. But today on Matador, a big headline, Paid […]
I’ve joined a group of local people who want to learn more about using the tools of the web. It couldn’t take place in a more logical place–Holyoke’s Open Square. The high ceilings, polished wood floors and huge space is a perfect venue for this confab. I began by hosting […]
