I recently went to Dallas. (There, I said it.) And I spent a day and a half seeing some JFK-related sites I’d never seen in 20-some visits there in my life. The Sixth Floor Museum, at the site of the infamous Book Depository, is one of the all-time most moving and fascinating museums I’ve been to, and Oswald’s last home, or one of … Read on
Episode 004: I was delighted to learn recently, viaSkift.com, of the existence of a “Bourdain bump.” Apparently whenever Travel Celebrity Anthony Bourdain picks a place to do a show, that destination sees a huge rise in public interest. In the recent case of Sicily, Priceline.com reported an 88.8% jump in searches for Sicily airports over the following 48 hours — that compares with … Read on
–> Click HERE to visit the PLATE OF FOOD TRAVEL MUSEUM If I were smarter, I’d write a little list of key travel etiquette tips, and see what Google and social media would do to drive people here to read it. (Like this blog, this blog, this blog and this blog did.) Actually I did that once, while at Lonely Planet, with … Read on
I like being asked to chip in at conferences or TV or radio shows. It’s flattering. But lately I’ve been wondering if it’s really necessary to cross the globe, talk with sponsors, rub shoulders with writers you like (or hide from those you’d rather not talk with). So I started doing my own occasional #panel discussions on Twitter. It’s been fairly off the … Read on
On no levels is Gettysburg, which is commemorating its 150th anniversary, just a battlefield. The site in south-central Pennsylvania, run by the national park service, carries a big wallop even for those who find the History Channel a bore. A few years ago I went to find out how re-enactors decide who “dies” first during mock battles. To be honest, learned next to … Read on
I’m more picky about what I read than what I eat, as I explained in this interview with MissAdventures (aka Melanie Renzulli). Well, more or less. (I don’t eat dog meat or McDonald’s.) I say this because in a travel writer’s life, reading is research, and research is work, and I’m selective in what information I seek out. I also get to prove … Read on
