While I was at ITB Berlin last month, I sat down for an interview with Gary Bembridge of the Travel Bloggers Podcast. Along with me, was Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX and the CEO and co-founder of New Media Expo. Set in the midst of the world’s largest travel trade show, it was a busy and noisy time, but I always welcome the opportunity to talk about TBEX, to talk about travel blogging and its future, and to talk about travel. Take a listen.

Lots of traveling going on this month with a  long trip to Europe starting things off. Let’s count up the miles! Flights SEA/IAD/BRU/DUB – 6,677 miles (a round about way – more on that later – to get Dublin for a TBEX site visit) DUB/SXF – 826 miles (in Berlin for a week at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade show) SXF/BRU – 401 miles (back to Brussels for a few days of sightseeing before meeting up with travel blogger pal Chris Gray Faust to head to Antwerp and the start of a Vantage River Cruise (the inaugural sailing of the River Splendor). AMS/IAD/SEA – 6,164 miles SEA/HNL/SJC/LIH – 10,266 miles SEA/ORD/SEA – 3,436 miles SEA/LIH/OAK/SEA – 5,833 miles And with that, and the last flight coming home today, I’m done with traveling for the month. Total miles flown […]

After a  couple of weeks on the road, it’s time to update my list (and accompanying map) of countries that I’ve visited. The process of tracking where I’ve been has driven home that I’ve not spent all that much time in Europe, a place that most travelers can check off. I’m making up for lost time now.   Create your own travel map – TravBuddy   On this past trip I visited: Dublin, Ireland – A site visit for TBEX Europe. Berlin, Germany – For ITB, the largest travel trade show in the world. Brussels, Antwerp, and Bruges – Brussels was for a few days of downtime to get some work done and visit a few sites. My sightseeing was dramatically cut short due to snow and bitterly cold weather, but strong internet access gave me time to catch up […]

  February was a pretty low volume travel month, pretty similar to my January travel schedule. I can publish this before the end of the month because my travel is completed for February. Let’s take a look at the flights and hotels nights for the month of February: Flights SEA/SAN/OGG/SMF/SEA – 6,605 SEA/MSP/SEA – 2,792 (a theme park getaway weekend with extended family) SEA/SAN/SEA – 2,106 SEA/KOA/SJC/LIH – 10,245 Total miles flown in February 2013:  21,748 Total hotel nights in February:  7 Year-to-Date Miles flown 2013:  42,319 Hotel nights 2013:  18 Photo credit:  personal collection  

2012 was a far busier year of travel than I originally anticipated. Oh sure, my “day job” takes me to Hawaii a couple times a month and I make an effort to be a tourist here at home in Seattle, but there was much more on the calendar this year. And I even got to cross something off my fairly detailed and specific bucket list. Here are the highlights of travel in 2012. Riviera Maya I joined several other travel bloggers and travel writers for a We Go Mexico trip to the Riviera Maya. It was an opportunity to check out the new Blue Diamond Riviera Maya (then in soft opening) and to explore some Maya culture. The Blue Diamond is an adult only, all-suite, 5-star luxury resort and is truly spectacular. Although our itinerary kept us really busy, an […]

I love lists and maps, and when I can combine them together it’s a very good (and fun thing). I’ve now updated the list (and map) of the countries that I’ve visited. After my trip to Tokyo, I’ve got a country in Asia to check off, but still missing from the list is a visit to Africa and Australia. I must get to work on that. Here’s what the map looks like now: Create your own travel map – TravBuddy

After a couple weeks in Spain for TBEX Europe followed by a week in Tokyo, it was good to be home in Seattle for awhile. Now, it’s time to hit the road again, this time to Scottsdale, Arizona. I haven’t been to Arizona for quite some time, and while I hope to squeeze in a few hours of personal time, the primary purpose of the visit is to speak at PhoCus Wright. PhoCusWright is an executive level conference of travel industry leaders who meet to discover, confront, and capitalize on the latest trends and opportunities in travel. This is a group of people who are shaping the face of travel for consumers. So what am I doing there? I’ll be on a panel titled “The New Rules of Social Engagement,” one of the hot trends in the travel industry right […]

I love lists.  I’ve made them all my life, from things to do, to resolutions and goals, books to read, and just things to think about.  I was a fan of the various book of lists that have been published over the years, and love looking at list that others have made to see how they compare to mine. With the coming of a new year, I decided to sit down and write my travel bucket list.  I had to limit it to 100 items – without a limit I would still be listing and this post would never get published.  I had a few other self-imposed rules:  the list could include specific experiences or general destinations; there had to be a mix of domestic and international locations and experiences; I could not include anything that I knew for certain […]