For the past two months, some of you may have noticed ads for companies such as cruise lines appearing on my site. That’s because in November, I signed a contract with my old employer USA TODAY to join their Travel Alliance. How does that work? According to the official release put out today: “This...

Warning: this post doesn’t have much to do with travel. As with all resolution posts, it’s going to border on self-indulgent.  But as 2010 came to an end, I found myself thinking quite a bit about the year, which will always stand out as one of my most challenging, both personally and professionally....

I’m trying to play things cool today. But inside I’m jumping up and down like a kid. I won, I won, I won! (a silver Lowell Thomas award for best travel blog) The Lowell Thomas travel writing awards, sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, are the main writing awards...

The Huffington Post is launching its new Travel vertical today. I have a piece on the site, essentially a condensed version of three posts that I wrote recently on Twilight tourism. I found out about the new section last month from Travel Editor Kate Auletta, who contacted me about submitting a post...

I’m packing, again. No news there. In the past six months since I’ve left USA TODAY, I flung myself full force into the out-of-a-suitcase life of a travel writer. And hell yeah, it’s been fun. I went on two small ship sailing cruises throughout the Caribbean, dined at four-star Michelin...

I spoke at PRSA Travel & Tourism conference in Aspen last week, as part of a panel entitled “Reaching Key Influencers Where They Live (Online).” I felt lucky to be included in that definition. Of those of us on the panel, which included Kara S. Williams of The Vacation Gals, Johnny Jet...

  This morning, I’ve been testing a new website/iPhone app that adds a new dimension to sharing travel photos. Fotobabble, currently FREE at iTunes and on the web, allows you to record sound to go with your pictures.

As newspapers and other mainstream media outlets dismantle their ranks, many pundits have wondered who will be society’s new watchdog. Some foresee the rise of a citizen journalism brigade emerging through the already robust blogosphere. Others, such as Wired magazine Editor in Chief Chris Anderson,...

My relationship with “PR people” has morphed throughout the years. On newspaper city and suburban news desks, where I spent the first 14 years of my career, we called them “flacks,” derogatory meaning intended. To a news reporter on deadline, a PR person was, if not the enemy, then certainly...

Look! A pretty beach! That’s Grand Anse in Grenada, a country that has suffered mightily from airlift cuts this year. That’s not the real point of this post, though. I am honored and humbled by all the support I received yesterday. The HuffPo pickup hit while I was still finishing up today’s...