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Have you ever had a fling?

Like a hot summer fling?  Does even the mention of a fling put a smile on your face thinking of that crazy time? If so, you™ll probably remember how intense and all consuming it was. A fling tends to be unexpected. But when it happens it brings us alive. With nothing to lose and no commitment fears to hold us back  – we are in the present. I would compare a fling with travel. If you think about your favorite trips you™ve taken, does a smile spread across your face? Do you wish now, if only for a fleeting moment, that you could go back to that carefree time?  Do your eyes flash mischievously? Wait are you thinking about your…

5 Questions to Help Pick a Destination

You might have a window of time during which you can get away, you may want to celebrate a special occasion or maybe you just have a yearning for a change of scenery – but you can™t quite pinpoint a destination for a trip. I don™t blame you. It™s a big world out there with so much to experience. Let me see if I can be of assistance. Here is a list of questions I created to help you decide on a destination¦…

What’s Stopping Your Travel Plans?

I’ve found that often times the number one reason people do not go on a trip is because they are sweating the details. These days there is an overwhelming wealth of knowledge to be had about any given destination. Whether you are a Lonely-Planet-lover, TripAdvisor afficionado, or an Afar.com social-travel-network-er (or all of the above) the research alone could render a trip quite cumbersome. Just the thought of parsing through the information, making itinerary decisions and musing “what will I really feel like doing while on the trip?”, can be repellant. Oh, and then there is the worry about making the wrong decisions that may cause us to subsequently be inconvenienced or not have as good of a time as…

What’s All This About Local Travel?

Recently, someone asked me why I like to focus on local travel, as opposed to any old kind of travel. It is true, I do. And I™m not alone. It seems œlocal has become quite the buzzword. I™m seeing it increasingly on the cover of major travel magazines and online publications. And there are growing numbers of apps and tour guide companies popping up to capitalize on the movement. For me, local travel is real travel. When away from home, I crave a more complete picture of my destinations rather than reinforcing antiquated stereotypes already floating around in my head. Let™s take Rome for example. If you think of Rome, you think of the Coliseum, Vatican City, the Trevi Fountain,…

Is It Really about Getting Outside our Comfort Zones?

I™m sure you™ve heard people talk about getting outside our comfort zones as a positive way to challenge ourselves. They say, œyou’ll be surprised what happens when you do it. But there is something about that phrase, when applied to travel in particular, that makes it feel undesirable to me. Frankly, that phrase doesn™t make me want to travel. It makes me wonder, what kind of discomfort am I in for? And why would I want to be uncomfortable on my vacation? At the root of it, the phrase is telling us to try something new, do something different, and go somewhere we™ve never gone before. Now, that sounds exhilarating and wonderfully escapist – not uncomfortable. When you are in…

A Guide to Getting Around Paris (VIDEO)

This episode is all about ways to navigate Paris. I share my secret weapon which I prefer over any app or guide. And I also talk about my favorite way to explore the city. Here is the link for the Velib bike system just in case you want to buy a pass! http://en.velib.paris.fr/ I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.…