2010 travel highlights: Beijing, the Big Island of Hawaii, and a new travel buddy

A trip to San Diego in June marked my daughter's first dip in the Pacific Ocean.

Just over a week into 2010, I became a dad. During the year I realized though that any concerns I had about parenthood—and my new editor-in-chief gig at Louisville.com, which I also started in January—impacting my travel were unfounded.

Here are my travel highlights for 2010 (and while my daughter didn’t go on all of these trips with me, she did make it to 14 states and Washington, DC in her first year):

• In February I visited the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach and wrote about its teen club for Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, enRoute, and one of my rare visits to a spa for UpTake.
• A road trip to Milwaukee and Chicago in March marked my daughter’s first trip out of Kentucky; I talked about the experience on a podcast for UpTake and mentioned our Chicago hotel room’s wonderful view in enRoute.
• As much as I enjoy traveling, it’s nice when a big event comes to me. In May it was the Kentucky Derby, which I wrote about for BlackBook and oversaw Louisville.com’s best week of traffic ever (November’s Breeders’ Cup did well too).
• While family was the focus of my June visits to San Diego (brother’s wedding) and Kamiah, ID (to see my grandmother), I wrote about San Diego restaurant Jsix’s chef’s kitchen experience for BlackBook.
• In June I made it back to New York City for TBEX, a travel bloggers conference, and finally got to meet in person a lot of folks I’d only known on the tubes. They were terribly disappointing exceeded high expectations.
• Coming from a small family (no aunts or uncles), my wife’s family’s annual reunion just outside of Morgantown, WV is a can’t miss—I’m serious.
• In Columbus, Ohio for my brother-in-law’s wedding, I stayed in a hotel where James Thurber use to live.
• In August I flew to the The Big Island of Hawaii on assignment for enRoute to take a fine art photography class with Photo Safari Hawaii.
• Later that month Las Vegas was the destination for another enRoute assignment, this time to take a poker lesson from two-time World Series of Poker champ Mark Seif.
• I wrote about looking out over Gerald Ford’s grave site from my hotel room in Grand Rapids, Mich. for UpTake and visiting the art fair with the world’s largest prize (if not the best art) for Gridskipper.
• On Columbus Day weekend we trekked to Watoga State Park in West Virginia for another of my wife’s family reunions (it’s a big clan).
• At Thanksgiving I returned to my hometown of Reading, Mass. for the first time in 17 months, the longest I’d ever gone without a visit; I reviewed the accommodations at my parents’ house for UpTake (executive summary: meh).
• For the second year in a row, I visited China with the Ritz-Carlton (this time it was Beijing); I won’t complain if trips to China with that hotelier become an annual tradition. Culinary highlights already have been posted on Gridskipper.
• It was fantastic to get back to Washington, DC and see our friends. I wrote our stay at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington DC about for UpTake.
• For the third time in four years, both my wife’s family and mine gathered in the neutral playing location of Deep Creek Lake Maryland for Christmas.

My good fortune: I’m on my way to China

Hello from Louisville International Airport! Or, as they say in Chinese, ?. I’m en route to China with the Ritz-Carlton (again) and American Airlines. This time the destination is Beijing—a city I’ve always wanted to experience during Hanukkah.

I’ll have articles and such about the trip published while traveling and afterward, but if you’re the type who demands regular updates (hi Sweetheart) feel free to follow along on

• Twitter
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Congrats to Vivian Deuschl for earning the HSMAI’s public relations excellence award

Congrats to Vivian Deuschl of The Ritz-Carlton for being awarded the Winthrop W. Grice Award for lifetime achievement public relations excellence at the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Adrian Awards earlier this month!

I met Vivian last October when she led the bloggers-only trip to China I took and had a blast bantering with her over the five days.

While Vivian’s not the reason my new daughter shares that name (my wife and I picked it out before I left for China), she didn’t do anything to sully the name either. (I’ve heard, however, that the same can’t be said for me and the name Zach.)

Photo: Courtesy Ritz-Carlton

From Idaho to China, 2009 was a fun year for traveling and writing

How can a year in which you got an action figure of yourself be anything but great?

Recently the Internet has featured an abundance of laments about the disappointment that was 2009. I disagree; 2009, you were a good one.

From Kamiah, Idaho (population 1,160) to Guangzhou, China (population 10,045,800), I experienced and wrote about some amazing places this year–and had a blast doing it.

Some highlights:

• In January I drove from my new home in Louisville to Las Vegas with my brother and then flew to Washington, DC for Barack Obama’s inauguration.
• For Valentine’s Day, I reviewed 10 engaging spots to pop the question for Budget Travel.
• Traveling to celebrate my grandmother’s 90th birthday with her, I drove through Idaho, one of the most beautiful areas in the United States.
• I discovered one of my new favorite American cities–Nashville, which I visited twice.
• I covered the running–and parties–of Kentucky Derby 135 (and got this hilarious voice message from a Paris Hilton flack in the process).
• I experienced my first music festival–Bonnaroo.
• Trips to Boston; Morgantown, WV; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, DC allowed me to spend time with family and friends, as well as do some exploring.
• My more than 100 articles for Louisville.com provided me with ample opportunities to investigate my new hometown.
• While in New York to officiate a friend’s wedding (yes, you read that right), I finally met in person many travel writers and editors whom I’d known only virtually before.
• I consumed delicious tacos, lattes, and cocktails in Austin, TX.
• I reviewed concerts by two of my favorite performers–Bruce Springsteen and Roger Daltrey.
• After a fantastic trip to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China, sponsored by the Ritz-Carlton, Cathay Pacific and Dragon Air, I wrote about the ethics of press trips for BlackBook.
• And I began contributing to Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, enRoute, and blogging about lodging for UpTake.

On a personal note, I’ll be closing out 2009 or beginning 2010 with a new daughter–my wife and I are expecting our first child any day now. Look for articles in early 2010 about traveling with an infant: we’ve already made plans to bring her to Milwaukee, Chicago, and San Diego.

Best wishes for a great 2010!

Writer, editor, pajama model

Today BlackBook featured my article on my recent press trip to Guangzhou and Shenzhen:

The Proud Junketeer: From Jamaica to China and Back

Even better–for me, if not BlackBook‘s readers–is getting to be its website’s lead model. In my silk pajamas, I’m feeling a bit like Hugh Hefner.

Originally the article was supposed to focus more on established brands, like the Ritz-Carlton, shifting their focus from traditional to new media.

But in between when I pitched it and when it was published, the Thrillist mini-scandal hit, causing two revisions, but giving me the opportunity to weigh in on a developing story and the practice of press trips.