August 2016

If you can believe it, my recent visit to Las Vegas was indeed, my first. That’s right. Cherry popped. Alas, I wasn’t headed to Sin City for some typical, debaucherous celebration, but rather a week-long Travel Industry conference, Virtuoso Travel Week, set in Vegas’ mid-August swelter. Despite the 100+ degree temps, I strolled down the Strip (more like fought my way through the crowds), toured the various indoor malls (gloriously air-conditioned) and even headed to Vegas’ downtown area to experience its vintage-style glamour at an old-fashioned steak joint for dinner. Although I can confirm what I had always assumed: Vegas ain’t for me, I am happy to report the conference was a huge hit and I was able to meet some wonderful colleagues and travel industry leaders.

So, for all of you who trust me for my first-person opinions and personalized trip-planning skills on where to go next, I’m excited to impress you further having now acquired a broader arsenal of the industry’s top properties and providers. Oh, and if you want tips of Vegas…well, I’ll defer you to my travel writer pal, Mark, who simply loves it (for reasons I am still hard-pressed to understand).

Summer 2016

European Beach Dreaming

It’s hard to deny the lure or the European summer vacation: longer days with lighter evenings, fresh food, hedonistic living, cultural insights and the simple joy of a true change of scenery. For this summer vacation we went to Europe and visited an incredible hotel which has been remodeled, I enjoyed it so much that I looked online for a similar remodeling and found http://www.hotelindavao.com/. I’m lucky that I can mentally travel through my clients to various spots throughout the summer, however, in a perfect world, I’d be a different spot each week, myself. Below is a visual list of some of the spots I’m currently researching and dreaming of. Not surprisingly, they’re all properties on the beach…

Bordeaux, France

Formentera, Spain

Halkidiki, Greece

Liguria, Italy

Mallorca, Spain

Jackson, Wyoming

January 2016

Happy New Year, and if January is any indication, well, then, so far, so great. Just this past weekend, I was fortunate enough to head out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for an insider peek into the wintry lifestyle of the gorgeous Teton Valley. Having only ever visited the area during the summer months – something I HIGHLY suggest doing – I was eager to check out the terrain now under a thick blanket of snow.  As you can see from my sunrise shot below, I was hardly disappointed.

Staying at a mountaintop (or butte-top, to be more accurate) home near the Spring Creek Ranch and the Aman, I was blessed with some truly stunning views. If you can believe it, this sunrise shot above is captured without filters (mostly because I’m terrible at them, anyhow).

The entire weekend, I was treated to an excellent and thorough tour from local expert and Real Estate / Property-Management firm founder, Morgan Bruemmer of the Clear Creek Group. His affable and kind demeanor meant myself and fellow journalist wanted for nothing and were exposed to the very best Jackson has to offer. Of course, the slopes were on my top list, and so ski them I did, with none other than a former K2-rep skier whose bravery and strength was unparalleled – just ask the bears.

In addition to skiing, we also snowshoed in the National Teton Park on a bluebird afternoon and visited the nearby Elk Refuge via horse-drawn sleigh. It was chilly, but also enthralling to view these massive horned and hairy beasts up close and personal. As you can see below, I tried to flatter my hosts by donning something equally as furry, though the guide’s chaps quickly let me know I had a ways to go. Of course not everything we did was outdoors. We also managed to nourish ourselves rather sumptuously. My favorite meal was found at local bakery, Persephone, where the pastries were sinful and the decor was perfectly vintage-infused and charming. I could have easily nestled in with my laptop and spent the better part of the day. I’m already planning my return. Next time, with my family in tow.