Category Archives: tourism

Top Ten Fall Destinations?

Posted on by
4

TripAdvisor’s top ten fall destinations are:

1.Munich, Germany
2. Napa Valley, Calif.
3. Montreal, Quebec
4. Asheville, N.C.
5. Woodstock, Vt.
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Lake Placid, N.Y.
8. Camden, Maine
9. Mystic, Conn.
10. Aberdeen, Scotland

It seems like a funny list to me.   The Fall color of USA is well represented at Woodstock, Lake Placid, and Camden and a trip to the Northeast USA in fall is impossible to beat for spectacular foliage IF your timing is lucky.   Mystic and Napa are charming and Montreal and Vancouver are very cool places.   Haven’t been to Asheville but I’m sure it’s nice.    Munich an obvious choice for Octoberfest.  Not sure about Aberdeen.

But as long as they’ve decided to include the entire world it seems like a reasonable person is going to pick London, Paris, Rome, Prague, a city in China or Japan, etc, etc over, say Asheville or Mystic or Lake Placid.

I think these silly lists tell you more about the person composing them than travel.

Walt Disney World > Las Vegas ? !

Posted on by
3

I’ve seen Amusement World quoted twice now indicating that Walt Disney World’s four main parks see a combined attendance of about 40 million people per year.    Las Vegas reports about the same number of annual visitors.   This seems incredible, as Las Vegas has dozens of huge resorts and it would seem represents a much greater total investment.    Perhaps it does but the per person spending is much greater, justifying the bigger investment?   Perhaps Disney is counting people twice if they go to more than one of their parks in the same visit?

More research needed.

Hey, here are some fun Las Vegas Statistics I like the fact that the Shrimp Cocktails at the Golden Gate have zero inflation.

Trinity Alps Wilderness, California

Posted on by
2

What a fine time in the Trinity Alps with our great friends Linda and John from the Bay Area.  The kids handled the 4 miles in no problem and we got our *favorite* spot just down from the lower waterfalls that plunge into a cool-green deep pool surrounded by trees with a huge peak rising upstream in the background.   Even my two Yellow Jacket stings didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.  The next day another 4 miles up to the Canyon Creek Lakes and playing around the upper waterfall.

John took a LOT of pix and I’ll post or link some soon.

Trinity Alps here we come

Posted on by
4

Tomorrow we’ll head down to the Trinity Alps in Northern California for a 2 night backpack. I really love this wilderness area, which is spectacular, sublime, and always uncrowded. This will be our third trip to the Canyon Creek Lakes part of the Trinity Alps and we’ll camp about 4 miles in, hopefully at the spot above the little waterfall.

Another 4 miles in the next day without heavy packs will take us up into the heart of the region, three lakes in a valley surrounded by granite peaks of up to 9000 feet. The last trip here was 3 years ago and we’d just spent a week in Yosemite but I kept thinking how great the Trinities are as a place to really immerse yourself in the splendor of California mountains and woods.

Although the Trinity Alps are not as spectacular as Yosemite (I’m not sure any place on earth can compete with the many unique vistas in Yosemite Valley), they offer a lot more solitude, similar beautiful scenery, and the kind of insight into the workings of the world you just can’t get unless you surround yourself in a cathedral of granite, mountains, and forest that has remained largely unchanged for thousands and thousands of years.

Todd Davidson of Oregon is the State Tourism Director of the Year

Posted on by
1

Congratulations to my pal Todd Davidson who was just named State Tourism Director of the Year by the Travel Industry Association of America.    This is one of the top awards in travel and it’s great to see him win it.   I worked with Todd back in the day when I was doing a lot of regional and state tourism work for Oregon and I’m so glad to see him honored in this way.   Congratulations Todd!

Travel peeps – 1 generation = internet peeps

Posted on by
Reply

Asked about my CA trip I noted that my second Google party was not as fun as the first. Free (good) beer and mini burgers only go so far. I think the magic of Silicon Valley is wearing off – in fact this was my second trip down in 4 weeks with a Virginia reunion in between, a nice trip to the ol’ Virginia roots and relatives in the Shenandoah Valley.
There was a fun highlight of being in on a conversation between Google and Microsoft’s key search guys at the Google Party, though no spectacular SEO insights came out of it other than unmasking the main MSNdude poster at WMW (who was talking to GoogleGuy).

One thing I noted is how travel industry folks tend to be 1) friendlier than internet peeps, 2) older, often by a generation, and 3) lacking at internet events. This may serve me well as I push ahead with some travel ideas where I’ll be mashing up some databases with flickr, google video, and maps. I think the Travel industry is so mired in the mythologies surrounding print and TV advertising that it will literally take a new generation of travel professionals to realize the lost online opportunities. With the new sites I’ll be putting more of my money where my mouth is.

Travel Complaint? Tell it to the Donner Party.

Posted on by
8

Back in Talent at about midnight last night.

Sure it’s a long trip from the East Coast but I can’t help but … scoff…  at complaints about modern travel.  I like to say to the travel whiners “tell it to the Donner Party“.

Go tell some 1850 pioneers that a mere 100 years in the future their dangerous treks of many months to get from the midwest to Oregon or California will take a few hours as groups of hundreds of people fly six miles above the earth in huge boxes of metal.
To cities all over the American West.
Many, many times each and every day of the year.

Early American travelers would have thought you were simply crazy.

If you’d added that during the flight you’d be served cold drinks and snacks, watch moving picture shows, and listen to music they would have locked you up.

Then you’d explain to them that people will constantly complain about this type of travel.

With that comment, you’d be shot.

and then if you were with the Donner Party you’d be ….

dinner.