Picazo Cafe & Deli, Sonoma, CA USA

I was speaking at a conference in Sonoma and, as it came to an end, decided to take the scenic route from the Doubletree Hotel to Sacramento, my next stop. Winding through beautiful countryside, I had no idea where I was going, and I preferred it that way. My phone’s GPS was always there for […]

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The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA USA

Grand was The Palace Hotel. If one didn’t know this upon booking, the entrance and lobby said it all (after, of course, I paid $60/night for valet parking).  As I walked to my room I couldn’t tell if I would be staying in an old, rundown establishment in need of a restoration, or a newly […]

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Banyan Golf Club, West Palm Beach, FL USA

My flight from Boston to Beijing on United was $750/roundtrip. A week later, for MLK weekend, it’s $800/roundtrip Boston to West Palm Beach. Perhaps the prefect example of supply and demand, I was caught in the crosshairs of the airline industry’s pricing model. But a weekend family vacation, as rare as they are, is hard […]

Starbucks, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Weekend trip to Amsterdam… why not? Rachel was working her way through the holidays, and I was not going to sit at idle on the couch during this vacation time. 48 hours in Amsterdam… a city I’ve been to over a dozen times, I knew it would be a weekend full of familiar fun. There’s […]

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Wangjing SOHO, Beijing, China

Every time I’m back in Beijing – usually once a quarter – it feels like just yesterday I was here. At the same time, this country – both the physical nature as well as the culture – evolves so quickly that once a quarter tends to feel like years. This year 80million Chinese will get […]

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Quiznos, Denver International Airport, Denver, CO USA

“I have an idea. Let’s go skiing this weekend. Out west.” Rachel started Monday night’s dinner with an intriguing topic. It was her birthday, so I couldn’t push back on what I thought was a ludicrous idea. Sure I wanted to go skiing this weekend, and sure I didn’t want to ski in New England, […]