Gadling http://www.gadling.com Gadling http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.gadling.com/media/feedlogo.gif Gadling http://www.gadling.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Three unexpected treats on Oahu's North Shore]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/31/three-unexpected-treats-on-oahus-north-shore/http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/31/three-unexpected-treats-on-oahus-north-shore/http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/31/three-unexpected-treats-on-oahus-north-shore/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Last October, when my wife and I visited Oahu for a week, we spent the first few days happily exploring the attractions and activities we'd plotted before the trip: the artfully educating exhibits at the Bishop Museum; the snorkeling splendors of Hanauma Bay; the tranquil and transporting Byodo-In Temple; Chef Ed Kenney's acclaimed organic cuisine at Town restaurant; and the then-just-opened Japengo restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, which promised - and as it turned out, delivered - a palate-expanding fusion feast (three faves: the Tootsie maki with crab, avocado, shiitake and lobster; the scallop butter yaki; and the coconut crème brulee). I've already written about two other highlights from those first few days: a night of multi-course culinary magic at Alan Wong's restaurant in Honolulu and a visit to life-changing MA'O Organic Farms in Wai'anae.

But a quarter-century of serendipity has taught us that some of the most memorable on-the-road experiences come from listening to residents after you've landed in a place, and on this trip again three of our finest discoveries - all on Oahu's less-visited North Shore - came from locals' impromptu advice. If you're going to Oahu, here are three North Shore sites we'd recommend you add to your own must-do map.

1. Waimea Valley: This 1,875-acre valley preserve on the outskirts of Hale`iwa, near Waimea Bay, doesn't billboard its wonderfulness. In fact, that's one of the many things we loved about it: how humble and low-key it is, despite- or perhaps because of? - its riches.

Waimea Valley comprises one of Oahu's last examples of the traditional land use system called ahupua'a. In this system, the islands were divided into wedge-shaped slices of land, ruled by a local chief and often overseen by a priest, that ran from the mountains to the sea and incorporated all the kinds of topography and resources residents needed to thrive. You can learn much more about the ahupua'a system here.

Continue reading Three unexpected treats on Oahu's North Shore

Three unexpected treats on Oahu's North Shore originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgefoodhawaiioahuTue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Four top treats from my 2011 travels]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/12/31/four-top-treats-from-my-2011-travels/http://www.gadling.com/2011/12/31/four-top-treats-from-my-2011-travels/http://www.gadling.com/2011/12/31/four-top-treats-from-my-2011-travels/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Since I've been a travel writer for three decades, people often ask me if I don't get tired of all the traveling and writing. After all, when you do anything for 30 years, it must get boring, right?

Wrong! I guess that's one of the gifts of this line of work. Every trip, every place, offers something new, even if I've been there a dozen times before. This year I took four big trips -- to British Columbia, London, France, and Oahu -- and each one reaffirmed this truth with multiple unexpected treasures. Here are the top treats from each.

1) OAHU: MA'O Organic Farms

My wife and I didn't know what to expect as we drove on a sunswept October morning to this outpost on the little-visited Leeward Coast of Oahu. When we turned off the Farrington Highway at the Wai'anae exit as instructed, we found ourselves in a nondescript residential area of one-story stucco homes. We wound though the streets deeper and deeper into the interior until we reached the end of the road - and found the smiling face of Kamuela Enos, the Education Resource Specialist at this singular place.

MA'O's mission, Enos told us, is social entrepreneurship through farming, cultivating organic food and young leaders for a sustainable Hawaii. MA'O stands for mala 'ai 'opio, which translates as "the youth food garden." Basically, MA'O takes youngsters from the Wai'anae community - a traditionally neglected settlement of mostly native Hawaiians, beset by severe social, economic and nutritional challenges - and puts them to work on the 16-acre farm, where they learn all the aspects of running a farm, from working the fields to managing the distribution of the produce to maintaining smooth relationships with clients and consumers. MA'O also runs a variety of in-school programs at the Wai'anae intermediate school and high school and at nearby Leeward Community College.

Continue reading Four top treats from my 2011 travels

Four top treats from my 2011 travels originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>best destinationsBestDestinationsbritish colombiaBritishColombiadon georgeDonGeorgeenglandfrancelondonoahuparisSat, 31 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Taste Hawaii: Savoring Alan Wong's fresh farm-to-table feast]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/taste-hawaii-savoring-alan-wong-s-fresh-farm-to-table-feast/http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/taste-hawaii-savoring-alan-wong-s-fresh-farm-to-table-feast/http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/taste-hawaii-savoring-alan-wong-s-fresh-farm-to-table-feast/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



On a recent trip to Oahu, my wife and I had the excellent fortune to dine at Alan Wong's eponymous restaurant in Honolulu. Consistently named one of the best restaurants in Hawaii, Alan Wong's has been at the forefront of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement since its founding in 1995. Our farm-to-table, fusion feast featured a number of dishes that embody the chef's culinary quest to showcase Hawaii's fresh food products and its marvelous mélange of culinary cultures. Virtually every dish was a compact lesson in taste, texture, and tradition.

Our favorites included such signature concoctions as the Soup and Sandwich, a stemmed glass filled with chilled vine-ripened Hamakua Springs tomato soup presented with a yin-yang design, crowned with a parmesan cheese crisp and atop it a mini-kalua pig foie gras and mozzarella sandwich; Butter-Poached Kona Lobster, savory chunks of lobster served in a sauce of green onion oil with flavorful morsels of Hamakua Heritage eryngi mushrooms; North Shore Tilipia on a bed of local saimin noodles with Naked Cow Dairy lobster truffle butter nage; Ginger Crusted Onaga with piquant miso sesame vinaigrette, Hamakua mushrooms and sweet corn from Kahuku; Crab "Tofu" Agedashi, consisting of a tofu-like spanner crab mousse with Kona lobster medallions and plump lumps of crab meat, served with kudzu dashi; and a delightful dessert called The Coconut - scrumptious coconut meat-like haupia sorbet served in a chocolate "coconut" shell, surrounded by tropical fruits in a lilikoi sauce. Yum!

Gallery: Alan Wong's Hawaii Regional Cuisine

Continue reading Taste Hawaii: Savoring Alan Wong's fresh farm-to-table feast

Taste Hawaii: Savoring Alan Wong's fresh farm-to-table feast originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alan wongAlanWongdon georgeDonGeorgefoodhawaiihonoluluWed, 30 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lynn Ferrin, travel writing, and the meaning of life]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/21/lynn-ferrin-travel-writing-and-the-meaning-of-life/http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/21/lynn-ferrin-travel-writing-and-the-meaning-of-life/http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/21/lynn-ferrin-travel-writing-and-the-meaning-of-life/#comments
I recently attended a memorial service for a great friend and a great writer, editor and adventurer who passed away this summer at the age of 73. Her name was Lynn Ferrin, and for 37 years she was an editor at the AAA magazine in northern California; she was the editor in chief for the last seven of those years. For most of these almost four decades the circulation of that magazine was between 2 and 3 million, and by that reckoning Lynn was one of the most influential editors and writers of her lifetime.

The service began with a procession of friends reading excerpts from Lynn's own travel articles, most of those published in the magazine she edited and in the local newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle, when I was travel editor and when our friend John Flinn became travel editor after me.

Three of the pieces read were stories that Lynn had written for me, for a quarterly travel magazine that I was privileged to edit for many years called Great Escapes. It was these stories that inspired this essay. All three of these pieces - one about exploring Morocco on an equestrian tour from Meknes to Fes, one about searching for tortoises on a grueling expedition to the rim of Alcedo Volcano on the Galapagos island of Isabela, and one about riding by horseback across the plains of Inner Mongolia - were magnificent; they were not only beautifully evoked descriptions of particular travel experiences, they were also meditations on the meaning of those experiences and by extension, on the larger meaning of life.

Listening to those stories being read, I had two reactions: The first was viscerally recalling the thrill I had felt as an editor upon opening the envelopes Lynn had sent me, holding her meticulously typed and double-spaced manuscripts in my hands, and reading her words for the first time. The frisson of exhilaration coursed through me again, the pure thrill of mentally moving through a piece that transported me first to an entirely foreign place and experience and then back to my own place and experience in the world, and seeing these anew. My second reaction was the thought that both Lynn and I had been the recipients of an extraordinary gift, that as the editor of a quarterly travel magazine in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, I had been able to offer writers an almost unlimited canvas on which to paint their word pictures, and that as a writer for that magazine, Lynn had been able to lovingly paint the pictures she wanted to paint, to shoot for the stars in her writing, to dream big and to have the space to realize that dream.

Continue reading Lynn Ferrin, travel writing, and the meaning of life

Lynn Ferrin, travel writing, and the meaning of life originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgetravel writingTravelWritingFri, 21 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Starry, starry night: Notes on an edible epiphany in Burgundy]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/17/starry-starry-night-notes-on-an-edible-epiphany-in-burgundy/http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/17/starry-starry-night-notes-on-an-edible-epiphany-in-burgundy/http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/17/starry-starry-night-notes-on-an-edible-epiphany-in-burgundy/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



It all began with the carpaccio. I don't hate carpaccio, but when given another choice on a menu - fermented yak tail, say - I'm likely to choose the alternative. So I wasn't really expecting much when the tuxedo'd waiter ceremoniously placed the plate with a generous disc of raw beef, sliced mushrooms and a confetti of foie gras before me.

And then I put a forkful in my mouth. And the world moved.

The combination of textures and tastes was astonishing - smooth and rough, salty and sweet, lean-beefy and fat-foie-grasy and smoky-musky-mushroomy. An edible epiphany.

For a moment I simply savored the symphony in my mouth. Then I said to the Splendid Sixsome, "I love it when a dish teaches me something about food."

And that's how my recent feast at a three-star Michelin restaurant began.

Continue reading Starry, starry night: Notes on an edible epiphany in Burgundy

Starry, starry night: Notes on an edible epiphany in Burgundy originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>burgundydon georgeDonGeorgefoodfoodweekfrancerestaurantMon, 17 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[In San Francisco, savoring a slice of heaven on France's Cote d'Azur]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/09/27/in-san-francisco-savoring-a-slice-of-heaven-on-france-s-cote-d/http://www.gadling.com/2011/09/27/in-san-francisco-savoring-a-slice-of-heaven-on-france-s-cote-d/http://www.gadling.com/2011/09/27/in-san-francisco-savoring-a-slice-of-heaven-on-france-s-cote-d/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


September 20, 2011 -- I'm sitting on the sun-washed terrace of La Terrasse restaurant in San Francisco's gorgeous green Presidio. It's a spectacular Indian summer day, with the rays warming my bones and the bay sparkling in the distance under a cerulean sky. All around me, California Mission-style buildings - pale yellow walls, curving arches, terra-cotta roof tiles - shine.

I've been eating escargots and poulet roti avec pommes frites, and sipping a crisp Loire Valley Sancerre, celebrating because in a week I'll be in la belle France, exploring the regions of Burgundy and Champagne. Moments ago I was poring over the itinerary, giddy at the prospect of traveling once again in the country that changed my life decades ago. Suddenly this combination - the frisson of anticipation, the dejeuner francais, and the sun, roof tiles and glinting waters beyond -- concocted a terraced time machine-magic, and I was transported to a sunny scene 18 summers before, and a time-stopping, life-enlarging afternoon at the singular - and to my mind, sacred - restaurant called La Colombe d'Or, in St.-Paul-de-Vence, on France's Cote d'Azur....

I am ensconced under a white parasol at a red bouquet-brightened table, looking out on a somnolent scene of green hills and straw-colored houses with terra-cotta roofs.

I have just finished a plate of green melon and jambon de Parme, and now the waiter has placed before me with a flourish a platter of grilled sea bream, known locally as daurade.

Around me is a symphony of sounds: the clink of silverware on china, the splash of wine into glasses, the mellifluous laughter and multilingual chatter of diners in summery clothes.

Continue reading In San Francisco, savoring a slice of heaven on France's Cote d'Azur

In San Francisco, savoring a slice of heaven on France's Cote d'Azur originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cafecote dazurCoteDazurdon georgedonald georgedonald goergeDonaldGeorgeDonGeorgefranceTue, 27 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The secret formula for writing a successful travel narrative]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/08/31/the-secret-formula-for-writing-a-successful-travel-narrative/http://www.gadling.com/2011/08/31/the-secret-formula-for-writing-a-successful-travel-narrative/http://www.gadling.com/2011/08/31/the-secret-formula-for-writing-a-successful-travel-narrative/#commentsFiled under: , ,



For years people have been asking me for the secret formula for writing a successful travel story. I did my best to conjure this formula into my book Travel Writing, but as you know, there really isn't any secret formula. Or is there? This year, in preparing for a spate of appearances where I was talking about travel writing - notably TBEX, a talk with Julia Cosgrove of Afar magazine, and a one-day in-the-field writing workshop that was part of the Book Passage travel writing and photography conference -- I realized that I could distill what I've learned in three decades on both sides of the writer-editor relationship into a few pithy points.

So here's my version of the secret formula.

Continue reading The secret formula for writing a successful travel narrative

The secret formula for writing a successful travel narrative originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bloggingdon georgeDonGeorgehow to writeHowToWritenarrativetravetravel writingTravelWritingwritingWed, 31 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Andrew McCarthy discusses his new role: travel writer]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/07/28/andrew-mccarthy-discusses-his-new-role-travel-writer/http://www.gadling.com/2011/07/28/andrew-mccarthy-discusses-his-new-role-travel-writer/http://www.gadling.com/2011/07/28/andrew-mccarthy-discusses-his-new-role-travel-writer/#commentsFiled under: ,



For many people, the name Andrew McCarthy probably conjures images of iconic movies from the 1980s and 1990s, films such as St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero, Weekend at Bernie's, and The Joy Luck Club. But these days the actor is playing a new role: travel writer. Since he first wrote a piece on Ireland for National Geographic Traveler in 2006, McCarthy has published some two dozen travel stories in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Afar, and Islands. He is now a Contributing Editor for National Geographic Traveler, and last year in the Society of American Travel Writers' annual Lowell Thomas awards competition, he was named Travel Journalist of the Year. McCarthy will be guest of honor at the Book Passage Travel & Food Writers & Photographers Conference next month and has just signed a contract to write his first travel memoir.

I had the pleasure of interviewing McCarthy onstage at the National Geographic Auditorium in May. The evening was full of great anecdotes and insights; here are some that especially struck me.

Travel literature and the importance of scenes:

I asked McCarthy how he made the transition from actor to travel writer, and he said he began reading Paul Theroux and that Theroux's travel books changed his life. (Reading Paul Theroux is, I think, excellent advice for any would-be travel writer.) Theroux and others taught him that in regard to travel literature, "when people do it well, they can really capture the essence of a moment in time, in a place -- in themselves and in the place.

Continue reading Andrew McCarthy discusses his new role: travel writer

Andrew McCarthy discusses his new role: travel writer originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adrew mccarthyAdrewMccarthyadventure-travelbook passageBookPassagedon georgeDonGeorgenational geographicNationalGeographicThu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A pilgrim at Stinson Beach]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/07/25/a-pilgrim-at-stinson-beach/http://www.gadling.com/2011/07/25/a-pilgrim-at-stinson-beach/http://www.gadling.com/2011/07/25/a-pilgrim-at-stinson-beach/#commentsFiled under: , ,



July 20, 11:30 am -- I'm sitting at the southern tip of Stinson Beach, a glorious mile-long stretch of sand that borders the unincorporated, population 650 hamlet of the same name in Marin County, Northern California.

Stinson Beach is a ragged, flip-flops, bikinis, and board shorts kind of town, and whether you're a Bay Area visitor or resident, it's a terrific place to stop. A couple of inviting restaurants face each other across the sole street - famed Highway 1 - that runs through town; both have sun-umbrella'd patios that are intimations of heaven on a balmy, blue-sky day like today. There are arts and crafts galleries, a quintessential little-bit-of-everything market, B&B's, and a beguiling bookstore with a compact, ecumenical and eminently Marin mix of books ranging from Zen treatises and Native American history and culture to mainstream mysteries and fiction, and a proud selection of work by local authors.

I love these riches, but they're not why I come here. Stinson Beach is about an hour's winding drive from my house, so it's not exactly an on-a-whim destination for me; rather it's a touchstone place where I come to gather myself. And today I need gathering.

So here I am, ensconced on a rock beyond an outcrop of massive boulders that separates this thin slice of sand from the main beach, where a couple hundred people are blissfully surfing, strolling and sunbathing.

I've been in this spot for 20 minutes and I haven't seen anyone -- except a teenaged couple who appeared holding hands literally just as I wrote "I haven't seen anyone" and jumped when they saw me and now have abruptly turned back - and I like it that way.

In the 1980s and '90s, when I was the travel editor at the San Francisco newspaper, I used to make a pilgrimage here every spring to write a column. This was the place where I gathered my thoughts, looked back on the triumphs and failures of the year past and ahead to the new year's goals and dreams.

Continue reading A pilgrim at Stinson Beach

A pilgrim at Stinson Beach originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>californiadon georgeDonGeorgesan franciscoSanFranciscostinson beachStinsonBeachstoriesunited statesUnitedStatesMon, 25 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Embracing the moment: A lakeside lesson in Italy]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/06/27/embracing-the-moment-a-lakeside-lesson-in-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2011/06/27/embracing-the-moment-a-lakeside-lesson-in-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2011/06/27/embracing-the-moment-a-lakeside-lesson-in-italy/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



I'm sitting at a bayside café in San Francisco, on a sun-spattered, blue-sky afternoon, reading my journal and traveling back to a similar day three years ago at a lakeside café in northern Italy, when I re-learned one of travel's great lessons: the importance of immersing yourself in the moment.

As the summer travel season unfolds, it's a good reminder that travel's gifts can stay with us long after the journey ends:

At the Piccolo Hotel café, Garda, Italy:

I'm sitting lakeside at the extraordinary town of Garda in the extraordinary region of Lake Garda, about 80 miles west of Venice.

I'm at the end of an exhausting but also very wonderful two-week stay in this enchanted and enchanting region, and feeling that odd mix of delighted expectation at the prospect of returning home and melancholic sentimentality of having to leave a place that has now become a rooted and enriching part of me, that has shown me so much and reawakened so much.

How to compress the riches of this place into a few words? The beauty of the landscape, the sane slow pace of life - the enjoyment of life! History embodied in old stone palazzo, piazzi and farmhouses. Culture embodied in centuries-old frescoes and 21st-century fashions. Cobblestoned streets and soaring stony chiese. Pasta perfectly al dente. Exquisite house wine. Vineyard-latticed hillsides. Rows of trees brightly budding into green. Sitting at a café by a lake, watching the red and blue and yellow motorboats bob and the stately deep green cypress trees reach like green prayers for the sky.


Continue reading Embracing the moment: A lakeside lesson in Italy

Embracing the moment: A lakeside lesson in Italy originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgeitalylake gardaLakeGardaMon, 27 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Giving back in Nepal: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Sherpa school built by Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/05/31/giving-back-in-nepal-celebrating-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-fi/http://www.gadling.com/2011/05/31/giving-back-in-nepal-celebrating-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-fi/http://www.gadling.com/2011/05/31/giving-back-in-nepal-celebrating-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-fi/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



May 29th marked the 58th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary. Among those celebrating this momentous accomplishment were the staff and students at the Khumjung School in the Nepalese village of Khumjung. This is the first school built by the Himalayan Trust, the foundation Hillary established after his return from the mountain.

The school has a special reason to celebrate: This year is its 50th anniversary, and as such, it is an inspiring symbol of the enduring bond between Hillary and the people of Nepal, and of the vital, life-changing work - not only with schools, but also with clinics, monasteries and reforestation efforts - that the organization has done and continues to do.

Hillary passed away in 2008, but the work of his Trust continues in partnership with the American Himalayan Foundation. I recently had the pleasure of discussing Sir Edmund's legacy and the Trust's ongoing projects with Norbu Tenzing, son of Tenzing Norgay and Vice President of the American Himalayan Foundation, at the organization's headquarters in San Francisco.

Don George: When and how did you first meet Sir Edmund Hillary?

Norbu Tenzing: I first met Sir Ed and his son Peter in Darjeeling when I was 3 or 4, but it wasn't until I was 7 that I went on a trek to the Khumbu with my father for the first time. This was in 1969. While I remember celebrating my 7th birthday playing soccer at Everest Base camp and spending time with my grandparents at their village, I also remember that Sherpas back then lived very traditional lives and very few children were in school.

Continue reading Giving back in Nepal: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Sherpa school built by Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust

Giving back in Nepal: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Sherpa school built by Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventure-travelAmerican Himalayan FoundationAmericanHimalayanFoundationdon georgeDonGeorgeeverestmt everestMtEverestnepalsir edmund hillarySirEdmundHillaryTue, 31 May 2011 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Top tips for TBEX and other writers' conferences: What I've learned from 20 years of success stories at Book Passage]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/05/19/top-tips-for-tbex-and-other-writers-conferences-what-i-ve-lear/http://www.gadling.com/2011/05/19/top-tips-for-tbex-and-other-writers-conferences-what-i-ve-lear/http://www.gadling.com/2011/05/19/top-tips-for-tbex-and-other-writers-conferences-what-i-ve-lear/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

vancouver tbex

When Elaine Petrocelli conceived the idea for the first Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference 20 years ago, she didn't know what she was getting into. "All I really knew was that I loved great travel writing and photography, and I thought it would be fascinating to bring the best writers and photographers together for a few days to talk with aspiring writers and photographers about what they do and how they do it," says the co-owner of Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera, California, where the conference is held for four days each August. To help realize her dream, Petrocelli contacted the then travel editor at the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle - who, as luck would have it, was me -- and I contacted legendary travel writer Jan Morris, who agreed to be the first guest of honor, and the Book Passage conference was born.

That was 20 summers ago. We certainly didn't imagine then that two decades later conference alumni would have published hundreds of articles and photographs in national magazines and newspapers, and dozens of books that directly resulted from contacts made and lessons learned at the conference. We didn't think that some alumni would be so successful that they would return in future years as members of the conference faculty. And we didn't dream that we would be celebrating in 2011 with the most ambitious Book Passage Travel, Food and Photography Conference yet.

We've learned a lot over the past 20 years and the conference has evolved to embrace those lessons. We've added food writing and photography to the menu and focused more and more on writing for the web, blogging and self-publishing. We've included in-the-field workshops and one-on-one evaluations, expanded the faculty and fine-tuned the panels and events. And we've added karaoke!

Most importantly of all, we've learned from the successes of our participants what it takes to get the most out of attending a conference -- whether it's Book Passage or other creative conferences around the country. Thinking ahead to TBEX in June and to the many other summer gatherings now offered, I thought it would be helpful to share the top tips I've learned from successful students.

Fittingly enough, as I've put these together, I've realized that these tips can equally be applied to getting the most out of any journey:

Continue reading Top tips for TBEX and other writers' conferences: What I've learned from 20 years of success stories at Book Passage

Top tips for TBEX and other writers' conferences: What I've learned from 20 years of success stories at Book Passage originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 May 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bloggingblogingbook passageBookPassageconferencesdon georgedonald georgeDonaldGeorgeDonGeorgetbextravel bloggingtravel conferencetravel writingTravelBloggingTravelConferenceTravelWritingvancouverThu, 19 May 2011 09:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Why I love Italy: five inspiring insights from an evening with Frances Mayes]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/04/29/why-i-love-italy-five-inspiring-insights-from-an-evening-with-f/http://www.gadling.com/2011/04/29/why-i-love-italy-five-inspiring-insights-from-an-evening-with-f/http://www.gadling.com/2011/04/29/why-i-love-italy-five-inspiring-insights-from-an-evening-with-f/#commentsEarlier this month I had the transporting opportunity to interview Frances Mayes on stage as part of the National Geographic Traveler Conversations series in Washington, DC. I actually met Mayes in the early 1980s, when I moved to San Francisco. I had told my creative writing graduate school poet-mentor that I was moving to the Bay Area, and she told me that I should be sure to look up the poet Frances Mayes. I did and Mayes helped introduce me to the cultural riches of the city. This was years before Under the Tuscan Sun catapulted her into the kind of best-sellerdom poets can only dream of. That passionate, transformative memoir has spawned many subsequent books on Italy, including her most recent and delightful work, "Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life." In our conversation, as in her books, Mayes was passionate, articulate, and electrically alive to the senses and seductions of Italy. Here are five of the many Italy-inspired insights I took away from our talk:

1) The rhythms of Italy: Poetry, Mayes said, was all she ever intended to write. But something happened after she bought and moved into Bramasole, her house in Cortona:

"I started writing longer lines and lines didn't any more want to be cut at where the line break goes in a poem. I started keeping notebooks and it just started expanding, and I found myself writing prose. I never intended to and I think that it's just mysterious that sometimes the rhythms in your brain change and your genre follows after that. It wasn't a conscious choice, but I did start writing prose because I was writing out of excitement at living there and leaning a new language, meeting people. It was very spontaneous and in fact all of my books about Italy have been written out of just spontaneity and fun."

It's fascinating to me how the rhythms of a place can infiltrate us and change the way we create, even how we move through the world. This phenomenon has certainly been true in my own life. In the hard Grecian sunlight, I'm more decisive and my writing is brighter. More vivid. More clearly etched. In France, my sentences are more languorous, more nuanced, more apt to while an hour or two away over a café crème, watching the perfumed passersby from a windowside seat at a café by the Seine. In Hawaii, I surrender myself to sun, sand, and sea. In Japan, I'm attuned to intricacies, shadows, the larger meanings of little things.

Continue reading Why I love Italy: five inspiring insights from an evening with Frances Mayes

Why I love Italy: five inspiring insights from an evening with Frances Mayes originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgefrances mayesFrancesMayesitalynational geographicNationalGeographictuscanyFri, 29 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[First yeti blogger found in western Siberia]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/04/01/first-yeti-blogger-found-in-western-siberia/http://www.gadling.com/2011/04/01/first-yeti-blogger-found-in-western-siberia/http://www.gadling.com/2011/04/01/first-yeti-blogger-found-in-western-siberia/#comments

Most of you probably already know that numerous sightings of yeti - the fabled abominable snowman of yore and lore -- have been reported recently in western Siberia. As recounted in Yahoo! UK news, "According to 15 witness statements by Siberian locals in the Kemerovo region, 7-ft tall, hairy, manlike creatures have been spotted wandering the Mount Shoria wilderness, with one man even claiming to have saved a yeti from drowning in a river while hunting.

"Villager Afanasy Kiskorov in Tashtagol reportedly witnessed the yeti activity first-hand. He said: 'Their bodies were covered in red-and-black fur and they could climb trees. The creature was screaming in fear after falling into a swollen mountain river.'

"Despite the alleged sightings, no photographic evidence as yet confirms the existence of the 'abominable snowmen.'

Continue reading First yeti blogger found in western Siberia

First yeti blogger found in western Siberia originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The best café in Zurich: savoring the Old World splendors of Conditorei Schober]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/21/the-best-cafe-in-zurich-savoring-the-old-world-splendors-of-con/http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/21/the-best-cafe-in-zurich-savoring-the-old-world-splendors-of-con/http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/21/the-best-cafe-in-zurich-savoring-the-old-world-splendors-of-con/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

zurich best cafeI'm in heaven. It's a sunny early-summer morning and I'm sitting in a cobbled corner of Zurich's Old Town in the third floor salon of the elegant Conditorei Schober. Placed just so on the table before me is the most beautiful multi-layered latte macchiato I've ever seen: creamy-caramel-colored on the bottom, a deeper brown in the middle, and a very deep dark almost chocolatey brown on top, beneath a glorious alpine crown of foam. Arranged beside it is a flaky pain au chocolat, browned to a delicate crusty-crunch on the outside, with fine flecks of chocolate oozing from the soft folds within. As I bite through the layers of croissant, I can feel each one, multi-layered like the latte but at the same time soft and yielding.

As if these perfections weren't enough, there's a French chanson in the air -- and then there's the room itself!

On the opposite side from where I sit, one entire wall, perhaps 20 feet in length, is covered in panorama wallpaper that showcases fanciful scenes of Greek and Roman columns, the Egyptian pyramids and sphinx, and assorted minarets, spires, turrets, and crenellations. All these are set in a faded, soft-hued, sunset landscape, with palms and green clumps of trees and a silver river undulating through. In the foreground, partly blocking these scenes, branches and bushes burst with bright pink and purple blooms that look as if they are about to spill out of the wall.

More romantic scenes cover the wall behind me - the remains of an amphitheater, ruined columns, and dusky peaks receding into the background, and in the foreground a luxuriant profusion of plants spilling over my shoulder. The wallpaper's palette is echoed in the upholstery on the settee where I sit and the two armchairs that flank the settee, all covered in a luxuriously soft gray-green material with a gold design motif.

Beneath the panorama opposite me, a red leather banquette runs the entire length of the wall, with eight square tables and one chair set at each. Another five tables, two round and three square, are arranged on the floor between. In the corners of the room two-foot-tall studded brass pots hold real palms. An ancient coat rack presides at the entrance to the salon, a gray-green Roman-style column commands the middle, and two cascading, beaded, candle-crowned chandeliers regally oversee the entire scene.

All in all, it's like falling into a dream.

Gallery: Zurich's Best Cafe -- Conditorei Schober

Continue reading The best café in Zurich: savoring the Old World splendors of Conditorei Schober

The best café in Zurich: savoring the Old World splendors of Conditorei Schober originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The aerogramme and the email]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/01/the-aerogramme-and-the-email/http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/01/the-aerogramme-and-the-email/http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/01/the-aerogramme-and-the-email/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

aerogrammeOnce upon a time, the cheapest, most convenient way for travelers abroad to write to friends and family back home was the aerogramme. This ingenious creation was a razor-thin, super-light, roughly 6-x-11-inch sheet of blue-colored paper that was designed to be folded into thirds, creating six postcard-size panels (both sides of the paper were used).

One of these panels was pre-stamped and printed with dotted lines for the recipient's address; four of the panels were blank, to be used for writing your message; and in the Greek aerogramme that lies before me now, the other panel features a photo of whitewashed buildings rising up a rocky brown hill against a deep blue sky.

Adjoining the stamp-and-address panel were two gummed flaps; when you finished your message, you licked and folded these flaps to seal the note. Then all you had to do was drop the aerogramme into a mailbox. No weighing, no paying, no standing in line. This was the height of epistolary convenience when I lived in France, Greece, and Japan in the 1970s.

Continue reading The aerogramme and the email

The aerogramme and the email originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aerogrammedon georgeDonGeorgeemailtraveloldandnewTue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Just Go With It Review: A mid-winter escape to Hawaii, with some Hollywood enhancements]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/02/15/just-go-with-it-review-a-mid-winter-escape-to-hawaii-with-some/http://www.gadling.com/2011/02/15/just-go-with-it-review-a-mid-winter-escape-to-hawaii-with-some/http://www.gadling.com/2011/02/15/just-go-with-it-review-a-mid-winter-escape-to-hawaii-with-some/#commentsFiled under: ,

If you're tired of cold, bitter winter weather, Just Go With It - the new Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston film -- might be just the antidote. It's a frothy, fizzy, cocktail-with-a-paper-umbrella kind of warm-hearted comedy set in a lush tropical setting - and who couldn't use a little of that right now?

The script isn't Oscar-winning material, but it does what it needs to: A single L.A. plastic surgeon (Sandler) pretends to be unhappily married so he can score with sympathetic women. When he meets a woman he thinks he really might want to marry, he has to prove to her that he's going to divorce his wife. He coerces his long-suffering single-mother-of-two assistant (Aniston) to play the role of the wife, her kids get thrown into the ruse, and soon everyone ends up at the Grand Wailea resort on Maui bonding as a prelude to ending one marriage and starting another.

If you love Jennifer Aniston and/or Adam Sandler, you'll probably like this movie. And if you love Hawaii, as I do, you'll definitely get your aloha fix from the scenes shot on Maui and Kauai. The massive Grand Wailea gets diva treatment, with eye-candy shots of its verdant sprawling grounds, luxurious lobby, sumptuous suites, and enticing pool. There's also a great extended luau sequence that shows dining on the lawn under the stars, complete with tiki torches and hula dancers. And speaking of hula, one of the best scenes in the film is an indoor hula competition where Jennifer Aniston ends up squaring off against Nicole Kidman. Yes, you read that right: Nicole Kidman, doing the hula. And doing it hip-shakingly, grass-skirt-twirlingly well, I might add.

Continue reading Just Go With It Review: A mid-winter escape to Hawaii, with some Hollywood enhancements

Just Go With It Review: A mid-winter escape to Hawaii, with some Hollywood enhancements originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adam sandlerAdamSandlerjennifer annistonJenniferAnnistonjust go with itJustGoWithItmoviemoviesTue, 15 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lonely Planet maps the future: a conversation with CEO Matt Goldberg]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/17/lonely-planet-matt-goldberg-interview/http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/17/lonely-planet-matt-goldberg-interview/http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/17/lonely-planet-matt-goldberg-interview/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

matt goldberg lonely planet

Matt Goldberg joined Lonely Planet as CEO in March 2009. Before joining Lonely Planet, he was senior vice president of digital strategy and operations for Dow Jones & Company in New York, where his responsibilities included leading business operations for The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. I spoke with him in November.

DG: Why did you move to Lonely Planet?

MG: First of all, to be selected to lead a company that was so important to me personally in my own travels and that plays such an important and meaningful role in the world by encouraging and empowering people to go out and experience the world, was nothing short of humbling. When I pinched myself and realized that I received the offer, there was no question in my mind that I would sell my house in the worst economic climate in history, pull my children out of school, and move 12,000 miles away -- because to my mind, there is no company more deserving of its reputation than Lonely Planet. It's going through an incredible period, like any content company in any category, and I'm passionate about one question: How do esteemed media brands, products and services make the successful transition through this period of extraordinary technological innovation? I have spent my career thinking about that question, and I am putting all of my energy into helping Lonely Planet make that transition successfully.

DG: Has your sense of Lonely Planet's challenges evolved very dramatically since you joined the company?

Continue reading Lonely Planet maps the future: a conversation with CEO Matt Goldberg

Lonely Planet maps the future: a conversation with CEO Matt Goldberg originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgeguidebooklonely planetLonelyPlanetmatt goldbergMattGoldbergMon, 17 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA["The Tourist": Is it worth the trip?]]>http://www.gadling.com/2010/12/10/the-tourist-is-it-worth-the-trip/http://www.gadling.com/2010/12/10/the-tourist-is-it-worth-the-trip/http://www.gadling.com/2010/12/10/the-tourist-is-it-worth-the-trip/#commentsFiled under: ,

the touristAt the beginning of the new movie "The Tourist," a mild-mannered American schoolteacher is sitting alone on a train from Paris to Venice. A mysterious and beautiful English woman approaches him, sits in the open seat across from him, and engages him in conversation. Soon they're drinking wine and flirting over an elegant dinner on the train.

When they arrive in Venice, they are briefly separated, but when the teacher is poring over a map near St Mark's Square, the beauty pulls up in a sleek motorboat and whisks him off to the Doge's Suite at the five-star Hotel Danieli, where they end up in a long kiss.

This so closely resembled my own first experience as a tourist in Europe that I thought the movie was a documentary. But then I realized that in this version there were no pigeons in St. Mark's Square. Now that's bending the truth a bit too far.

Continue reading "The Tourist": Is it worth the trip?

"The Tourist": Is it worth the trip? originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgeitalylonely planetLonelyPlanetmoviethe touristTheTouristtourismtouristvacationFri, 10 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Travel writing tips: Four seeds from the garden of Susan Orlean]]>http://www.gadling.com/2010/10/27/travel-writing-tips-four-seeds-from-the-garden-of-susan-orlean/http://www.gadling.com/2010/10/27/travel-writing-tips-four-seeds-from-the-garden-of-susan-orlean/http://www.gadling.com/2010/10/27/travel-writing-tips-four-seeds-from-the-garden-of-susan-orlean/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Earlier this month I had the exhilarating opportunity to interview Susan Orlean on stage as part of the National Geographic Traveler Conversations series. I've been a fan of her work in The New Yorker and elsewhere for many years, but had never met her until early this year when we were on a panel together, so I was thrilled by this chance for a prolonged conversation.

Orlean enlivened the night with numerous anecdotes and tips, but four in particular took root in my mind. Here they are:
Resourcefulness and perseverance are all: Well, not really all, but Orlean's tales demonstrated in two ways just how important these qualities are. The first is how she advanced in her career as a journalist: She was working on a small newspaper in Oregon when a religious cult began to build a commune in a rural part of the state. She recognized that this had the makings of a big piece, called the Village Voice in faraway New York, and convinced the editor that this was a story the Voice would want to publish. This kind of pluck, vision and determination propelled her from Oregon to Boston, where she wrote for the Phoenix and the Globe, and then to New York, where she landed her dream job writing for The New Yorker - about which she said, "I had been writing stories for The New Yorker for a long time; they just didn't realize it."

Resourcefulness and perseverance are key to her stories as well: When she went to Spain to interview the first female matador, Orlean recalled, everything fell apart: The man who had represented himself as the matador's agent turned out to be a fraud; the interview she thought she had arduously set up had evaporated. This matador was such a hot property that no media person could get close to her. So what did Orlean do? She tracked down the matador's mother and spilled out her woeful tale. Eventually she got her interview - and her story, "The Bullfighter Checks Her Make-Up."

Continue reading Travel writing tips: Four seeds from the garden of Susan Orlean

Travel writing tips: Four seeds from the garden of Susan Orlean originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>susan orleanSusanOrleanTravel Writingtravel writing tipsTravelWritingTravelWritingTipsWed, 27 Oct 2010 15:30:00 EST