The Best Countries in the World for Festivals
In the summer of 2012, as I started telling people about my intent to create a travel blog and website dedicated to the world’s best festivals, one friend asked me the following question as we watched...
View ArticleWhy Festivals Can Change Your Life
To be curious is to open oneself up to possibility. Unfortunately, most of us experience our lives in just the opposite direction. In order to get through this obstacle course called life, we put...
View ArticleWe Are Where We Sleep
Before becoming a travel blogger about the world's best festivals, I spent a quarter century founding and being CEO of Joie de Vivre Hotels, which grew into the second largest boutique hotelier in the...
View ArticleWhy I Write
I long to be anti-social. It’s not that I don’t enjoy people. Next to dogs, people are just about the best species ever created. Certainly better than toads. No, my anti-social longing comes from...
View ArticleYou Can Tell A Lot About Someone by Where They Travel
My passport is my most treasured possession. I will log travel to probably twenty countries in 2013 and I certainly couldn't do it without my passport. My second home is the world. And, yet, one of my...
View ArticleWhy Vacation is Such an Awful Word
For a quarter century, as the founder and CEO of a hotel company and then as a writer, I tried to retire the word "occupation." It's the word we use to describe when one hostile country takes over...
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The Best Books on Global Festivals
It’s curious in this digital age that there’s very few websites that I can recommend that outline the best festivals in the world (part of the reason I’m doing Fest300). But, there is a plentiful...
View ArticleGetting the Most Out of a Festival
As I’ve “come out” about my festival fetish (or what I call a “festish”), I’ve been barraged with two completely opposite reactions from friends. One set is full of admiration and envy and feels sort...
View ArticleTalking with David Binder about the Best New Cultural Festivals
David Binder’s TED talk on how arts festivals are evolving was a revelation. It prompted me to reach out to him and chat about what new festivals in the world are creating transformative experiences...
View ArticleWhy I Love Festivals
In the first part of 2012, I was on a book tour speaking to a group about the powerful intersection of psychology and business. The first question asked during the Q&A was from a super-sleuth who’d...
View ArticleLooking for Some Inspiration for Where To Go Next?
High school counselors ought to teach students how to look for "collateral benefits" when they consider a career path. Being a florist might mean you always have lots of fresh flowers at home. Working...
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Where Am I Going in 2013?
Thankfully, the number #1 question I've been asked since making the commitment to becoming the world's premier aficionado of festivals isn’t, “Are you nuts?” Instead, it’s, “Where are you going and can...
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5 Festivals / 5 Weeks - How to Pack for Asia
Photo: Mattes via Wikimedia Commons My emotional pie chart today is 60% ebullient excitement and 40% nervous anticipation. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve long been on what religion/philosophy scholar...
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FINAL REFLECTIONS ON FIVE WEEKS OF ASIAN FESTIVALS
THE KISS OF LIFE “There’s a kiss that will wake you up. And, there’s a kiss that will put you to sleep. The kiss may be fleeting, it may be as soft as a whisper, or like a gentle breeze caressing your...
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FIVE WEEKS ON THE ROAD: A RANT TO THE WORLD’S HOTELIERS
Photo credit *This post is not related to The Fairmont...photo is only used to illustrate an iconic hotel I was the CEO of a hotel company for two-dozen years. We started with one bankrupt, no-tell...
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ART GIMBEL’S FAVORITE FESTIVALS
As mentioned in my prior blog posts, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Art Gimbel as we’re both San Franciscans who love to travel to festivals around the world. Art’s quite an accomplished...
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CURING MY “PLACE-ENVY”: A CONVERSATION WITH A FESTIVAL-GOING GURU
I have a 1:1 ratio as to how many countries I’ve visited and my age. Been to 55 countries (so far), turned 52 not long ago. My new friend Art Gimbel has been to more than 72 countries, and he’s just...
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