I'm currently changing the weather

Flying from a snow storm in the East to sunny skies in the West. Stay tuned for photos from my travels!

Photo Update:

I give you, Paradise!


Ready to set sail


Catalina Island, CA


L.A. Cetto winery in Ensenada, MX



Although it felt great to escape the snow for a little bit, I found out that I am definitely not a 'Cruiser.' Nope, I don't need an itinerary jam-packed with activities and excursions to enjoy myself... Give me sun & sand, and I'm good.

The most important meal of the day

As a Vegan, breakfast is not my most important meal of the day. In fact, I dread eating before 11a now. I remember not getting dress before eating a hot bowl oatmeal with morning coffee. But I wore that routine out. Now that it seems like it's my only HOT meal option before lunch (which is usually cold too), I have grown out of oatmeal. I miss having options, such a luxury that we take for granted in this country. In one city block you can enjoy a plethora of worldly cuisine types. There's NO other country quite like it. Nevertheless, breakfast is special, less dish options but so many possibilities, and you can still get it fast! Vegans? We gotta plan ahead or eat cold foods. Apples, bananas, and soy yogurt are all great, but who wants to eat their afternoon snacks for breakfast, everyday? No thank you, I'll bypass the "most important" and hold out for the most satisfying.

The Social Network

Better late than never right?! Well it's probably not that serious, but I did finally see the movie about the birth, growth, and drama of the social networking tool that we know all too well, Facebook. Beyond learning about the life-changing side effects that were bestowed on all parties involved in creating and growing Facebook, The Social Network reveals exactly what it takes to start start a business with such a wildly innovative concept for its time. The co-founder Mark Zuckerberg illustrated an unwavering ability to focus on crafting the algorithmic programs and ascetics of the website. As an undergraduate student at Harvard Unuversity, one of the most prestigious and rigorous institutions in th world, he envisioned a cool concept and completely immersed himself in "The Facebook" in his college dorm room! It was cool to watch how him work relentlessly on coding, concepts, features, and funding. There's a great quote that was once said by insightful person, (something like) "Our ability to focus is what dictates our success." Not money. Not intelligence. But our ability to FOCUS! The ability to put our fears and doubts aside and just focus on the task at hand. Moving on to the next task, and the task after that, this will eventually lead us to even greater achievements. In 2004, Zuckerberg did not initiate his work on thefacebook.com to become the world's youngest billionaire or to even gain 1 million users. Nope! He through himself into the project so vigorously because he believed that his ideas were cooler, and he just focused on producing his vision. The writing for this movie is spectacular, and the underlying moral is even greater.

"And the strawberries taste like STRAWBERRIES!"

(A quotable from the classic movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) I was this excited about the delicious strawberries that I just purchased from my local Trader Joe's. I'm always extra proud when I pick out good fruit. It's like winning the nutritious lotto! I'm trying to choose more healthy (and satisfying) snacks. For the record, being a Vegan does not exclude one from being a snacker! It's true, and I just love to munch. Not saying it's a bad thing, just not conducive to achieving my longterm lifestyle goals. So with my yummy strawberries, I'm snacking like I mean it and getting back on track!

I ♥ Polar Bears

Without a doubt, if I could come back to Earth as any other mammal, I would be a Polar Bear. Is that odd?! They are just so cool to me. It saddens me that they are increasingly endangered to global warming. These beautiful creatures are just magnificent.

*Photo courtesy of Planetsave

...something blue!

Striking Blue Dragonfly

*Photo courtesy of Cool Green Science

ESTC 2010 in PORTLAND

I had the pleasure of traveling to the great city of Portland, OR for this year's Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC). The conference featured industry experts from all perspectives including destination managers and marketers, travel authors, wild life philosophers, and tour operators. Below, I was pictured talking to Tim Mongin, Housing and Reservations Manager for Travel Portland, the destination marketing organization for the Portland area. It was an inspiring experience, and I can't hardly wait for next year's conference to be held on Hilton Head Island, SC.

Photo courtesy of SustainableBusinessOregon.com

1-year and counting...

Hello world! It's been far too long since my last post, and for that I am so sorry. Fail, on my part. But, I am back with BIG news. Today, I am celebrating my 1-year VEGANniversary!!! Yup, 1-year and counting my friends:) Check out this awesome e-card that I received.

Greener GOOGLE

Compliments of Cool Green Science

Geotourism Summit

This week, The National Geographic Society Center for Sustainable Destinations hosted the Geotourism Summit, an international gathering of tourism industry experts and stakeholders. The mission of this organization is to promote responsible travel to the world's most fascinating destinations through "enlightened destination stewardship." The best description of Geotourism can be found on their website: Geotourism incorporates the concept of sustainable tourism—that destinations should remain unspoiled for future generations—while allowing for ways to protect a place's character. Geotourism also takes a principle from its ecotourism cousin,—that tourism revenue should promote conservation—and extends it to culture and history as well, that is, all distinctive assets of a place.

Yesterday, I enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer as a greeter at the Summit. My experience was very rewarding because it exposed me to two of my passions, tourism and sustainability. In between greeting and directing the Summit's participants, I was able to listen to a couple of the presentations. In particular, I enjoyed the panel discussion, "Geotourism At Work: Destination Stewardship Strategies." Basically, the panelist spoke on their personal and professional experiences as well as their ideas for promoting Geotourism in the travel industry. These industry experts spoke about selling Geotourism with a unique story about the destination, make it meaningful, relevant, and real to outsiders. Its really all about information sharing. Social media tools have and will continue to be critical to the Geotourism movement. The next big knowledge sharing tool will be one that is able to accurately match local knowledge with expert knowledge and make it reliable knowledge for others to read and share. The panelists also addressed the need to get our youth involved. Being that these experts are from all over the world and are very familiar with the concept of a Gap year for service and travel, they emphasized the market for voluntourism in our current global recession.

Please check out the links for more information on the Geotourism movement and the NGS Center for Sustainable Destinations.