When I worked at Zagat, I often heard about the Slow Food movement, which emphasizes seasonal, locally produced fare eaten leisurely in the company of others (as opposed to going to your local fast-food drive-through and wolfing it down alone in your car). And, I’m aware of the Slow Travel movement, which would certainly disapprove […]

I took that photo of the beach at Siesta Key, FL, on Monday, May 31st. As you can see,the water is still clean, clear and gorgeous. (For the record, those are people's heads you see in the water — not tar balls or oil balls.) In fact, I wish I was still there right now… […]

I planned my trip to Sarasota, FL, several weeks before the BP oil spill in the Gulf on Mexico. Every time I'd been to Sarasota, it was too cold to enjoy the beach but I figured that it should finally be warm enough on Memorial Day Weekend. Well, now I wasn't worried about the weather […]

Last week, I held a sunset photography contest with the San Antonio CVB. I received a ton of terrific submissions, so I was relieved that I could choose the winner randomly. I'm pleased to announce that the winner is Joy Bennett of Harlingen, TX. On the left you can see the lovely photo that Joy […]

(photo of Bay Head by Lakewentworth/flickr) Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, so I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite summer spots: Bay Head, NJ. This quaint Jersey Shore town, which bills itself as "a country village by the sea," is nothing like Seaside Heights, home to MTV's Jersey Shore. […]

(Sunset over Hill Country, photo courtesy of San Antonio CVB) It's one week after my first contest, and I'm already onto my second! This time I'm offering an even bigger prize: two nights at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa and passes for four to The Institute of Texan Cultures, Ripley's Believe It […]

I'm launching Travelogged's first-ever contest, and I couldn't be more excited because I have two fabulous prizes to give away. Yes, I have not one but TWO $50 gift certificates from Joy of Spa, each of which is redeemable at more than 3,000 spas in the U.S. Giving the gift of a spa experience has […]

Remember when the Winter Olympics was going on and it was all anyone was talking about? You know, Lindsay Vonn, figure skating, USA vs. Canada hockey, the mystery of curling and all that. But once all of the medals have been collected and the closing ceremonies, everyone seems to forget all about the Winter Olympics […]

Don't you hate it when you come across a cactus without a name? Me too. Cacti are prickly enough to begin with that you don't want to worry about rubbing them the wrong way by saying "hey you, over there, the tall green one with the needles". When they have names, it's just easier for […]

Oh Jersey Shore. I hated the first episode, but then my friend Caitlin insisted I give this MTV reality show another chance. So I did and I soon became completely obsessed with this group of 20-somethings who proudly called themselves Guidos and Guidettes (pictured above) as they lived it up in MTV's beach house in […]