I might have a slight bias towards Houston seeing as I currently live there. Before I moved to the Bayou City, I lived in Colorado, one of the most touted[ places in the country, and while I loved it for many, many reasons, I am so glad I left to go explore another place, especially…
I wanted to follow up on my recent post regarding the $20 Trick with my own list. As a travel host, my perspective comes from somewhere between the front desk staff and the guest. I’ve learned all sorts of ways to get what I need without relying on tips and bribes, and I’ve learned to focus on…
Saag, sometimes called palak, is and has always been one of my favorite foods. This Indian dish is a staple throughout India and is most common in the state of Odisha in northern India. Other parts of the country and neighboring Bengal have slight variations in flavors and textures, but the base ingredients of the…
Those of us who live in the US have probably only seen one kind of toilet. It’s called the Western-style toilet, and it’s been part of our lives since early childhood. We use it daily and don’t really think much about it. When we travel, it isn’t really something we consider. Realistically, it isn’t something…
Obviously, I travel a lot. That means I spend a lot of time in airports. When I first started this job I hated airports as much as the next person, but the more I traveled the more I got used to them and figured out some of the tricks that make them more tolerable. 1….
I honestly don’t know if this is true for all travel professionals, but so far, everyone I’ve worked with does it: we give nicknames. Usually, they’re given to the problem travelers or the ones who get themselves in trouble, and those always come with a good story, but others are given to the nicest and…
Most people know Pittsburgh as the home of the steel industry. Many also know that the steel industry in the United States is no longer relevant to the economy in any significant way. So, what happened to Pittsburgh? One might assume it ended up like Detroit after the decline of the auto industry, but that’s…
We all have those cities in our mind that stand out as especially bad. They’re too hot. Too cold. Too crowded. Too boring. Too dirty. Etc. Some of them seem nearly universally agreed on. Places you’d never even consider when planning a vacation. They are the places that are cheap to fly to, cheap to…
The “$20 Trick” has spread around the internet as the best way to get a nearly free upgrade at any hotel. Popularized by the book“Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality” by Jacob Tomsky, this idea has spread like wildfire and has resulted in an unrealistic expectation of nearly free…
If you’ve ever planned a vacation, you know that the information and choices you have can be overwhelming. Some people know precisely what they want and can confidently buy those things themselves. Others use travel agents to curate custom packages. Many others piece things together and rely on online reviews to find the best excursions,…