I am not a spontaneous person. I don’t decide on a whim to play hooky from work to go to the beach, or run over to a friend’s house on the spur of the moment without calling first. And I’ve never just up and booked a last-minute trip. No, I’m too much of a planner [...]

For the past 3 months, my friends and family, coworkers, people I know on Facebook and Twitter and total strangers on the street have been asking me “Where are you traveling this year, Gray?” and “What’s your next trip?” I’ve been playing it coy, building suspense, saying “it’s a secret.” Truth is, until last week, [...]

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and I thought it would be a good time to focus on gratitude.  Sometimes we travelers obsess on the negatives–high prices, crowds, poor customer service.  But there is still plenty to be thankful for in the travel world.  I am still thankful for everything I mentioned on last [...]

Today is Blog Action Day 2009.  More than 10,000 bloggers (myself included) blogged today about climate change to bring awareness to the issue of global warming.  Here are just a few travel-related Blog Action Day posts I wanted to bring to your attention. At Wayworded, MatadorNetwork trip editor Hal Amen notes that he has seen [...]

Have you ever heard this expression:  “It ruined my vacation!”?  I see it all the time online on travel forums and review sites.  Whenever I read that statement, I roll my eyes.  Why?  Because 80% of the time, the person who wrote it is being a drama queen blowing some minor incident out of all [...]

“Is it worth it?” This is fast becoming my least favorite phrase on the travel message forums that I frequent. I see it several times a day, about everything from specific restaurants, to different kinds of theme park passes, to attractions and shows, to resorts and hotels. It’s such a loaded question. I don’t know [...]

TripIt.com and LinkedIn.com have partnered up to provide a social networking application with which you can share your upcoming travel plans with your connections and networks on LinkedIn.  This is one way solos can connect with people they already know when they’re on the road.  Click on the play button below to see how it [...]

I just wanted to share this great piece by veteran flight attendant James Wysong, author of Flying High with A Frank Steward: More Air Travel Tales From the Flight Crew, who writes a column at MSNBC.com. (If you’re not regularly reading his stuff, I recommend it. He has terrific insider knowledge of how the airline [...]