A Call from the Reader's Digest Fact Checker

I'm at the gate at Logan, having just consumed a delicious bowl of Starbucks instant oatmeal. They give you packets of nuts and fruits so it's all in all a lot better than a fatty croissant or an even fattier meat-filled breakfast sandie. I gotta hand it to the battered 'Bucks, it was good!

I left the house at an absurdly early hour--about 5:15 am. Then I got a voicemail with an employee calling out sick. Oh jeez, sorry can't help ya....on my way to the airport to fly to Beaumont Texas. With Donna and Ashley's help (I love my employees!) that problem was taken care of, and I sped along right into the jaw of MassPike traffic. I sweated it a bit, then I looked again at my ticket. Phew! I thought my flight was at 9 but I actually leave at 11...Sweet! So I had time to fiddle and diddle, and go on line and Tweet and read newspapers here at my seat, that just happens to have an electric plug right underneath it.

Before I left I had some interesting emails to answer. A fact-checker for Reader's Digest sent me an email that read like a 'Who's Who?' of travel. The writer had contacted about 30 other travel experts and they wanted to get my name and title right. Love that. But I hope my quotes survive since she got many opinions and quotes from other travel editors.

That is one thing that us web journalists need to remember. Despite how we laugh and sometimes mock print outlets, do you think the Huffington Post or Google news pays fact-checkers to comb through their stories the way RD, or Time, or Newsweek, or even Esquire does? I don't think so.

When Reader's Digest Calls, I'm Ready for Our Close-up

It doesn't take a whole lot to make me very happy. I think that's one of the secrets to a great life...letting tiny joys fill up your life and content you. Today I got an email that led to a call from a writer named Cathie Gandel from Bridgehampton NY. She was writing a story on assignment from Reader's Digest about summer travel and trends. She found us and wanted some comments on niche or experimental vac ations. Of course I was eager to help.

I told her about a few trends we've seen....volunteering, either around the world or in the US. I showed her the many opportunities that are listed on GoNOMAD's volunteering directory, including programs to help native Americans out west. Then I told her about how women's travel was becoming more and more popular...women traveling together and enjoying the hell out of it.

At the end I told her that despite our tough economic times, people are still taking vacations, and that they should not stop going. I told her I think the best education you can give a kid is to take him somewhere cool, out of the ordinary, and view amazing things like the Grand Canyon or the red rock mushrooms of Goblin Valley Utah together. That's real education, I said.

She said she liked that quote, so hopefully, so will Reader's Digest.