Category: 10 Questions For:

Happy to feature ever smiling Keith Jenkins, a long time travel blogging friend who runs the price winning luxury travel blog Velvet Escape, for my 10 questions series.

1) Who Are you?

I’m Keith Jenkins, the Founder & Publisher of the Velvet Escape luxury travel blog. In 2008, I left a ten-year investment banking career to travel the world. During my travels, the financial sector collapsed. Unable to find a job in banking after returning from my round-the-world trip, I started blogging about my travels. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me!

2) What do you like about what you do?

I get to travel the world and work according to my own terms.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?

As the owner of the company, I oversee all aspects of the day-to-day operations and of these, financial administration has never been one of my strongest points.

4) Please tell us all about your blog and your aims with it.

I started the Velvet Escape blog in December 2008 and since then, I’ve won various awards and the blog has been featured by the likes of Lonely Planet, National Geographic, CNN, BBC Travel and the New York Times. In a nutshell, Velvet Escape is about getting out and exploring the world in style, and being inspired by our travel experiences. I cover destination tips, gastronomy and hotels, as well as culture, architecture and nature. My aim is to inspire people to travel and learn from immersive experiences.

5) Your top 3 destination experiences you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

• Experiencing the incredible nature of the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.
• Any of my food experiences in Costa Brava (Catalonia, Spain) or in Emilia-Romagna (Italy).
• A helicopter tour of Cape Town. The views of the city, Table Mountain and the coast were simply phenomenal.

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

1. Four Seasons Mauritius at Anahita – an incredible resort with stunning villas! See: http://velvetescape.com/four-seasons-mauritius-anahita/
2. Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur – some of the best views of the Petronas Twin Towers! See: http://velvetescape.com/grand-hyatt-kl-review/
3. Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador – amazing design lodge nesteled in the cloud forests of Ecuador. See: http://velvetescape.com/mashpi-cloud-forest/

7) Your top 3 most memorable food / wine experiences to date and why?

1. Moscato di Scanzo meditation wine in Lombardy, Italy – this wine is simply exquisite and is guaranteed to make you dream away! See: http://velvetescape.com/moscato-di-scanzo/
2. l Celler de Can Roca – one of the top-3 restaurants in the world every year, a meal here is a feast for the senses! See: http://velvetescape.com/heaven-el-celler-de-can-roca/
3. Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid – one of my favourite markets in the world, I could spend all day here just eating and drinking my way around! See: http://velvetescape.com/mercado-san-miguel/



8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?

Whoa, this is a tough question. I can only think of two I’m afraid.
The absolute worst accommodation experience I’ve ever had was in a hotel in Rotterdam (which closed down some time ago so there’s no point mentioning it here). The room was dirty, dusty and swarming with mosquitoes. I was booked there for one night but left after an hour when they couldn’t give me another room! That’s the only time I’ve ever left a hotel prematurely.

When it comes to food experiences, I’ll never forget that ‘cardboard’ burger I had at the airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I was so hungry but even then, I threw it away after a few bites. It was just too gross to eat.

9) Can you offer the readers 3 destination/ food / accommodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?

Amsterdam

• Visit the Food Hallen in the Kinkerbuurt for some gorgeous food/wines
• Have a drink at the SkyLounge at sunset
• If you love architecture, stroll around the Rivierenbuurt/Oud Zuid neighbourhoods to admire the ‘Amsterdam School’ architectural style, a unique brand of Art Deco.

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?

Which 3 cities would you definitely return to again and why?
They would be Montréal, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.

• Montréal – from Old Montréal with its gorgeous historic buildings to the city’s striking architecture and arts/design scene, fab restaurants and lovely parks, this city has tonnes to offer. Most of all, I love the energy in this city, a unique brand of joie de vivre that never let’s you go once it has you in its grip!
• Rio de Janeiro – the home of samba, Copacabana, Ipanema, the Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ Statue, Rio is exotic, breathtaking, vibrant and laid-back all at once. There’s just something magnetic about this city!
• Cape Town – another stunning harbour-side city which I can’t get enough of! The views from the top of Table Mountain are bewildering, as is the drive around the Cape Peninsula. Cape Town is a lively hodge-podge of markets, historic buildings, colourful neighbourhoods like Bo Kaap and terrific restaurants and cafés.



My Take:

Thank you Keith for helping me out with this interview. Especially now I’ve completed number 50, half a century in cricket terms.

Please go on with your blog as you are a super blogger and example for many. I love Velvet Escape and admire the fact that you are one of the happy few who are able to live from blogging.

I’ve used this opportunity to change this blog’s header photo from a surfer in a storm in Scheveningen into a sculpture in Pesaro in the Marche in Italy as you fell in love with Emilia Romagna and I with the adjacent Marche region in Italy.


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I have asked Carol Perehudoff of Wandering Carol, a real funny Luxury Travel Blog, my 10 questions:

Carol and hubby at the Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice

1) Who Are you?

I’m Carol Perehudoff, aka Wandering Carol, at WanderingCarol.com – a luxury travel blog for those who love to laugh. A former freelance travel columnist with the Toronto Star, I’ve written for many publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Royal Wings and enRoute Magazine, and was voted a Top 10 Luxury Travel Blogger in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

2) What do you like about what you do?

Traveling and writing! What could be a better combination? I once read on a postcard: “She was often gripped with a desire to be elsewhere,” and that pretty much sums up my life.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?

Jet lag is the perpetual curse of travel writers. I also have trouble with excruciatingly long dinners on press trips (a press trip is when a group of travel journalists are invited to explore a region, city or hotel and their trip itinerary is organized by their hosts), when all I really want to do is be back in my room processing what I’ve seen, keeping up with social media, blogging, etc. Oh, who am I kidding? After 12 hours with the same group of people I just want to have a bath and read a book. People need down time on trips, at least introverts like me do.

4) Please tell us all about your blog and your aims with it.

I want it to be fun. Also, I’m obsessed with researching historical details. Often those two things conflict. Over the last year or two I’ve been making my posts more info-filled so I can provide how-to’s as well as write in a narrative style. The primary goal of Wandering Carol is to entertain, to offer travel ideas and tips and to show people that luxury travel is more accessible than they think.

5) Your top 3 destination experiences you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

I get asked this a lot and I always say it’s like being asked to name my favourite child (except I don’t have children.) However, some adventures stand out. One memorable trip to Europe was when my husband and I rented an apartment in an old chateau in the wilds of the Cevennes region of France. It was so out of the way and romantic that I’ll never forget it. Hot springs spas in Tuscany are always a favourite of mine and snorkelling with beluga whales up in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, had to be one of the most exciting experience I’ve ever had.

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

Hm. Let me think. The restored Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice was like living in a doge’s palace – my top moment was having breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Grand Canal. (Mind you, it was my honeymoon so I was obligated to be happy.)
b) Brenners Park, an old world hotel in the spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, has a gracious atmosphere, a lovely park setting and a high-end spa – and has hosted every celebrity from Bill Clinton to Heidi Klum. And since I like to imagine I move in these circles (though I definitely don’t), how could I not love Brenners?
c) The castle-like Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Canada, will always be high on my list. I grew up going to Banff almost every summer and the hotel looked like a fairytale to me.

7) Your top 3 most memorable food / wine experiences to date and why?

Well, eating chicken anus at a Japanese restaurant in Korea was pretty unforgettable. At the other end (pardon the pun) of the spectrum the tasting menu at Cuisinart Resort in Anguilla will be etched in my mind forever (along with their eco-friendly hydroponic garden). However, my absolute favourite restaurant in the entire world is La Colombe d’Or in the tiny town of St Paul de Vence in the South of France, because of the history (Picasso used to hang out there, along with a host of other starving artists), the art-cluttered walls and because it’s where I was introduced to black truffles.

8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?

Much as I love Thailand, the $6 room I had in Kanchanaburi Province was slightly terrifying. I was the only guest at the resort, although you couldn’t really call it a resort, and the only staff member at night was a security guard. The problem was that I didn’t realize I could turn off the light outside my room, so every creepy flying insect in the jungle was attracted to the light and buzzing and flapping outside my door – this made going to the bathroom, which was outside and down the hall, a perilous nocturnal adventure. It was much better once I got that light turned off, and strangely enough, after I befriended the local cat and let him sleep in my room, I ended up loving the place and even went back a second time. This restored my faith in myself as a traveler – I’d begun to think nothing but a 5-star hotel would satisfy me.
Another bad experience? I was watching an elderly man’s bags for him while he went to change money in a train station in Paris and the bag with his medications was stolen in front of my eyes. Oh, the guilt.
A third less than wonderful travel experience was when EasyJet cancelled our flight from Paris to Nice. After spending the entire day in the airport, we were finally given tickets for a flight late the next day. The problem was we’d rented an apartment in Nice and were supposed to be there that afternoon, and the owner had driven in from Grasse and was waiting for us. There was no phone in the apartment and he didn’t have a cell phone so there was no way to reach him until he’d given up and driven back to Grasse. To make it worse, EasyJet’s customer service was awful to us afterwards when we tried to get compensation, even though the employees at the time had assured us we’d get it. I’m still annoyed.

9) Can you offer the readers 3 destination/ food / accommodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?

Great question! Of course! Who doesn’t want to show off their city? I live in Toronto in the swishy (some would say snobby) area of Yorkville. But in the 60s it was the hippy hangout of choice, and there is so much more to the neighbourhood than high heels and pretentiousness. People can watch my Leopard Chicks Go to Yorkville Video to get an idea of what to see (and to be amazed by how stupid my friend and I look on video).
Toronto’s newest attraction is Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. I recently went and found it a lot more educational than I’d expected to. I also had a love affair with a shark so maybe I’m biased.
Toronto has come a long way in the spa and 5-star hotel department lately, and as I am a wellness fanatic, I’d recommend checking out some of Toronto’s best spas. And if people have any more questions about Toronto they can contact me through my blog.

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?

My Take

Thank you for your contribution Carol. It’s always fun to see that the people I interview in this series, have similar preferences as I have. i love Venice and Tuscany and I love the Còte D’Azure around St Paul de Vence.

Happy to introduce you to a Real Chef: Chandler Tomayko.

1) Who Are you?

My name is Chandler Tomayko. I am 28 years old. I am a Chef, a Traveler and a freelance Photographer. I have spent the past several years participating in culinary workshops around the world, learning about different cultures, working in different restaurants, teaching and collaborating with professionals in different fields. I have two blogs: thechefwithredshoes.wordpress.com started out as a way for me to keep tabs on what I was doing while traveling and working. My second blog: chandlertomaykophotography.wordpress.com is my online photography portfolio.

2) What do you like about what you do?

I love that cooking allows me to be completely present. I have to use all 5 senses at all times, so there is not a part of me that isn’t involved. I sensory check myself constantly to see what it is that I am seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. I am in awe of how cooking brings people together. My travels have proven that regardless of language barriers, cultural differences and social inequalities, hungry people around a table can communicate and enjoy themselves.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?

Fortunately in my line of work I get to meet people from many countries and different cultural backgrounds. Many of these people are immigrants or ex-pats. The ugly underbelly of the culinary world is the exploitation you will find. Too many employees are overworked, underpaid and unappreciated. I see hardworking individuals who are tired and hungry, who still put forth their best effort to feed others who are tired and hungry. When was the last time you stopped to think how many hours the cook who made your dish has worked, or how much he is being paid or if he has had time to eat today? Kitchen families are unique. We miss our own family’s holidays, birthdays and special moments so we can provide those for other people. Most cooks will laugh at a 12 hour shift, because to us it is a thing of myth. I have been placed in situations where the only way for me to help, after exhausting all options, is to walk away to show my lack of support for the mistreatment of restaurant employees.

4) Please tell us all about your blog and your aims with it.

My first blog: thechefwithredshoes.wordpress.com has become a log of any culinary adventure, mistake, experiment, project or trip I undertake. I accept invitations, challenges and from time to time even a request or two. My main aim is to create a network of culinary oriented individuals who are generous with their knowledge. I am constantly seeking new participants who are willing to pass on a technique, host a traveling chef or share a useful tip.

My second blog: chandlertomaykophotography.wordpress.com serves as a portfolio for those interested in looking at my work for leisure or for those interested in hiring my services. I also accept photography subject/theme/project ideas to expand my repertoire. I like to be pushed of think outside of the box.

5) Your top 3 destination experiences you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

• Every 2 years I attend Salone del Gusto. It is an international culinary festival that is just too awesome for words. Every time I visit amazing things happen, I meet the most interesting people and I sample some of the best food I have ever tasted. However on my first visit one of the coolest cultural things I have ever been a part of happened. At the end of each day, vendors, artisans, chefs, expositors and event staff pack up and set up things for the next day. They carry things out to their vehicles and clean their stands. This one evening there was a “traffic jam” of people carrying things and it came to a full halt in this open space right before an exit door. All festival visitors were already gone. The people from all different countries looked around at each other, kind of using body language to encourage each other to go first. This one guy while waiting set down his ice cooler and tapped out a beat like it was a drum. Another guy looked over at him, set down the box he was carrying and tapped out the same beat. In a matter of seconds an impromptu band was made with pots, pans, spoons, boxes, packages of rice and other random items. The song Guantanamera by Celia Cruz was being sung in multiple languages at once. I was pulled in by some random gentleman who tried to dance with me. We failed miserably and just swayed next to each other, laughing instead. As soon as the song was over, everyone picked up their things, smiled and filed out to their cars. It was a naturally occurring flash mob of sorts and it was incredible.

• When I visited London I was walking across the courtyard for the Royal Guardsmen museum and overheard a frustrated tourist from Mexico trying to talk to a veteran in uniform. I offered to translate and was appalled when the tourist wanted me to ask the nice gentleman if he had served in the first world war, when he was obviously not a day over 70! William Miles was the guardsman’s name and he was so tickled with my unexpected assistance that he invited me out to join him for a private reception being held at the museum, treated me to lunch afterwards and we then attended a royal guardsmen concert. The following day I was invited to meet some of his friends at the Royal Chelsea Hospital and visit an art exhibit. I could not have had a better guide.
• I worked and lived in the middle east for a short period. In Abu dhabi to be exact. It is not an experience I am fond of. During one of my lowest point towards the end of my trip I was scheduled to be on a stand by flight for a visa renewal trip. I had been sent by my employer over the border to Oman. They had guaranteed me that I would be able to get on the return flight they had scheduled. I was sick with the flu, suffering from headache, fever and chills. I was not provided with a means to get accommodation, I had packed only what I needed for the less than 24 hours I was supposed to be there. Of course, the flight was full, no space for stand bys. I had no phone to reach my employer, it was late and the next flight was over 5 hours later. Then I met Ahmed. An omani native that much to much luck worked for the airline and was on standby as well. He helped me reschedule my flight. We sat and talked at a coffee shop while waiting for the flight and asked each other all the uncensored questions we could think of regarding the other person’s culture. We became fast friends and during the remainder of my stay in the middle east, we played games, I taught him to cook and introduced him to s’mores. He was the highlight of my entire stay in Abu Dhabi. Wish I had met him sooner!

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

• I almost never travel somewhere new without using Couchsurfing. If you are unfamiliar with the movement, Couchsurfing is a volunteer-based worldwide network connecting travelers with members of local communities. Over the years I have been hosted by multiple people from the organization and each one has enriched my trips with their local insights, recommendations, how to’s and what not to do’s and above all their company!
• Suites del Paradiso in Osara di Puglia, Italy. It is a place that was created by my good friend and colleague Peppe Zullo. The hotel is beautiful, simple and elegant but unpretentious. You wake up to mornig dew in a vineyard and a view of a town that dates back to the 1600’s. This place is the epitome of what you would imagine the Italian countryside to be like. The hospitality is very welcoming. Far enough from the little town to create an atmosphere of seclusion, but close enough where you can visit historic sites, meet Italian locals, sip an espresso in the afternoon overlooking the square or drive to a city or beach. To top it all off, Peppe is an incredible Chef with a farm to table concept that will make you appreciate seasonality.
• Tempo Hotels & Residences was a little place I stayed at in Turkey. I originally picked it due to its low price, after I realized I would need a place to sleep during my layover. Each floor of the hotel has a different theme ranging from nature to comic book super heroes. They humored me when I requested to change floors because I wanted to see the other themes. Their breakfast that is included with the rate is wonderful. It is exactly what locals eat, there are a lot of options for such a small place and you can start your day off very well fed. Their customer service is exceptional. Noticing I had not come out of my room during the afternoon, the front desk clerk rang to see if I wanted him to order me something from the place he was getting lunch from!

7) Your top 3 most memorable food / wine experiences to date and why?

• My colleague Peppe Zullo introduced me to Angelo from Pane e Salute. He is a baker with an oven from the year 1520 that he uses to bake bread for the town, because many of their homes are old and historic and not allowed to have modern ovens. He decided to unexpectedly make lunch and asked my travel companion and I to stay. I watched several elderly older Italian women stop by with pasta dishes and sweets to say thank you to Angelo for baking their bread that week. Lunch intended for 3 turned into a table for 5 when two travelers that had come all the way from Milan just to shake Angelo’s hand were also asked to join us. The meal was simple and homemade, but by far one of the best meals I have ever had! We feasted on uovo pomodoro, olive fritti and assorted sauteed vegetables, fresh wine and bread.
• I spent a short amount of time in San Francisco and fell in love with a restaurant by the name of Namu Gaji. I had read about the owners and the story behind the restaurant. I was very impressed. I dined there on my first night in town and was so captivated by the meal that I promised to return the next morning for brunch. I did just that and ended up staying all the way until dinner time. The staff allowed me to pester them with questions so I could write an article for my blog. I ate to my heart’s content and ended the night with a round of drinks courtesy of one of the owners. The restaurant has flawless dishes, a hardworking staff, a cohesive ambiance and just a very welcoming vibe that made me want to just put on a an apron and help out if only they would let me stay. I am a Namu Groupie.
• The Festa dei Frutti Dimenticati is a very obscure festival in Italy. It took two attempts, endless research and an unexpected travel companion for me to find it. Farmers in Casola Valsenio harvest fruits that date back hundreds of years and varieties of fruits that are hard to find anywhere else. Locals showcase their produce over a weekend of celebration. Stone streets, jazz quartets in the street, pop-up bistros, local artisans, culinary concoctions galore… It almost didn’t seem real. I cannot wait to visit the festival again.

8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?

• When I traveled to Abu Dhabi I took a commercial flight departing from New York. I had the worst seat buddy ever! He was a very rude man from India. He took other passenger’s luggage out of the overhead cabin and placed it in the aisle so he could put his bag where he wanted to. He was very rude to the stewardess and insulted the passengers sitting in the rows in front of me and behind me. He flossed his teeth while sitting next to me with the plastic package that holds the blanket and pillows. He fell asleep and put his feet under my seat. He talked to himself and complained very loudly while people were trying to sleep on the very long flight. The worst thing was that many people though I was with him in the beginning. I was so embarrassed!
• On one of my visits to Italy, a colleague went with me and we decided to rent a car and do a roadtrip. We were headed to Cinque Terre and got terribly lost. Our GPS kept telling us to get off of the highway, it sent us down a lot of dead end streets and sent us to the wrong town 5 times! We were lost for 5 hours which put us behind schedule and made us very frustrated. We later learned that whoever rented the car before us had programmed the GPS to avoid highways and that is why we couldn’t reach our destination!
• One time when I was traveling I had a layover in Miami. It was AWFUL. My layover was 15 hours long and they wouldn’t allow me to check into my connecting flight for another 7 hours! I was not allowed into the airport because I didn’t have my next plane ticket. I didn’t have money to stay overnight at a hotel. The Miami airport shuts all their stores and restaurants down at night. So there was nothing to do, nothing to eat, I had nowhere to stay. I found a section of nice recliner chairs and couches where a few other travelers were also resting. I decided to try to take a nap and just wait until I could check into my next flight. All the travelers that were in that area were tired and frustrated with not being able to get into the airport. However there was a security guard who would come by every 30 minutes and shout at all of us “Remember Ladies and Gentleman, this is not a hotel, you cannot sleep here!” So no one got any sleep and by the time I checked into my flight I was exhausted!

9) Can you offer the readers 3 destination/ food / accommodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?

• I currently live on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. My favorite restaurant is Yaki Yaki Miwa. It is a Japanese restaurant specializing in Osaka style cuisine located on King Street. The staff is very friendly and the chef, Takumi is awesome! i usually talk to him using a translator on my phone because his first language is Japanese and although he speaks English, we have some difficulties sometimes. The food is great, my favorite dish is the Okonomiyaki! The prices are affordable, there is parking next to the building, the only thing to keep in mind is they are closed on Mondays.
• While you are on the island if you want to explore the outdoors I highly recommend the Makapuu lighthouse trail and tide pools. It has beautiful scenery, old military pillboxes, ancient tide pools, a blowhole and lighthouse landmark. You can choose to just hike and enjoy the terrain or you can even get into the water. If you are lucky you can sight whales at the right time of year..
• The other activity I think is a must is visiting the USS Arizona Memorial. A homage to many of those lost in the Pearl Harbor tragedy, it is a very humbling experience. It is free to visit the museum and walk around the Pearl Harbor historic site. Get there early if you go during the weekend or at least by lunch during the week. Approximately 2000 free tickets are handed out daily for a ferry that will take you across the water to the memorial built over the sunken USS Arizona.

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?

What’s next?

Well to be honest, I never really know. I have a few things I would like to accomplish in the next couple years. I would love to collaborate with my colleagues in their places of business and do like a stage tour. I would also like to herd reindeer with the Saami natives that I have met at Salone del Gusto. I would also like the opportunity to learn more in the mixology and coffee related areas of my field. I am open to invitations to any new experiences! *hint hint

MyTake

It was a pleasuree having you here Chandler, a lady with many talents. Thank you!

Happy to continue the series with Chris Christensen

1) Who Are you?

Chris is the host of Amateur Traveler which is an award winning online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations. It includes a weekly audio podcast, a video podcast, and a blog. In 2015, Chris won a Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism from the Society of American Travel Writers and was called the “Best Independent Travel Journalist” by Travel & Leisure Magazine in their annual SMITTY Awards. He also co-hosts This Week in Travel with Gary Arndt and Jen Leo. This Week in Travel has won 3 North America Travel Journalists Association awards.

He is also the owner of BloggerBridge.com which is a new startup connecting bloggers and industry contacts.

He has worked for years in technology startups in Silicon Valley. He was formerly the Director of Engineering for TripAdvisor’s New Initiatives group and was the EVP Engineering at LiveWorld where his team built and ran online communities and events for companies including eBay, HBO, TV Guide, Expedia, Marriott, A&E, History Channel, the NBA, NBC, ABC, Disney, Microsoft, WebTV and American Express.

2) What do you like about what you do?

The interesting travel part is pretty great. I have been on 5 continents in the last 5 months. A cruise around the horn in South America, a press trip in Thailand, a small group tour in Morocco, a conference in Spain and a small boat cruise in Alaska.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?

Actually making a living as a travel blogger / podcaster / writer is not an easy thing to do. I have actually been making a living as a software engineer. Many travel journalists these days cobble together 2 or 3 different ways to make a living.

4) Please tell us all about your blog and your aims with it.

The main content of the Amateur Traveler is the podcast which talks about a different destination every week. We talk about everything from what to put on your Chicago dog when you visit the Windy City to going to Tonga and swimming with whales. The show is generally an interview with someone who lives in, visited or wrote the guidebook about a particular destination. The show will turn 10 years old July 2nd.

Amateur Traveler is used to teach English as a second language at Oxford. f you want to get a job with the Thailand Foreign Service you will be given an English proficiency exam that will require you to listen to two episodes of the Amateur Traveler. You will be graded on your understanding of them. Oddly enough the two episodes are on Yorkshire and on Narrow Boating in England and Wales.

5) Your top 3 destination experiences you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

1. Istanbul still stands out for me as an amazing destination for someone like me who is a huge history buff. Egypt for similar reasons was simply amazing. We traveled there on the first Amateur Traveler group trip.
2. I have done one trip to sub-saharan Africa to Tanzania which was also amazing.
3. There is nothing quite like being in a herd of zebras and wildebeests in Ngorongoro Crater.

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

1. On a business trip to Shanghai, I stayed in the Marriott Tomorrow Square which looks like a rocket ship and rises above the sprawling city with great views to the Pudong on a clear day.
2. I stayed in one of the newly renovated suites at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. It had it’s own jacuzzi and massage room. It also had a walk in closet, which I can’t imagine needing on vacation.
3. The third would be the parador in Rhonda Spain in the old town hall, a beautiful room right there on the cliffs that make the city famous.

7) Your top 3 most memorable food / wine experiences to date and why?

1. Well… crickets in Oaxaca may be one of the most memorable dishes I have ever had, although not necessarily a favorite.
2. One of my consistently favorite restaurants is Peppers Mexicali Cafe in Pacific Grove. There are many more expensive restaurants in the Monterey Bay area, but this is where I go.
3. My favorite meal would probably be something simple and great like eating $1 street tacos in the zocalo in Merida, Mexico during the weekly fiesta. The best meals are not necessarily the most expensive.

8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?

1. When I was in college, on a trip to western New York we tried Buffalo Chicken Wings with a bottle of sweet Liebfraumilch wine. No chef in their right mind would make this pairing.
2. A hotel in Athens drove us out of the city a day early. The entire hotel smelled and the sheets had cigarette burns.
3. We stayed above a German beer hall near Hanover Germany on the eve of Pinksterfeest (Pentecost). We tried to sleep while large groups of drunken Germans carried on below.

9) Can you offer the readers 3 destination/ food / accommodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?

1. The best thing about food in San Jose and the Silicon Valley is the variety. We have great Mexican, Chinese, indian, Afghan, Thai, Cuban, and Vietnamese food to name a few. Try them all.
2. A great place to both eat and stay is Santana Row in San Jose. Stay in the Hotel Valencia and eat at one of the many restaurants in this piazza style neighborhood.
3. San Jose is in the heart of Silicon Valley so do something nerdy like visit the Tech Museum or the Computer History Museum.

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?

Yes, 42

MyTake

Glad to have you Chris, Thanks a lot.
I must admit when behind my computer screen I don’t like to be distracted by pod casts or even music.
Before this interview I knew you better from your photo’s. I would like to invite the reader to look at your Flickr Portfolio and at the same time would like to ask you to either upload more photo’s there or tell us where you are hiding the good stuff 😉
Finally it is a reason for Jen Leo to appear here as well to make the trio complete!

Finally an interview with an “old” Internet friend

Paul Johnson

1) Who Are you?

I’m Paul Johnson and I live on the edge of the Lake District in the UK, about an hour and a half north of Manchester. My academic background (a long time ago now!) is in Geography and Geology, which I followed up with a PhD in glaciology.  I was writing up my thesis when the Web first came along, so my interest in the internet developed from there. I also come from a tourism background and have been a Director at The Dedicated Partnership Ltd. – an internet marketing company that caters specifically for the tourist industry – for the last 20 years. Amongst other things, I am responsible for A Luxury Travel Blog. In the last 12 months this site has really taken off and has become one of the main things I do.

2) What do you like about what you do?

Travelling around the world with my family and enjoying so many different experiences.

3) What don’t you like about what you do?

Time wasters! I get so much email through the blog and so many people just want to insert a spammy link for a measly sum. The blog strives to be a useful resource with quality content, so I’m really not interested! Sadly, the good PR and SEO companies seem to be in a minority.

4) Please tell us all about your blog and your aims with it.

My Blog started as an interest and hobby but has grown much more than I could have possibly anticipated. It’s currently serving over 125,000 unique visitors a month, is followed by more than a quarter of a million people on Twitter and has almost 50,000 likes on FaceBook. The aim is to share news, items of interest and first-hand experiences from the luxury end of the travel market.

A Luxury Travel Blog is taking off

5) Your top 3 destination experiences you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

1. Greenland. I worked out in Greenland in the mid 1990s. Whilst it’s a country obviously lacking in luxury hotels and restaurants, it is a fascinating country offering so many fantastic experiences which of course are a luxury in their own right.
2. Tanzania. This is where we chose for our honeymoon so it’s a very special place to us. We’ve only been once but would love to return one day with our children. The people… the experiences we enjoyed on safari… the scenery… the island where we relaxed at the end (see next question!)…all were wonderful.
3. Jura, Scotland. We went here a couple of years ago and stayed at Jura Lodge. The accommodation is lovely but there’s no TV or internet, and the mobile reception is poor. But this is also part of the beauty of the place. Being without these distractions meant we had some really good quality family time together.

6) Your top 3 accommodations you’ve ever stayed to date and why?

Apart from Haagsche Suites of course… 😉

1. Badrutt’s Palace, St. Moritz – this must be one of the grandest places we have stayed. It’s not everywhere that you get a live harpist at breakfast and a priceless Raphael painting hanging near the lobby.
2. Porto Elounda Deluxe Resort, Crete. We have been to Crete many times and each time stayed in Elounda. I think we have stayed in most of the luxury hotels there now, but this one would probably be our pick of the lot. Among its many attributes, it’s home to the island’s first ever golf course as well as a fantastic spa.
3. Mnemba Island, Tanzania. This is where we spent the last few days of our honeymoon. A barefoot paradise off the NE coast of Zanzibar where you are waited on hand and foot by your own personal butler.

7) Your top 3 most memorable food / wine experiences to date and why?

1. As a young child, I went on holiday to France a lot and I was always an adventurous eater. I would always choose the strangest dishes on the menu, curious to find out what they were like. So snails, frogs’ legs, pig’s trotter and so on. I remember that waiters would try to say to my parents that they didn’t think the dish was right for me, and that I wouldn’t eat it, but I would soon prove them wrong!
2. Food in the Serengeti. I was amazed at the quality of the food that was served to us on our honeymoon particularly when we were in remote locations in the Serengeti. Sundowners and roasted cashews on Mnemba were pretty memorable also!
3. Finally, we had a lot of fun with a mystery tasting menu at Restaurant Jardin at Royal Garden Villas, Tenerife, where you had to which scent bottles had been used in the food you were tasting. We were hopeless at it but had fun trying!

8) Your 3 worst destination/ accommodation /food experiences to date and why?

1. Camping on the outskirts of Rome – as a student, I went inter-railing and we ended up on a campsite just outside Rome. There was nothing wrong with the site but later that night we did discover there was a problem with our neighbours in the next tent. We didn’t know precisely what was being said as it was all Italian, but they sounded drunk and voices were being raised. Next thing we knew it was getting very heated and we heard a scuffle and a grown man suddenly scream in pain. It turned out he’d been struck on the back with a broken bottle. We didn’t sleep well that night and were glad to be moving on the next day.
2. A forgotten arrival. A few years ago we were visiting a luxury resort we’d visited before (I’m not going to name it!). We had a long drive and ‘phoned ahead to say we would be arriving late. We were assured this would not be a problem because, although the reception would be closed, the restaurant staff were likely to be around and, if not, they would phone me and tell me where they’d left the key. We didn’t get a call so were surprised to discover on arrival that all the staff had packed up and gone home, and there was no key to be found anywhere. It must have been about 1am and we’d been driving for about 8 hours, with young children in the back of the car. We couldn’t go waking up other guests and so ended up driving around to try to find some accommodation for the night. Eventually we located a rather basic hotel with a nightclub attached which had a 24-hour reception and thankfully there was ‘room at the inn’! Needless to say, the resort was extremely apologetic the next day and we were treated to quite a few perks on that holiday as a result!!!
3. An unexpected ‘guest’. Quite recently we were dining at a rather nice restaurant and I was presented with a starter decorated with edible flowers from the garden. No sooner had my plate being put in front of me and out crawled a maggot from one of the flowers…

Kendal Holiday Cottages

9) Can you offer the readers 3 destination/ food / accommodation / things to do tips about the city you are currently living in?

I live in a rural town, rather than a city, called Kendal. It’s between England’s two most beautiful National Parks – the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales – so a great location. There is a lot going on in the town for both locals and visitors alike.

My recommendations would include a stroll up to Kendal Castle, coming to our ‘Mintfest’ street arts festival or the town’s world-renowned mountain film festival.

For dining, our favourites are the New Moon Restaurant and Deja Vu, and for accommodation I would have to recommend our own holiday apartment – see Kendal Holiday Cottages Ltd.

Sorry, I know that’s more than three… but, although I enjoy travelling, I’m also proud of where I live!

10) Any Question(s) you’d expected me to ask that you would like to answer?

• Where was your last trip?

  We are just back from Lithuania. It’s not a place you hear people go to much, but it has a lot to offer as a destination. I think it may slowly emerge during the next 10 years, and I would urge anyone to go and visit.

• Where’s my next trip?

  I’m off to Kathmandu very soon and will be following a route to New Delhi. Should be quite an adventure! More on the blog about that later of course… 😉

My Take

Thank you Paul for participating.
Finally…I’m glad I finally can reciprocate an interview (that was for the tongue in cheek “old” of the intro). Thank you for the repeat kudos for Haagsche Suites. When, before I even started this blog, I was able to get you to review the suites and you gave us a very nice review you certainly have boosted our enthusiasm enormously. Also your blog was and is an example for me and made me start and continue my own blog. Glad your’s really taking off now.