I am about to burst a number of bubbles out there in travel land, and I fear that many of those reading this article are about to have a mild cardiac arrest. The following reminder and accompanied advice is going to sound 180-degrees juxtapose to what you have been taught to believe for the last quarter of your life.

The familiar quote says that if you “give a man a fish, he eats for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.” This may be true at face value, but I am afraid that most people have little interest in learning how to fish. They want the fish.

You may find the following message easier to swallow by way of…

It’s October 20th, and I find myself in Dearborn, Michigan. It has been a long time since I was last in Dearborn. I’m wearing a tuxedo; it has been a longer time since I last wore a tuxedo. I’m here at the amazing Henry Ford Museum to celebrate Sky Bird Travel’s 40th year in the travel industry in 2016. The company has sponsored a gala, a black tie dinner to appreciate its friends and customers, and the evening is nothing if not spectacular. Surrounded by authentic aircraft of decades ago in the museum’s “Heroes of the Sky” aviation section, an Indian ensemble plays on traditional instruments. Everyone is mixing and, while it is apparent many know each other from years of business…

Don’t worry about what others think!

Today’s article is being printed a few weeks after your New Year's Celebration, but I think my message still holds water.

As I have on almost every previous New Year’s Day, I saw a TV news segment that once again caught my attention. There stood a bunch of half-naked people freezing their privates off while most of them successfully dodged another heart attack. Some were older than others. Some a tad more buff. Most of them should have shunned the TV…