As a historian I recognize that every generation thinks that the next is going to hell in a hand-basket. I personally was raised with constant admonitions about how easy I had it compared to my parents’ generation which spent their childhood in the Great Depression and came of age during… read more >
I received a thank you note in the mail the other day. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I don’t even remember the last time I received a non-business-related thank you note. (It was a pleasure to meet you last week at XYZ Travel Conference… Sometimes it’s… read more >
Heroes come in all kinds of packages. In fact, many heroes are not even recognized – least of all during their own lifetimes. But with the recently observed Native American Day, I thought I would share a few of mine – some that you may have heard of, and other… read more >
Traveling with a purpose is the latest buzz-phrase in the travel business, and I always get kind of a kick out of it, because I can’t imagine any other kind of travel. It is a fairly broad category which includes traveling to learn, to provide public service to underprivileged parts… read more >
Editor’s Note: At a recent social function, I found myself talking to a friend whom I see only once or twice a year. But she is an avid reader of Trail Talk, and when I finished telling her a personal anecdote she said to me “That would make a… read more >
Everyone living in the 21st century is familiar with this scenario: you run into a problem with the internet, a database or other software program on your computer, or have an online issue, so you call Technical Support. Then you wait. After I have explained my problem and there is… read more >
The phrase “Lest We Forget” came to mind recently. In America, and I dare say, much of the world, this phrase has come to be directly associated with the horrors of World War II, and especially to the Holocaust. Perhaps it is all the anniversaries, the dwindling number of… read more >
It is interesting how some things that you learned as a child stick with you, even when the years and decades pile up. I was thinking the other day about how my parents approached certain subjects and had to smile at how sly they were. For example, we were a… read more >
I don’t know where you live, but have you ever noticed that there is a world of difference between Spring Fever and actual Spring? Essentially, it’s the difference between a promise and a delivery. You may have noticed that most of middle America this year is mired in a deep… read more >
My library has a really cool feature. If you have read more than one Trail Talk, you may be surprised to learn that I spend very little time at the physical library, my visits being largely limited to dropping off books at the drive-through or a dash inside to pick… read more >
