Food is everywhere in NYC. There’s a reason fashion editors crack jokes about the “Diet Coke and Cigarettes” diet and everyone counts calories like crazy. It’s not because we’re hyper-aware, it’s because if you wanted to, in New York City, you could literally never stop eating. The tall shoes keep us further from the feast, and the black clothes mask spillage from amazing meals. It’s a rouse, I’m sorry to inform you.
And on this list of amazing, fantastic places to manga, I’ve got a few favorites. Recently, when an out-of-town …

Just days before a friends bachelorette party, I was confronted by her maid of honor. The planning of the Las Vegas girl getaway had gone so, so wrong and she needed help. They didn’t have dinner reservations, show plans, club recommendations… all they had agreed on was that it had to be the Palms.
The Palms, for many New Yorkers of the Jersey Shore persuasion, is West Coast version of mecca. It comes out of the artificial Vegas skyline like a beacon, glossy, heavily branded. There’s no mistake about what you …

This past weekend at the #TBEX10 conference here in New York I learned two main points. The first being that bloggers consider themselves mostly creatives, on par with any newspaper, magazine, or journal writer out there. The second, they don’t consider themselves marketers but are slowly realizing the value of marketing.
I was both flattered and a little flabbergasted at the sheer amount of people who approached me, heatstroke ridden, soaking wet, very tired (me), to ask about personal branding, branding for blogs, tools for promotion, tips for self promotion, and …

This is a big week here in the Big Apple. A few hundred of my closest travel buddies will all be gathering for the annual Travel Blogger’s Exchange Conference and I couldn’t be happier. In addition to joining a stellar organizing committee, I’m speaking on a panel about finding your niche, social media, and self promotion. And I’m celebrating it all with my friends at Not For Tourists Guides by giving away a few of their amazing guide books.
As a New York native, I’m often asked for recommendations across the …

Every day thousands of people make a pilgrimage to Vatican City, a tiny village nestled inside of Rome, and home to the Catholic church. Inside those imposing stone walls, the Pope and his buddies plan the rights and wrongs of guilty Catholics across the world, and in their spare time, plant gardens. After 27 years of Catholic church, time-outs issues by Brooklyn nuns, and sneaking baggy jeans in under a plaid skirt, I didn’t feel the draw to the Vatican for any specific religious reason; I’ve had enough guilt in …

Although I had a number of guides,previous trekkers, and a wealth of online reading to guide me, landing in Rwanda was still major culture shock. And although I consider myself an expert at city markets, navigating strange cuisine, and reading a map, there were many tips I couldn’t have guessed that I really wish someone had told me. Here, in no logical order, I pass them on to you.
I hope you love airports ’cause even for a seasoned travel vet, this is one long trip. It was almost mind numbing …

To most (read: normal) people, strapping on hiking boots and taking a nice, long stroll in the wilderness is nothing to write home about. It can be a regular, dare I even say, daily activity. To the rest of us, the ones who start the day off with Joan Jett and Caramel Macchiatos, English Bulldogs, the MTA New York City Subway, and a freshly charged iPhone, this is not a normal occurrence. It’s not an occurrence at all.
So, during my travels in the beautiful African country of Rwanda, when it …