Travel Blog

"I love reading you in the Sun-Sentinel," the woman said to me at the library entrance.

"Loved," I corrected her. "I was laid off in July."

She looked shocked; I, no doubt, flattered. But then I thought: If I'm loved, shouldn't I then be missed? Though perhaps she was a snowbird, and had just recently come back.

About fifty people sat in the room, almost all of them seniors. I spoke on "The 7 Joys of Travel," and then opened it up to questions. One woman said she had a free ticket on Spirit and asked me where she should go. Travel writers always get this question, which is impossible to answer because travel is such a personal thing. Just because we've been a lot of places doesn't mean we know which ones other people would like. You wouldn't ask a bigamist for advice on choosing a spouse.

Another woman asked if I could recommend an inexpensive hotel in London. It's always like this: I talk about the eternals, happily see a few heads nodding in agreement and following my drift, and then the questions come and they're all about the economics. Forget Pico Iyer, it's Arthur Frommer they want. When I was a travel editor I felt a little guilty not being able to give good practical information. Now that I've been relieved of the title, it's no longer my job. One advantage to being unemployed.