Where I Been

Business cards advertising escort services litter the Strip.

Twitter is a funny thing. It seems so inconsequential on many levels—all those 140-character blurbs about breakfast, hahaha!—but then it spurs random events. A friend of mine, for instance, just got a four-article assignment because a friend of his tweeted something. Weird.

And then my friend Newley Purnell goes and mentions me as “always an inspiration.” Sheesh. But then he reminded me of something else—I have a blog! Long neglected though it is, I do like to write here, and since it’s been a while, I figured I’d give you an update on my comings, goings, and writings.

First, there was that article in last week’s Sunday Styles section, about the Ace Hotel and its (co-)founder, Alex Calderwood. What can I tell you about that? Well, it was enjoyable to report, but it also made me nervous. What if the subjects of the story hated it? Would I be able to go back to the Ace for drinks now and then? But of course, I couldn’t write it solely to please Alex et al. Anyway, I was there last night, to meet up with a visiting editor, and no one kicked me out. In fact, I ran into Alex and he told me he liked the piece. “I didn’t write it to make you happy,” I told him.

Oh, also, the Village Voice and Gawker had some wonderfully snarky comments about the story. I enjoyed them immensely.

At the same time, my “Voyager” column on GetCurrency.com has been getting more and better attention. If you haven’t read it yet, check out my recent columns on which countries I hate (and why) and which countries I love (and how I came, mathematically, to those conclusions).

Next up is this weekend! If you’re a radio person, you should check out the Splendid Table, where I’ll be talking about my recent schnaps story in Saveur magazine. A fun, short interview. Click this link for local listings.

Also this weekend is the next installment of the “Getting Lost” series: Las Vegas! Woo-hoo! I won’t spoil what happens in the piece, except to say two things: 1) the photo in this post is one the Times wasn’t able, for various reasons, to use; and 2) I met Lady Luck—in the flesh. Check it out online starting tomorrow.

Tales of a Post-Frugal Traveler

When I announced in May that I was retiring as the New York Times’s Frugal Traveler columnist, a lot of people got the wrong idea. They thought maybe I’d been fired, or that I wanted to spend more time with my family, or that I was simply tired of traveling. None of those theories—which I still hear from friends and acquaintances—is true, however. Especially the last one. I love traveling—it’s what I do. To give that up would be like giving up breathing.

And in fact, I’ve had a busy summer of travel: Costa Rica, Tunisia, Austria, Morocco, Maine, almost all of which were work trips. (The week in Maine was my first real extended vacation in four years.) And starting this weekend, you’ll be able to see the fruits of my labor, when my new series for the Times travel section debuts.

It’s called “Getting Lost,” and I won’t say too much about it here—yet. Let’s allow the premiere piece to speak for itself over the weekend, and then, on Monday, I’ll start to address right here some of the issues the article brings up.

Or rather, I’ll try to address them. See, Monday afternoon I’m off to Ireland on another work trip, and I can’t say how regular my Internet access will be. But I’ll do my best to maintain my presence here—as long as you do your best to read each and every word I write. Deal?