Tell me how or why you started your travel blog.
I started The Church of Travel in 2011 as a personal blog/witness of the many things I have learned, experienced, and enjoyed on the trips I took and while living and raising a family in beautiful Vancouver.
What’s your favorite hotel?
In my opinion there are only two classes of travel: with kids or without kids and this question requires an answer for both of those.
WITH KIDS: My favourite family hotel so far is a worldwide Hilton chain called Embassy Suites. For a travelling family they are unbeatable at the combined Traveler’s Trifecta of value, convenience and comfort. All rooms are suites with 1st class bedding in the separate room and a full cooked-to-order breakfast is served every morning. But the best part of all is the manager’s reception every night with all the free drinks you can handle plus $1 pizza slices, fountain drinks and munchies for the kids. If money were no object, I’d live there.
WITHOUT KIDS: My favourite hotel experience so far has been The Inn at Laurel Point in Victoria, BC where I stayed for the weekend in 2006. The two best things about the studio room were the way it was decorated in a serene Japanese style and the luxurious, HUGE bathroom. It was the first time I had ever experienced the urge to stay in my hotel room and enjoy it as a fully realized part of the holiday, rather than as just a place to sleep.
What’s your favorite restaurant experience?
My favourite 'experience' not to be confused with favourite stand-alone meal) is Tujuage’s (pronounced two-jacks) Restaurant near the French Market of New Orleans. It's an unassuming place but well worth the visit. A full review-blog on this restaurant will follow because the experience was just too good to summarize. I tried…but it seemed sacrilegious somehow ;-)
Please tell me about a “hidden gem”- a non-touristy, neighborhood restaurant, a hole-in-the-wall bar, or a great little shop – you’ve discovered on your travels.
Ever wonder how the paper fortunes get inside each fortune cookie? In San Francisco's Chinatown, off of Ross Alley, sits the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory where, since 1962, they hand make fortune cookies right in front of you. I discovered this hidden gem when I was researching/playing with Google Earth while planning my first trip to "The City". The venture did not disappoint and the chocolate fortune cookies are a revelation. Be sure to bring a dollar or two if you want to take a picture ;-)
What’s the best travel advice you could give a friend?
Aside from the old adage, “take twice as much money and half as many clothes as you think you’ll need”, my best advice is to not just talk about how you want to travel but to have faith, take the plunge and “book it”. The main thing I hear from people who don’t travel much is that they wish they did. Now, it is a proven scientific fact that the leading cause of holidays is bookings. If you book it, it will happen. Don’t keep waiting “until”. Until could be anything and it always is. There will always be something you can cite as a reason for putting off travel. But flip the travelling shoe onto the other foot and find a reason TO travel and then BOOK IT. The best travel story is one told by you.
What’s the best travel advice you’ve found on TripAdvisor?
The reviews are invaluable. All of them. In my opinion there is nothing more valuable than firsthand accounts of the way a traveller perceived something to be. That being said, I always take reviews with a grain of salt and keep in mind that what another person finds ‘unacceptable’ may be perfectly acceptable to me. Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks, right?
If someone was visiting your hometown, what would you recommend they do/see?
If they were only passing through Vancouver for a day…the triple threat of Stanley Park, Downtown Vancouver, and the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver is always a great way to experience my city in a nutshell. For more extended visits, see upcoming blogs.
If you could go anywhere in the world on your next vacation, where would you go?
To the next place on my list.
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