Global Traveler is currently running a “Female Global Traveler of the Year” contest. To enter the contest, click here. Personally, I think this is an important issue for us to address, as females still do face challenges, not only in the business world, but also in the travel industry.

During my travels, I have noticed there are certain precautions I must take as a female that males would not even have to consider. A trip abroad for me would be very different from a trip abroad for Fran. When traveling alone, I must consider my safety when planning where I am going, how I will get there and what time of the day or night I will be traveling. I am sure these are factors Fran considers when traveling, but they do not limit him in the same way they would limit me, simply because I am a 5-foot, 3-inch female and Fran is a male over 6 feet tall.

Although the height differences between men and women are not always this drastic, the dichotomy between males and females in business and travel still remains, and is more complicated than height and physical strength. Business originated as a “man’s world.” A man behind a CEO desk is rarely questioned. Even in my own experiences meeting women in upper management, I think to myself, “Hmmm, I wonder how she got here?”. When I encounter a male in the same position, maybe a male undeserving of his status, I think to myself, “I know exactly how you got here!”

This issue of questioning a female’s status, while conceding to the male role, arises because it is more difficult for women to reach higher management positions. We have to prove ourselves more, and I think this stems from the underlying, basic, back-to-nature fact that women have babies. A pregnant woman means maternity leave.

It is easy to sit and complain that this is a man’s world, but I think a more appropriate and accurate standpoint is to understand that life is unfair. Women have always faced challenges and we always will. What is important is the fact that we will continue to succeed. A woman in an upper management position will get paid less than a male, but she will probably receive more recognition because she had a harder climb to the top. In a fair world, we would get both the paycheck and the respect. I am just glad shoulder pads are no longer in style!

–Courtney Centeno, account executive

Hurry! Today is your last chance to bid on great items in Global Traveler’s online charity auction! Through 9:00 p.m. EST, one auction item will close out every 10 minutes. Join in the high-stakes, last-minute bidding excitement. Several great items are still up for grabs — airline tickets on SWISS, Lufthansa, Emirates and more. Tons of hotel stays are available plus luggage, original artwork and more.

As Fran reported in his Monday blog, Loretta Jitner and the Pencils for Kids team are on a mission in Thailand, supplying needy children in the Golden Triangle with much-needed school supplies and other provisions. One hundred percent of the proceeds from our auction will help fund several similar future PFK missions.

According to reports from Thailand, the mission has been going well, and it has been an amazing week. The people were welcoming and supportive of Pencils for Kids, and it has been a wonderful experience, one that will stay with volunteers long after they leave the country. You can help create future amazing weeks for children across the world by donating today. It will make all those exotic trips you win that much sweeter.

Another exciting opportunity for readers is our Journal Photo Contest. After five years of sharing our favorite photographs from trips around the world on our Journal page, we have decided to open the page up to reader submissions. This is your chance to have snapshots of your favorite memories published in the pages of Global Traveler!

-Kimberly Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive

For the fifth year in a row, Global Traveler and United Airlines are searching for the 1K Global Traveler of the Year. The contest kicks off today and runs through November 1. It is open to all United 1K members.

Over the past few years, we have asked participants to tell us about their favorite places in the world, a travel experience that changed their life or about cultures that have impacted them. This year we are asking how being a frequent traveler defines you. How has it influenced other aspects of your life? How has it changed you?

The winner will get the chance to decide between the The Big Apple or The City of Angels. The grand prize is round-trip first-class transportation for two to either Los Angeles or New York City, provided by United Airlines. Three nights’ accommodations for two at either the Andaz Wall Street or the Andaz West Hollywood, along with breakfast, dinner and a city tour (NYC only), will also be provided. In addition, the winner will be featured, along with his or her winning essay, in an issue of Global Traveler.

Enter today at www.globaltraveleroftheyear.com. Here’s to another successful search for the next best global traveler!

-Kimberly Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive

As we close participation of the 6th annual Global Traveler Business Class Wine Survey and the over 20 years I have run such a contest, I would like to cover the reasons (some very funny) why some airlines do not participate.

Top Ten Reasons Why Airlines Decline Participation

1. Some can’t stomach the chance that they will not do well. Imagine all the marketing efforts spent on telling the world that they have the best wine and food and then they do not rank in the top ten.

2. Some individuals fear for their position if they do not fare well. Airlines pay a great deal of money to their wine experts, and, frankly, their position can be determined by the outcome.

3. Some airlines are so overburdened that they find the gathering and shipping of the wine and the menus too much for them. They have too many tasks and not enough people, so it slips through the cracks or is intentionally avoided.

4. With the cutbacks since 9/11 and now with the global recession, many airlines have downgraded their wines to save costs. Many now have taken the opposite approach, but others still feel their wines are not as competitive.

5. Some feel they cannot trust our survey, that it is somehow slanted toward a particular carrier.

6. We have actually heard one airline say that their wines “did not travel well.”

7. A few airlines are changing their wine selections and do not want to submit their past selections.

8. Some carriers seem to be unable to figure out how to pass the wines through U.S. customs, as their wines originate from their head offices overseas. Other international carriers seem to have no trouble with this.

9. Others feel that their regional wines cannot compete with the best that the French and California vineyards produce. Many have suggested that we have regional divisions, creative menu awards and specialty wine sections.

10. A limited few change their wines so frequently that they are unable to supply the corresponding menus that are required to verify that the wine is served on board.

Francis X. Gallagher, publisher and CEO

The world’s largest individual firefighting competition takes place this Sunday in Seattle, Wash., and while it gives those who take part a chance to claim bragging rights, it does something far more important. The 18th Annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb is a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and since its inception in 1992, the climb and the firefighters who have taken part have raised over $2.1 million for research and those striken with the blood cancers.

Just reading about the logistics of the climb makes my calves and quads ache. The event is held in Seattle’s Columbia Center, second-tallest building west of the Mississippi (and tallest by floor), where competitors will scale 69 floors — 1,311 steps — encompassing a vertical gain of 788 feet (that’s about a quarter of a mile, straight up). The winner last year did it in a time of 11 minutes and 37 seconds. Oh, and did I mention that each man or woman is decked out in about 50 pounds of firefighting gear, including facemask and self-contained breathing apparatus?

This year, the event’s site notes that they are “sold out” at 1,500 participants, and the Seattle Times reports that competitors from 25 states, three provinces and Germany and New Zealand and ranging in age from 18 to 60 will take part. Departments vie for fastest individual and team times but also to raise the most funds. They do so through their own community-based fundraising campaigns and by soliciting pledges. Many of those making the climb will carry with them stories of individuals they know personally, some even family members, touched by leukemia or lymphoma. Most will, in fact, have the pictures of those they are climbing for taped to their helmets or coats and say that keeping them in mind through the grueling experience makes it a little easier to climb through the pain. Arriving at the finish line at the tower’s observation deck on the 73rd floor, they will know they have not just conquered a personal test of endurance but provided a gift to those facing a far different challenge as well.

On March 22 of this year, plain old mortals (without all the firefighting gear) may also take on the Columbia Center climb for the same great cause. While I don’t see myself ever actually climbing all those steps, I will certainly be supporting with pledges those who do. If you’re curious as to whether your hometown firefighters are taking part in the climb, you can see the race results starting at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 8.

Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader