Dogs
A Cute New Addition
Jul 29th
I have always been a huge animal lover to the point that when I was younger, my dream job was to work in the rainforest saving wildlife. So when I heard that my friend got a new canine addition to her family, I couldn’t wait to meet the pup.
Her name is Skye, and she is an Australian Shepherd puppy. She has one bright blue eye and one brown, and a white coat with gray and black spots all over her body. The fur on her forehead is in the shape of a white heart. She is absolutely adorable.
Skye is eight weeks old and getting into all types of puppy trouble. We took her outside to play, and Skye decided to help thin out the garden by eating everything in sight. We quickly pulled her away from the mess and put her in the mini dog pool. It started out just fine; she was having fun drinking the water, but then she noticed the cartoon figures adorning the bottom of the pool. Skye started scratching at them and water began flying everywhere. Of course, we were soaked.
We decided that was enough fun for Skye for one day and headed back inside. She immediately crashed in the middle of the hallway and fell asleep. She looked so cute, we couldn’t stay mad at her for drenching us.
Puppies are fun and mischievous, but they don’t stay little for long. It’s amazing how much they grow within the first few months. Skye is only about eight pounds now, but is expected to grow another 40 pounds. I can’t wait to see what new kind of trouble she gets into this week!
– Amanda Smith, advertising and editorial coordinator
Extension Excursions
Apr 22nd
The volcanic ash from Iceland may have caused some stressful inconvenience for most travelers this week; however, for some it is an extended vacation. Over the weekend, I met some visitors from Germany whose trip to New York had been extended much longer than they had planned. Being efficient travelers themselves, they had seen all the major tourist attractions of the city and wanted some advice on how to make the best of their extended time here. We came up with a few fun ideas on how to get to know the local side of a city you might be stuck in for over a week.
1. Take a trip to the local farmer’s market or grocery store. Local mom and pop shops are a great way to stock up on food and get to know your area. Local butchers and cheese shops usually offer the best quality for the best price, and you can even ask the owner for some touring tips or recommended cafes.
2. Get a copy of the local paper every day and read it. The local paper is an easy way to familiarize yourself with local events and politics.
3. Become a regular at a cafe. This is the best way to people-watch while enjoying a simple daily pleasure.
4. Rent a bicycle. Biking is one of the best ways to get around without missing too much of what is around you.
5. Visit the dog park. If you’re a dog lover, dog parks are a great social setting for meeting locals and enjoying the friendly atmosphere.
6. See an independent film. When traveling, I personally spend more time exploring and less time in the mall or theater. Cinema, however, is one of the most modern forms of art, and visiting a local theater to catch an independent flick is a great way to get to know the culture and politics of the destination you’re staying in, especially if you’ve visited all the museums.
7. Take a tour of a local brewery or winery. Whichever beverage connoisseur you may be, chances are one of these will be in or near the city or town you’re staying in.
What sort of small adventures have you taken to get to know the local side of your destination?
– Courtney Centeno, account executive
My Thanksgiving Exercise Plan
Nov 26th
As an avid user of take-out menus, delivery and the occasional fancy sit-down restaurant, Thanksgiving is a time of year when I feel most, well, inadequate. My mom always puts together a very classy, tasty Thanksgiving meal — from the delicious turkey to the polished silverware. And with my sister attending the French Culinary Institute in New York City, I don’t feel involved in the holiday operations until it comes time to eat. Because I happen to love my dogs and am very good at cleaning, I have somehow acquired the tasks of dog walker, dog washer and dishwasher. I’m okay with this — because I have done the math!
The average Thanksgiving dinner, including wine, appetizers and desserts (I like to sample each pie), contains about 3,500 calories, roughly. It also happens that manning all the holiday chores that no one wants to take on burns the most calories!
Because the dogs have to be washed before guests arrive, I consider this my “pre-workout,” when I get my metabolism prepared for continuous servings of turkey, stuffing and green bean casserole. Bathing a dog for 15 minutes burns about 56 calories. Luckily, I have two dogs, amounting to 112 calories.
Walking the dogs is a must. They get very excited when guests arrive, so a hardy walk before dinner is necessary to tire them out, and one after dinner rewards them for being good. Walking two dogs for 40 minutes burns about 200 calories. Doing this twice doubles my score to 400 calories burned.
Finally, the dishes. Eleven guests, a three-course meal, wine glasses, coffee mugs and silverware equates to a lot of washing. Thirty minutes of dishwashing burns about 74 calories.
For those of you in charge of chatting up Grandpa, I suggest standing while you listen to his stories. Standing and socializing for one hour burns about 120 calories. Taking out the trash only burns five calories, so I wouldn’t jump the gun on that one.
So, my Thanksgiving workout burns 706 calories. Although I haven’t considered the calories my mom and sister will burn while preparing an entire Thanksgiving dinner, I am quite confident I will be ahead in the calorie-burning game — and well on my way to fitting into that Christmas cocktail dress!
– Courtney Centeno, account executive
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from the staff of Global Traveler!
Shame, Shame, Shame
Sep 21st
I have always been proud to be from Philadelphia. Of course, there is that famous quote (a mock epitaph)Â by W. C. Fields, “I would rather be living in Philadelphia.” The reality is Philadelphia is a city ranked fifth by population, diverse and rich in culture; chock-full of history, museums, the first zoo; tops in education and the medical field and having wonderful restaurants. The city is easy to get around and one can drive in and around without a hassle; this cannot be said of the other four cities above Philadelphia. And as my uncle used to say, “What do you think of the Phillies?”
But for the first time I am embarrassed to be associated with Philadelphia. It all stems from the Philadelphia Eagles signing Michael Vick. Oh, I know: poor little Michael has paid his debt to society; he is a changed man. Real Sports with Bryant Gumble put a positive spin on Vick — his work with the SPCA convincing young kids not to become involved in dog fighting will do more good than the bad he has done.
That, my friends, is a load of dog crap! Read all the articles and listen to all the reports on what they do to these animals. These are animals who have been bred for centuries to be “man’s best friend,” to come to us no matter how we treat them. Now you have people like Vick who shatter a hind leg of a dog to make it weaker for a fight or tape its muzzle shut so that it cannot defend itself.
This is what Vick did with dogs in the ring. He and his hoodlums had “fun” with other dogs, including soaking one with water and electrocuting her, hanging them, shooting them and at least one account of slamming a dog with all his force to the floor. Forcibly drowning a pit bull is not an easy task; they are strong and full of muscle, but for Vick’s group this was child’s play. Let’s not forget the starving of dogs to make them more vicious for fighting. He kidnapped family dogs, trained, starved and beat them in preparation for the ring.
I have friends who think that Philadelphia made a good trade, economical — a smart move. All it did for me is lower my head and make me feel ashamed.
–Fran Gallagher, Publisher and CEO
