"I think many of our problems as a country would be solved if people had thicker passports. There's just no substitute for actually going and seeing things." - Matt Damon

I have often shared that one of my favorite things to do in the entire world is "Connect Good People with Great Opportunities" and that I do my best to be in the right place at the right time to do so.  Well, it looks like I am going to have the chance to do both next week in Argentina! With the success of Gowalla's recent campaign with AT&T and TOMS Shoes, it was a true privilege to be asked to join their teams for a week long trip to Argentina for the TOMS Shoes' 1,000,000th Shoe Drop.  It is no secret that I have been a big supporter of TOMS for years and it is really excited to get to take part in the face to face good that they do around the world.

It really is an honor to be a part of this trip and look forward to sharing the stories, pictures, and big ideas that take place in Argentina when I return.  If you don't own your own pair of TOMS, check them out here: TOMS SHOES

UPDATE: Josh Willaims, Gowalla CEO, and I will be experimenting with some cool new technology down in the jungles of Argentina and taking Gowalla where no check-in has gone before: Check it out on the Gowalla Blog

From day one of our relationship, Annie and I have loved to travel together.  We have found nothing else quite as thrilling and exciting as exploring a new city together and creating memories through those experiences that can only be gained  while encountering something for the first time.  So, in honor of her birthday, we took off for Canada this weekend and have  had an amazing trip thus far, with a couple fun days still ahead.

We are continually reminded of the fact that there is one decision on which the entire success of the trip hinges: the choice of hotel.  And, with Annie's passion and expertise for hotels and the work she is doing, we have been supremely fortunate with our choices thus far.  Our first night, before crossing the border into Canada, we stopped at the Sagamore on Lake George in Upstate New York.  From the first moment we arrived to the bittersweet moment when we departed the next day, every angle from every vantage point on property was a picture waiting to happen. It is the most that I have ever personally paid for a hotel room and, within the first hour of our arrival, the least I have ever cared how much a hotel room cost. It was that amazing.

Our second destination of the trip was Quebec City.  On our approach through town, we passed hotel after hotel in the modern and then the touristy parts of town, but our directions said to keep driving and our destination would be on the right.  But the only thing that I keep seeing on my right ahead in the distance was a towering castle with green cooper roofs and spires borrowed from fairy tales.  But, when the road we were on dead-ended with a magnificent view of the river, it finally set in that the architectural masterpiece on our right was in fact our hotel.  From the lobby to the views to the proximity to Old Town Quebec, the carbon copy of the beloved quaint villages of France, the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac proved to be magic embodied in a hotel, the most photographed hotel in the world.

But, as our (much needed) vacation and (much deserved) celebration of Annie's birthday continues now in Montreal and Mont Tremblant, I take back the statement the the most critical decision you make about a trip is which hotel you stay at.  That is the second most important.  The first and most important decision you can make is this: who you travel and share your adventure with.  I know the significance because I know that I am the lucky one. I know the importance because I know what it is like to have the more than you know you deserve.  And, I am extremely honored to say, I know this better than anyone because I have Annie.  Not just on this trip to Canada, but on the journeys and challenges that have been ours to share in the past and the adventures and dreams that await us in the future.

Happy Birthday to my Love.  Happy Birthday to my Annie.

"Start spreading the newsI am leaving today I want to be a part of it New York, New York...." Maybe you've heard the rumors, maybe you've known it was coming, but I can now officially confirm and verify that as of February 3rd, I will be residents of the city that doesn't sleep. Stay tuned!

"Concrete jungles where dreams are made of There is nothing you can't do Now you're in New York..."

"Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. Andy by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible." - Cherie Carter-Scott

As I was looking for a picture or a snap shot to correspond with this quote (which I discovered thanks to an interview with Elliott Bisnow of Summit Series) I came across one of my all time favorite YouTube videos. One of my favorites because 1) It is as close to the real life version what my dreams about flying are like and 2) because it is in Norway, land of my ancestors. Definitely worth the 3:45