I’ve been in San Diego since early Sunday evening. Having spent nearly a week in Houston I was ready to move on to my next destination, sunny southern California.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned on this site since I started doing this blogging thing that I used to live in San Diego. All over San Diego county, in fact. I was younger then, had just gotten out of the Navy, and really didn’t have much focus or direction for my life.

Even back then in the late 80’s and early 90’s one of the things that I learned quick was there were always awesome San Diego hotel deals but you had to do some research. Today, of course, most of that can be done from your home computer with very little effort.

Since I’m here this trip for nearly a full 7 days, it was important to me that I got a room that while inexpensive, was still going to have the amenities I needed to be comfortable. The Major League Baseball All Star game was this week, so I knew I wasn’t going to miss out on much live ball. Fortunately, however, it looks like some free time just opened up to allow me to attend this Friday night’s game down at Petco Park. The Padres are playing my home town team the Diamondbacks this weekend. The best part of that is I’ll be able to attend both games on the company as I’ve successfully secured great seats and have one existing client and one potential customer that are big baseball fans like myself.

After last night’s exciting game, I’m definitely ready to head back out to the park for some live action. Fortunately the hotel I’m staying at here in San Diego had a lovely and quite comfortable lounge where I was able to enjoy the NL vs. the AL with food, drink, and the camaraderie of fellow business traveling sports fans.

I’ll report back this weekend and let you know how the games were on Friday and Saturday. If you’re watching the game look for me on the TV. I’m pretty good at catching foul balls!

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Since I had to adjust my schedule to come here to Roanoke, VA to deal with some new client issues, I had to rearrange the rest of my travel as well. As I’ve stated, and you undoubtedly know, it’s a pain in the rump to have to make these changes, but what can you do? Good customer service means there are sometimes challenges that come up and if you’re to stay in the good graces of your PAYING clients, you do what it takes to accommodate.

photo credit: Rob Ireton

Well, as it turns out, I’m now going to be heading straight home to deal with some domestic challenges as well. Based upon a call from a neighbor, I just found out that my water heater died. Maybe imploded is a better term. I’m not completely sure as the information I got was there was a sizable flow of water coming out my garage door and flowing down my driveway.

This is one of those reasons I’m glad I rent my house and don’t own it. At least I had someone to call who could check things out in person. The landlord just called me back and indicated there was some sort of freak water pressure issue and not only was my water heater gushing in the garage, but my master bedroom was also under about 4 inches as well!

Yikes! is right!!

I could go and sleep on the couch for a couple of days, but I think I’ll just stay at the nice, dry, clean Phoenix Airport Hotel instead. I’ve been here before, but usually preceding a trip where I have to fly out earlier than I’d want to wake up and drive to the airport.

Well, for the first time, I’ll be staying at the tail end of my journey while the carpets and padding dry out in my house. Hopefully my landlord will also have the new water heater installed before I get home. Okay, you caught me. This is the real reason I’m staying at the hotel. I cannot imagine being without hot water. So spoiled. What can I say!

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From time to time I tend to get on a soap box and share general discourse about things that really have a positive impact on me and my travels. This week I’m in Colorado, staying at a downtown Denver hotel. So, in this vane, I’ll share why I’m so enamored and hopefully you’ll find something you can take and apply to your business travel.

First, I just shared my general distaste for so-called business hotels that charge for their WiFi. I still don’t understand this thought process. Well, maybe I do.

That show “Undercover Boss” where the CEO or head of the company goes undercover to work as one of the minions, is all the rage. Clearly, whoever is running the chains that continue to charge for Internet connectivity never travel for business reasons. Meaning they aren’t on the road with their laptops needing to get work done. Work that requires them to be connected to the Internet.

If these CEO’s were actually required to do the this as a part of their jobs, I believe they would be much better at realizing what a great benefit it would be to offer free WiFi (just like my downtown Denver hotel!)

It’s been many years since I’ve eaten breakfast on a regular basis. When I am able to pick up free coffee (and not just muddy water, but Java that’s worth paying for) I’m always appreciative. Combine that with something healthy like fruit or other nutritious snacks for later in the morning, and the true value of the “Free Continental Breakfast” makes me a very happy business traveler.

Out modern communications systems including our cell phones tend to make the concept of free local calls somewhat a moot point. But you know when making a local call is a good thing for the out of towner? When you are trying to order some food to be delivered to your hotel room.

More than once I’ve been told that delivery was not possible unless I called from a local number (I guess to prove that I was actually in the locale and not crank calling.) When I checked into my room this week and saw the massive freebies I’d receive with my room, I knew that I’d have to chat about it.

If you’re not looking for these types of amenities when you travel, you’re simply going to be spending much more money than you really need to. Hopefully, this little reminder will help you save some dough and get you some pizza delivered after room service is done for the night!

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As you know, travel is a big part of my job. Huge part. It’s not that my gig is all about travel, but when in sales, and working for an old company that still believes in the value of face to face contact, well, you travel. And I’m happy with my job, the travel, new places to see and stay. Great food to eat. All the above.

What’s less than satisfying, sometimes, however is the tools that travelers like myself are sometimes forced to use to allow us to do our jobs. Currently I have at least a dozen different rewards programs for airlines, hotel chains, car rental places and various others. When I started oh so long ago, I was told this would be one of those “off the books” perks. At first I didn’t put much effort into it, but then I got wise.

One of the programs I tend to use a lot, and get rewarded for a lot is my Choice Privileges account. Not sure how long I’ve been using it, but seems like forever. As such, when I’m booking my travel for the month, they are one of the first links that I go to in order to see if they have the best deals for when and where I’m staying.

Just this morning I thought I’d get a jump on some of my scheduling for next month and headed over to the Choice Hotels website.

Wow! Apparently they did a complete site redesign and boy does it pop. I guess the best way to describe it is that things are much more refined, and cleaner. Not sure if “de-cluttered” is an actual word, but that’s sort of the feel I get now when I hit their home page.

The only thing I’m not wild about is the large banner just under the top navigation and search bar at the top of the page. I’m guessing, though, that this will either get smaller or go away after the “new site is here” time has passed.

I think my favorite feature on the home page is that they have placed the find hotels search right up near the top of the page. It feels clean, orderly and has less distracting links. Now, as I’m doing my searching for the various legs of my trips, I’m able to get right to the results.

Like I mentioned earlier, often times the tools make or break the sense that this type of work is great or just blah. I feel confident that the new Choice Hotels redesign will push me towards feeling great about my work. Give it a try for your next trip and then let me know in the comments how you feel about it.

Can’t wait to hear from you soon!

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Hey, forgive me for not posting anything in a few days. I slightly sprained my left knee while hitting golf balls during my trip down in Los Angeles, and I’ve just not felt the motivation when I’m back in my Mainstay suites room. But I can reiterate how great having the extra space, the kitchenette, and large bedrooms has been.

During my traveling, when I am able to stay in one spot for more than a couple of days, I find myself spreading out and just needing more room. Strange thing is that I don’t buy tons of stuff that require more space. Instead it just seems that my belongings begin to move about the room.

If I were a bit more technically savvy, I might actually turn on some sort of web camera and see if I can capture any of the antics that must be happening when I’m out of my room. The idea for this came to me after someone sent me the link to this really creepy video. It’s not quite 6 minutes long, but you’ll just sit there watching saying to yourself, “What the heck? UNREAL!”

Well, at least that’s what I did! Creepy:

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Found out a bit ago that I have to get down to the LAX airport hotel for a mid morning meeting. I was scheduled for appointments the day after tomorrow in Century City, but now I’ve had to change flights and get an extra night at the hotel.

photo credit: Telstar Logistics

As I sit here at SFO waiting for the flight to board, I’m realizing how important it is to have “other things” in ones life. I read a lot, so that helps me to pass time during these little lulls. Of course, there’s always something to do work-wise, however, we can’t always be work productive.

As I mentioned, I do read a lot, so I’m always carrying a book or two. I was wondering if I should invest in one of these newish types of ebook reading devices. Do you have one that, based upon your experiences you would recommend? Or ones that I should definitely steer clear of?

My instincts tell me to move towards the Kindle, mostly because of the dominance Amazon has in the book world.

But I’m open to suggestions, obviously. They are somewhat expensive, especially when you compare them to buying printed books. At the same time, being able to have 1500 books at one time?! Can you imagine having to carry that many hardcovers and paperbacks?

Obviously, you wouldn’t, but still! Let me know what I should do. Thanks!

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Back from having my favorite dish ever: Duck Chow Fun at Sam Wo’s. Did I mention how much I liked that place? Anyway, now that my belly’s full (and some leftovers for later. Yeah!) I’m settling into my SFO airport hotel room. These are the times, these very moments, that I love the most about traveling.

In fact, I feel like listing out a few more of my favorite travel moments:

1. Getting to eat at my favorite restaurants (Go to Sam Wo’s!)
2. Seeing old friends when I’m in their city or town
3. Making the sale. Big time!
4. Being able to take in a local boxing match (that you can’t see on television)
5. Coming back home safe and sound!

And there are many more things I truly enjoy about being on the road. Of course, being single may have a lot to do with not having concerns about so long away from home. If I had a spouse and/or children, I suppose I’d want to be there spending as much time with them as I could.

Fortunately (for me anyway) I don’t have those liabilities. And while I am a little envious of my friends that have built wonderful families, I’m not that jealous. Besides, I have several (hundred, it seems at the family holiday table) cousins, nieces, nephews, and assorted other half pint types that I can “rent” anytime I decide to spend time with kids.

It works out for everyone involved: I get quality time with the kids when I want it. Their parents get some quality time with themselves. And the kids have a blast. Usually. Especially when ice cream is involved. Usually

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Decent game last night. At this point with all the moving around, I really don’t find myself connected to any one team. As I might have mentioned previously, I tend to enjoy the competition of the college game more than NFL, so I’ve not become emotionally attached to any of them.

Just like watching good plays. The drama of it all. How bad decisions affect the outcome; that sort of thing. There were a couple of like minded fans of the sport hanging out in the lounge of the downtown Denver hotel, where I was staying.

And then there were a few, FANS! Or I guess the true word is fanatic for these guys and gals. LOL! It was actually exactly what I was trying to tell you when I talked about how important it is to me to find accommodations that, well, accommodate me the way I wish to be taken care of.

As you can (hopefully!) tell, I didn’t have too many beers while watching the game. During the heavy duty traveling, it just doesn’t serve me well to indulge. Hmmm, maybe I’ll do a future post about the concept of living on the road like I live at home. I do think about it a ton since a large percentage of my time is actually spent in the traveling process.

We’ll see. For now it’s off to sleep. In the early a.m. I’ll be heading to the airport and out to San Francisco. I’m really going to try and get over to my favorite Chinese restaurant in China Town, Sam Wo’s. Complete, classic hole in the wall place. In fact, you walk in off the street through the kitchen!

There are two additional levels for dining. The best is always the top, 3rd floor. Completely irreverent wait staff that have tons of fun with the customers. Have to make it for dinner!

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I don’t have a television in my bedroom at home. Probably a good idea because I’ll admit to spending a bit too much time watching the one in my living room. But when I got into NYC and was shuttled over to the Comfort Inn JFK Airport Hotel, there was a pleasant surprise awaiting me in my room.

In addition to having plenty of work space for my computer, the flat panel television on the wall was such a nice touch that I immediately ordered myself some room service and prepared to unwind from the cross country trip.

Once my food was delivered and I got settled on the bed (as you can see, it is perfectly positioned in front of the monitor hanging on the wall) I relaxed, enjoyed my meal, and watched a movie on HBO.

Sometimes you just have to take advantage of these little things when you’re travelling and away from home. Would love to hear about some of the little unexpected surprises you come across during your business (or personal!) travel. Do share!

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