Blog Posts
Our team has lots of great ideas - and we're willing to share
DC Travel Planning, Miles Style
The stars aligned…
I’d been working on the Miles/Destination DC team for over a year—coordinating advertising assets for DC Official Visitor Guides; reviewing fascinating See and Do listings; placing banner ads on Washington.org for Smithsonian museums, restaurants and arts events I longed to experience; and collaborating with ePublishing to create tantalizing e-newsletters featuring captivating festivals and theater performances. But I had only visited the city once—many years ago as a teenager, and my daughter, who recently registered to vote, had never been there. A trip was in order.
It was time to explore the world I’d experienced on paper and online in the flesh. It was time to use the travel tools my Miles team designed to maximize the experience of four days in DC! The charm: District-based friends offered to host us (thank you, Matthew and Crystal). The fun: planning the vacation.
Changing Perspectives with Historical Tourism
Our Family’s Visit to the USS Lexington
I spent my childhood on the East Coast near many of the historical battlefields and settlements that shaped the early days of our nation. It was common for us to take field trips that let us see our history firsthand.
My wife was not so fortunate. While she received an excellent education, she grew up in a small town in rural Texas, far from any significant historical sites. I didn’t realize the significance of this until we took our kids on a tour of the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier that served during World War II.
Global All-Stars: 2019 Speaker Lineup
We are so excited to introduce the speakers for the 2019 Global All-Stars Innovators Showcase! Now in its eighth year at Destinations International’s Annual Convention, Global All-Stars serves as an incredible platform for exciting new ideas, insights and innovation from around the world. In 2019, we will cover the topical theme of trust, focusing on “Trust in Place, Product and People”. You won’t want to miss a minute of the inspiration and insights from Global All-Stars 2019. Read on to learn more about this year’s speaker line-up.
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Sarasota Staycation in Season
With a February house guest, we were daunted to brave the traffic on Tamiami Trail and long waits for tables in restaurants so full, they don’t need to accept reservations. The challenge was writ large: to find seclusion and enjoyment in this slice of (finally red tide-free) paradise when about 90,000 snowbirds have come to roost. Here’s what we discovered during our mini staycation.
Get off the beach and into a boat. Yup, just you, your closest friends and some of the most beautiful waters on the U.S. shoreline. Avoid the world-famous beaches in season where it takes a wizard to find a parking spot and you can hardly see the sand between bumper-to-bumper umbrellas. Although the intracoastal can sometimes boast as many vessels as...
Reason to Travel #3: To Find Yourself
I hear more and more people doing what I’m going to call “genetic tourism:” seeking their heritage by going back to where they think they’re from, or where DNA says their parents, grandparents or distant relatives came from, and learning about themselves by tracing their family stories or genes.
Two years ago, Ancestry.com partnered with Go Ahead Tours and began offering genealogy-themed trips across Europe. Ancestry.com also worked with Cunard and the Queen Mary 2 to put together a westbound transatlantic cruise where passengers would retrace the steps their ancestors took from England to America, with genealogists offering workshops and telling stories each day. In 2020, another QM 2 cruise will coincide with the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage, where many Americans can now trace their own beginnings.