From spending Christmas paddling with feral piggies in the Bahamas to publicity on my 800-mile mission walk, my life seems to run the gamut. Jessie Festa, editor of the blog Jessie on a Journey, conducted a recent Q&A with me asking lessons learned during my hike, memorable local encounters, and how to prepare for this journey.
The Mission Inn Hotel filled their shelves with my book in time for Christmas. I’m humbled by the number purchased in stores and online over the past few weeks for holiday gifts! Thanks everyone! I hope my hike will inspire others to tackle the El Camino Real hike to visit California’s 21 missions.
Editor extraordinair, Elizabeth Hansen, of the award-winning #AuthenticLuxuryTravel website, asked me to write a post on my 800-mile mission walk, sharing with her readers the landmark’s backgrounds, scenic sections for day hikes, and posh places to stay along the route. I was very fortunate to stay at three of California’s nicest hotels along my route…
The San Diego Press Club certainly knows how to throw a fabulous journalism awards show! Good food. Good people. Good time. Very proud to receive first, second, and third place awards for my TV travel interviews!
CatholicMom.com warmly welcomed me to contribute a guest post on her stellar website about my 800-mile walk along California’s El Camino Real to visit the 21 historic Catholic missions. These landmarks are especially interesting to her readers because they were founded by Saint Junipero Serra in the 1700’s, who was recently canonized by Pope Francis.
Had a blast speaking with Adria at The Word Fox blog about my mission walk. She is so fun and asked GREAT questions. We talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly of traipsing 800-miles along California’s roads from San Diego to Sonoma. Sit back an relax as you follow along on my journey…
East County Magazine journalist, Mimi Pollack, invited my hairy heart throb, Marcel, and I to lunch so she could talk to “us” about traveling with pets. She knows we’ve toured extensively since my now 14-year old bichon frise was six, visiting various parts of the USA, Mexico, and France. Here’s a few tips… http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/animal-tales-marcel-traveling-pooch
The San Jose Mercury newspaper was fascinated with my mission walk, so they asked me to contribute an article to a section they titled The Good Life, telling their readers about my trek. San Jose is home to one of the 21 California missions. It is one of the nicest churches/museums along the 800-mile route.
Editor extraordinaire, Chris Jennewein, of the award winning website Times of San Diego, was kind enough to let me share my mission walk story with his readers. As you’ll see from a comment left by one of the readers, the subject of the missions and how they came to fruition is a controversial topic. http://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2015/03/20/a-san-diegans-year-long-800-mile-trek-on-el-camino-real/
One of the largest Asian populations in America sits two hours north of San Diego, and it’s the new, hot destination. Hipsters are exploding on the scene of LA’s Little Tokyo, Koreatown, and Chinatown, opening businesses which rival their Eastern counterparts. Gentrification of the ethnic nabes has prompted a burgeoning celebrity chef food scene, restored