Beer, bashing and betrothal…

Traveling with Adam has not only proved to be full of excitement, but filled with once-in-a lifetime experiences and adventures. It's crazy but amazing to think we've already been to 6 different countries in barely 6 months. Friends often ask me which country has been my favorite and I can't give them an answer -- I love each and every one of them for the different and wonderful memories they hold. It's the equivalent of asking a parent with more than one child which child is your favorite. This blog is a brief recap of just a few of those memories. Germany holds a very special place in ... [Read More]

Abu Dhabi dull

Abu Dhabi’s not like Dubai. Abu Dhabi, with a history going back nearly five thousand years, is an older and more conservative city, and certainly feels it. Dubai, the spectacular modern metropolis rising out of the desert, veritably crackles with energy. Abu Dhabi, though larger, feels smaller, and has few of awe-inspiring, record-setting engineering wonders for which its sister-emirate to the north is so famous. Abu Dhabi may have more history, but Dubai has more cool, which is why I greeted news that I would have to leave Dubai for Abu Dhabi with little enthusiasm. The last time I was in Abu Dhabi, 27 years ago, heavily armed ... [Read More]

Texas Chicken

I’m a foodie. What can I say? I grew up in Queens, New York with a family of great cooks. My mom, grandmothers, father, uncles, sisters and everyone else can cook. We are not the foodies who chase the hot new 5 star chef or eat at the place it took 6 months to get the reservation. I’m the guy who will watch the Food Network and then spend the weekend at the grill blazing away. Here in the UAE I made a food discovery that has me a bit confused. It just might have foodies and entrepreneurs from around the world flocking to Dubai to make ... [Read More]

Souks, shopping and sheesha

My friend Eileen has a knack for making completely outrageous statements with such confidence that it takes a minute to realize what she’s said is insane. My new favorite example of this came when we were all out in the middle of the hot, dry desert and Eileen remarked that the climate in Dubai was “just like Wyoming.” This came immediately after she’d described Wyoming’s harsh winters and snow storms. Soo, Paul and I looked at each other for a moment waiting for the punch line that must surely follow. None came, and as is usually the case when Eileen makes these sorts of pronouncements, we had ... [Read More]

Tom Cruise didn’t fall off the Burj Khalifa.

I’ve traveled with a lot of people over the years, and in my experience it takes the average American visiting exotic cultures about a week before they’re desperately craving “American food.” It took Paul Newman three days. On our way back from a morning appointment we passed a mall with a “Texas Chicken” fast food joint out front. For the next hour little came out of Paul’s mouth besides the words “Texas Chicken” (and he was only mildly bothered by the fact that Texas isn’t exactly a state famous for chicken. We also saw a stand hawking “famous New York French Fries.” In naming their establishments do ... [Read More]

Dune Bashing in Dubai

As we go through life we have experiences we never forget; a moment with friends, a kiss the memory of which never fails to stir butterflies in our stomachs, an adventure so thrilling it makes our heart pound every time we think on it. Today was one such day. Its beginning was not nearly so exciting as its end. We’re in the United Arab Emirates for meetings in Dubai and a conference in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), another Emirate about 90 minutes up the coast from Dubai. There are five of us, with lots of luggage, including large display banners for an exhibit booth. We had arranged well in ... [Read More]

Destination Dubai

  As so often happens when I travel, disaster struck my intended destination just as I was on my way. This time it wasn’t a hurricane or a tsunami that decided to join me on my trip; it was a terrorist attack, originating in Yemen, which routed through Dubai hours before my flight departed Atlanta. This heightened security in Atlanta, and sent my colleague Paul Newman into a near-panic. He announced (repeatedly) that had I not been on this trip he likely would’ve made some excuse and cancelled altogether. Soo and I decided to have a drink with Paul before boarding our flight to help calm his frayed ... [Read More]

“English-speaking driver” in Kuwait

We have been told that the one word understood in all countries of the world is “taxi.” We don’t know if that is correct, but we do know that around the world one of the most abused phrases is “English- speaking driver.” We have hired quite a few drivers thus advertised who could not carry on the simplest conversation that we could comprehend. We had one such driver in Kuwait City who was selected by our hotel to take us to a business appointment in a large bank in the middle of the city. By the time we drove from the suburban hotel into town it ... [Read More]

Security agents watch us over Saudi Arabia

We had just been in Beirut during a partial truce in the civil war. Americans traveling without escort found it prudent to make no waves. And, there was a tendency to see something sinister lurking behind every veil and robe. Thus brainwashed, we boarded a Kuwait Airlines flight in Kuwait City for a trip across Saudi Arabia to Cairo. The airplane was loaded with Arabs in their great flowing robes, headdresses, and, for the women, veils. It was footage for a travel film. Across the aisle from us were two large, swarthy men with heavy beards. Something about them suggested that they might be officials, perhaps security ... [Read More]