Dear Survivor, If you’re going to Paris, you’ll need a heavy jet. Your Survival Guy prefers Bombardier’s Global Express 7500. With only a handful to choose from, you’ll be in rarified air, literally—because when you’re cruising at altitude tens of thousands of feet up, the advanced air pressurization system makes it feel like you’re only at 4,000. Great for extra-long trips (and even not-so-long ones). Remember, it’s the small things in life that matter most. You’ll want to hit the ground running, not bogged down with a head cold. Then there are the 15-windows (per side), soft leather … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, OK, so you want to go to Paris? Your Survival Guy is back from another three-week research trip, the second this year, and I have plenty to report. For one, Paris is open for business, big time, as travelers from around the world, (sans China) are moving about the country. As for Paris itself, especially in the service/tourism industry, it’s at maximum capacity based on the sheer demand post-Covid and lack of labor supply. There’s still a hangover from lockdowns and the reluctance of workers—still living off government payouts—to get back to work. Sound familiar? Now, … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, You know the saying, “If it’s too good to be true…” It’s almost not worth finishing because fortunes are made and lost even though everyone knows the phrase. They think they see something “different” than the other guy, or that it’s a “can’t miss” opportunity—until it isn’t—like some cryptocurrency bankruptcy. I know fortunes are made and lost like clockwork. It’s why I want you to harness the power of time in your life. Here’s Why You Deserve a Vacation from Your To Do List How do you do that? Well, you can start with good habits. Habits that you can grow with and … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, “Watch this boat off our stern,” my dad said. “He’s coming in hot.” “He’s throwing off a huge wake. You’ve got another one coming at us up ahead off port bow. Watch your channel markers. Keep this red to your left. Remember, we’re leaving, it’s not ‘Red Right Return.’ Pick a side up ahead. Looks like starboard passage is clear.” How to Buy a Boat: Part I Such was the reality check for our sailing trips, clearing any cobwebs from our eyes while navigating Woods Hole, a narrow channel where water funnels into Vineyard Sound from Buzzards Bay or, depending on the … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, OK, Your Survival Guy just got back from a two- and half-week research trip in Paris. The six-hour head start in Paris-time compared to the east coast gave me plenty of time to gather my thoughts over a café crème and croissant. In a word, Paris is busy. But it’s not too crazy yet with the demanding Chinese customer still in lockdown. It feels like a soft open. Staffing shortages are rampant while customer demands are as high as ever, understandably acting like they’ve been locked up for a couple of years. But it’s all relative. Because when you spend nine of your nights … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, You read in last month's Survive & Thrive about my recent trip to Key West. One night, after dinner with friends, sitting around the outdoor dining room table, they shared stories about their COVID trip pulling an RV trailer from Key West to Colorado to Disney—specifically Fort Wilderness—and back. They made incredible memories, despite some scary hairpin turns driving up and around the Rockies. Afterward, I told them about our trip to Fort Wilderness as a kid. “I remember one time we pulled in around midnight in our Winnebago,” I told them. “Parked at the … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, “Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after,” wrote Henry David Thoreau. But if it’s fish you’re after, then get yourself aboard the Double Down out of charter boat row in Key West and go fishing with captain Brice Barr and first mate Shawn. You can tell them Your Survival Guy sent you, and you can thank me later. I promise. Aboard the Double Down is exactly where you could find us in mid-March at what I refer to as Summer Camp in Key West for our second trip in two years. We caught sailfish and an assortment of pelagic on both … [Read more...]