Background

Traveling consultant, 13 years a top tier frequent flier. Lifetime Marriott Titanium, third year Ambassador, Hilton Diamond. I am also an affiliate of various travel brands, so some of the links to external sites might include my affiliate ID that helps me defray some costs of travel and this blog, but regardless my blogs are still my honest thoughts on places.
This has garnered me a large continuing supply of points and exclusive treatment around the world. I am the grand nephew of John Clouse - Former worlds most traveled man, and I guess it's just in my blood. Admittedly a lot of my experiences are pretty far off the charts to what many people might experience (I do feel most of my experiences are attainable by people if they save miles and plan accordingly, this is approachable luxury). I do rather enjoy the high end treatment, but it doesn't mean I am a snob. Far from it.

I have stayed over 1800 nights in hotels around the world, over 130 properties, many countries, 1400? flights. Maybe more... that one I lose count of. Given that, I tend to stick to Oneworld Flights and Marriott Properties, and for a brief while Hilton when I was a Diamond with them. You will notice my trips skewed in that fashion. I do have a particular affinity for JW Marriott's. I find them the best value for the dollars spent overall.

My passions are traveling well to exotic locations, staying well at those locations, meeting friends I have made for drinks at those locations, seeing those locations, and hot wings.

My Travel Gear:

  • Macbook Air 13" 2013 - SD card port, 512gb drive, super light, and is a great platform for working on my videos and photos while I am on the road.
  • Bose QC3's On the ear noise canceling headphones. Had them for over a decade. They are not the newest, nor the bestest, but they do a great job.
  • Sony a7r II 42mp digital camera with a 50mm f1.8 lens.
  • My Travel Bag! Connections are unavoidable and I take Multi-day flights to get to places, this bag, has all my needed items to be presentable and refreshed on those 45 hour flights to Asia with toothpaste, moisturizers, etc.
  • My Victorinox Werks Traveler 5.0 22" Two-Wheel Carry-On. I am not a fan of spinners, and this gives me 2 more inches of storage space inside. It's stupidly rugged, holds easily 5 days of clothes. Fits in any USA overhead and all International big boys (777, 767, A330, A350) overheads. As I change planes and hit the showers in the airline lounges, everything I need is in here. I would be dead without this.
  • My International currency. As you can see I have a lot of different currencies onhand. Never go without some local cash in had for a cab, train, etc. Invaluable for convenience.
  • Ear Plugs - Macs. Period. They are soft, stay soft, and expand in your ear quite awesomely to block out all the noise.
  • Advil PM. 8 hours before landing, I pop one, only one. It kicks in and I am out until about 1 hour before landing. Critical for time-readustments.
  • My Neck Pillow - Cozy Hut Easy to Carry Memory Foam Travel Neck and Cervical Pillow, I only use it for my neck... Not always able to get First or Business class internationally at $10k each way fares! This makes Premium Economy tolerable.

My Office Gear:

  • Macbook Pro 15" 2012 - 2 x 1tb SSD drives, 16gb ram, various replacement batteries. Truly a work horse that I am no longer looking to upgrade because it's still kicking butt.
  • Apple 27" Cinema Display as a monitor and docking station for for the MacBook Pro.
  • Western Digital My CLoud EX4100 NAS with a 10tb Raid 1 backup for all things photo.
I do not get any compensation for any of these products, I just like them.


I hope you enjoy my travel blogs/posts at least a portion of the amount I did experiencing them.