You think YOU'VE got traffic problems?

Mike Pugh from Vagabonding posted this video of traffic in Saigon.

Historic motorcycle race in Italy

My friend Paul Duchene is racing in the historic Motogiro d’Italia on May 20th, riding a 1957 Ducati 125.

The Motogiro d’Italia 2006 starts on the 16th of May from Rimini and will unwind through Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise in 5 legs of approximately 250 km each. The route will follow many of the roads ridden in the original races of the 1950s. Special attractions and local events will be held throughout the itinerary to evoke the authentic spirit of the tour which has always been popular with the public.

Some very cool pics are here.

Mexico travel tips

TheBigDay's Mexico specialist Ann Lile just finished up her article on travel tips for Mexico. Good stuff in here on the Colonial Cities--the historical cities of Mexico, mostly in the interior, offer the culture & history flavor of Europe, but much closer to home (and cheaper!). We're the combination of a few nights in the colonial cities with a few more at a traditional beach resort becoming more and more popular.

In the news...

Our partnership with Pleasant Holidays was announced via a press release this week. So far, we've seen articles in the Portland Business Journal, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the Pacific Business News, and the ModernAgent.com e-newsletter. And it's only Wednesday!

We gave away a wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii!

TheBigDay Travel ran a wedding contest this year, and we gave away a wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii (partners in the contest were Lisa Light from Destination Bride, Starwood Hawaii, Blue Nile, MyEvent.com, Live Internet Weddings, and Hawaiian Airlines). The lucky couple is getting married at the Royal Hawaiian hotel on Oahu this summer!

Local TV interview

Fox 12 came by and did a 2-minute news story on TheBigDay. Interviewed me and one of our local Portland wedding couples. They did a pretty good job of telling our story and how the registry works. A video clip in WMV format is on TheBigDay's In The News page.

Another honeymoon registry article

I put a new article up on TheBigDay last week about how to create registry items that really mean something to the wedding guests who buy them. Essentially it's advice on how to break your honeymoon activities down into gifts that make sense, are fun to buy, and are easy to take pictures of to put in your thank-you notes.

Vicky Trabosh speaks at the United Nations in NYC

My friend and exec coach, Vicky Trabosh, spoke to the U.N. on April 7th on Rwanda. Her speech is here, and there are details of the Rwandan Remembrance Day at www.wetheworld.org.

She's created an organization called Itafari to help Rwandans recover via education, microbanking, and partnering with organizations within the country.

Rotary - Camp Enterprise 2005

I'm a member of the downtown Portland Rotary Club...and one of the projects I'm involved in is Camp Enterprise, where we take 60 to 80 high school seniors from Portland schools to a weekend retreat and teach them a bit about the free enterprise system. We have presentations and lessons for them, plus guest speakers such as Sunny Kobe Cook, Bob Farrell, and Junki Yoshida to inspire them with their stories of how they started their businesses. A photo album from the 2005 Camp Enterprise is here.

House projects

In a 75-year-old house, there's ALWAYS another project to be done. Mostly we've tackled the interior so far. "Under construction" pictures are here, while pics of the outside in various seasons are here.

Went diving

Last week the inlaws took my wife and I on a cruise to Mexico and Belize...did a little diving too. Here's a photo album of pics I took with a $20 disposable underwater camera (with a flash, even...and it's reloadable...takes regular 800 speed 35mm film!).

But wait, there's more :-) here are pics from onboard the cruise ship, San Gervasio ruins, Playa del Carmen, etc.

Wallowing bison???

I Googled myself the other day...and found this:

Wallowing Behavior of American Bison (Bos bison) in Tallgrass Prairie: an Examination of Alternate Explanations

It's NOT me, even though his middle initial is even the same as mine. The closest I ever get to wallowing bison is the occasional buffalo burger :-)