Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here!!

"Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here!" These are the words unexpectedly exclaimed by Meg Ryan in the movie "French Kiss" as she walks down a street in the French Riviera. She is there to find her ex-fiance who has fallen in love with a French woman and to make him once again fall in love with her. She travels to this foreign country where she can't speak the language or eat the cheese (because she is lactose intolerant), and she does so with this singular goal in mind. However, along the way, she meets a Frenchman played by Kevin Kline and of course, she eventually realizes that her ex-fiance was a loser and she is in fact, now desperately in love with this new man. (Oops...spoiler alert.) Anyway, there is a scene in the movie as they are walking, having a conversation about what to do next and Meg is very focused on the task at hand - she must find her ex and reclaim his love - when suddenly, out of nowhere, she stops, holds out her arms, looks around and is fully in the moment as she sees all the beauty around her. It is then that she throws this blessing and wish out to the Universe..."Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here!"

I've had this same thought many times while traveling around the world and as I begin traveling once again, I've decided that rather than just randomly throwing the thought out to the universe, I'll share some of these beautiful moments with you. My job is to find out about wonderful destinations in the world at which companies can host meetings and events for their employees, sales force, or clients. I travel to these places in order to visit the finest hotels, dine at the best restaurants, and see what each place and each culture offers for groups to visit. (I know what you're thinking..."where do I apply?" - trust me, it isn't always quite so glamorous). While I am doing these "site inspections", I am very focused - I'm looking at square footage of meeting space, ceiling heights, distances to airport or cultural attractions, conditions of properties, levels of service, etc. In the past, I've allowed myself to focus only on some of these elements while not necessarily giving due justice to the "beautiful and gorgeous" of each place. 

So travel along with me in the coming months. We will journey first to the Bahamas, and then to Moab, Utah (which is actually a personal trip), on to Scotland and then to Ireland...and who knows what else we might throw in there in-between. Along the way, I'll share with you what I'm seeing. Maybe some of these places are places that you plan to go or dream to go, or maybe they are just places that you will see through my eyes. In any case, I'll take you along and I'll be sure to stop often during the journey...taking a moment to exclaim "Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here!"