How often does the phrase, “When we were kids, we used to be able to …” come up in conversations with your friends about parenting? In our family, we recall with fondness such now-illegal activities as sleeping on the floor in the back of a family van, riding in the bed of our neighbor’s flatbed truck, and – especially memorable to me – sitting in the middle front seat of my grandmother’s Oldsmobile as we ran errands together. Two...

Random thoughts, observations and recent happenings that take more than 140 characters … The Lost Symbol felt more like “National Treasure 3” than “The Da Vinci Code 2.” (And didn’t one of the “National Treasure” movies also tackle the subject of the Masons?) Despite all the buzz on Twitter and elsewhere, Dan Brown’s latest is not worth the hype and attention that it’s receiving … although I’m sure the publishing...

When we first announced to friends that we were embarking on a month-long family road trip, most had the same reaction: “31 days in a car with two kids?!” Admittedly, we also questioned whether we could do it. But for my wife and me, sharing moments with our two children trumps other activities, so the opportunity to use our time off to help them build new memories was a no-brainer. My wife has often referred to our 6,395-mile journey as our...

We all can agree that businesses must engage with current and future customers on the Web. But I think in no industry is this more important than in the travel industry. I joked the other day that I don’t know how people planned trips before the Internet. Between finding a travel agent who’d been where you’re planning to be and scouring AAA tourbooks for hotel listings, the process must have been arduous. Or, then again, maybe travel used...

It’s Sunday and it’s quiet. Not a big surprise, as we live on a quiet street, where other than the white hum of the freeway or occasional barking dog, there is rarely much hubbub. Working from home over the past couple of months has only confirmed my observations that not much happens around here – with the everyday sameness being disrupted only by the children growing from tricycles to bikes to cars. But this Sunday is...