Sunny San Diego

I have returned to chilly Davis after a week in San Diego and though the weather wasn't at its best, it was certainly nicer than what I returned to. The trip was a two part adventure, the first 2 days I spent time with D & A McP and the rest was spent at the ITMI Symposium.

I flew down Friday and spent the day with D & her great little ones. We just hung out and caught up, we hadn't seen one another for a year or so. Saturday we headed out to the Wild Animal Park. It has been revised a bit, they are changing the trams from an hour trip down to two 30 minute trips. Later as we walked around we stopped to watch the elephants, enamored by the 3 baby elephants, then we got a great view of a lion lounging right up against the barrier and some amazing California Condors. The quiet, well as quiet as a house with 2 children under 4, evening at home was capped off by D & my continued Trivial Pursuit competition. I am not sure who is in the overall lead but whoever it is will lose in the end I am sure. It was great visiting with the McP's but it was time to change gears.

Sunday, it was off to the conference. We were staying along Hotel Circle in the Handlery Hotel for our 4 days of schmoozing, education and interviewing. The first day was a tour of San Diego on the trolley. We chose to tour the USS Midway which has been turned into a terrific museum, eat in Seaport Village and visit the Hotel del Coronado. The weather cooperated, so my friend from Kansas City was able to enjoy some sun and temps about 20 degrees. After returning to the hotel, we easily found our cohorts in the bar and established a plan for dinner. (Note to organizers, find a hotel with a bigger bar) It was great to see a large contingent from my Alaska stint and to see many of my classmates from my two weeks in San Francisco. Our seminars were for the most part very interesting. Our unanimous favorite was a gentleman named Tim Lowery from Charleston, S.C, he spoke last year as well and his storytelling was just as a big of a hit this time around. My other favorite speaker was a history professor that spoke about the part of tourism throughout literature and history. Funny that I enjoyed that one so much. The main reason graduates attend Symposium is for the session of speed interviewing and the opportunity to speak with the tour company representatives in a non structured manner. Prior to attending we fill out a form requesting interviews with certain companies and hopefully we get matched up with the ones we want. Of course, those interviews only last 8 minutes so it is really just an introduction and the opportunity to meet 9 or so tour operators. Before and after these interviews at the various social events it is important to talk with the TO's but not seem to be begging for work. A very fine line to walk. Our final night was a dinner cruise on San Diego Bay with the best food so far and dancing, though I never made it upstairs for that. The next day was our trip to Ensenada and Rosarito Beach and the weather cooperated again. This was my first trip into Mexico and we had a very good time for how quick it was, we shopped in Ensenada, I bought a ring and a purse, my two weaknesses. Then the Rosarito Beach Hotel put on a fantastic lunch buffet with entertainment followed by a tour of the hotel and to top it off we all received a gift bag. This hotel is a historical landmark since it dates back to the 1920's. The tile work in what is now the spa, formerly the main house is exquisite. The slowest part of the day was waiting in line to go through the border check, however it also provided us with the most amusing sight. There were many entrepreneurs wandering amongst the stagnant lanes of unsuspecting tourists and the best item for sale was definitely the Jesus on the cross, borne by more then a couple of vendors. Once back at the hotel we headed to a very fancy dinner at the food court at Fashion Valley mall and then concluded the trip with a drink with some friends in the hotel bar. I flew early the following morning, greeted in Sacramento by rain and a good friend.

It was nice to get home but don't worry, I am not losing my wanderlust, just wearied by constantly trying to impress others but not being in control. Now I sit back and hope that I made the right impression on the right people. I am eager to get my shot at Europe or anywhere in the world really but I, as you all know, am a realist and know that very likely I could work pretty much the same schedule of last year. You know what, that would be just fine. I am just happy to be doing something and meeting some fantastic people in the process.

Thanks for reading.