The Spirit of Travel Among Americans
What is it that helps make up the fabric of Americans? Patriotism? Work ethic? A love for buffets and big gulps? These are probably just a few things that come to mind when you think about what makes up the fabric of Americans. But what about travel? What role does travel play in the life of Americans? If our jobs have anything to say about it, then not much.
Most Americans receive two weeks of vacation per year, of which many don't even use. A survey last year revealed that nearly half of all Americans don't use all of their vacation days. So does this point to travel not being an important part of the fabric of Americans? It's this and more questions I've sought out to answer this week in New York City for the New York Times Travel Show.
I'm joined in New York City this week by the blogging duo of Captain and Clark on behalf of Expedia to cover the show. However, before uncovering the spirit of travel among Americans, we're on a mission to uncover the spirit of New York City. This has included stumbling upon the set of a 1960s-era Coen Brothers film in the East Village. I wondered why the vintage taxi kept slowly circling the block when I tried to hail it. We also quickly realized that we were getting strange looks not because Chris and I are so tall and dashing, but rather because we kept pronouncing Houston street like the Texas city, and not by combining "house" and "ton", as New Yorkers do. Today includes a food tour of New York City, with stops thus far that have included eating lobster rolls, beer and pretzel caramels, and a bagel and lox.
Tomorrow we head to the Javits Center for day one of the New York Times Travel Show, which is one of the most renowned travel shows in the world. Travelers, travel personalities, tourism boards, and executives come together to extol the virtues of travel. We'll be covering the show tomorrow and Saturday, as well as talking to locals in New York City about their travel habits and future plans of travel. You'll be able to follow our coverage of New York City and the New York Times Travel Show on Expedia.com and on Twitter using the #ExpediaC2C hashtag.
Leading up to this weekend's show, we have a special opportunity for people to get involved without even having to be in New York City. I'm thrilled to announce that tomorrow afternoon, from 3:30 to 3:50 p.m. EST, we'll be interviewing Expedia's Vice President and General Manager, Joe Megibow. We'll be talking about the spirt of travel among Americans, but also fielding your questions. If you have a question about travel or Expedia, there's a chance Joe will be answering it. The interview will be live tomorrow, Friday March 2, on Expedia's Facebook page from 3:30 to 3:50 p.m. EST. You'll have three different ways to ask questions. One will be by commenting on this post today. Simply leave your questions about travel and Expedia for Joe below and we'll select some of the questions for him to answer. You can also ask questions on Twitter using the #ExpediaC2C hashtag (See here for an example). Lastly, you'll have a chance to answer questions during the interview on Facebook. We won't be able to get to all the questions, but will answer as many as we can during the 20-minute interview.
What would you like to ask Joe Megibow, VP and General Manager of Expedia, about travel and Expedia?
