I was recently re-reading an old travel journal entry from my first ever work-related trip, my trip to Barcelona. During the early part of the journal, I realized that I focused heavily on the actual journey from New Jersey to Barcelona, my enthusiasm palpable in the words on the page. In reading it again, it reminded me that I sometimes take small things for granted when they are part of my normal routine, as traveling has become, and that it really is the journey, and not the destination, that is important. Or in the case of traveling, it's often both! So [View Full Entry]

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On Thursday, I headed to Lake Placid to see the Division III Men’s College Hockey Frozen Four and spend time with some college friends. It isn’t my first trip up to LP, so I was looking forward to a fun and interesting weekend. Because I went to college in central NY, the cold north has always felt like home to me, and as I drove up the Northway, I could feel myself relax measurably. By the time I reached my friend’s parents' cottage on the lake, where we would be spending the next five days, I was ready for the weekend! [View Full Entry]

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As evening falls, the sounds of honking horns signal what must be a rather significant traffic jam and the banging on wall next door leads me to believe that maybe the "Do not disturb sign" is construction-related, and not jet lag-related. I have just returned from a two and a half hour yin yang massage at the hotel's Chi spa. Their brochure again quotes James Hilton's Lost Horizon, saying "You will achieve calmness and profundity, ripeness, and wisdom. And the clear enhancement of memory. And most of all, you will have Time..." I certainly found all of these things this afternoon. [View Full Entry]

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As I write this, I'm sitting at my hotel desk looking out over the river as the sun sets behind the Pu-shi side of Shanghai (Pu meaning river, and shi meaning west). It's my favorite time of the day, when evening first begins to creep in, the air gets cooler and the sun causes the buildings to glow with warmth. It's especially my favorite time of day whenever I'm near water, because the water glitters and moves as if it is alive. It gives me a peaceful feeling, one that I've been encountering in a multitude of places here in Shanghai. [View Full Entry]

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"Welcome to Shanghai!" This is a sentiment I have heard repeated more times than I can count since my arrival at Pudong International Airport sometime yesterday morning (after 24 hours traveling, that whole portion of my trip seems fuzzy and rather far away. But perhaps I should begin at the beginning - the flights to get here. Although I don't normally endorse various airlines on here (since I have come to believe that flying is more of a necessary evil and less of an exciting adventure), I must give my kudos to [url=h [View Full Entry]

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This morning dawned way too early again, but with ski departure of nine thirty planned (for the others, not me, don’t get your hopes up!), we needed an early start. First, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, thanks to one latecomer, and then the skiers were off. My dad and I packed up some of our things in anticipation of tomorrow’s departure, and then rested downstairs, reading and napping. We were to meet the skiers at one-thirty for lunch at Furcia Pass, a point along the mountain that turned out to be much higher than I initially believed. The restaurant was [url=http://www.s [View Full Entry]

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Despite a decided lack of sleep (only two hours - thank you jet lag!), I was ready to go and determined to ski when I got up this morning. We had a lovely, quiet breakfast at La Bercia, and then rushed around assembling and donning our required gear. First stop - La Ski Point for some rentals. Uh oh, now I was committed. To be our ski "instructor," we had roped in La Bercia's owner's son for the day. Although not a true instructor, he was willing to help us and try to teach us to ski. He helped us to [View Full Entry]

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Alors, je suis arrivée, finalement! I know, I know, I’m not traveling to any French-speaking countries on this trip, but I’m practicing for my upcoming French class. And the arrival of our French lawyer later tonight. But anyway, let’s begin at the beginning. I left New Jersey on Tuesday evening, just about making it to the airport in the allotted time, since my car’s driver felt the need to test out almost every highway in NJ. The flight was Lufthansa, which I had high hopes for, since they usually have more comfortable seats. However, this was a newer plane, w [View Full Entry]

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Once again, our conferences would not be complete without one of our famous dine-arounds - for those of you that aren't familiar with this little activity, it's when we work in conjunction with our host firm to choose a series of restaurants and make reservations for 10-12 people at each. It's a great way for people to network with a different group and to get a real flavor for the local city. However, it's an organizational nightmare for me and always proves to be the biggest headache of any conference. But the delegates love it, so we have them a lot. [View Full Entry]

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There is something to be said for having meetings in a beautiful location, because it's hard to get down about having lawyerly discussions when you walk along a peaceful path along a brook to get to them. So although I wasn't raring to go this morning, I did enjoy wandering along by the TPC Stadium Golf Course (yes a PGA course) and by the water of the resort first thing. With breakfast outside the meeting rooms, overlooking the golf course, you just can't complain. The meetings went well this morning, and then it was off to change into my horse ridin' [View Full Entry]

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