How many times in life do you start something you think is significant and then forget all about it? Well, it just happened to me, and I’m shocked that so many years have passed since I wrote my first post on here. No, we aren’t there yet. Not by a long shot.
I was thinking about how fortunate I am to have spent an entire working career in the travel industry. When I boarded that beautiful PanAm 707 Clipper in 1966, flying from San Francisco to Bangkok, I didn’t realize that ride would last until this very day. So many places, people, sunrises, sunsets, and memories around the world have unfolded before me since then.
Like every journey, it has to begin somewhere. I was born in San Francisco and growing up, I was so, so fortunate to explore every part of the City. San Francisco was, and is, my favorite city in the world – as a child, I explored the streets, endlessly rode Cable Cars, heard fog-horns from my bedroom in the evening, ate Dungeness Crab fresh off the boats at the wharf, and knew I lived in the best city anywhere.
On one very memorable day, I sat on the grass at Aquatic Park with my mom and hordes of other people watching (and hearing) a prison uprising at Alcatraz. The prison isn’t all that far offshore, and the sounds of gunfire and activity carried across the Bay to where we were sitting. It was a front-row seat to one of the wildest experiences I’d ever had. Now that doesn’t happen every day.
Today an army of people visit Ghirardelli Square, which is located right behind Aquatic Park, where we sat looking at Alcatraz. The square wasn’t a tourism magnet then, and the Ghirardelli factory pumped out chocolate products 365 days a year from that location. As soon as the Hyde Street Cable Car came around the corner, everyone could smell the chocolate fragrance – even now, I can remember it.
So with all that in mind, I’m going to add thoughts and random memories to keep this journey going. I hope someone other than me will enjoy my views half as much as I have. Thanks for joining me along the way.
Are we there yet? 