Category Archives: Blog

AMERICA

Where from here? This is America

It’s been overwhelming. The last few weeks have seen a barrage of funding stops and bizarre eccentric and scary behavior from our government. Hang on. This is America. It sure doesn’t feel that way. I remember coming to the USA in 1975. The land of open arms and opportunity. It was the beginning of student travel. American high school and college students were testing the waters of international travel. Experiencing the welcome mat laid out by our European friends. And in turn, a new wave of immigrants was arriving on the shores of America. That would be me!  America was our sanctuary. A place of strong government and a land of opportunity. Where did that moment go? Last time I checked,  government was about creating a strong environment so that we feel safe not just from the enemy without but the enemy within. Tax those who can afford to pay for those who cannot. Simple. Healthcare, education, and security.

Internalism goes nowhere. It promotes intolerance and stifles knowledge.

And what about respect? Where did it all go? I think of the crew at the local Dunkin Donuts. They all speak four languages. The car park attendant from Nigeria who is trying to get his son to a college here, works two jobs. Will his work visa be renewed? I don’t know.

I love travel. It’s my business. I think of all the things that will be affected. Tariffs on our neighbors. As if a car or a cell phone was ever fully built in one place.  The marketplace is International. The firing of thousands of federal employees makes our ability to service our clients worse. It means obtaining visas will be more complicated, passports will take longer, and before we know it, “DO NOT VISIT” will start to appear in potential travelers’ minds. TSA employee cuts mean more lines, and passenger jams at airports. All for what? So, billionaires can prosper. Seriously. Life is not just a marketplace of deals and dollars. At least I hope not. It’s about kindness, compassion, and dignity too.

Hospitality employs 10% of our workforce. Travel and tourism contribute $2.4 trillion to GDP. That’s over 9%. Travel flows with the economy.  It helps shape our view of the world. In our business, we introduce students to a world of different languages, diverse cultures, and new ways of looking at the world in general. We help create Global citizens, a venture that feels increasingly important to our future.

The USA is a powerful and wonderful country. It’s a treasure of endless possibilities that should not be abused. That’s the place I came to and that’s the place I love. 

teachers

ACIS Global Teacher Conferences

Teaching is an art form. Vital for our “tomorrow’s world” people. Given the complexity we face… Climate change, the environment, sustainability, in addition to just being ourselves. Learning a language, developing an international way of looking at life. Being kind. Gifts we have can choose and gifts that are free!  In Barcelona recently, I was lucky to be in a crowd of incredible influencers and educators. A room of people who have dedicated their lives to helping students through the rocky unpredictable road of adolescence. Preparing students for college. Ensuring that everyone knows what it is like to get wet when it rains.

teachers

In these days of social media and AI, finding the fit and leading with dignity and grace is challenging and part of the MO of a teacher. Opening doors when traveling, pushing students to take chances and teaching tolerance and cultural understanding. Early mornings through winters cold, preparing assignments and driving home as darkness sets in to mark homework and set lesson plans is all part of a teacher’s day. How lucky we all are. Everyone has a teacher they remember from High School . Someone who made an impact on their lives. Someone who took the time to make a difficult day better. Thanks to teachers everywhere.  You make the difference every day and help create a better world.

sustainable travel

Sustainable Travel for me

Fly and stay sustainable. Be energy efficient and travel responsibly. I live my life on planes. I love traveling. I sort of…confession…love airports! I know it’s not brilliant but how else do I move.  There’s too much to see and too much to do and lots of it requires air travel as a starting point. But I wanted to be smart about the way I travel. I take trains when I am on the ground, use public transportation wherever I can. I carry a water bottle around with me and avoid the plastic as much as possible. I walk a lot. I know it’s better to walk a city or bike it if not too risky and I do that as much as I can. I want our organization to embrace responsible travel. Sightseeing’s are important, as are guides but on busses with 45 people, it’s always better to split up and walk, get wet when it rains and bike wherever you can. And no greenwashing. Pretending to be responsible but not.

We Invest in small companies, go Global and use local people on the ground. This year more than 25% of our travelers will travel to non-European destinations. And once we arrive, we go small and invest in the local scene. Going Global, thinking bigger than our comfort zone has to be married with giving back.  Discovery of new places must leave an imprint. Not a carbon footprint reduction monitor. An impression and an investment that dances hand in hand with our global mission. To change lives, teach cultural understanding by looking beyond and into the unknown…

Tour Manager

A Big Thank You to our Tour Manager: Rome

Our annual Tour Manager event took place in Rome, my favorite city. Over 100 tour managers descended on this beautiful place and we spent a day discussing the 2024 season and our 2025 vision.

Our main themes were Global Travel, Sustainability and AI. Many tour managers were unfamiliar with Rome, so it was a chance for them to do some sightseeing, stroll the piazzas, refresh some history, and potentially prepare for trips down the road. Rome was all a sparkle, with its Christmas decorations giving London a run for its money. The nativity scene at St Peter‘s and the extraordinary Fendi building decorated like a Christmas parcel were highlights. The lights along the Via del Corso and the Spanish steps were spectacular and still, there were the chestnut sellers on the corner to remind us all of a time past. Christ Rams Market scene in the Piazza Navona is always fabulous. As Rome prepares for the Giubioleo in 2025, the monuments are slowly being uncovered after restoration. 

Tour Managers are the last and most extraordinary part of our sales and marketing machine, whether they are practicing their profession in central or South America, Japan, Africa, or Europe they bring the pieces together that ensure that our groups, our group leaders will return refer and repeat for years to come. They are the secret ingredient to ACIS. They are extraordinary. They speak more languages than we could all even think about and they love what they do.  80% of them do not work for us full-time. They have a whole pot of professions, incredible, interesting, and innovative. In addition, they take some time out to do this for a few weeks.

Some practice the art full-time. We are very lucky. Without the good hands and incredible care these guys bring to the job, we would be missing such a huge part of what we do. They transfer knowledge, they create an atmosphere of curiosity to encourage students to take chances, and to move outside of their comfort zone. Most importantly, they help to make the world a better place by creating an atmosphere of tolerance and adventure for tomorrow’s leaders.

The Tour Managers have 9 to 10 days to turn on a fountain of knowledge and curiosity. It’s one of the most exciting meetings that we do all year. Every year we move it around. Last year Lisbon this year Rome, the year before Barcelona and next year, who knows but one thing is for sure: this team of more than 100, helps transform our quality product into a magical experience that creates a thirst for thirst for travel. Nearly all of the students who travel on an ACIS trip will do a semester abroad. Most of them will speak or learn to speak a foreign language. Over this week, the students and their incredible teachers are witnessing an opportunity of a new adventure that they will look back on in years to come as a catalyst for something quite profound

Thank you to all of these remarkable people, as we face the new challenges of travel, move through the myriad of AI possibilities, and seek to make our country and our company evolve into a responsible travel provider amidst the challenges of global warming and sustainability. We have an exciting road ahead. As we move our product globally to take people to places new and exciting. We are looking forward to another fantastic year of Travel. Travel Changes Lives.

Tajikistan: Ascent on a Seven-lake Journey

The journey to the border from Samarkand took about 45 minutes. From Samarkand you can see the glacier cap mountains due east. Our journey was to take us closer across and up those mountains. Tajikistan is mountainous. With glacial lakes and narrow winding roads through the mountains scattered villages. There seemed to be traffic jams of goat herds blocking the way along with mules laden with firewood.  It had an altogether different feel to Samarkand. It is a mineral rich country, and the people who live in the mountains adapt well to the rugged landscape, but it is a rugged landscape, and one can only imagine the winters here. Poplar trees were grown everywhere. They are fast to grow, and provide windbreak for the winter wind and firewood to keep the water hot. Streams and rivers are abundant because of the glacier drainage and provide a constant background of noise and fresh clear running water for the villages. Endangered species, such as the snow leopard, live up there in the mountains.

Once we had crossed the border, we took off in 4 x 4, and at some point, began the ascent on a seven-lake journey. The road at times seemed so narrow. It was impossible to imagine we could make the turn, especially when faced with an incoming vehicle, but we survived, just about, and the drivers were good. The roads were scary, and I would hate to have to drive that drive at night. We had one breakdown. We towed the car until the tow rope broke and then we left the car in a village to be retrieved another day. We had lunch in the village.

The hospitality was great. The food was fine and there is nothing I have quite experienced as primitive and as wonderful and welcoming as the people in that village. We made it to the seven lakes, took off our shoes and walked in the freezing water.  We went for a long, long hike and eventually made it back at dark. We joined the queue of people in the custom hall, come shack, waiting for a stamp on their passports to cross the border and head back into Uzbekistan. Tajikistan is visa free if you’re American or European. Crossing the border and presenting my American passport the guy looked up, smiled as if trying to imagine this place that I come from and stamped my passport.  I had just been to a country I did not know existed two weeks ago. Wow. 

samarkand

Samarkand Known for its Mosques and Mausoleum

samarkand

We are off again on a high-speed train jaunt. This time to Samarkand. The train station in Tashkent was organized and well kempt and the train was on time.  The Spanish have supplied Uzbekistan with their Ave trains.  High speed with more luggage room than the TGV in France.  More speed and efficiency than the sluggish English trains and delightful services onboard.

Our arrival in Samarkand coming from Bukhara gave a sense of a much bigger city but much less modern than Tashkent.

sweeping

We had arranged for a visit and sightseeing the following day but we still got to peak at some of the wonders that would great us as we entered ancient Samarkand. In many ways, everything here centers around Registan square. It’s three incredible mosques provide a picture postcard scene.

When we were there and it was Samarkand day, schoolchildren were dancing and singing in the square and we even hooked on to a few marriage ceremonies as we wandered around.  Entering the square, and then the ancient cloisters, the marketplaces revealed themselves.

At night the square was lit, and there was a laser show on that evening.  Under an incredible and beautiful full moon the setting was like a night at the theatre.  We tried to do everything in Samarkand.  We climbed the steps to the mausoleum, which gave us a view across the city and the mosques and minarets that was extraordinary.  I’ll always remember the old woman with her broom sweeping the steps for the steady flow of visitors and worshipers who climbed the not inconsiderable and daunting stairway to offer their prayers or take pictures.

The marketplace was within easy distance of Registan Square, an old covered market, selling fruits and dried vegetables and souvenirs.  And just like everywhere else in Uzbekistan, no pressure, a couple of girls came up to me in the square and asked me where I was from and asked me if I would wish their brother happy birthday as he was far away.

Samarkand

People wanted to talk, wanted to exchange ideas.  People wanted to be connected and you definitely got the feeling this country was desperate to open up and be part of our world.  This place is simply amazing. We got to see the observatory of Ulugh with its medieval beginnings.  At the end of the day, as the sun was setting the observatory seemed to be the right place to be.

Tomorrow we will rise early to visit Tajikistan.

Bukhara is a city of small streets, ancient bazaars

Bukhara is a City of Small Streets and Ancient Bazaars

Bukhara is a city of small streets, ancient bazaars

The train station in Tashkent was quite modern. We had assigned seats, and the boarding was pretty smooth. The journey was to be around four hours. It was quite exciting to be boarding an Afrosiyob built with Spanish Talgo technology and capable of speeds of 155 mph. Imagine, I thought, if the UK had such possibilities!

Bukhara is a city of small streets, ancient bazaars

The landscape through the windows was flat and I half expected to see caravan of camels crossing the steppes as if I had been time warped onto the ancient silk Road track. We were heading back through the centuries as it was. Bakhara was according to the guidebook, one of the great ancient beautiful cities of the world. We arrived, jumped onto the bus for a short transfer that left us just outside the old marketplace. It reminded me of the entrance to the Turkish bazaar in Istanbul, but from there, everything fell away. People were relaxed, not pushing, and we wandered with our suitcases through the ancient market enroute to one of the more delightful hotels I had ever stayed at. Nothing fancy, very open and the rooms surrounding a beautiful courtyard. I climbed to the top of the hotel terrace, you could see the mosques, and minarets that dotted the city. We had organized a guide to pick us up at the hotel. She was delightful and so our journey back in time began. We had lunch in a place she recommended, and the food was fantastic. And we walked and we walked, and we walked. We walked through ancient mosques and mausoleums, not so colorful more terra-cotta but as the sun dropped down, the sunlight bounced off the main square and it became a kaleidoscope of shades of soft evening light.

Bukhara is a city of small streets, ancient bazaars, beautiful mosques, and a city that is so perfectly contained within its borders that you feel you could spend two or three days there.  Yes, there were carpet traders because Uzbeky carpets made of silk are the most famous and treasured in the world. Here’s what amazed me. Nobody really tried to persuade us to buy. There was a magical moment in the bazaar when a shopkeeper picked up a typical Uzbeky musical instrument from his store and started to play it … just to play it, not to sell it. In my mind it was the jewel of Uzbekistan. More stunning because of its simple brick and terra-cotta and tiled buildings. There is a beautiful ornamental lake that sits in the center surrounded by tea houses. Figurines of camels surround the lake as a reminder that this was one of the great stopovers on the silk road. Today, it was my stopover, my oasis and I felt privileged to spend time here.

Tashkent

A Trip to Centuries-Old Uzbekistan

Tashkent

And so, it was. Uzbekistan. A country miles and miles away, with centuries of history and capitals that blow away the imagination. The Silk Road. Genghis Khan and Imir Timur.  Deserts and mountains and a civilization that has lived through a kaleidoscope of change. Cities that were on the natural trading routes for centuries. Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara. And here we were. In this magic kingdom of 36 million people that had defied the winds of time and escaped the tourist route.

We had arrived through a non-stop flight to Istanbul.  Ironically, the end of the Silk Road.  It was a short 4 and a half hours to Uzbekistan’s capital city, Tashkent. 

Tashkent

First impressions. Modern, overcast and chaotic and in rebuild mode. Post Soviet hangover, New Music Hall, open squares and beautifully designed and open spaces.  The omni present statue of Imur te Mur sits outside the hotel Uzbekistan.  A former Soviet hotel that has been spruced up to provide a light show in the evening.  The main open square by the arts and music center carries an extraordinary statue to commemorate the earthquake in Tashkent in 1966. It depicts a family shielding themselves as the earth opens up beneath them.  We went to the Khast Imam complex. 

Tashkent

The marketplace is one of the oldest in Tashkent. Linked to a myriad of canals and an old City that boasts bazaars and a different pace of life. We did sightseeing on foot and connected across the city using the amazing Metro which reminded me of the Moscow metro.  Hammer and sickle tiles had been dutifully erased!  Our delightful guide walked us and metroed us through this city and it was quite delightful.  It reminded me in the evening of Baqu with skyscrapers and light shows scattered around.  A good place to start.

PROVENCE

Provence was a Sight for Sore Eyes

PROVENCE

We decided to base ourselves in St Remy, a beautiful town, not far from Aix en Provence that sits in the heart of Provence itself. For some bizarre reason, I had never been to Provence, so this was an opportunity to discover some of the heartland of this incredible place. We took in the big places like Arles and Avignon and Aix and the small areas that sit along the Luberon village path.

They are strung out like a necklace through the Alpille landscape. The highlight for me was probably a visit to a museum of antiquities in Arles on the other side of the river from the town itself and home to a 30 m , barge that had survived in the silt of the rhone river for 2000 years.  There were incredible mosaics and statues, and all the paraphernalia that you would associate with the first Province outside of Rome! Provence is home to lots of firsts. A papal first in Avignon where many popes resided for nearly 100 years.

The charming half bridge of nursery rhyme fame. My first French song!! And then there was just the wonder of all of the things around and about that the Romans came  to put down and I’m always reminded of the life of Brian and the Monty Python guys when somebody shouts out “what have you done for us lately“ and then somebody points out that the Romans not only built civilization, but they provided pretty much all of the stuff that we would take for granted in modern day life.  My favorite village was Roussilon, the stunning red ochre village with narrow streets that must’ve been used on a movie set somewhere in some film. Quite spectacular and the water wheel village of Isle de Sorgues where there were markets, not to mention the vineyards, the food and the people who were absolutely delightful and forgave my terrible French at every interaction.

The drive to Nice gave us an opportunity to stop and see the extraordinary Matisse Chapel in Venice before reacquainting myself with Nice and the buzz of the old town and the promenade along the cobblestone beach. You should try to visit all these places. These please are easy to get to, just a fast train ride to Avignon or Marseilles from Paris on the TGV and if you are lucky enough go see or stay in St Remy where Van Gogh  checked himself into the hospital there for a year. It’s a tranquil place and VG painted many of his finest works there.

Those of you traveling out there, the National Gallery in London has one of the largest and most sensational collections of VG to ever feature under one roof. It’s an exhibition that runs from now all the way through the end of January. Breathtaking. There’s a reason these guys came down to Provence. The light. The consistent flora and the sheer size of the Roman influence. And the mighty Rhône zig zagging down to the Camargue.

Family

Travel is Great but Family Time is Unmatched

I’m lucky. I get to travel all over the world. It’s my business. Taking high school teachers and students on magical journeys across some of the 196 countries that comprise our great world. And sometimes after all of the travel you take a break. You get to spend time With your grandkids or your kids or your loved ones and you stay put and you get the chance to read and relax and take a time out from airplanes, trains, passports and jet lag – it’s rather lovely.

These are magical moments that we all treasure in our own way.  I just spent a week with all four of my grandkids  And it was exhausting..interesting.. exhausting..amazing.. exhausting..fun..exhausting…and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Which is kind of what I did for that glorious week. Doing everything through the eyes of a child. I ate more ice cream than I ever could have imagined. Forgot how wonderful a milk shake can be on a counter with my tot team. Have to say. Loved everything except… the car seats.

Who made those things impossible to figure out? And my Spotify contains more Taylor Swift than I am ready to own!! Now, I’m prepared for summer to move on and fade, school to return and Fall to greet us with all its festivals and colors.

acis

ACIS and our exciting future

acis

It was fun to have our annual conference in Boston at the Seaport Hotel to review our past year and to look ahead to the exciting things that we have planned for 2025/26 and 27 all of this going on while we have an exciting Olympics which has electrified us all for the past two weeks and showcased Paris as an extraordinary city.

One of the things that I reminded myself when we began the conference was the sheer weight of talent we have as a team. We are all travelers. We are all explorers, it’s funny because I was thinking of the early explorers from the Vikings through to Magellan and Elcano and of course to Cook, basic de Gama, and Christopher Columbus.

It’s extraordinary to imagine that in 1519 Magellan set off from Seville with some vague idea that the world was round. He never made it. Killed in the Philippines by anxious natives, Elcano left it to navigate the other half of the voyage and return to Seville in 1522. The return provided evidence as they sailed through what we now call the Magellan Straits that the world was decidedly round. We can look at some of the 196 countries that comprise our great world and expand our horizons. We have many countries to go, many places to visit, and many dreams to fulfill.

This is an exciting time. It’s exciting because teachers are traveling more than ever to places they never would have imagined. Students are investigating important things in our world like sustainability and climate change. They are learning different languages and traveling way beyond the 44 countries of Europe. Students will go on to help change and adapt their world. How important is that? We see the ravages of over tourism. We see the benefits of intelligent tourism.

This is our new world. Much as the explorers took chances. Didn’t fall off the end of the world. So we must take chances with travel. It’s not just an opportunity. It’s the only way to move ahead.

number 10

Thursday the UK changed government

So last Thursday the UK changed government. By Friday a tradition that has been going on for a long long time took place. The prime minister in place went to the Palace to see the King and offer his resignation. Then Keir Starmer from the victorious Labour Party went to the Palace to formally announce to the King that he would like to form a new government.

On Friday the new Prime Minister moved into Number 10 Downing street. The White House of the UK. The other guy who lost moved out. The new cabinet moved in and the old one moved out. By Saturday the oil change and engine removal had been made.   And that is how democracy works. In 24 hours. Without protest or violence. That is how the civilized world works. America take heed.

red sox

Can’t wait for the Olympic Games

This is July 2019 at the London Olympic Stadium. We watched Baseball…the Red Sox. With dear friends and family. June 2024 I went the the final game to watch the Celtics win a championship. Now I switch to watch the Euros and the Copa America and soccer takes its place while baseball stays with us throughout the summer until the fall. And then the Olympics in Paris in late July. I always love the poem from Bart Giamatti about baseball and really about sports in general. It’s at Fenway inscribed on the wall there. If you love sports it is dear to you. The highs and lows and the seasons of wonder that make up our year. I love sports. It’s about team. About life. Heartbreak and joy.

Margate

Margate on Kent’s Sandy Coast


I have an affinity for seaside resorts in the UK. I spent many years in my childhood at Margate on Kent’s sandy coast. There was an amusement park there called Dreamland. It was the highlight of my year to go there.

Recently in London I saw the amazing “Hills of California” and it was an incredible play based around a family in Blackpool. The northern equivalent of Margate. Blackpool was the UK s biggest and most famous amusement park and coastal resort. Complete with a tower that resembled the Eiffel Tower and two pioneering piers that were the talk of the world. When the railway station opened in 1846, tourism took off and by 1911 Blackpool was the busiest station in the world! Ironically sea swimming first helped propel Blackpool and Margate onto the map.

Something that never was considered was suddenly the thing to do and so it grew through the 1800 s into a fad. It sadly came to an end as tourism began to explore the sun and warmer climates and warmer seas but it took until the 1970 s for the Brits to invade Spain and bid farewell to glorious Blackpool and Margate. Now they are day trip destinations and entertainment venues but the seaside will never be the same! In 2021 Blackpool celebrated its 125th anniversary.

Dreamland in Margate, once closed reopened and the literati started to head back there to live and work and create. I still remember the jellied eels and cockles as if were yesterday, The stall is still there. Alongside the Turner Museum and the beach is as sandy as ever. It brought back memories of donkey rides along the sand.

Suitcase

I Never Check my Bag for This Reason…

Airports. I never check my bag. And when I place my bag over my seat it’s usually close by. Above. My bag is a muji roller bag. Navy blue. Nothing special. 100 pounds. It’s perfect for what I take. So on a recent flight London to I had to place my bag a few overhead bins away as it was full above me. No big deal. Plane landed in London. 6 and half hours later. Grabbed my bag and walked out with my daughter but then… I said to her… my bag needs replacing. Wheels are blown. And wheels are everything. And now as I was about to turn into the main zone of passengers dispersing into the airport cracks and crannies  I realized. It wasn’t my bag. It looked like my bag. Same color. Same size but it wasn’t. The wheels! I freaked out and raced against the traffic fighting the swarm of passengers spilling through the walkways off the plane and got to the plane at last.

I explained the situation to a lovely flight attendant who immediately made an announcement on the mike. There were not many people left at that point. And there was this lovely lady looking frabtic and upon hearing the announcenent totally relieved  and being so nice while I  started a conversation about how terrible I was. A flight attendant came rushing down the aisle with my bag and we all agreed they looked the same. She was so nice. My bag victim and I was so apologetic. And we switched bags and made as if a peace exchange  and off we went. That could have been much worse. Imagine if I had arrived at the hotel. So I wondered if bags should have a lock tied to your key. Unique. So that this can’t happen. Or does it only happen to me. Interested to know.