Arthur Frommer!

Met one of my idols tonight. Arthur Frommer! Yeah, the guy behind the Frommer’s travel guides. He gave a free lecture at the Boston Public Library tonight. I got his autograph; it was awesome. His talk centered on the 10 best things about travel right now and the 10 worst things about travel right now. He praised the couch surfing and home exchange phenoms, a surge in hostel openings, and the stimulus money that Amtrak received. The one “worst” item that stuck out for me was Americans’ paltry amount of vacation time. I immediately recalled that I was fired up about that once!! I signed a petition or something…I can’t remember any details. The fire has been re-fueled. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that Americans are given so little vacation time. Other countries have a minimum amount specified in their wage laws…the United States has no such specification in its laws. I need to look into this situation again.

Tomorrow is the big parade day. Unfortunately, I feel like my cold is getting worse…I hope I can make it through the 30-minute walk in the cold tomorrow!