As 2025 winds down, I’m reflecting on a year full of travel, stories, and gratitude. From Caribbean waters to French Polynesian islands, I’ve journeyed with my memoir Brave-ish, now honored with its 12th award. This season of light — birthdays, Chanukah, and adventures near and far — reminds me how fortunate I am to live a life of curiosity, joy, and connection. I’m ready for the next brave-ish chapter in 2026.
This month, I am grateful to win a Readers’ Favorite Award at the Miami Book Fair and am thrilled to be a finalist for four National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards. From walking with polar bears in the wild to following the yellow brick road at the Wicked Suite in New York, it’s been an unforgettable time of adventure, recognition, and growth.
As we enter 5785 and prepare for Sukkot, I reflect on a year of meaningful conversations sharing my memoir, Brave-ish: One Breakup, Six Continents, and Feeling Fearless After Fifty. From Too Jewish with Rabbi Sam Cohon to Search for Meaning with Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback, I explored themes of resilience, community, and self-discovery. These experiences reinforce the importance of connection within the Jewish community as we celebrate this season of harvest and new beginnings.
Thank you to Deepak Chopra for sharing his wisdom about meditation, mindfulness and how we need each other to survive.
The 2nd annual Southern Travelers Explore Conference February 19th-21st, 2021 is in Tupelo, Mississippi. Bloggers, influencers, journalists, CVBs, DMOs, and those who just love to travel will meet at the Elvis Presley Birthplace Event Center for educational sessions, small group discussions, and a marketplace, while also enjoying Tupelo’s fantastic food scene and experiencing all that the … Continued
On Thanksgiving, I want to share my gratitude for Stephen Wise Temple where my family has found a spiritual home. During the recent dedication of Katz Family Pavilion and Shalom Garden, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback asked us: “How can we adequately give thanks for the countless blessings we acknowledge today?” He shared that in order to … Continued
It’s finally here! The day we find out which talented writers are the 2016 WSGT Gratitude Travel Writing Award winners! They shared how travel has changed their lives and about a time where they took a risk and fought against fear and were willing to grow forward! We’ve already opened the doors on our next Travel Writing Award. Travelers of … Continued
We are very lucky at WSGT to welcome talented participants into our contests and most recently, the Travel Writing Award. As a way of saying “thanks,” we regularly feature contributing writers who display the WSGT Travel Badge. Our next Travel Writing Award opens on May 11th. We hope you will share your story! Sean Jungo I hope my writing reinvigorates the desire to … Continued
The WSGT Winter 2017 Inspiration Travel Writing Award is open for entries. The theme is “How travel has changed your life. Are you willing to grow? Anything is possible.” There are $700USD in cash prizes to be won, so don’t wait to tell your own story of inspiration! After reading all the entries from our 2016 Summer Independence Travel Writing Award, our judges have narrowed it down … Continued
This post contains affiliate links. Holiday festivities are coming to an end along with the abundance of food, cheer and general sitting around. Now we can look to the New Year; what does 2017 hold for us? Do you have a resolution that keeps popping up? Or a brand new one especially relevant in this moment? … Continued