Interview with John Golicz – CEO and Founder of the Travel & Adventure Show

John Golicz is the Founder and Creator of The Travel & Adventure Show Series.  It’s largest series of travel shows in the United States, appearing in seven major cities each year.

After selling his high tech company, John started Unicomm LLC and launched his first travel show 13 years ago  in New York with 26,000 people in attendance.  John loved travel and knew that there were shows for travel agents and the business side of travel, but none for travel enthusiasts.

Since its start, the Travel & Adventure show has expanded into top markets including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, D.C. Dallas, and Philadelphia.

The Travel & Adventure shows aim to educate and inspire people to find, plan, book and take their dream trips.  It was great speaking with John about his favorite destinations, recommendations for places with awesome foods and drinks and his best travel tips.

St. Maarten

In all of his travels, John says St. Maarten is amongst is favorite places for food and drinks due to the Dutch and French influences.  There are great beach restaurants, including Sunset Beach Bar, which is on the beach and right next to the landing strip at the airport (If you’re wondering, his drink recommendation is a painkiller!)  On the French side is Grand Case, which is a beach town full of shops and restaurants.

One of my favorite tips of John’s and a best kept secret is to stop on the side of the road for great home-cooked and authentic meals.  I’ve done this before throughout my travels and they tend to be the best meals.

Nantucket

John recommends taking a boat from Montauk to Nantucket.  There are lots of restaurants, so it’s a great place to people watch, order a grapefruit with raspeberry vodka and seltzer and enjoy the harbor breeze.

Additionally, The Pearl Restaurant has an excellent Szechwan pan seared lobster with a heavy eastern influence.  Sounds delicious!

European River Cruising

There are so many options to cruise iconic European cities, but if you do decide to take a cruise, private walking tour and double decker bus tours are great ways to see the cities.  Additionally, strip malls have most authentic and affordable foods.  (Who knew?!)

If the Travel & Adventure Show comes to a city near you, I highly recommend checking it out.  Thanks to John and his team for assembling such a great event for people who enjoy travel just as much as I do.  I’ll definitely be at next year’s DC show!

Want more expert tips from travel insiders? Check out John’s latest venture: 1000TravelTips.com.

A Weekend in Ocean City, Maryland

Let me be honest.  Before I went over the weekend, I had never been to Ocean City.  I’m not sure why, but I never really had a desire to visit.  So as I was looking for short weekend getaways, Ocean City popped to the top of my list because it was a place that 1) I had never been and 2) was close in proximity to DC and 3) was affordable.

Usually when I travel, I have a flexible agenda and an idea about what I want to see and know how I want to maximize my trip.  Fortunately for me, I didn’t have a plan this time and it worked out in my favor.

Assateague Island

Before I hit Ocean City’s boardwalk, I decided to take a small detour and head to Assateague Island for the first time (thanks to my cousin, Amanda, for the recommendation!).

Assateague Island is located off the Eastern Shore and known for its wild ponies that inhabit the island.  Because I had been on safari and know that Mother Nature tends to have a mind of her own, I didn’t expect to see any horses.  To my surprise, I spotted a family of horses as soon as I stepped out of the car.

I knew about Assateague’s wild ponies, but I didn’t know that there were also places to relax, lay out and enjoy the ocean on Assateague Island. People were kitesurfing, parasailing and overall just enjoying the beach.  I wondered to myself why I hadn’t been there before?!  I’m glad I made the short detour.

Ocean City

Next, I headed to Ocean City’s infamous boardwalk which was about 20 minutes from Assateague and looked exactly how I pictured it.  It reminded me of Atlantic City’s boardwalk with games, eateries, and souvenir shops.  Since it was early in the season, it wasn’t crowded at all.

While this was great, the highlight of my stay in Ocean City was going to Seacrets.  If you’ve ever been to Ocean City, you’ve been to Seacrets.  If you haven’t been to Ocean City, you’ve heard of Seacrets.  It’s almost legendary in its Ocean City fame as it’s the ‘go-to’ place if you’re in the city.  And let me tell you…I had a BALL.

There were two live bands playing – one singing reggae music and the other singing covers of current hits.  And both were excellent!  I danced my little heart out.  Seacrets is clearly a place for people who only intend to party the night away.

I actually left Ocean City the next day and was slightly sad that I didn’t have more time to explore. I know it’s a small beach town, but there were lots of restaurants and other attractions to see – for single people or for families.  While the Sunday traffic back to DC left a little bit to be desired, I can’t wait to return.

P.S. Seacrets’ housemade rums were PERFECT. So smooth!  I can’t wait to get my hands on some in DC.

Photo Credit: adventure.howstuffworks.com