Real, News, Views, and Musings...
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Julie Pegg Named RFT’s Wine & Spirits Editor
Wine authority Julie Pegg, who has been writing as realfoodtraveler.com’s Wine Editor, Canada, for some time now, has been promoted to Wine & Spirits Editor, Canada. Readers who love wine know Julie’s stories about wine to be informative, entertaining, and, at times, funny and irreverent. Always the teacher, Julie’s goal is to make drinking and enjoying more approachable for readers. She believes, like all of us here at RFT, that you don’t have to be an expert to learn more and enjoy... Read More
RFT Ski & Dive Editor Yvette Cardozo Wins Silver
RFT’s intrepid Ski & Dive Editor, Yvette Cardozo, has been honored with a Silver Award at the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Western Chapter for her article “The Brave New World of Travel Underwear (and More)” published on realfoodtraveler.com. Yvette, a veteran travel writer, won Silver in the Service Article category. SATW is the largest and most prestigious professional association for travel journalists in the United States. Readers familiar with Yvette’s... Read More
Another Honor for RFT Editor-in-Chief
A few weeks ago, we told you that RFT Founder and Editor-in-chief, Bobbie Hasselbring, was one of three finalists in 2013 Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence. Well, she won the Travel Media Award of Excellence. The announcement was made at the annual awards dinner in Regina, Saskatchewan. The annual 2013 Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence were established to recognize and foster excellence in the province’s tourism sector. More than 110 nominations were received for this year’s... Read More
Canada Names RFT Editor-in-/Chief Top American Online Food Writer
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) announced that realfoodtraveler.com Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Bobbie Hasselbring, is America’s top online culinary writer. At an awards luncheon held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, the CTC awarded Hasselbring First Place in Online Culinary Writing in the 2013 Northern Lights Awards. Dozens of top food and travel writers across the United States submit hundreds of stories they’ve written the previous year about Canada for the prestigious... Read More
RFT Editor-in-Chief Finalist for Travel Media Award
Bobbie Hasselbring, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of realfoodtraveler.com, has been named one of three finalists for the Travel Media Award in the Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence for 2012. She was nominated for the award by the Regina Regina Opportunity Commission (RROC) for a series of articles she wrote on Saskatchewan. They include “The 24-Hour Royal Canadian Mountie,” her story about living and working as a RCCMP Cadet at the Depot Training Center in Regina; “Fortuna Ristorante... Read More
Aging as a State of Mind
Last year, when I traveled to Kentucky, I decided I was finally going to let go of my fear of heights. Since childhood, I’d been terrified of heights and it made going places as a travel writer challenging. When I’d climb up the spiral staircase of a lighthouse, my heart would race. When we’d step out on the deck of a high building or hotel, I’d be incredibly uncomfortable. And more and more, when I went on press trips, I was asked to sign up for activities like rock climbing and zip... Read More
Raise a Glass to RFT’s New Beer Editor
Brian Yaeger RFT’s first-ever Beer Editor is no half-pint. With craft and artisan beers and ales exploding in popularity and new breweries springing up like weeds in every town and city, realfoodtraveler.com has embraced this food trend by bringing on beer expert Brian Yaeger as our Beer Editor. Brian writes about beer fulltime. He’s the author of Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey (St. Martin’s) and is working on Oregon Breweries,a complete guidebook for Stackpole Books.... Read More
Tale of My Long Lost Tilley
It’s heartbreaking to lose an old and trusted friend. I learned that when I lost my favorite Tilley Endurables travel hat. Anyone who reads realfoodtraveler.com knows that we’re big fans of that Canadian icon Tilley Endurables. They make hats so tough they come with a lifetime never-wear-out guarantee. When I traveled to the Yukon in the dead of winter, I took along the Tilley Tec-Wool hat (TTW2 $105) and the Tec-Wool Cap (TTWC $79), both constructed of a lightweight, high-tech wool fiber that... Read More
Resolutions for Foodies
With the New Year, you’re probably thinking about resolutions. You know, those annual “exercise more, lose weight, find a new job, be nicer to my spouse” kinds of promises we make to ourselves that usually disappear into thin air within a month or so. I make resolutions every year that often leave me feeling unsatisfied and even a little guilty when I don’t keep those promises to myself. But here are some resolutions for foodies that can help you experience food a little differently – and... Read More
Air Travel: Begging for an Inch
I saw him as I moved down the airplane’s aisle – a behemoth of a man, towering a foot taller and much broader than anyone else, and occupying his seat, the center one, and half of mine. My heart sank. This flight, I thought ruefully, was going to be a long one. I’d seen the man earlier in the airport, a giant guy lumbering along in overalls pulling a suitcase that looked absolutely puny next to him. He was tall, at least 6’6” and weighed in at more than 400 lbs. His protruding belly preceded... Read More
Kentucky Off-Roading: The Road to Understanding
The banjo theme song to “Deliverance” keeps playing in my head. That’s because I’m surrounded by a dozen or so hefty men in baseball caps smoking cigarettes talking trash about environmental regulations. “Those regulations have just about killed Kentucky coal mining,” says one. “Used to employ 500 men, now almost nobody” says another. “Yep, those regs is killin’ us.” No one talks about the fact that coal mining has been largely mechanized and now requires far fewer miners... Read More
White Water Dreams, Kootenay Rockies, British Columbia
In my last column, I talked about facing my fears, especially my life-long fear of heights. I ended that essay with a bit of bravado: “But can’t wait to face – and conquer – my next fear.” Well, friends, be careful what you ask for… Not two weeks later I stood on the banks of the Kicking Horse River in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia. To say the water was high is an understatement. It was a monster, a boiling caldron of muddy glacial run-off that carried 80 foot Douglas fir... Read More
