I come to you from a hard hit Southern California. Yes, this is where I live and have been all my life. I live in the canyons in an idyllic world. This week we have been devastated by fires and it happens to us every year this time. You may wonder why this blog is on a travel magazine site, but I want to tell you something about my state that not everyone knows.

Yes, we have earthquakes, mudslides and fires. Every year this time we hold our breath as the famous Santa Ana devil winds come through. A client asked me the other day why we keep rebuilding and moving back and I have a simple answer. After all is said and done, we love this place and feel so lucky to have it. People all over the world dream of coming here to visit or live; they dream of Hollywood, Malibu, San Diego and everything that comes with it.

Yes, we’re a bit quirky when the lights are shining on us, but we’re also real people. I would love to tell you all of the stories about how the people of Southern California stand side by side and help one another during times of need, but there just simply isn’t enough room here. I will, however, tell you two small stories. One is about a good friend of mine that was evacuated and had nowhere to go with her five dogs. A complete stranger found on the Internet handed her and her mother the keys to his motor home and told her to feel free to move it if she wanted to. He had never even asked for her last name, much less identification. He just knew he had to help. The next one is about the brand new Radisson Rancho Bernardo. A friend of mine from Sony told me about how the hotel, due to have already opened, kept closed to house any employees from Sony Electronics in Rancho Bernardo that had been evacuated or even just wanted to store cars. So, you see, we are no different than Kentucky, Mississippi or New York on 9-11. You probably don’t see us as anything more than a giant movie set, but we’re no different. Houses lost are homes, memories and so much more.

I also want to take the time to thank firefighters from all over the western US for rushing to our aid. You will never know how much we wish we could repay you for your brave and selfless work.

My hope now is that you all come and visit us sometime and help us rebuild our beautiful place. Come here on vacation. Hang out on Hollywood Boulevard, or the beaches in Malibu and San Diego. Go to Disneyland, Sea World, Magic Mountain. We may be a little down right now, but I promise we’ll show you a great time.

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine

Okay, so this blog could easily have been a rant, but through exemplary customer service it has turned into a rave!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a computer problem, so I took my laptop into my local Best Buy. Through having spent a lot of time in that store, as well as through great advertising, I knew “The Geek Squad” were the ones I needed to speak with. Of course, I have become friendly with the manager because he also sees me in there all the time with handfuls of goodies, and, lo and behold, who should be standing there but Dave, my friendly store manager.

So, Dave convinced me to buy a whole new laptop (great salesman!) and he would fix my old one. Who could argue? Or am I a sucker for buying new goodies? Well…….it didn’t turn out quite as Dave had planned. What started out as a good experience quickly turned ugly. Not only was the laptop not fixed, but it was worse!! So, obviously frustrated, I spoke to the young “Geek” on duty and the manager on duty. The situation went from bad to worse to absolutely deplorable. The two men even got verbally abusive.

Well, although I would love to tell you the goings on of that entire sordid incident I won’t because apparently that is NOT the true Best Buy experience. I had never had such treatment from any store employee and I know that this is not the way any company would want their customers treated.

Here’s the real beauty of the situation: I called the executive offices of Best Buy, knowing that typically 800 customer service numbers are really of no use for major situations and I got a lovely woman by the name of Lisa. She must have stayed on that phone with me at least 30 minutes listening to the awful story. I couldn’t believe that the entire time she had been taking everything down as well as hearing me! What a professional! She assured me she would get the email to Dave and that I should see him on Saturday.

Cut to Saturday: My trusty store manager Dave had been completely unaware of the goings on and had not yet read his email, but I could see him getting angrier and angrier the more I told him about the “incident.” (I could tell Dave was angry because he got professionally quiet). He was just as horrified as Lisa had been and assured me “things” would be handled appropriately, but, most importantly, he wanted to make a customer happy. All I wanted was for the old laptop to be fixed, but after he looked at its current state, he closed the top and said, “No, I am not going to fix this. We are going to give you a new one for all of the trouble.” WOW – I was astounded!!

What’s the moral of this story? Customer service! I have been a loyal Best Buy customer for years now, but guess what? I am more loyal now than ever because they took a catastrophic situation and completely turned it around. I would have been happy with a fix, but Dave and the company went above and beyond. With customer service like that they deserve all the customers they can handle and a successful future!

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel the world and be able to communicate with anyone, anytime? Well, you can. No, I’m not suggesting you learn every language on the planet, nor am I implying that you should take a crash course in all 21 official languages of South Africa before venturing on your safari – unless you have a photographic memory, but I digress.

The reality is that communication comes in many forms and language is only one small part of that equation. In fact, all cultures communicate nonverbally to one degree or another. I’m sure all of us have been flashed a variety of gestures in foreign countries when we do something wrong, or have been smiled at for doing something right. These are forms of communication and they are quite universal.

When I was in rural China quite a few years ago I met a very elderly woman, from a generation of foot binding and no modern conveniences, and we had been invited into her house as our driver knew her well. It was as if we had stepped right out of a page of National Geographic and I was fascinated by how she lived. More than anything, I wanted to take a photograph of her, but had to think of a way to ask. To not ask could be very offensive. Now, of course I didn’t ask her in English, nor did I attempt it in my very basic knowledge of Mandarin! I also took a moment to realize that this woman may never have seen a camera before, much less understand what a photograph was. So I thought about what I could do to communicate with her my desire to capture her on film (yes, it was still in the days of film). Luckily, it was a small Polaroid, so I took a photo of my traveling companion and showed it to the woman as it developed. The frail lady must have shoved the photo in my hand and grabbed it back at least a half a dozen times. I wasn’t sure if she was frightened of it or intrigued. Well, it turned out to be the latter because then I pointed to the camera and to her, and to my great surprise, I saw one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen! I decided to take two photographs so I could give her one as a gift, and as we were driving away she never stopped staring at it. She was even grabbing passersby to show them her magic image.

A gesture, the lift of a brow, a smile. Anyway you look at it, the door to the world opens up when you make contact with another human being and take a chance at communicating any way you can.

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine