A trend in America is a fuller, more honest discussion of our fears and anxieties surrounding the death process and what concerns us most, it turns out, is the approach we make to our final resting place.  Will it be a long and painful?  Will we have tied up our affairs? Will we be surrounded by our loved ones?  These topics and just about any other are fair game at a ‘Death Cafe’.  Bill Palmer, who hosts the ‘Death Cafe Oakland’, shares stories and insights from his years of experience with the movement.

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It’s kind of sad to see our travel series end because the information has been so good and the possibilities so tempting.  And we’ve tried to share travel trends that offer options no matter the budget or interest.  And while some of the travel suggestions have taken you far away, we now offer thoughts about a growing trend–meditation and spiritual retreats–which bring you to an examination of what lies within. Ariel Frager, another great travel writer, describes this growing trend which can be found very close to home these days.  And then, we add a bonus feature, a classic interview we did with Henry Winkler some years back about the joy he finds spending a day fly fishing on the river.  Safe travels to our growing audience at americatrendspodcast.com .  Please share our work with others.

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We’re so glad that we were introduced to Maggie Espinosa for this series on trends in travel.  Talking with her was a joy.  Her energy and love for the trip is infectious and evident in her writing, teaching and touring.  We start with a conversation about a vintage train excursion in Amish country and then lay down tracks about the possibilities for those who want a few hours of escape or others who would prefer to spends days going across vast swaths of land. Train travel has come and can go a long way.  All aboard!

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Elliot Gillies, President of Gillies and Zaiser, has represented travel companies around the world.  He has handled all facets of public relations, including hotel groups, hotel marketing companies, country inns, resort hotels, cruise lines, tour operators and destinations.  In this capacity he’s seen places that most of us can only dream about.  He’s also been to some very remote destinations that are not for the ‘conventional’ traveler.  Together, we explore places newly opened to travelers of a more adventurous sort and distant and exotic destinations you might never have thought of, but might after hearing this.

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According to Green Global Travel, and its excecutive, Bret Love, ecotourism is responsible travel that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.  And it’s the future of travel. On this podcast,  Bret shares his deep love for ecotourism adventures, inspires you to travel and live more sustainably, and encourages us to do our part in leaving no trace that we were there, unless we’ve actually made things better.  He’s got a lot to share about making our next trip something totally different.

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Veronica Stoddart

That’s the slogan of a local travel agency on the east coast.  And if you are looking to travel now or in the future, you might want to listen to and consult the series of episodes we have produced on the ‘future of travel’.  It’s the next best thing to being there as we look at: major trends overall, and focus various episodes on eco-travel, forbidden places, vintage train travel, and healing retreats and meditation travel.  We will cap the series off with a classic segment about the tranquility of the river with none other than ‘The Fonz’, Henry Winkler.

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Much has been written recently about the perilous position brick and mortar retail is in.  Yet, it still commands about 9 out of every ten shopping dollars. So, what is the future of stores versus on-line shopping and, in particular, are malls a wave of the past?  We also look at the well documented struggles of large retailers like Sears.  You’re ‘in store’ for an honest and wide-ranging discussion of the future of retail.  Wayne D’Amico, CCIM, and executive vice president corporate development and strategic relations for XCELIGENT joins us.  And Tom Hill III, CCIM, adds much to the conversation.

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