LLWorldTour

My friend Mark lives in a great apartment complex in LA called the Palazzo. It has a huge pool ringed with plush cushioned lounge chairs, a clubhouse complete with a buzzy little business office and concierge for all your concierging needs, a bright gym and spa full of the tanned toned celebs of tomorrow, and beautifully landscaped grounds full of constantly pruned shrubs, bougainvillea covered trellises, trickling fountains, and swaying palms. And of course he has a fully appointed apartment…and he pays dearly for it. He personally has everything he needs.

And then there was…the toaster. This metal box lived on his granite countertop mocking us daily with its crappy features, non-dinging toast function, and all around crap-tasticness. It was the most excruciatingly slow toaster I’ve ever encountered in all my travels. You want your bread to turn brown and crunchy with just the right crust on top sealing in a chewy center? Good luck. It was uneven at best and ‘es’, ‘el’, ‘oh’, ‘double-you’ – SLOW. You want a piece of bad toast? Well, pull up a chair and wait about thirty minutes. The thing sucks at toast. And, let’s remember what it’s called. That’s right – a toaster.

SO, I took it upon myself to buy him a brand-spankin’ new twenty-first century toaster with all the bells and whistles and dingers. You want it light? You got it. Dark and slightly burnt – a little more your style? Not a problem. All was good in the breads and whole grains world once again.

But what to do with the old piece of crap toaster? Only one thing of course – smash the hell out of it.

I had the genius idea of taking it out and basically clubbing it to death just for fun. See what happens when neither of us is working and we have too much time on our hands? Don’t tell the toaster-lover protesters. We don’t want them picketing outside or pelting us with bagels, slices of marble rye or, even worse, dense flax seed and multi-grain loaves.

Here’s how it all went down:

Operation: Kill the Toaster

• The Tools: One toaster, one hammer, one golf club, protective eye gear (aka swimming goggles)
• The Location: Ross Back Parking Lot
• The Motive: Years & Years of Shitty Toast

It was a total smash-for-all. I took the hammer and wailed as hard as I could at the top of the toaster. The metal buckled and clanged and plastic bits went flying everywhere. Now it was Mark’s turn. He took the 3-iron and did his best golf swing right into the toaster door. The glass shattered with a crunch and shards of glass went flying all around. Wooo! This was fun. IT was like a reality episode of “when toaster’s suck” or “when bad toasters happen to good people.” We were onto something. I know FOX will call soon.

I decided just to let it rip. I went ballistic and start pummeling the damn thing with my hammer shouting with each blow, “YOU STUPID NO GOOD TOASTER. I HATE YOU! SHITTY, STUPID TOASTER!!” Ah, it was cathartic and way cheaper than paying a shrink for the hour.

By now we were making quite a ruckus and I think other ‘would-be’ parking lot loiterers and hoodlums were possibly scared of us. I think I even heard a M63 gang member whisper to his comrade: ‘watch out for those toaster thugs—they’re ruthless.’ Just then a security guard rounded the bend. Were we some thugs wreaking havoc? Were we gangbangers out to get revenge? Were we drug addicts beating up a toaster to score some change to keep our habit going?

No, we were just two white whack-jobs with nothing better to do on a Thursday afternoon. But when the guard saw these two strange casually-dressed Caucasians get out our little dust pan and broom and clean up the mess we just made he turned around and went about his business. I think I heard him mutter, ‘stupid, bored white-folk.’

Just remember friends: Don’t ever take crap from your toaster again. You can have your toast and eat it too.

Go ahead, make my toast. Yippe-ca-yay mother Toaster.

And one more thing…wait for it….that toaster was…toast.

Mission Accomplished.

Yeah Toast!

Okay, so now I have my tan and am a size 0 (plus 6) so time for me to be an actress, right? Well, kind of. I signed up to be an extra. This is the easiest job in the world and yet you have to have ironclad dedication to actually get any work. There’s a hotline you can call everyday to see what gigs are available. Let’s just say it was a tad limiting. Here are some things I actually heard on the line:

“For an episode of According to Jim we need women in Sci-Fi costumes.” Yeah, left mine in storage.

“Hi Ladies. Today I am looking for very upscale women with designer clothes and luxury cars, not black, white, or red.” I left my Bentley in the shop.

“Hello there non-union women. I need a blond, size 4 or less, 5’8” or taller, gorgeous bombshell model types who will be riding bicycles in bikinis…” Oh, too bad I’m just not tall enough.

“Today I need women who can juggle.” Uh, no.

“We are looking for Hispanic looking women who look like they just came from Mexico, in fact you will be swimming in water from the border.” It was for my favorite show Weeds, but no can do.

“Hi Ladies. You must have the ability to de-bone and filet a fish…” Is this what they learn in acting school?

“Hi. We need a woman with lots of tattoos and lots of piercings…” Blast.

After wading through all these odd requests, they finally called me and I was booked for my first call to be background in a scene on the hit TV series “24.” Yep that’s right—just look for me in the November 24 movie: girl in the wool coat (even though it was shot in the 100-degree San Fernando Valley) standing behind the new president of the United States as she is sworn in at the inauguration.

Actually I was in the background with dozens of other extras. Extras are a strange lot. While I was sitting in the ‘extra tent’ awaiting instruction, some old lady with an air of Alzheimer’s about her came up to me insisting she had to do my hair. I think she was just another extra honing her sharp acting skills and she was playing the part of the ‘slightly insane bad hairdresser.’ First she started combing my hair. The she started teasing it. Now, bear in mind, I’d taken special care to straighten my naturally curly/frizzy hair that morning so teasing usually wasn’t a good thing at this point. Then just a minute into her work, without a word, she just up and left. She reappeared a few minutes later with a chair. She used this to place the comb down. Now that we had the important extra chair we needed more space so she asked the guy behind me to move. I said I could move, but she said, “No! You stay!” Wow. She was fierce. Then she proceeded to put my hair up into some kind of bun. I warned her that my hair was layered and that with one bit of breeze, pieces of hair would be flying everywhere making me look like a disheveled mess – not the coiffed politician I was today. Suddenly she just put it in a pony tail with a barrette I’d brought just for this very reason and walked away. I smell an Emmy.

As extras we really spent most of the day sitting around reading and eating (junk food from Craft Service) and making small talk. There was a thin, kind of cute younger guy next to me that I started talking to only to find out very, very soon that he too was insane. It went a little something like this:

“Hi. I’m Lisa. Where are you from?”

“Oh, everywhere. It’s a long story.”

“Oh, were your parents in the military?”

“No, my family was in a cult and we traveled a lot and I hated it and I have put it all behind me now and I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

After he continued to talk for twenty minutes about ‘what he didn’t want to talk about’, I tried to change the subject. “What do you want to do?”

“Well, I want to take documentaries and make them into science fiction fantasy kung-fu films.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Are you joking? I mean how do you propose to take a documentary about, oh, say the Holocaust or starving children in some underdeveloped country and make it a science-fiction film?”

“Well, I know that only smart people watch documentaries so this way I can get people who don’t usually watch these kinds of movies to watch and learn something at the same time.”

Of course. I tried to pretend I was reading and slowly get away from this genius so I turned to the guy next to me just as he was spitting his chewing tobacco into a cup. Nice. I guess when you are doing a job that has no requirements whatsoever you are going to encounter some pretty ‘interesting’ people. That was the gist of my short-lived (one day) career as an extra.

One day we decided to join a friend at a place Madonna has made famous worldwide. No, not her crotch – the Kabbalah Center. We thought it would be interesting to see what it was all about. And I’m always open for new experiences even if just to learn a little something more. Well, let’s just say I didn’t learn a thing and the service consisted of an hour of singing really loud in Hebrew (I think), clapping, and well that’s it.

We learned that like in orthodox temples, the men and women are separated so I was left to my own devices on the ladies side. But not for long. Soon the recruiters were on me like flies on a matzoh ball. I met Miriam, a beautiful girl who had been taking classes there for quite some time. She was super friendly, if not maniacal, and answered every question I asked with wide eyes, a huge grin, and an extremely enthusiastic: “That’s a really good question!” She spoke to me in a sincere, albeit brainwashed, sort of way. She tried to explain some things, but I was too distracted by her stepford beauty and culty staring into my soul. At a slight break in the festivities, I approached Mark across the aisle and asked how uncomfortable he was.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say an 11.”

And with that we left. Shalom friends.

Other LA-type activities we did all summer:

• We strolled around the Santa Monica shops on Montana and Third Streets, the bohemian boardwalk of Venice Beach, and the public tide-line sand of carbon Beach in Malibu, aka ‘Billionaires Beach’, walking by the homes of the likes of David Geffen, Courtney Cox, and dozens of other over-paid celebrities.
• We sat in the audience at the hilarious Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Twice. It happens that the CBS Studios are right around the block from Mark’s flat…so why not? Plus I realized I knew the director as I’d interned for him back in my early TV days at my fist gig – “Late Night with David Letterman” in New York City. He gave us a cool tour of all the studios and I even got to ‘touch’ the famous Price is Right wheel. “Come on Down!”
• We saw the an improv/sketch comedy show at the Groundlings and Second City LA.
• We hiked to the Hollywood sign. which I later read is a high security zone complete with cameras and recording devices to watch your every move in case you trespass anywhere near the nine precious, big white metal letters. Want to check out the sign yourself? You can here - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• We went out to various bars and restaurants around town – from the fairly cheap and casual Hollywood staples like Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, the Farmer’s Market, and Astroburger to swanky ‘hotspots like STK, Bar Marmont, and AOC Winebar.
• We watched the Chicago Cubs beat LA and had overpriced dogs and beer at Dodger Stadium.
• I got to cruise Sunset Boulevard in my friend, Neal’s, cute little VW convertible, with the top down and the music up, actually giving me the feeling of being a real ‘Angeleno.’
• We caught a show at the beautiful landmark the Hollywood Bowl.
• I took a couple rock climbing classes at REI Outdoor Store.
• I had a Pastrami Sandwich at one of LA’s oldest delis: Canter’s.
• We ate Sushi on Ventura Blvd where there are no less than 50 sushi joints.
• We strolled through Barney’s New York in Beverly Hills where I tried on one $2000 spiky high-heeled Italian shoe. I sold my car for that same amount. I wonder if they were priced per shoe and the pair was really $4000.
• We made the requisite ‘run for the border’ and took a day trip down to Tijuana.

And of course this is the center of the entertainment industry so I was bound to bump into some celebs, right? Well, sort of. Besides seeing Craig Ferguson and his guests (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and some other actress I long forgot), Cheap Trick doing Sgt Pepper’s at the Hollywood Bowl, and the cast of “24” in person, I also ‘bumped into’ such D-list, third-string, second-tier celebs as Daniel Baldwin, Terrence Howard (literally running on the treadmill in front of me), Tom Arnold (shopping at the Apple store), Bruce Jenner (at a Starbucks), ‘The Office’ big guy, Brian Baumgartner, and the guys of the hit British sketch comedy show “Little Britain” (if you don’t know it yet…you will).

After traveling all over the world and now working my way across America from New York to Chicago to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Vegas, Palm Springs, and finally hitting the Pacific Ocean, there was just one place left for me to go: Hollywood, baby. Sure, I’d been there at least half a dozen times and never actually loved it, but my good friend, Mark, had moved out there to pen screenplays and his couch was just begging me to come sleep on it.

I learned there are some pros and cons to this odd world of schmoozing, cruising, and boozing:

• Pros: It’s always sunny. It’s always warm.  There’s always a kind of ‘hollywood’ buzz in the air. If you are not from any kind of city there is a lot to do -  museums, beaches, cafes, shopping, and ethnic ‘hoods.

• Cons: It’s always sunny. It’s always warm. In other words, if you like any kind of ‘weather’ it ain’t here. L.A. is not really a city per se in the grander sense of the word. Unlike New York, Chicago, London, Paris or Hong Kong, L.A. has no thriving city center nor does it have great public transportation. Unfortunately, this is a place where a prerequisite is a gas-guzzling, air-polluting motor vehicle. And, as the smog attests to, everyone drives everywhere. L.A.  is not a walkable city. In fact it is more like one big spread out suburb sprawling out across the land with a schlocky amalgamation of shopping plazas and mini malls chock a block with 7-11s, donut shops, nail salons and ubiquitous hamburger joints dotting each corner. I don’t find it a pretty city unless you have a lot of cash to purchase one of the amazing homes here or you catch a glimpse of the snow-capped mountain views the ‘day’ of the year that the smog lifts.

As I mentioned, LA is home to some strikingly beautiful, if not enormous, homes. You can find any architectural style you like: orange-stucco, red-tile roofed, bougainvillea covered Spanish-Mediterranean villas; the clean lines and right-angles of a Mid-Century Modern party pad; the lovely wood-shingled, low roof-lined California bungalow homes of the Craftsman movement with their exposed beams, natural wood and stone materials; or a gaudy, comically-huge gated estate in Beverly Hills complete with gardeners and housekeepers to be your friends (in case you are a wealthy shut-in popping Prozac and other modern meds on a daily basis). Millions of dollars are just spent on landscaping alone. Everyday it seems the population of the wealthy enclaves of Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, and the Hollywood Hills doubles as Hispanic landscapers scurry about trimming, cutting, planting, blowing, and edging the perfectly manicured gardens and lawns complete with trickling fountains, winding stone paths and fragrant gardenias.

Besides the gaggles of gardeners, there is a class of people here loitering about I like to call the Daytimers: moms, nannies, mailmen, joggers, and what appears to be half the population of LA; folks sipping lattes at Starbucks, chatting into the air on their hands free devices, texting incessantly, and click-clacking away at their laptops. What do these people do for a living? Oh, yeah, I’m one of them now.

Los Angeles is definitely a unique place where life revolves around ‘the biz.’ If you don’t work in the entertainment industry, then you are probably a gardener to someone who does. There is no avoiding the in-your-face marketing blitz for movies and TV shows here: a 7-story high movie poster draped over an entire building, ‘smoking’ billboards for the James Franco/Seth Rogen summer release of ‘Pineapple Express‘, buses wrapped in ads for the new ‘90210′ and even planes flying overhead with banners telling us to watch the oh-so-boring reality show, ‘Tori and Dean.’

But since I was spending the summer in Hollywood, I figured I better act like it and live the LA lifestyle.
So besides running and working out nearly everyday to get that size zero body that everyone here covets, I had to immerse myself in all things LA.

This started with working up a sweat poolside with the ‘affected’ crowd. Mark’s apartment complex has a very swanky pool and spa area so might as well take advantage of it while I was here and pretend to live the ‘luxe’ life. Any given day here you can see a microcosm of LA life.

The men are pumped up, bronzed, glistening and mostly gay or…just cocky. The girls are all actress-wannabees: plasticky, stick-thin, big-boobed, tiny-waisted and always texting someone. I guess those are the ones who learned how to do rebus puzzles in 2nd Grade: C U L8R. One day I even saw a beautiful starlet with super long flowing perfectly curled platinum blonde Playboy-bunny locks wearing her kitten-heels while she was lying in the sun as if she was on a photo shoot. Except she…wasn’t. Ah, Hollywood.  It’s hard to not try to get in shape here…either that or constantly compare yourself to these androids and lose all self-confidence, self-esteem, self-respect and bury yourself in your million-dollar-mansion and hope the gardener finds you somewhat attractive.

There are some new buzzwords in the world of travel: ‘Stay-cations,’ ‘Volunteer Vacations’ and ‘Voluntourism.’ During my travels, I was fortunate to do all of these. Some of my most memorable moments were while volunteering. Check out an article I recently wrote for the Boston Globe on how to give back while on vacation.

Tired of lying on the beach with nothing to do, but get the sand out of your shorts? Sick of traipsing around a new city with a ripped map and waiting on lines for museums full of other sweaty tourists? Now more than ever travelers are looking for a new kind of vacation. Traveling with a purpose and volunteering during our vacations is becoming increasingly popular. With voluntourism, you can travel to beautiful regions of the world, meet and work with locals, and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow volunteers. And with today’s economy forcing many to cut back on their vacations, these types of trips are typically a lot more affordable than your routine all-inclusive holiday at the ‘all-you-can-eat’ resorts of the Caribbean.

In our global village, we are becoming more and more committed to giving back when we travel; to contributing to communities rather than taking from them. By now, you’ve probably heard of ‘voluntourism’, but it’s a new day and there are many more options out there for the traveler who may shy away from some hardcore volunteer experiences like risking life and limb with the Peace Corps, pounding nails with Habitat for Humanity, or the ubiquitous English teaching gigs.
Here are some more unique experiences that can not only save you money and give you an amazing adventure, but provide valuable manpower to local communities around the globe.

Crisis, London:
‘To give is better than to receive;’ so why not really give back this holiday season? Travel to London, for a unique program called Crisis Open Christmas. During the weeks around Christmas and New Year’s, more than 1,500 ‘homeless guests’ are welcomed at eight different empty office buildings spread around London. The guests are not only provided with warmth, companionship, food, and a safe place to sleep, but also amazing services such as checkups from on-site doctors, professional advice, and other treats like an arts and crafts center, a computer lab, karaoke, live musical entertainment, and even a mini beauty saloon for some pampering of massages and hair treatments. Volunteering here for a few days allows you to actually get to know some of the folks by name and give them the gift of friendship and human interaction, something they crave and often do without.

Crisis
66 Commercial Street
London, E1 6LT
UK
Tel: 011-44-844-251-0111
Email: volunteering@crisis.org.uk
Web: www.crisis.org.uk

Pueblo Ingles, Spain:
The most rewarding travel experiences always seem to involve interacting with locals and traveling on a more ‘down to earth’ level. Now, imagine a week in sunny Spain meeting local professionals with all your lodging and meals completely free. There is one catch-you have to speak English. Pueblo Ingles offers Americans a ‘different kind of vacation’ in Spain by bringing native English speakers from all over the world together with Spanish businessmen and women at a rural 4-star resort in a beautiful countryside setting for an intense week of speaking English, all around good times, and fun. It is basically like a ‘camp for English,’ but there is no teaching just talking…and lots of it. This is a very unique opportunity-not only for Spaniards to be immersed in the English language for a week, but also for English-speaking travelers to be immersed in the rich culture of Spanish life by really getting to know the people firsthand.

Pueblo Ingles
Rafael Calvo 18, 4A
Madrid 28010
Spain
Tel: 011-34-913- 913- 400
Email: anglos@puebloingles.com
Web: www.puebloingles.com

Best Friends, Utah:
For more than two decades, Best Friends Animal Society has been dedicated to the simple philosophy that kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us. This sanctuary at Angel Canyon, in southern Utah, is home on any given day to about 2,000 dogs, cats, and other animals, who come from shelters and rescue groups around the country for the special care they can only receive at Best Friends. Thirty-thousand folks visit the sanctuary every year to take tours and volunteer. Animal lovers can help with the work of feeding the animals, cleaning their living areas, grooming them, taking them for walks, and socializing with them. There are cabins to stay in on the property or motels nearby in the town of Kanab, Utah.

Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Road
Kanab, Utah 84741-5000
Tel: (435) 644-2001 ext. 4119
Email: volunteers@bestfriends.org
Web: www.bestfriends.org

Volunteers for Israel
Put on your combat boots and volunteer for the Israeli Army. Meals and lodging are paid for during the week and then you are free on the weekends to explore this history-rich country. The majority of volunteers are assigned to work on army bases with tasks ranging from kitchen duties to simple mechanical repairs. Volunteers will work alongside or under the direction of soldiers and perform duties such as packing food rations or medical kits, changing spare parts, gardening, painting, or cleaning.

Volunteers for Israel
P.O. Box 67532
Chestnut Hill, MA O2467
Tel: 866-512-3255
Email: info@vfi-usa.org
Web: www.vfi-usa.org

Earthwatch Institute
Observe the lives of fur seals and contribute to the conservation of the Bering Sea. Help the world’s fastest mammal in a race against extinction in Namibia’s ranching heartland.
These are just a few of the amazing volunteer opportunities available at the Earthwatch Institute. This international non-profit organization brings science to life for people concerned about the Earth’s future. Founded in 1971, Earthwatch supports scientific field research by offering volunteers the opportunity to join research teams around the world. Today, Earthwatch recruits close to 4,000 volunteers every year to collect field data in the areas of rainforest ecology, wildlife conservation, marine science, archaeology, and more. Through this process, they educate, inspire, and involve a diverse array of people, who actively contribute to conserving our planet.

Earthwatch Institute
3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 100
PO Box 75
Maynard, MA 01754
Tel: 1-800-776-0188
Email:info@earthwatch.org
Web: www.earthwatch.org

When traveling, the places we see may be amazing, but we quickly learn it’s more abut the people we meet. Encounters with locals and making new friends are the memories that last forever. Check out my article for Brave New Traveler on how to spice up your travels and really immerse yourself in your new, albeit temporary home.

One of the biggest reasons to travel is to expose yourself to a new culture, to see how things are done in another place and do your best to join ‘em. As a traveler, you should strive to embrace these differences, not fight them. Try to really immerse yourself, not in your guidebook, but in the place you are at the moment. Stop. Look. Listen. Think about all your senses. Smell those roses and just breathe it all in.

Here is a list of some general “DON’TS” to heed when on foreign soil.

DON’T Hail a Taxi

Stretch your travel budget by avoiding these gas-guzzling, wallet-draining rides as much as possible. Most cities ‘round the world have some amazing public transportation that is often very clearly marked and easy to understand if you just take a few minutes to become familiar with the system. It’s a great feeling of

One Million Dong!

accomplishment to navigate your way through the airport right to the city bus or metro train, join the locals aboard and soak up the view into town.

DON’T change cash at a cash exchange or bank

Nowadays the ATM card is the only way to go. Before you leave home, make sure your bank card will work in the country your visiting. If you can, get a duplicate spare card and stash it somewhere in your bag just in case you lose your main one. Banks and cash exchanges charge commissions and you will almost always get the best exchange rate by using your bank card.

Dubai Fries with that?

A billion served in Bangkok.

DON’T find the nearest McDonald’s

First of all, if you must, you can always eat at McDonald’s, KFC, or Starbucks at home. You are somewhere different—take it all in by indulging in the many tempting treats at your fingertips. From local food stands to gastropubs to sensory-overloading markets, trying local foods can be a cheap, fun, and a palette-expanding experience.

DON’T only go to Irish pubs or expat bars and spend the week getting drunk with other expats

It’s time to immerse yourself in not only the culture of the city, but the people. Meeting locals is one of the very best things about travel. One of the best places to do this is at the local watering hole where the beers are cheap and the people are almost always friendly. It’s a way of embracing our differences and realizing how alike we all are at the same time. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to enrich your trip tenfold.

DON’T just stay and party at your hostel the entire week

Blonds have more fun??

Yes, hostels are great. We all know the amazing benefits and it can be comforting to be around other travelers and your fellow countrymen to vent, empathize and share general travel highs and lows. But don’t let this be all you do. Get out. You are traveling to discover new places and people.

DON’T blather on in English

We are extremely fortunate to speak English and even more fortunate that so many people in the world do as well. But don’t expect everyone to speak English or understand you. Please take the time to learn a few words in the mother tongue of the country you are visiting. Challenge yourself to try and speak the local dialect. Greeting someone with a smile in their language is so easy to do and goes a long way.

Stuck in Lonely Planetville.

DON’T keep your nose in a travel guide

There is no denying that your dog-eared, coffee-stained Lonely Planet Guide is an extremely helpful amalgamation of maps, tips, and sleep/eat suggestions. But don’t become too LP dependent. Pick up a local paper. Ask other travelers. Query your inn-keeper where he likes go. Then leave your guide book there and explore.

DON’T keep your eye in the viewfinder

It is the extremely rare traveler that does not have a camera in pocket. We tend to sightsee with one eye looking through a lens or nowadays into an LCD screen. It’s great fun to capture what you’ve seen and take home these precious memories. But take a moment and put the camera away. Focus on the here and now—breathe it all in—the sights, sounds, smells—of this moment.

DON’T expect things to be how they are at ‘home’

Whether you are in Tulsa or Timbuktu or Togo, remember that each place has its own way of doing things. Open yourself up to the idea that just because you grew up learning to do something one way does not mean it is the right or best way.

It all comes down to opening yourself up and exposing all of your senses to this amazing experience of travel. If you do, you will know it is much more than sightseeing and souvenir-shopping. The greatest gifts come from not what you see or buy, but whom you meet and the experiences you share with new friends from all over the world.

If you’ve been following along over the past two years on this blogotastic voyage, you may have noticed I’ve mentioned the City of Chicago…oh thirty times or so. Well, maybe not that many, but it’s been a whole lot. I obviously love my adopted home and am now officially not alone in my admiration. Chicago was recently voted numero uno in a survey taken by the residents of the world’s largest cities. That’s right Chicagoans are the most satisfied with their city overall, beating out London, New York, Paris, Sydney, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.

The first-of-its-kind study measured how people actually feel about living in their city and took the views of 8,600 people living in 14 cities around the world. And it’s even more important now as fifty percent of the world’s population live in cities.

The survey was done by Veolia Environment, the world’s largest environmental services company. And coincidentally, Veolia recently announced that Chicago will be the home of their North American Headquarters. Smart move Veolia – considering you will have cool, happy employees working for ya. Chicago’s Mayor Daley said, “…Chicago can meet the needs of any company in the world from the largest to the smallest and Veolia’s decision further strengthens our reputation as a world-class city.” Amen to that brother. Oh, and go Cubs!