Day 5 challenge:

Travel by Chris Guillebeau

(Author: Chris Guillebeau)

If we live truly, we shall see truly. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

My Response:

I would like to visit our friends the Ochoa‘s in Argentina — spend some extended time there and reconnect with old friends and learn Spanish.  What am I doing to make sure this happens?  I’m emailing this blog post to them now … maybe we should go down in Dec/Jan of 2012/13.

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What happened to day 4?  I’ll post after I’ve completed it. The challenge is the Post-it Question by Jenny Blake

“We used a six-part formula to analyze the nation’s 100 largest
metropolitan areas, searching for the places that offer the best
climates for small businesses,” Thomas said. Those criteria include the
rates of growth in population, employment and small business openings.

Read more: Denver 8th in small-business vitality | Denver Business Journal

A few more from the weekend….

Denver.org has several ideas for those that live in Denver.  You can view the entire guide here: Denver Holiday Events: 2010 Guide.  We will probably hit up the following:

Santa Claus Special
Colorado Railroad Museum
Dec. 4, 11-12, 18, 2010
This year, Santa has replaced his sleigh and reindeer with Colorado
Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive and a team of historic passenger cars
all decked out for the holidays.  Children will want to bring their
wish list to share with Santa and Mrs.  Claus in the Museum’s authentic
Red Caboose and then enjoy hot chocolate by the Depot General Store –
where they’ll find a generous supply of railroad toys and a huge
selection of Thomas the Tank Engine gifts.  Santa Claus Special rides,
free with admission, depart every 20 minutes. 

City & County Building Holiday Lights
Nov. 26 – Jan. 2011
The largest lighting display in Denver comes on nightly at 6 p.m. at the
City & County Building, where 600,000 lights deck the neo-classical
building.  The bell tower plays carols nightly as well.

Zoo Lights
Denver Zoo
Dec. 10, 2010 – Jan. 2, 2011
The Denver Zoo comes alive for the holiday season with Zoo Lights, a
magical display of animals and holiday themes decked with millions of
colorful lights along with music, entertainment and more.

Cherry Creek Shopping Center: The Ice Palace
Cherry Creek Shopping Center
Nov. 26 – Dec. 19
Inspired by the magic of winter, Cherry Creek Shopping Center will
unveil an immersive new holiday experience in 2010 – The Ice Palace.
This one-of-a-kind experience includes a magical snow and light show
inside a soaring 22′ dome encircled with a series of arches and snow
globes featuring content from the highly anticipated feature film, The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Throughout the
holidays, enjoy strolling carolers and photo opportunities with Santa
Claus. 

I also saw that Denny Pascal, a friend from High School, is in the musical Shrek (touring from Broadway!).  Hopefully we can find tickets for this Sunday.

Shrek The Musical
Nov. 16 – Nov. 28
Shrek The Musical, based on the Oscar®-winning Dreamworks film that
started it all, brings the hilarious story of everyone’s favorite ogre
to life on the Broadway stage.

Christmas for Kids | Christmas for Kids

The 2010 Christmas for Kids fundraiser is an event sponsored and coordinated through the Denver Active 20-30 Children’s Foundation.
This event provides underprivileged Denver area children the
opportunity to share holiday gifts with others, which many wouldn’t
otherwise be able to experience.

The Denver Active 20-30 is a non-profit organization comprised of
business leaders between the ages of 20 and 39 that are focused on
raising money for disadvantaged Denver area children. Though most funds
raised through the events that the Denver Active 20-30 sponsors go
directly to local charity organizations, the Christmas for Kids event is one in which the children are the direct benefactors of the money raised.

For the twentieth year in a row, early on Saturday, December 11th, we
will again “take to the aisles” of a Target department store with over
160 special children for a holiday shopping spree. Believe us when, at
approximately 6:00 am, we tell you these children are wide-eyed, ready
and waiting for us. These kids (ages 6-13) will arrive at the store,
assisted by an Denver Active 20-30 adult, with a mission – to go holiday
shopping for members of their families.

As these children plow through the store, they listen, learn to
budget, and develop a shopping list which focuses on other people. Then,
after a wild time at the gift wrap tables we’ve set up for them,
they’ll leave with brightly colored wrapped packages stuffed in shopping
bags for their families. And we’ve been known to surprise them with a
“goodie bag” at the end, as a reward.

Many of you are committed to worthwhile charities and events during
the holiday season. However, if you’d like to open your heart to assist
us with this most special of all our events, your donations would be
greatly appreciated. Each child will receive $45 this year with which to
budget. Every donation we receive gets us closer to the goal of
ensuring that these kids have an enjoyable holiday season.

If you would like to donate to this event and provide a meaningful
and gratifying holiday event for these children, please follow the link
below to make your donation on-line.

SEATTLE, June 1, 2010 – LuxuryRealEstate.com, the most viewed luxury real estate website in the world, announced today it has acquired The Society of Leisure Enthusiasts (“The Society”), an online marketing solutions company focused in the luxury vacation rental industry.  The Society brings a selection of over 3,000 of the most luxurious vacation rentals in the world as well as an advertising distribution platform to LuxuryRealEstate.com.  The Society was privately held and is based in Colorado.  The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Society client base includes vacation home owners, property managers and resorts.  They market the homes to affluent travelers through their own website, TheSociety.com as well as through an advertising platform called The Global Bundle.   The Global Bundle technology distributes property listings to the finest luxury websites, the leading vacation rental websites and to several social media outlets.  Distribution outlets have included DuPontRegistry.com, LuxuryTravelMagazine.com, RobbReportCollection.com, WSJ.com, LuxuryRealEstate.com, Paradizo.com, Affluence.org, HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, and more.

“We are thrilled to join forces with LuxuryRealEstate.com,” said Michael McFadden, CEO of The Society.  “They are the leaders in luxury real estate and together we will bring the finest vacation rentals to affluent travelers around the world.”

“Vacation rentals, especially high-end properties, have become an essential force in the luxury real estate ecosystem.  The Society has carved out a great niche in the marketplace.  This acquisition will allow us to provide our clients with the best marketing solutions for their luxury properties,” explained John Brian Losh, CEO and Publisher of LuxuryRealEstate.com.

The newly created Vacation Rental division will to be managed by the former CEO of The Society, Michael McFadden.

About LuxuryRealEstate.com

LuxuryRealEstate.com, a 2009 Webby Award Honoree, has been voted ‘Best of the Web’ by Forbes magazine multiple times, praised by the International Herald Tribune, Town & Country, the Wall Street Journal and has been ranked ‘Best Website’ by consumers according to surveys by the Luxury Institute. Since its debut in 1995, LuxuryRealEstate.com has remained the #1 portal for luxury properties on the internet, consistently driving more traffic to member websites and generating more qualified inquiries than any other website. LuxuryRealEstate.com has several times more $1,000,000+ content of any near-peer.

Also known in the industry as the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate network, a global collection of the finest luxury real estate brokers in the world, this group of more than 1000 brokerage firms and 95,000 professionals in more than 65 countries collectively sells in excess of $190 billion of real estate annually, with an average sale price of $2,450,000. Members sell homes for record prices and handle transactions of incredible complexity and magnitude with complete discretion. Every member is carefully selected by CEO/Publisher John Brian Losh, one of REALTOR Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People in Real Estate and broker of fine properties and estates through his Seattle-based brokerage firm, Ewing & Clark, Inc.

About The Society of Leisure Enthusiasts

The Society of Leisure Enthusiasts provides vacation home owners, estate managers and vacation rental firms the most complete one-stop-shop marketing solution called the Global Bundle (www.TheGlobalBundle.com).  This premier offering ensures marketing exposure for all luxury vacation rental listings on the finest luxury websites, the most dominant vacation rental marketplaces, and the most viral social media outlets. The Society of Leisure Enthusiasts also owns and operates an online luxury vacation rental marketplace www.TheSociety.com.