Life as a writer I have found over the past few years to be a unique sort of animal. After the launch of my Wine Consultant e-Commerce website, www.awinetodiefor.com, I began writing reviews and articles for a few magazines and blogs. Over time this has turned into a full time profession for me, with monthly columns in national magazines including Upscale Living Magazine, Destinations Travel Magazine and others. I also write weekly wine articles for a very popular and well respected website, www.professorshouse.com. My magazine columns are on a variety of stoics, from wine, food and travel, to cigars and spirits.

Dining Cape Cod Style

All this has led in one way or another to other writing projects, in many cases coming from magazines, companies and business ventures contacting me to write for them. My list of projects and subject matter is unbelievable, ranging from surfing in Sumatra, golfing in South East Asia, vacationing on the Greek Isles, to handgun defense for women. It seams that I have written about almost everything but “life as a nun”!

Some of my most rewarding writing projects have been about my extensive experiences in worldwide travel.  I say this knowing quite well that in fact, I have only been to maybe half the world destinations so far, but plan to expand that quite a bit in years to come. That being said, much of my travel has also been most relaxing and rewarding because in fact it has been paired with wine adventures. During the past year, my travels have taken me not only to my friends “South of the Border” in California, but also to Washington State, Canada, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, Washington, DC, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Gives the phrase “Bite Me” a whole different meaning

I have been fortunate enough to realize the availability of material for creative writing in every place I have visited. From scuba diving adventures in Hawaii, sipping wine on the lawns of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s Estate, to my visit to the Vietnam Veterans Wall in D.C., and many wineries in Virginia. One of my favorite trips this past year has been to Cape Cod for a week with my lovely wife Marsha, relaxing in a oceanfront condo, Our time there involved such things as eating lobster till we were bursting at the seams, and making a large pot of fresh New England Clam Chowder, using my Grandfathers recipe, Yum!

I guess you could say that my point in this blog is that no matter what is going on in your life, or not going on, there are always new adventures and avenues for success. The Segway from my Internet wine business, to my writing career opened an amazing door for me, one that I stepped through not knowing if I could succeed in yet another profession. The ability for us to morph from one disappointment into a whole new and exciting adventure, and making a living at it, is what I look at as the “American Way” (something I used to call the “Cowboy Way”.

Stepping through a door to the unknown is what our pioneer forefathers did in their day because things were just not working out back east. They moved east, and found gold, and so can you in your own way.

So don’t be afraid of change, and you to might just find that new and exciting career. You have nothing to loose but a smile and maybe a sip of new wine?

Anyway, here’s to some great holidays ahead, and a new year of promise.

Clink Clink,

Gary