Bah bah black sheep. Whatever. I hail from New England. You work hard in high school to get into a good college. You work hard there to get the good job. Then your high school sweetheart wants a ring and a white picket fence. Done. Babies, mortgages, fixing your gutters, etc. etc. etc.

F that. So I disappeared to California for a 5…

So you are in Tuscany and you've had enough food and wine. What to do?

Well, there is several companies in the region that offer balloon rides. If you need a little more excitement, it's a pretty good time.  I visited Tuscany in September, which is the end of ballooning season (apparently) due to the conditions.  Its not…

• BAY OF ISLANDS: If you can survive the four-hour drive (for which I rented a car), I highly recommend checking out the Bay of Islands. I got some incredible weather and had the privilege of working with R. Tucker Thompson and meeting some awesome people. Paihia is a great place to make your home base, and you can check everything out in about four days. Kings Road has some cool bars…

10. UP IN THE AIR SOUNDTRACK: A great movie with some great performances, but the soundtrack is also very good, well about half of it. Mixes new school and old school with some great messages. If you like travel, this is a great place to start with some music.

9: U2 GREATEST HITS. Ok, here's the thing. I'm not a obessive U2 fan or nothing. I just think they got some good tunes, its inspring, and they mean good. They aren't the next coming of Jesus, but,…