All About the Travel in 2009

TREASURE HUNTER: KIRSTEN GUM

ALL NEW PREMIERES STARTS SATURDAY, JAN 3RD AT 9PM

only on the TRAVEL CHANNEL

I was sitting at New Year Eve dinner the other night with my husband at one of our local Italian restaurants when this blog started to take shape. I could not decide how to start my 2009 without the old standby cliches... out with the old, in with the new stuff. As I was sitting there eating a 5 course meal, my husband and I could not stop complaining. The service was slow... they did take our order fast enough, the first course was too skimpy, the second was fine, the third was undercooked... it went on and on. I was so irritated that I was actually excited about making a nasty blog about the place. So, I came home and started to write and the more I wrote, the more I deleted. Was I really going to write a travel blog about my five course dinner out with my husband that had gone bad? It became apparent to me that the fact that my husband and I could afford a nice dinner after a very fun (and expensive) Christmas vacation in Florida with our family was more of a blog than the little scallop and overly seasoned cabernet reduction.

So, after a year of bad news and non-perfect hotel stays ... I offer you this.. a look ahead to what I think is going to be the major travel trends of '09.

(1) Business Travel will be cut significantly. What does that mean for you? Business travel is where the airlines make their cash. These are the travelers who do not have any flexibility in their travel schedules and they end up paying dearly for that. It could mean that airlines cut flights even more creating less seats per route. Your best bet... book early and search my fave sites to get the best deals.

(2) Vacation Rentals instead of hotels. Watch out Marriott! Local homeowners are coming to the table to pull even more travelers out of your hotels. With business travel cut backs and the growing vacation rental market you may very well see those hotel rates drop to fill their beds.

(3) American's are going to continue to Staycation this year as the economy tightens even more in 2009. We also see a lot more "Family Reunion" type travels coming in 2009 where families vacation together and save on everything from nightly rates, meals and attractions.

As I look ahead to 2009, I see many paths unfolding that will change my future forever. My daughter starts preschool this month... I have a new position at Travel Channel where I have been given the opportunity to work on shaping a new world of online video for the network. I am also responsible for the Travel Channel Academy and all of the graduates who are out there making travel video for us.

Here are a few new pictures from our family trip to Florida. We hit Disney the day after Christmas and WOW that place was packed! I mean wall to wall people. Loads of "family reunion" t-shirts walking around. I feel good about that trend...

Enjoy 2009 and stay with me this year... I'm about to blow out TravelChannel online with some amazing new travel content including a style web series with my close friend, Sammy B's stylist, and total hottie Christina Burns. (Coming in March)

Talking about hotties... be sure to catch all new episodes of Treasure Hunter: Kirsten Gum coming tomorrow night at 9pm on Travel Channel! This season is all about adventure and Kirsten is one adventurous chick. Check it out.

BIG SHOUT OUT to Kirsten Gum and the entire Treasure Hunter crew at Indigo Films who literally risked their lives shooting this show. You are my rock stars!

Travel On,

Lori