Travelogue: The Stories I Forgot to Tell

As I parse out the key moments to celebrate our 15th anniversary, I have to juggle with which items to remember the most. 

Recalling the media trips was one thing. Trying to look back at what I’ve done, whom I saw, and so forth. As I mentioned before, it is the new friends and colleagues made along the way that last the longest. 

During these years, I had to be creative on which experiences would work for you. Ones that encourage engagement, curiosity, and interest. 

Admittedly, a good chunk of these travel experiences that I had published over time was based on my byline (and former editorial position) of a certain Twin Cities-based lifestyle magazine. You know, the ones that tell stories based on their lifestyle that engage those readers. 

There is an underlying current for those experiential stories – travel. I have to admit that not only do I enjoy travel content (the ones that do not use artificial intelligence for storytelling). They make for great learning experiences and help cook up the imagination a bit. Without going overboard, some of those were made for some sweet dreams over the years. 

There were some memorable travel stories I published on here. Recently, I spent time perusing the website to see which ones yielded the best memories of them all. 

What makes a good travel story? It’s not what goes into the story – places of interest, events, hotels, landscapes, and so forth. It is about the people I met on these trips. 

Often, I forget to tell those stories. I figured that they were more of a personal experience than one to be shared on this website. However, I will say that experiencing humanity is a part of my travels. To put some ease in some people’s minds, I normally do not seek out those people, unless warranted. 

For those of us who are not afraid to meet new people, they do make a destination worth visiting. 

With that said, a couple of stories do come to mind…

During my busy 2015, the company now known as Stellantis flew me and another LGBTQ+ colleague to Detroit to witness their corporate citizenship efforts with the community.  Keep in mind the timeline – Diversity Equity and Inclusion was a thing, and it was going strong. Most companies had employee resource groups for all of their diverse workforce, including LGBTQ+ employees.

That June, we arrived in the Motor City to experience these efforts. The program culminated with the company’s participation in the Motor City Pride parade in downtown Detroit. I was fortunate to be joined by a colleague and friend, as well as others on the now Stellantis side and various friends and notables. We did so many things that remembering them was both on and outside the program that are still worth recalling today. Who knew that I would be in a parade, let alone talk to nationally known talk show hosts, ERG leaders from Stellantis and other manufacturers…the list goes on!

There is one story that I can never get out of my head. We were heading from the LGBTQ+ community center in Ferndale to Detroit’s Eastern Market when we passed by a bank on Woodward Avenue where a car wash was happening. It was hosted by the local bear club. They certainly caught my eye. My fellow program mate asked the communications folks driving the Chrysler Town & Country to turn around and let me “woof” at them. They did…and, well, I obliged. . 

I could’ve used an app, but we were on a schedule…

A few weeks later, I returned to Southeastern Michigan for Stellantis’ annual new model year preview event. Prior to lunch, I wrapped my morning drives and headed to the tent. It was there when I found out the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality. Stellantis was about to release a press release supporting the decision, as did most entities that day. The same communications people I worked with in the previous trip showed me the release. 

It prompted me to open up my laptop. I should’ve not done that. Our country was severely divided them and the trolling and vitriol was pretty bad. Not as bad as today. 

The one thing I should mention was that Stellantis invited the couples that were married for that short window of time in the state of Michigan to join their contingent in the Motor City Pride parade. I may be biased, but that’s what corporate citizenship used to be in 2015. 

One thing that kept my eyes wide open was the travel involved to get these types of stories on this website – and in other publications I was feeding work to. One such story came about when I was in my editorial position, when I finally visited the state of Connecticut in 2023. There was so much that happened after I picked up the Jeep Grand Cherokee from the airport in White Plains, New York. What transpired afterwards was one surprise after another. 

Through the interviews, tours, and various food experiences between Hartford, Mystic, and New London, these surprises came with colleagues/friends showing up at places where I dined and over breakfast. For example, a South Florida-based multicultural PR pro I knew from an event in Las Vegas just happened to be dining at the same Italian restaurant I had a reservation at in downtown Hartford. She was with her husband and daughter doing their own New England tour. She recognized me first, and it turned into a wonderful conversation that was full of laughs. 

The lesson here was simple: You may never know who you will run into anywhere on this planet. 

What really capped it off was the warmth I felt from the people I interacted with throughout this trip. From members of the LGBTQ+ community to tourism professionals to people anywhere within earshot. Other similar trips have yielded such feelings, but not on the level of this Connecticut trip. That trip was indeed a peak travel immersion experience. 

Thumbing through all of the travel experiences I accomplished in the past 15 years, I want to look back at the good rather than the bad. Still, someone is going to ask about my “worst” experience. Let’s be honest, should I even talk about those moments?

You always celebrate the good. Those are the experiences that you keep for the rest of your career and beyond.

The other thing I should address is if I have more travel experiences left in my career. We’re not sure – there are now two of us that work at this outlet. 

What the future holds goes back to where we came from. The experiences I had in my travels are resonant, thanks to this work that I decided to pursue 15 years ago. 

All photos by Randy Stern