Since I wrote the book during the pandemic and found the publisher (Radius Book Group) in December of 2020, I never actually met the gentlemen with whom I would be working to get this memoir into print. I was already used to Zoom calls, so it wasn't difficult to speak with people on a screen, yet it isn't the same as getting to know someone in person. I had been planning to go back to North Carolina to visit my cousins and found that Evan Phail - my day to day publishing contact - had moved there. We decided to meet for lunch in a little town called Salisbury, at the City Tavern. We discovered that we were both from the Bronx, as I inhaled my Philly cheese steak and he devoured his chicken, bacon, and ranch wrap. Somehow, all of our differences (we didn't always agree on the book editing nor the cover design) melted away and we became fast friends. We talked about bucket list destinations, specifically New Zealand - a place he wanted to go and I had been. I showed him my favorite photo of my trip there: me with a gorgeous sheep, my smile as big as the country! Somehow talking about travel brings people close together and helps them fully engage. Evan gave me a chance to remember how much I love my career and how I long to get back on the road, the sea, and the sky.
Went to the City Tavern in Salisbury with Evan. Maybe I should have had a Salisbury steak? Do they still sell those? Worst childhood dinners at my house were those Salisbury steak TV dinners!
Rachel, Jake and I had lunch at a farm in New Zealand. The proprietors made us pay for snacks to feed THEIR animals. What a racquet! Can't wait to go back to south island! I don't like to say where my favorite place on the planet is, but the land of kiwis is in the top three. If you hang around, I will tell you the other two.
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