I had the good fortune to catch up with esteemed travel writer and photojournalist, Ron Stern. Ron is now the Editor in Chief of JustSayGoTV.com, a travel video site that also airs on public access television. Tripfilms is excited to partner with JustSayGoTV and you can always see their latest works on their series page here: JustSayGoTV Series. Take a look at Ron's deepest fears, favorite spots and his hopes for JustSayGoTV.
Birthplace San Gabriel, California
Occupation: Travel Photojournalist
Current Residence Colorado
Favorite Food Is ice cream a food? If so, put me down for chocolate mint.
Never leave home without...My camera- you never know when you are gonna need it.
1. When and how did you fall in love with travel? I guess it was in 2001, I was in Cancun and thought to myself how fun it would be to be able to travel whenever I wanted. On a whim, I decided to call up a local dive shop for an interview. At the time, I had no idea where I would publish it. To my amazement, the owner agreed and I asked him all sorts of questions about snorkeling and diving. He said most people go to Cozumel for this but if you knew the "secrets" of where to go, then Cancun offers great diving opportunities. I subsequently wrote up a story called "Diving in Cancun" for a website called Deeperblue.net and it is still there today.
2. What is the scariest or most shocking place you've been? I was kayaking in a river along with some other writers in Vermont as a huge thunderstorm was approaching. We made it out
just as it hit but during the van ride back to town we went right through the heart of the storm. Lightning was hitting all around us with huge claps of thunder and one bolt struck
a tree about 20 feet away. The flash combined with the instant atomic-sounding thunder made me literally hit the roof of the van. Lightning is one of two things that really scares me.
The other is Kryptonite.
3.What destination do you feel will see a new rise in tourism? I'm sure there are many but one place that I think will offer good domestic values is Las Vegas. They have seen a drop off in much of their convention business and combined with current economic conditions, you can find some great deals. They just opened a new hotel called Aria in an area called City Center (it really is as big as a small city) and they have state-of-the-art rooms which I have seen on sale for budget prices. Even if you don't gamble, signing up for the Players Cards in each casino will sometimes net you dollars of free play. My wife and I did this on our last visit and ended up funding most of our trip after winning on penny slots using their money.
4.What place keeps you coming back to again and again? I love Switzerland. It is a small country and the Swiss Rail Pass can get you from one end to another in just a few hours. It is also very diverse with changing scenery and diverse food as you go from region to region.
5. What has been your favorite place to profile? Zurich. It is such a beautiful city with everyone being fashion conscious. I also love the food, particularly the chocolate! There is one place called Sprungli that looks like Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory with every sort of confection you can imagine--all made by hand. Some of the best hot chocolate I have ever had is also made right there.
6. Any favorite personal experiences abroad? Riding camels in Petra, Jordan is certainly a highlight. Most people think that Petra looks like the single temple seen in the Indiana Jones movie but this is just the beginning of Petra. It extends downhill for a couple of miles and at the other end you have to climb 800 steps to get to the largest monument called
"The Monastery." Since there aren't any taxis coming back out, taking a camel is one sweet ride.
7. Are you an airport, love the journey kind of guy-- or do you just want to get there already? Like most, I have had good and bad experiences at airports. Long layovers in a crowded terminal is not my idea of fun. But, if you have access to a lounge then it can make the difference between heaven and....well..the other place. Taking a long overnight flight and then being able to take a long, hot shower in a private bathroom is all it takes make me a new man. If you don't happen to be flying business or first class, then
Prioritypass.com is a way to access these cushy lounges for a reasonable price.
8. Tell us about genesis of JustSayGo.com Justsaygo.com was created by Naeem Randhawa and originally it started as a writing blog called Zone451.com after the Ray Bradbury novel. I met Naeem many years ago and we decided to turn it into a travel ezine and since then we have been fortunate to have many high quality travel writers contribute
articles from all over the world. About a year ago, Naeem decided to make a travel video about Miami with his wife Sonia. I found a crew here in Colorado to do the same and I have filmed shows in Switzerland, Colorado and have more scheduled for France and Montreal.
9.What prompted the launch of JustSayGoTV? With many traditional print outlets struggling for survival, we thought it would be a good idea to do a spin-off from Justsaygo.com into electronic media. It has been challenging at times but we have learned as we went. Our goal is to create interesting, high quality films that others would enjoy. Most of our shows will be 22 minutes in length and then my blogging/website expert will divide these into shorter segments for placement on the Internet, including the more popular social networking sites, and of course, Tripfilms.com.
10. How is JustSayGoTV different from the other travel shows? Our background is in print travel journalism and I have written hundreds of travel artilces for magazines and newspapers. We have two hosts: myself and Sonia (Naeem's wife) and we try to use our knowledge, experience and our own various personalities to bring something different to our shows.
Due to our contacts with tourism offices and public relations agencies, we have been able to do things that others have not. For example, I was able to interview H.R. Giger (creator of the Alien for the movie of the same name)at his alien cafe in Gruyeres, Switzerland. Giger almost never does interviews but he granted one for us. His cafe is in a small
mountaintop midieval village with cobblestone streets and small quaint shops. He built a cafe next to his museum and the inside looks like the inside of the Alien itself with vertebrae criss-crossing the ceiling and the massive chairs are made to look like the back of the creature.
11. What inspired the name? We wanted a simple name that everyone could remember. Also, since RickSteves.com was already taken we chose Justsaygo.com and later Justsaygotv.com.
12. How do you decide where or what you will feature next? Sometimes we receive invitations to visit and film and other times we contact PR reps or Tourism Offices to suggest a show. Since many of the people know us from our print backgrounds, it tends to facilitate our visit.
13.What is your favorite thing about filming these shows? I think the challenge of getting good footage, remembering lines and trying to act natural. It sounds easy until the camera is rolling and then you find out it really isn't. I was in Bern filming at a garden overlooking the city when a bus load of 50 Japanese tourists saw us and started gathering around taking pictures. One of them yelled, "Rick Steves!" l love that sort of stuff.
14. What are your dreams for travel video in the future? We would like to be a household name and have people sit in their living room and say, "I want to go there!"
Congrats guys!