Martha Miller is a former retail executive who had been downsized twice, and decided to take life into her own hands. She and her husband quit their “secure” jobs to move overseas, complete an education, experience another culture, and change the course of their lives. Martha began writing about the new life she was living in Italy, eventually becoming a frequent contributor to Wanted in Rome, an English-language magazine. Her work has also appeared in GoNOMAD.com, Transitions Abroad, Go World Travel, International Living, LifeinItaly.com, Family Circle, Parents, The Christian Science Monitor and The Writer. Her personal essays and syndicated columns, Living Greenly and Living Online, have been published in regional publications across the United States.
Dave has worked in travel and tourism for 20 years in many countries around the world. For the past 8 years, Dave has been based back in his home country of New Zealand working in a Senior Management role for Air New Zealand and Les Mills International. After a brief break from the tourism industry, Dave jumped at the opportunity to lead an exciting new start-up business that will show case New Zealand, and enable people to explore the country in the best possible way – cruising in a motorhome.
Mighway is raising the bar on peer-to-peer platforms, offering owners the freedom of being completely hands off during the rental process,” said Dave Simmons, CEO of Mighway—which is owned by TH2, a new joint venture between Tourism Holdings Limited (thl), the world’s largest RV rental and sales operator with 30 years of experience in the industry; and Thor Industries—manufacturers of the renowned Airstream and Jayco RV brands.
“As RV peer-to-peer platforms came on the market, we noticed a huge gap in service and protection options, which was a huge barrier for potential owners and renters,” said Simmons. “We created Mighway to break this barrier, drawing on our extensive experience and partnerships to offer unrivalled premium support, storage and insurance options. As far as we know, no one else is doing this, so it’s a game changer for peer-to-peer platforms in general, not just RVs.”
Although owners can be hands-on if they want, the Mighway Managed option takes away the burden of everything from vetting and dealing with customers to cleaning, vehicle handover, repairs, emergency road service and insurance claims. Owned by the largest commercial rental operator and largest manufacturer, Mighway leverages their relationships with dealers to access to space to store vehicles in professional facilities at a much lower cost than owners can find on their own.
“We recommend RV owners take advantage of our free listings now, so they can be ready for the lucrative spring and summer travel season,” Simmons said. “With Mighway, owners can bank on their RV but hang on to their valuable free time and peace of mind. Our competitors can’t offer this level of service and flexibility.”
Learn more at www.mighway.com.
Travelzoo’s Senior Editor Gabe Saglie is a leading expert on travel deals, travel tips and trends. He has appeared on dozens of highly-rated national and local news programs including CNN, NBC's Today Show, CNBC's On the Money, ABCNewsNow and Meredith Corporation’s Better TV, as well as numerous affiliate stations in major markets around the country including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and many others. Gabe has uncovered hundreds of valuable travel deals and has become an authority on topics such as tips for finding great travel deals, family travel, golf getaways, culinary vacations, cruises, island adventures, gaming vacations and ski getaways.
Gabe’s extensive journalistic background began as a news writer and field producer for KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, and subsequently as a producer on the 5pm News at KEYT, the ABC affiliate in Santa Barbara. Shortly after, he was promoted to anchor and weathercaster for KEY News This Morning and executive producer and anchor of the popular Coastal Business Report. During Gabe’s career as an anchor, he has interviewed many prominent people including renowned culinary personality Wolfgang Puck, Fleetwood Mac drummer and founder, Mick Fleetwood, Olympic Gold Medalist Peggy Flemming, comedians John Cleese and Dennis Miller and Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron.
Gabe has a Bachelor of Arts in English from UCLA and a Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from USC Los Angeles.
Not only is Gabe well versed in journalism he also brings a wealth of knowledge to his reports through his personal travel experiences. He is a Chilean native born in Norway to active, globetrotting parents. He has traveled to over 20 countries and is fluent in three languages, Spanish, French and English. Gabe’s travel experiences allow him to be one of the industry’s foremost consumer travel advocates.
Experience Sonoma Valley, California, the destination marketing organization for Sonoma Valley, today announced its new Executive Director, Tim Zahner, who will take the reigns on August 20.
“We [the board] spent a lot of time searching for the right candidate to lead the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau,” said board President Hunt Bailie. “Sonoma Valley is a world-class place to visit with a great local community, and we needed to find someone who understands who we are at our core, while also having the skills to promote the incredible experiences, businesses, organizations and events we have here. Tim is the perfect fit.”
Zahner was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of Sonoma County Tourism, after serving as the Interim CEO and as the Chief Marketing Officer of Sonoma County Tourism for more than 10 years. During the October 2017 wildfires he led SCT’s immediate response from the hospitality industry as well as the “open for business” messaging in the months following. Zahner has experience in communications and marketing, organizational development and strategy, having been part of Sonoma County Tourism’s growth from a $3 million to an $8.5 million marketing and sales organization.
Some of the programs he was integral in rolling out include off-season promotions, a robust content and video strategy, public relations programs and a community engagement program that worked with stakeholder groups to address tourism issues.
“I look forward to working with the entire Sonoma Valley community as we create a sustainable hospitality economy,” Zahner said. “Sonoma Valley is a community of farmers, artisans and families that attracts visitors from around the world. I am ready to join with the staff and board at Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau to continue their good work and look forward to working with the community to benefit Sonoma Valley.”
Lisa Niver is a travel expert, writer, artist, entrepreneur, and on-camera host who has explored 96 countries. Niver has established a following through her written and video content, garnering over one million video views on YouTube, Amazon Fire Tv and Roku.
Niver is the founder of a top 100 travel blog, We Said Go Travel, that reaches more than 200,000 annually and is in the top 1/8 of the top 1% of all sites in the United States. In her tri-annual international travel writing competitions, she has published nearly 2000 writers from 75 countries.
She was invited to the United Nations as a Champions of Humanity ambassador, to the red carpet at the Oscars with United Airlines and to New Orleans for a project with American Express and Starwood Hotels. Her recent stories include Dutch designer villas for Luxury Magazine, interviewing Fabien Cousteau for Delta Sky, skiing with the blind for Sierra and scuba diving in the Solomon Islands for Smithsonian.
She also contributes to USA Today, Wharton Business Magazine, the Jewish Journal and is verified on Twitter. Niver was a 2012 nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and a 2014 nominee for the Charles Bronfman Prize.
J.P. Bary is a New York based lawyer and financial advisor who enjoys unraveling complicated issues. One of the issues that's fascinated him over the years is why people find it so difficult to get comfortable with wine. Part of the problem seems to be that with any subject as complicated as wine, the gap between what experts and ordinary consumers know is so great that it's hard for them to communicate with each other. Other wine buffs often told J.P. that the people who had been most helpful to them in learning about wine had been members of their families, friends and other non-experts. So he began talking to people to find out what they found most confusing about wine and what helped them the most once they learned it.
As it turned out, there was a significant disparty between what professionals are trained to say and what people find it most useful to know. After years of discussions and observations, J.P. identified a number of key mistakes that a majority of wine consumers make repeatedly. He also took careful notes on the numerous disparities between what wine professionals mean and what those who haven't become immersed in the lore and language of wine understand. The Persistent Observer's Guide to Wine shows people how to avoid these mistakes, understand what the pro's are trying to say and become proficient much more quickly. Rather than concentrating only on teaching readers more about wine, the book focuses on what they most need to know (or forget) about their own interactions with wine, so they can get the most out of every wine experience.
In his own explorations of wine, J.P. has benefitted from being part of a family involved in making, distributing and marketing wine for centuries. He's travelled widely in the world's wine regions and counts many growers, winemakers, importers, distributors and retailers among his friends. An avid reader of books, articles and blogs on wine, he conducted extensive interviews with wine consumers at all levels in order to find out what they need to hear that hasn't already been said.