Spring Sprung: Get your travel on

Spring time is the perfect season to get out and about. If you are a sports fan, there are only two places to be come Spring. 1) The Cactus League. Phoenix, AZ. 2) The Ballin League. Las Vegas, NV.

If you're headed to Phoenix, check out my detailed analysis Spring Training Guide. I'll also be attending the Cactus League this year, so when you see me, you can tell me how much you liked the guide. Or not. Either way.

As far as what to do in the Valley of the Sun, well, there's baseball, obviously, the Suns and downtown PHX, shopping at the Biltmore or Fashion Square, lounging in the pool with an adult beverage and much more. When I'm on vacation, sometimes I just like to chill at the resort and AZ has some nice ones. With beautiful pools. And scenery. Nudge, nudge. Plus there's this dude. 

Vegas, baby. And no, that's not Dick Vitale. He'd say something lame, like, "Vegas, it's awesome, baby. Oh the diaper dandy. Ohhh." I don't even know what that means. Luckily when you are in Vegas for March Madness, you'll be surrounded by big screen televisions and options so you won't need to hear Vitale. I've only been to Vegas once during March Madness, but let me tell you it was insane. And fun. Do it!

I just looked at my iPhone. NYC 42 degrees. SF 59. Seattle 48.

Temperature in Phoenix, 82. Veags, 79. Need I say more?

Road Trips and Relationships

When in Phoenix: Try the golf.I will be heading to Phoenix, Arizona over the holidays. With me riding shotgun will be my French Bulldog, Aix. He navigates and sleeps. I drive. It's a give and take relationship. I give, he takes. In Phoenix is my immediate family and it will be great to see them.

To have success and move forward positively in the direction of your dreams, it takes great relationships with your family and friends. I discussed this in 32 Things I've Learned in 32 Years. You need people to have your back. There are always going to be haters. Let them hate. Ignore them and pay attention to the people who support you. Speaking of support, Melanie of WestSide Culture fame, lives in the PHX. I will make a point to see her as she inspires me to kick ass. These are the types of people you need in your corner.

I'm reminded of all the different trips I've taken throughout the US and Europe, Tahiti and Mexico and all the relationships I made at each stop. None of them lasted. Not a single one. Why? Because I did not make an effort. Imagne the network I would have if I made even the slightest attempt to stay in touch. Don't make that mistake. Build your support system and treat your contacts with respect. It will make a huge difference in your success.

A few vacation ideas.... west coast style

Let me suggest a few places to visit that are relatively inexpensive and can be made into whatever type of trip you'd like to take. I'll give you my top eight list in no particular order.

#1: Lake Tahoe. You can spend your time in Tahoe for a wedding, as I did once, for a bachelor party, which I did another time or for a business meeting. You can go there to gamble on sports, ski, kayak, hike or hit the clubs.  

#2: San Diego. There is much more to San Diego than the beach. Balboa Park, Sea World, PetCo Field, Fashion Valley Mall, Tijuana, Gaslamp District and downtown. The zoo is freaking awesome (it's also fucking closed, Ray). With everything from pandas to tigers, polar bears and gremlins. OK, maybe there are no gremlins... just checking to see if you were paying attention!

All I'm saying is be very careful when searching for "clubs on the strip"#3: Las Vegas. Umm black jack. Card Counting. Sportsbooks galore. Some of the best clubs in the world. All you can eat buffets. Sleeping til 3pm. Going to bed at 6am. Craps. Live UFC fights. The Strip. I could go on.

#4: San Francisco. One of the coolest cities in the world. Stay with a friend to save on hotel costs. Everyone knows someone who lives there. Fisherman's Warf and China Town are two of my favorites. 

#5: Los Angeles. If you want a serious dose of WestSide Culture, check out Venice Beach and Long Beach. Otherwise, Hollywood, Bel-Air, Disneyland and all that Pirates of the Caribbean bullshit is cool, too.

#6: Bend, Oregon. Quaint. Quiet. Quomodocunquize. It means to make money anyway possible and has nothing to do with this blog post. Moving on. Bend is possibly one of my favorite small west coast cities. It's little enough to still be calm, yet large enough to have some incredible culture. Check out the Mill District,
Old Bend and the micro-breweries.

Carlsbad Village

#7: Carlsbad, Cali. Not Carlsbad, New Mexico. Cbad as the locals like to call it is my favorite beach town. You can rent a hotel room right on the beach for $99/night and I'm talking about a pimped out room, not some freaking Best Western BS. Close to Lego-Land, outlet malls and you can get to Orange County is less than an hour. The downtown area is quiet during the day and lively at night. Great restaurants, better beach cafes. There is a place that makes a peanut butter and jelly smoothie. It's the next Laguna Beach. Do it.

#8: Denver. Anything you want, including Tim Tebow. Snow, cool summers, downtown parks, big city feel, Tim Tebow, The US Mint, 16th Street Pedestrian Mall, Larimer Square and Tim Tebow. Denver is the hub of Frontier Airlines, my favorite airline because they have outstanding customer service, the least expensive tickets, wild animals on their wing-tips and they give you fresh baked cookies each flight. Plus you can watch TV on the plane. I've watched several football games while on a Frontier flight. Nothing like following your fantasy football team from 30,000 feet in the air. Did I mention Tim Tebow?

What is your favorite West Coast city vacation destination?