You Can Help Me Win a Photo Contest!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Uncategorized

Hello Everyone,

A friend recently brought an online photo competition to my attention and suggested I enter one of my photos and I decided to give it a shot. The winner is decided by votes. I received the following e-mail today that said my photo has made it to the second round of only 10 entries!

If you have enjoyed my photography and think the photo I’ve submitted is a winner, please help me by casting a vote by clicking on the link below! 

Thanks!   

– Matt

Here is the letter I received and the link for voting:

America’s Favorite Photos ——   Rekindling America’s Appreciation of Photography   ——

Hello Matt, April 19, 2024

Congrats on advancing to Round Two! The Top 5 photos in your Group at the end of voting tomorrow will advance to the next Round of voting. There are only 9 other photos in your new Round Two Group, which means you only have to be slightly above average to advance to Round Three!

Plus, today is a Double Vote Day (all votes count double)

Double Vote Days can help your photo get off to a great start in this new Round of voting.

You are welcome to share your Vote Link directly with friends and family to make it easy for them to find and vote for your photo.

Copy and share your Vote Link from your account Dashboard.

Everyone (including you!) can vote each and every day.

Vote for this photo in the America’s Favorite Photos competition: Like this photo? Vote now!

Like this photo? Vote now! America’s Favorite Photos: Discover your new favorite photos!
This is the photo I have submitted: The Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland

Go Take a Hike!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, New England

No, I’m not telling you, my loyal readers, to go away; however, I am recommending that you take some time to get lost – in nature. Go for a hike!  I’m not talking about a forced death march up and down some mountain trail, gasping for oxygen and being chased my bears, but if that’s your thing, go for it! If you aren’t an adrenaline junkie, just an hour or two walking at a comfortable pace in a natural setting every few days can do wonders for your health and peace of mind. Admittedly there are many days when from the comfort of my recliner the idea of taking a walk is not anywhere close to the top of my to-do list, but usually my inner parent “makes me” go and without exception, once I get out on a quiet trail in a rural setting for a couple of hours, I never regret it.

Continue reading “Go Take a Hike!” →

Happy New Year!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs

As I welcomed in 2024 watching a truly impressive fireworks display over downtown Providence, Rhode Island, I decided that one of my New Year’s resolutions needed to be paying more attention to this website and creating some new blog posts for the new year. As I’ve shared in earlier posts, during the last few months of 2023 I was preoccupied with finally getting my book published and trying to promote it.

At Home in the World: Reflections of a Travel Addict is for sale in both paperback and e-book formats at Amazon.com. While it’s not likely to crack the New York Times Best Seller List anytime soon, it has received a dozen 5-star reviews on Amazon and I’ve had a lot of very positive feedback about it. If you’ve purchased it already, thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you’ll take a couple minutes to post a review of it on Amazon. I’ve noticed that even a single purchase or the addition of one review can boost the book’s sales ranking on Amazon considerably, so every little bit helps.

Little Emma wishes she were old enough to read my book; luckily it has lots of photos to keep her interest until then!

If you haven’t gotten the book yet, I hope you’ll consider buying a copy. For anyone living close to southeastern Massachusetts, I’ll be doing two public Author Nights/Book Signings this month. The first, hosted by Friends of the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Massachusetts will be Wednesday, January 10 from 6:30 to 7:30PM. Next, the main branch of the New Bedford Public Library in my hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts will have me as a guest on Wednesday, January 17 from 6:30 to 7:30. Books will be on sale and available for me to sign at these events.

A candid shot of me at a book signing in November;
I must have just noticed that all of the brownies on the refreshment table were gone!

In November I turned 65 years old, a landmark birthday. My dear friend Judy sent me a set of Roman numeral birthday candles, allowing me to replace the 65 individual candles that could have potentially started a house fire with a simple L, X and V. Now that I am officially a Massachusetts resident, what better birthday cake to place the candles on but a Boston Cream Pie from Flour Bakery in Boston. It was a memorable birthday, and I’m gradually adjusting to the shock of realizing I’m now on Medicare.

Roman numeral birthday candles: what’ll they think of next?

Now that my birthday and the holidays are behind me, I have a couple of blog posts I’m working on that I’ll be posting soon, so please stay tuned. I’ve also started pondering some ideas for another book, but that is a bit further off. Meanwhile, I hope that all of your holidays over the past two months were joyful, bright, and merry and that the new year will bring all of us good health, peace of mind, time with loved ones, and of course, more happy travels.

Thanks for reading, and Happy 2024!

Matt

The 10 Best Places for Pancakes in the USA: Updated Fall 2023

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Travel Recommendations, USA, USA Roadtrips

Pancakes. Hotcakes. Griddle Cakes. Flapjacks.

No matter what they’re called, they happen to be one of my favorite ways to start the morning, and when I travel around the country, I make it a point to seek out the very best local places to find these breakfast staples. I personally don’t like a lot of extra stuff on or in my pancakes:  whipped cream, sprinkles, sugared candy, chocolate chips, strawberry sauce, ice cream, hot fudge – in my opinion they are just ways to mask a boring pancake. A really top-notch pancake should be able to stand on its own, maybe with some simple blueberries in the batter, and always with a little help from butter and real maple syrup.

I’m updating this post again this year. Things change. Even some of the best restaurants may go out of business, some places that used to be good seem to fade in quality, and in my continued travels, I discover new places that I feel obligated to include in my list. So… here are my latest rankings as of October, 2023.

To find the best pancakes in the country, read on!

At Home in the World is Now Out in the World!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Uncategorized

As of today, my book At Home in the World: Reflections of a Travel Addict is available on Amazon as either a paperback or a Kindle/e-book. This is a project I’ve thought about for years, and that it finally came to fruition is really pretty surreal. If you’ve enjoyed reading my blogs here, I think you’ll find the book to your liking. I put a lot of myself into it and I am really pleased with the results and hope you will be too!

I’ve prepared a little trailer to hopefully pique your interest in the book.

Let’s Go!

The Reviews Are In!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Uncategorized

Hello everyone! My book is finally completed and should be available on Amazon within the next week or so. But the “reviews” are already coming in from around the world:

“Maybe if his book does well, he will return and finally buy a carpet!” – a Turkish rug salesman.

“He may be a good writer, but he made the most pathetic mochi balls that we have ever seen at our festival!” – a resident of Shimabara, Japan.

“I remember him as the dinner that got away…”  – an Australian salt-water crocodile.

“This book could be bigger than Ben Hur!”  – an anonymous New Zealand grad student.

“He tried to add cheese to his spaghetti with clams! We were horrified!” – an Italian restauranteur.

“He still owes me $25 for the beautiful photos I took of him when he rode my camel!” – an Egyptian vendor.

See what all the buzz is about… the paperback and an ebook version will be available soon. Stay tuned for further updates! – Matt

Aloha, Lahaina

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Uncategorized

As the story of the horrific wildfire that swept through the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, Maui earlier this month continues to unfold, it’s impossible not to feel a sense of disbelief. While fires in California, throughout the western United States and most recently in Canada have been in the headlines for the past several summers now, the speed with which the Maui fire struck and the total devastation it has wrought brings to mind a comparison to the famous destruction of Pompeii in the 79AD eruption of Italy’s Mt. Vesuvius. One day Pompeii was a thriving city; the next day it was gone, snuffed out by the volcano in approximately 24 hours. Lahaina, the historic, cultural, and tourist heart of Maui has met a similar fate, though ironically not from an eruption in these volcanically active Hawaiian Islands, but by a combination of other natural forces: drought, fire, and hurricane-force winds.

Continue reading “Aloha, Lahaina” →

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to All!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Uncategorized

I just wanted to take a quick moment to say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all my loyal readers and followers. I’ve been saying that I feel as if someone removed about 10 days of December from the calendar, as I blinked and here we are at the end of the month already. I felt like I barely had time to get into the spirit of the season, despite the fact that this has always been my favorite time of year.

On the Road… Upstate New York
Continue reading “Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to All!” →

Farewell to Another Musical Legend: Christine McVie

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Music

Just a few months ago the world lost singer and actress Olivia Newton-John, and I took the loss very personally. Her music was an integral part of my teenage years and got me through some difficult times, and I was saddened by the fact that she had lost her decades-long battle with breast cancer. Her loss also made me more aware of my own mortality, since she was only 10 years older than me. Little did I know that I’d soon be saying farewell to another beloved entertainer whose music is so much a part of my identity that when news of her death made headlines this week, I received several messages from friends who were wondering how I was coping with the loss. Yes, this week we lost Christine McVie, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac. She was 79 years old, and her death seemed to be sudden and unexpected, reports saying she had passed away after a brief illness.

Continue reading “Farewell to Another Musical Legend: Christine McVie” →

A Long-Awaited Return to Iceland

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe, Iceland

My first trip to Iceland was in June of 2008, and it was among my most favorite travel destinations. The scenery was other-worldly, the peace and quiet appealed to me, and the food, though expensive, was top-notch. Unfortunately, my travels over the years never seemed to bring me back to Iceland, but as I began to plan a European getaway for this fall, the new Icelandic airline called Play offered fares so low that it made my trip entire trip feasible. Since all of Play’s flights pass through Reykjavik, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to revisit Iceland for a few days after visiting Italy and London.

Continue reading “A Long-Awaited Return to Iceland” →