As I write this blog I am sitting at the Sheraton Abu Dhabi Beach Resort and Hotel, eating breakfast before my first meeting. While drinking coffee and reading the Khaleej Times, I hear Billy Joel on the radio. I pause for a moment to smile and look around the room. Taking in my surroundings at Flavours, I can’t help but ask myself a question. How did I, a girl from Long Island, end up in Abu Dhabi, listening to another Long Islander, Billy Joel? My mind goes back to the first email I ever received from someone named Francis X. Gallagher five years ago. It was a brief email. I would later learn this is the standard. I received it during the first week of my new job at the United Nations. The email was something along the lines of, “I’m starting a new magazine for the upscale business traveler and I need a sales person; are you interested?” Sales, I thought? No, but then I looked around at my surroundings and thought, well, I understand business travel. I understand the international community, so, let’s give it a shot. The following week, I met Fran at a Starbucks near my office. Fran didn’t have a mock up of the magazine, but anyone who knows Fran knows he doesn’t need paperwork to convince you to buy a good thing. The week after our first meeting, and after a few more emails back and forth, I signed my contract at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. I was thrilled. I felt a new surge of energy come through me and was once again invigorated to be in New York, working on a new venture. I was excited to have those butterflies in my stomach — telling me to expect the unexpected! Now, five years later I am in Abu Dhabi. I find myself a world away selling a great product to a growing market, which continues to understand the importance of GT’s niche segment. Thanks to jet lag, I may need an extra cup of coffee now, but that initial excitement of working with Fran (and what has evolved into a great team) at Global Traveler stays with me as I head out the door to take on Abu Dhabi! Happy Anniversary GT! -Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher