Last Tuesday at the annual Global Traveler Awards event, I stood on stage with Alex Young and Lisa Matte as Vince Papale presented the Globility award to Jeff Hwang.  Last year, actor Terrence Howard had presented me with the same award.  With my one-year stint as the reigning Globility award winner over, I reflected a bit on what the award means to me.

Globility is defined as openness to a world of cultures and experience.  I was presented with the award last year because I was deemed to possess these qualities.  Yet it was GT which opened the doors for me to a new world of cultures and experiences. For my July 4th blog a couple years back, I interviewed former baseball player Rick Monday about his act of saving the U.S. flag from being burned on the field during his playing days.  That blog was read on Sporting News Radio by David Stein. While I am very proud of that blog, it wouldn’t have happened without GT. Yes, I would have still seen the baseball game in Los Angeles, but I wouldn’t have been on the field or in the clubhouse.  I would never have met — let alone interviewed — Monday, a favorite player from my youth.  It was truly a memorable experience.

I have since worked at making these blogs interesting but also trying to learn through the experience.  I have talked travel with many celebrities and athletes.  I have taken tours of some of the best hotels.  I have sought out interesting topics in research and interesting places on trips.  All of this has brought me a lot of fun and hopefully brought you some interesting blogs.

The Globility award has meant a lot to me.  I am no longer the reigning Globility award winner, but I have tried to keep the spirit of the award alive in my work.  It’s a big and fascinating world and I plan on continually learning and sharing bits of it right here.

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist