THE TEAM AT GLOBAL TRAVELER frequently travels to New York City from our Bucks County, Pa., office, which we fondly call World Headquarters. The rail commute can be as swift as 50 minutes from Trenton, N.J., to New York Penn Station. (Senior vice president Richard Evans and I commuted every day to New York for countless years in rain, sleet or snow.) I have to give a shout-out to our conductor on Amtrak train No. 653 (Keystone Service) from New York to Trenton March 12. She was polite to everyone, saying “Please” and “Thank you” to each passenger while collecting tickets. I told her she was the nicest and most polite conductor I ever had on Amtrak. She was beaming, grateful for the compliment, which seemed to make her day!

The point is, when we travel, kindness goes a long way. My team accuses me of talking with everyone I meet — the airport security agents, the flight attendants on board, the Hertz representative at the exit gate and the check-in clerk at the hotel. Often you can disarm a situation, such as a delay, by starting any process before issues arise with a smile, just like the young lady on Amtrak. I wish I got her name, but Amtrak can commend her through this letter.

We are working diligently toward the launch of FX Excursions, a new product offering readers of Global Traveler and our three digital platforms — globaltravelerusa.com, trazeetravel.com and whereverfamily.com — the ability to follow itineraries we create to global destinations, customized tours through a professionally vetted operator and specialty trips accompanied by one of the global leaders at FXExpress Publications. A pull-down from each platform’s menu bar, highlighted as FX Excursions/Tours, will take readers to options for review and booking. We are excited!

That reminds me I have not booked a fall trip. Most of our readers plan their big yearly trips 12–18 months out, but I tend to turn these around rather swiftly. A simple meeting may spark my travel. My meeting with South African Airways last spring encouraged me to take my family to Africa last June. This past week, we met with the marketing team at Ponant Cruises, which offers unique themed cruises on smaller luxury ships. The themes for 2019 are gardening, family (focusing on multigenerational travel), food and wine, music, world affairs, World War II history (Asia), art (Dutch Masters) and Antarctica. Ponant brings a unique French experience to cruising — remember, the French were great world explorers. Ponant also won many awards for environmental friendliness, befitting our Green Issue.

I’m inspired by Turkish Airlines to travel to Turkey’s Antalya region for golf. It has been ages since my last visit, and this would make an exceptional FX Excursions specialty trip. Besides world-class golf (at last count, 19 courses), Antalya has magnificent Roman ruins, is not overcrowded and welcomes American tourists with the smile I spoke of earlier.

Join us!