Rising Stars: Meet Tom Fielding of Pasadena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Fielding.

Hi Tom, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve loved to write since I was a kid, so much so that when I wrote my Careers Essays in seventh grade, my first choice was journalist. For a few summers during that time, I wrote a weekly “newspaper” on what was going on in our neighborhood. I would type (remember typewriters?), and my dad would print copies at the office. I sold my ramblings to neighbors for 10 cents apiece (sometimes a quarter if they were generous). It was 1965’s version of TMZ recounting happenings on the street (“Who was making out on Mr. and Mrs. Herron’s Front Yard Last Saturday Night?”). I later became sports editor of my high school newspaper, and when my parents took me to Europe after my junior year, I became enamored with traveling, which subsequently became my passion.

I majored in journalism at San Diego State University, and after receiving a diploma. I worked at an advertising agency (boring), became the morning drive-time disc jockey for a country music station in the Antelope Valley (my dad said my hair dryer had more watts than the radio station), and eventually, in the mid 1980s, was asked by a college friend to become partners in a small publishing company, where I worked for nearly three decades writing and selling advertising (I told you we were small).

The magazines were mostly associated with the produce industry, however we did branch out and publish a city magazine for Long Beach, and we wrote for a culinary magazine, where we’d travel to various cities and stay at some pretty chic hotels while writing about their chefs. The money wasn’t very good, but the travel perks were terrific. So good that our honeymoon in Canada was totally paid for by the Canadian Pacific Railway, who at the time owned the Banff Springs Hotel, Chateau Lake Louise and Jasper Park Lodge (today owned by Fairmont Hotels), where we stayed and ate like royalty.

I started writing about our travels in the early 2000s, although I have traveled extensively since the mid 80s, with dozens of trips to Europe, Mexico, Canada, South America and around the U.S. About a decade ago, our webmaster, Rolando Marin (mycompanysite.com) took my old Apple website and transferred thousands of photos and numerous posts into TravelsWith MaiTaiTom.com. My wife, Tracy, has often said that if I worked as hard at my real job as I do on the website, she could have retired years ago.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I can’t say I have ever had obstacles holding me back, but I’ve had a few health challenges along the way, including a 105-day stay at the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena in 2010 where I nearly died a few times from an illness that was a mystery to everyone. It wasn’t my most pleasurable four months, however like so many events, it made for a hell of a story (which is on our website). My biggest challenge now is “Father Time.” I recently turned 73, so I don’t know how many of these big trips are left in my future. We just returned from two marvelous weeks in Spain (a place where they really know how to live), and I must say those six to seven miles of walking each day were a little harder on my body. My goal right now is to be able to make these journeys until at least 80.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Whether it be with the magazines we published or my travel website, I think most people would associate my sense of humor as an important aspect of my writing style. A heavy dosage of Rocky and Bullwinkle viewing as a youth probably accounts for my inordinate use of puns (Sherman and Peabody, I’m talking to you).

I think our travel posts on Travels With Mai Tom are unique among the innumerable travel websites out there. I am a history junkie, so I am vastly interested in the places we go, and the stories that accompany each site we visit. I try to be very detailed to give the reader something more than just a few cursory tidbits from a guidebook. Some of our readers have professed that they have learned much history from reading our travels (which probably doesn’t say much about our education system). In addition, I like to throw in a heavy dose of humor.

When traveling, there’s one thing you can almost be assured of on virtually every trip. You’ll screw up somewhere. Over the years, Tracy and I have had an inordinate share of close encounters of the bizarre kind. We’ve put the wrong petrol in a rental car in Italy, run into a pole in the Czech Republic (by the way, not someone from Poland, but a freestanding pole), been pulled over by a fake policeman in Slovenia, tried to check in to the wrong hotel (more than once) and have frustrated toll booth attendants throughout Europe with our ignorance. A common theme running through our trips are (1) Tracy saying, “Tom you idiot” or (2) in extreme circumstances, Tracy giving me “The Look.” (If you saw it, you’d know exactly what I’m talking about.)

At the time, some of these events seemed overwhelming, but as Tracy always likes to reminds me (usually after giving me “The Look”), it’s all for the story. We own up to our mistakes. Self-deprecation can be a useful tool.

Writing about our journeys and giving people a real sense of the areas we travel is all well and good, but hopefully we’re entertaining enough to keep the reader interested. Of course, for those who are pun impaired, the photos are another way to enjoy our website.

We’re happy to have nearly 400 subscribers now (it’s free to subscribe, and we have no advertising), and our website is on track for over 100,000 hits this year. I know that number equals about an hour on a Kardashian website, but never in a million years did I ever think we’d ever get that many.

Along with our national and international travel posts, many people are interested in Mai Tai Tracy’s Kitchen, where Tracy showcases some of our favorite dishes, and California Dreaming, which offers a potpourri of places to see here in the Golden State. Those are just a couple of the other categories the website offers our readers.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I look at a number of websites to learn more about the places and sites we would like to visit. It varies from country to country. I find the forums on travel websites like Fodor’s are informative and a good resource with fellow travelers who are willing to share invaluable information.

Pricing:

• FREE!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://travelswithmaitaitom.com
• Twitter: @maitaitom

Image Credits
Travels With Mai Tai Tom