September 18, 2025 • 20 mins
John DeLeva, Global Marketing Executive with Miles Partnership, has built a career that has taken him around the world. In this episode, he shares how building strong relationships and diving deep into the culture, food, and spirit of each place has shaped his approach to tourism marketing.
He also recounts his extraordinary travel journey, completing visits to every single county in the United States, and how that adventure continues to influence his work to this day.
Plus, hear how his passion for place extends to his own restaurant and cottages in the scenic resort town of Union, Washington.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought
to you by Experience Rochester.
Learn more about Minnesota'sthird largest city, which is
home to Mayo Clinic and featureswonderful recreational and
entertainment opportunities, byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Always when traveling in a bar and a restaurant, if
you want to, there's somebodyelse traveling too, and often
you kind of catch each other'seyes and you might share an
experience or the next placethat you want to go.
And I don't know anything morelocal you can get when traveling
than the fish that was caughtin the lake that you're looking
(00:38):
at or the beer was brewed fromthe guy that's 30 feet away.
Right, it's, it's, it's, it's.
Every element, every element oflocal I think that we seek.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast,
where we take a deep dive intodestination development and
focus on a wide range of topics,from tourism and entertainment
to economic development andentrepreneurism and much more.
I'm your host, bill Von Bank.
Today we sit down with JohnDeLiva, global Marketing
Executive with Miles Partnership, whose career has taken him
(01:14):
around the world.
John shares how building strongrelationships and diving deep
into the culture, food andspirit of each place has shaped
his approach to tourismmarketing.
Of each place has shaped hisapproach to tourism marketing.
We'll also explore hisextraordinary travel journey,
completing visits to everysingle county in the United
States, and how that adventurecontinues to influence his work
(01:35):
today, plus hear how his passionfor place extends to his own
restaurant and cottages in thescenic resort town of Union,
washington.
John DeLiva, welcome to theGrowing Destinations podcast.
Hey, bill, good to see you.
Well, I'm here in Unionvisiting and we took part in a
fundraiser while I was herewhich we can talk about, but
(01:57):
you've been involved in thetravel and tourism industry for
quite some time, so I want tostart there.
Can you share with us yourcareer journey and your current
work with Miles Partnership?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
I had to answer this question recently when I was
talking to a lunch and they saidwhen did you start in tourism?
And my answer was 1969, when Iwas seven years old, when my
parents knew I loved maps andpuzzles, and they asked me to
plan a cross-country trip as wewere moving from Long Island,
new York, to Southern Californiaand I told them all the things
(02:28):
I wanted to see from here tothere and they actually went to
all those places and it kind ofplanted a seed, I don't know,
maybe to be a travel agentsomeday or at least just to keep
going places.
So that's really when itstarted.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
So you and I met.
Geez, I think it's over adecade ago now, and at the time
you were representing MilesPartnership.
So tell us about the work youdo for Miles, and maybe even
before that, because yourrelationship with Miles extends
because of the work you did inadvertising.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Sure, we might jump back and forth a little here,
but let's start in 2011.
I had a business partner andshe and I were publishing the
Discover America USA TravelGuide.
It was a magazine that coveredall 50 states, five territories
and DC.
It was printed in six languages.
We printed a million issues ayear.
(03:21):
Printed a million issues a year.
And we were a very smallbusiness trying to do what a
former US travel office used todo.
That was at the end of thefinancial crisis and we fought
just to stay in live while otherlittle publishers were not
making it and we really neededhelp.
And I looked around and knew acouple people from Miles.
We talked.
(03:43):
It made a lot of sense thatthey help us, we help them.
Brand USA had just begun.
They didn't have any plans fora magazine.
We had ideas what to do and itall kind of came together.
We sold our little business toMiles.
I became part of that team andsince now, for 13 years, I'm
(04:04):
part of the Miles Brand USA team.
We focus on bringing morevisitors to the US.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Tell us a little bit more about Brand USA, because
you've been involved with that,not necessarily as an employee
of Brand USA, but as a partner.
Give us a short synopsis ofBrand USA.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
The Travel Promotion Act in 2010 started to have an
entity that would encouragevisitors from around the world
to make the US their destination.
So their sole focus is to lookat target markets around the
world and show travel prospects.
(04:43):
Why we're the best country inthe world to visit, and because
I had taken 10 years to go toevery county in every state.
I felt uniquely positioned tobe part of that team because I
had a true passion for a lot ofplaces.
You know, people always saywhat's your favorite place and I
can honestly almost always say,wherever I am, we have so much
(05:08):
around this country.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
How do you tailor marketing for international
travelers compared to domesticaudiences, and are there any
strategies that consistentlyresonate worldwide?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
definitely look at every market a little
differently.
You can make some generalcomments like Germans prefer to
spend more time in the greatoutdoors, on the trails, go
deeper.
Asians again generalizingprefer to do other things.
They're more museums andshopping and going to the
lookout points Supergeneralization there.
But clearly every market BrandUSA does a lot of research, find
(05:48):
out what the people are lookingfor and then we get that
imagery and build that contentaround that.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
What trends or shifts in global travel marketing have
had the biggest impact on howyou do your job today?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Well, it's the markets themselves, Certain
markets, like, I say, indiaright now.
It's crazy how they've soaredfrom not even top 10 to number
two.
One thing the middle classthere has grown to such a
significant amount, so morepeople are able to travel.
One of the benefits ofmarketing to India is they
(06:22):
almost all speak English, sowithout having to deal with
translations, that's clearly themarket that's made the big
difference and a lot of again.
Brand USA does a lot ofresearch out there in the field,
really asking what do you wantto do when you come here?
So, marketing around big eventsupcoming FIFA World Cup, la
(06:45):
Olympics, two years after that100-year anniversary of Route 66
, those are big draws.
So clearly the events are oneaspect.
And then we look at differentareas, like culinary experiences
, like sporting events, likemusical events, live event
(07:06):
tourism?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Absolutely.
You briefly mentioned thisearlier about visiting every
single county in the UnitedStates.
That's a remarkable feat.
Walk us through why.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Well and when?
Okay, so clearly it was achallenge between me and four
good friends who are all in ourearly 20s and we knew life was
going to take us apart.
There were going to be wivesand babies and grad school, law
school, who knows?
So we wanted to find some kindof competition that would keep
(07:42):
us connected.
We all loved road tripping.
We had always gone to nationalparks, to baseball parks, and we
just were always looking formountains to climb and places to
sail, you name it.
And so one of the guys goes well, why don't we say first of 50
states?
And three of us kind of laughedout loud and said we've already
done that.
So one of them said well, I sawthis map.
(08:04):
This is in Seattle at the timeand a place called Metzger's,
and it's a map of every countyin the United States.
A little conversation, a littleresearch, we saw there were
3,086 counties.
That includes all the boroughsof New York City, boroughs of
Alaska, parishes, louisiana, andwithin a minute or two of
throwing this out, we all agreedlet's go, buy five maps, we'll
(08:27):
each put them on our walls,let's go.
And it just gave us excuses toroad trip together some more, to
be competitive and to just go,go, go.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And you all did this on your own.
I mean, at times maybe youhooked up and met, but in
general this was was there alike we want to finish this in a
decade or we want to finishthis in blank?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
We put a 10 year cap on it.
Okay, so you're right on there.
And we said whoever gets themost wins.
We didn't think anybody wasgoing to get them all and we
decided that a prize would bethe winner gets all expenses
paid to heaven, and that wouldbe Heavenly Valley, california,
and the losers they all go tohell.
(09:11):
And that's a little town inLivingston County, michigan, not
that far out of Ann Arbor, andwe stuck with that.
I'll tell you when we get tothe end there.
But after five years three ofus were halfway there and it
kind of got to.
I think we're going to have tomake a run to the finish line
and get them all.
But then one of the guys had hisfirst child and that clearly
(09:34):
changed his life and his abilityto go.
And another one got a severancepay when the mill.
He was chemical engineer at amill in Bellingham, washington.
They closed and they gave him areally nice severance check and
he said, ah, these counties arepretty good, but I'm going to
go see more countries.
And he spent the next threeyears pretty much biking around
the world and that left just meand I kind of felt an obligation
(10:00):
.
I can't just get the most.
I got to get them all.
When did you complete it?
30 years ago, this week, whichis pretty crazy, and about 100
miles from here, san Juan County, washington.
I kind of saved I always putsave the best for last.
I had actually never been tothe San Juan Islands, despite
going to University ofWashington and always hearing
what an amazing place it was.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
It is, and so it was August 25th it is, and so it was
August 25th of 1995.
What did you learn fromexploring?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
both major cities and the most rural parts of the
country.
Number one how many damn goodpeople there are.
I mean, I met so manycharacters, kind people to help
us when we needed information orsometime when we actually
needed help.
And I say we because I often atthe time traveled.
I did a lot of this solo but mygirlfriend was in the car with
me a lot of the miles, mybrother was in, a lot of friends
(10:55):
here and there, and we justlearned, the more we go, the
more we want to go, and Ilearned, I guess, just how much
I like waking up to a completelydifferent day every day.
Different place, differentscenery, different people,
different food.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
This is a big country .
Did you ever think, oh my gosh,I'm never going to get there?
No, no.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Once I set, like, here's the deadline, the 10
years I am going to finish this,if anything.
Financially, it was a littletough.
I had a job that allowed me totravel and often put me in
places that made it easier, butthere was there was no doubt.
When my mind was set, I wasgoing to get them all.
It was just a matter of whenand how am I going to afford to
(11:38):
pay for those bush pilots inAlaska and those other stops in
Hawaii?
Yeah, so it was.
It was more a money concernthan a time concern.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Do you think the way people explore America today,
especially with the digitaltools and social media, changes
the essence of discoverycompared to your journey?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt it's too planned.
Today there's not enough roomfor serendipity.
I mean, given that the appshave made it easier to book
things and sometimes, because ofthe ease, a lot of towns might
have no hotels available or nocamping spots left.
That's kind of fed on eachother there.
But I would say there's notenough spontaneity in travel
(12:17):
today.
Too many people, even goodfriends that I used to almost
live this way with, they talkabout they got a trip, boom,
boom, boom, boom, and every dayis filled and they know where
they're going to be every night.
So, yes, it has.
The tradeoff is the ease.
The tradeoff might be peopleare going a little more, but the
(12:37):
downside of that is it's toostructured.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You and your wife recently opened a restaurant and
cottages in Union Washington.
How does being a local businessowner influence your
perspectives on tourismmarketing?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
It's right down to the ground, I get to see
everything.
I mean, I always knew how hardhoteliers worked and
restaurateurs worked, but now,here with just two cottages but
a wine shop, retail store, barand a pizza restaurant man, it
has definitely altered ourlifestyle a little, but it's
(13:13):
allowed me to have so manyincredible one-on-one
conversations with friends andneighbors, as well as meet a lot
of travelers.
I think I more than anything,it's a lot harder than I thought
it was going to be.
It's a totally rewarding butcompletely exhausting thing that
we've done.
And five days a week, jolicaand I say oh man, we have
(13:36):
created an amazing gatheringplace for our friends, for our
community.
We love the food we're puttingon the table, we love the live
music that's here all the time,but twice a week we shake our
heads and say what the heck didwe do?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, Well, I saw it firsthand and I think you've
done something special.
Food and drink to me just seemlike it's the best part of how
travelers connect.
Do you agree?
A hundred percent?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Absolutely Always, when traveling in a bar, in a
restaurant, if you want to,there's somebody else traveling
too, and often you kind of catcheach other's eyes and you might
share an experience or the nextplace that you want to go, and
I you kind of catch each other'seyes and you might share an
experience or the next placethat you want to go, and I don't
know anything more local youcan get when traveling than the
(14:23):
fish that was caught in the lakethat you're looking at or the
beer was brewed from the guythat's 30 feet away.
Right, it's every element oflocal.
I think that we seek.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I mentioned at the start that I'm here doing this
podcast interview on location.
Here in Union, we're staring atyour restaurant.
I was here for a fundraiser forpizza and pie and you had a
full house and it was so greatto see the interaction, the
crowd and the support that youare providing for the community,
(14:57):
specifically for hunger relief.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah well, bill, again, thank you so much for
being here.
It was about a year and a halfago when I ran into Bill the Pie
Guy, which I am on the side.
That's right, and I've becomeJohn the Pizza Pie Guy on the
side and we thought you makedessert pies, I make pizza pies.
(15:23):
We eat well.
We provide food for a lot ofpeople, but there are a lot of
people that don't have access tofood.
We know wherever we go, that'sthe case.
Have access to food.
We know wherever we go, that'sthe case.
Um, we agreed to do what we didlast night to put some of your
pies out for auction to help twolocal food banks in our
(15:44):
community.
We got a very generous littletown here, um, with you coming
in, I thought it was appropriateI slip in a spam pizza on the
menu last night, which was myfavorite Spam a lot.
It had a maple baconcaramelized syrup with oh man,
the mango chutney.
Joel can make a great one there.
That one spam pizza sold for$600 and eight of the pies that
(16:10):
you made $3,800.
In about a period of an hour onstage, maybe a little less
$4,400 to local food banks.
That's awesome, thank you, andI'm just so dang lucky to have
this community that steps up foreverything it was fun Looking
(16:31):
ahead.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
what destinations are you most excited to represent?
For Miles, the work you dothere, and then for you
personally?
What destinations do you wantto explore more deeply?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
seven of us that represent Brand USA and we each
have states Six.
The other six people all have acontiguous territory.
I have one that stretches fromGuam and the Mariana Islands,
hops through Alaska, oregon,washington, utah, includes
Minnesota, michigan, wisconsin.
It's that way because years ago, when I sold the magazine to
Miles, I did get to pick andchoose favorites, and so those
(17:22):
are the states and territories Irepresent and will continue to.
And what I hope happens is, asBrand USA looks out there, of
what markets are becomingimportant for international
travelers.
I mean, this year we've addednew programs in Argentina and
Chile and we're looking at doingmore in some Asian markets and
(17:43):
we do a lot with Australia, newZealand and bringing Italy back
in the mix.
So I love the fact that theBrand USA is always looking out
there.
Who should we target next?
Usa is always looking out there.
Who should we target next?
And working with those statesto bring those people on a
personal basis.
After getting done with the3,086 counties, I decided I am
(18:05):
not going to race to do anythingelse.
I mean, that wasn't that fast.
A lot of those trips were long,slow camping trips, some were
sailing, some were biking, butit all was too much, too fast.
So instead of trying to go toall 195 countries, I said I will
only do it if I live for 195years.
(18:26):
That's fair.
I'm 63 now and I've been to 63countries, so I'm just that
alone is impressive, keeping thepace of one a year.
But there's a couple big holesin my travel map.
I have never been to India, sriLanka, bhutan, tibet, nepal.
That whole area is reallycalling.
(18:46):
And I've only looked at Africa,an entire continent, like from
Gibraltar I could see Morocco,and from Sicily I could see
Tunisia.
I think I think that's true, Ithink I could really see it.
It was out there, but there's,there's a whole continent.
I'd love to go on a safari.
I'd love to be in Kenya andTanzania.
I'd love to go across the topof Northern Africa, the
(19:10):
Mediterranean side, from Tunisiato Morocco and all the way
across to Egypt.
So those are calling.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Well, I have no doubt you will do all of that.
John DeLiva, it's been great tohave you on the podcast.
Learn more about your work intourism.
Learn more about your work inbuilding better community.
Thank you for being our gueston the Growing Destinations
podcast.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
You are very welcome, bill, and thank you for coming
to Union Washington and for allyou do.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Cheers.
Thank you for tuning in to theGrowing Destinations podcast and
don't forget to subscribe.
This podcast is brought to youby Experience Rochester.
Find out more about Rochester,Minnesota, and its growing arts
and culture scene, itsinternational culinary flavors
and award-winning craft beer byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought
to you by Experience Rochester.
Learn more about Minnesota'sthird largest city, which is
home to Mayo Clinic and featureswonderful recreational and
entertainment opportunities, byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Always when traveling in a bar and a restaurant, if
you want to, there's somebodyelse traveling too, and often
you kind of catch each other'seyes and you might share an
experience or the next placethat you want to go.
And I don't know anything morelocal you can get when traveling
than the fish that was caughtin the lake that you're looking
(00:38):
at or the beer was brewed fromthe guy that's 30 feet away.
Right, it's, it's, it's, it's.
Every element, every element oflocal I think that we seek.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast,
where we take a deep dive intodestination development and
focus on a wide range of topics,from tourism and entertainment
to economic development andentrepreneurism and much more.
I'm your host, bill Von Bank.
Today we sit down with JohnDeLiva, global Marketing
Executive with Miles Partnership, whose career has taken him
(01:14):
around the world.
John shares how building strongrelationships and diving deep
into the culture, food andspirit of each place has shaped
his approach to tourismmarketing.
Of each place has shaped hisapproach to tourism marketing.
We'll also explore hisextraordinary travel journey,
completing visits to everysingle county in the United
States, and how that adventurecontinues to influence his work
(01:35):
today, plus hear how his passionfor place extends to his own
restaurant and cottages in thescenic resort town of Union,
washington.
John DeLiva, welcome to theGrowing Destinations podcast.
Hey, bill, good to see you.
Well, I'm here in Unionvisiting and we took part in a
fundraiser while I was herewhich we can talk about, but
(01:57):
you've been involved in thetravel and tourism industry for
quite some time, so I want tostart there.
Can you share with us yourcareer journey and your current
work with Miles Partnership?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
I had to answer this question recently when I was
talking to a lunch and they saidwhen did you start in tourism?
And my answer was 1969, when Iwas seven years old, when my
parents knew I loved maps andpuzzles, and they asked me to
plan a cross-country trip as wewere moving from Long Island,
new York, to Southern Californiaand I told them all the things
(02:28):
I wanted to see from here tothere and they actually went to
all those places and it kind ofplanted a seed, I don't know,
maybe to be a travel agentsomeday or at least just to keep
going places.
So that's really when itstarted.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
So you and I met.
Geez, I think it's over adecade ago now, and at the time
you were representing MilesPartnership.
So tell us about the work youdo for Miles, and maybe even
before that, because yourrelationship with Miles extends
because of the work you did inadvertising.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Sure, we might jump back and forth a little here,
but let's start in 2011.
I had a business partner andshe and I were publishing the
Discover America USA TravelGuide.
It was a magazine that coveredall 50 states, five territories
and DC.
It was printed in six languages.
We printed a million issues ayear.
(03:21):
Printed a million issues a year.
And we were a very smallbusiness trying to do what a
former US travel office used todo.
That was at the end of thefinancial crisis and we fought
just to stay in live while otherlittle publishers were not
making it and we really neededhelp.
And I looked around and knew acouple people from Miles.
We talked.
(03:43):
It made a lot of sense thatthey help us, we help them.
Brand USA had just begun.
They didn't have any plans fora magazine.
We had ideas what to do and itall kind of came together.
We sold our little business toMiles.
I became part of that team andsince now, for 13 years, I'm
(04:04):
part of the Miles Brand USA team.
We focus on bringing morevisitors to the US.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Tell us a little bit more about Brand USA, because
you've been involved with that,not necessarily as an employee
of Brand USA, but as a partner.
Give us a short synopsis ofBrand USA.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
The Travel Promotion Act in 2010 started to have an
entity that would encouragevisitors from around the world
to make the US their destination.
So their sole focus is to lookat target markets around the
world and show travel prospects.
(04:43):
Why we're the best country inthe world to visit, and because
I had taken 10 years to go toevery county in every state.
I felt uniquely positioned tobe part of that team because I
had a true passion for a lot ofplaces.
You know, people always saywhat's your favorite place and I
can honestly almost always say,wherever I am, we have so much
(05:08):
around this country.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
How do you tailor marketing for international
travelers compared to domesticaudiences, and are there any
strategies that consistentlyresonate worldwide?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
definitely look at every market a little
differently.
You can make some generalcomments like Germans prefer to
spend more time in the greatoutdoors, on the trails, go
deeper.
Asians again generalizingprefer to do other things.
They're more museums andshopping and going to the
lookout points Supergeneralization there.
But clearly every market BrandUSA does a lot of research, find
(05:48):
out what the people are lookingfor and then we get that
imagery and build that contentaround that.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
What trends or shifts in global travel marketing have
had the biggest impact on howyou do your job today?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Well, it's the markets themselves, Certain
markets, like, I say, indiaright now.
It's crazy how they've soaredfrom not even top 10 to number
two.
One thing the middle classthere has grown to such a
significant amount, so morepeople are able to travel.
One of the benefits ofmarketing to India is they
(06:22):
almost all speak English, sowithout having to deal with
translations, that's clearly themarket that's made the big
difference and a lot of again.
Brand USA does a lot ofresearch out there in the field,
really asking what do you wantto do when you come here?
So, marketing around big eventsupcoming FIFA World Cup, la
(06:45):
Olympics, two years after that100-year anniversary of Route 66
, those are big draws.
So clearly the events are oneaspect.
And then we look at differentareas, like culinary experiences
, like sporting events, likemusical events, live event
(07:06):
tourism?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Absolutely.
You briefly mentioned thisearlier about visiting every
single county in the UnitedStates.
That's a remarkable feat.
Walk us through why.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Well and when?
Okay, so clearly it was achallenge between me and four
good friends who are all in ourearly 20s and we knew life was
going to take us apart.
There were going to be wivesand babies and grad school, law
school, who knows?
So we wanted to find some kindof competition that would keep
(07:42):
us connected.
We all loved road tripping.
We had always gone to nationalparks, to baseball parks, and we
just were always looking formountains to climb and places to
sail, you name it.
And so one of the guys goes well, why don't we say first of 50
states?
And three of us kind of laughedout loud and said we've already
done that.
So one of them said well, I sawthis map.
(08:04):
This is in Seattle at the timeand a place called Metzger's,
and it's a map of every countyin the United States.
A little conversation, a littleresearch, we saw there were
3,086 counties.
That includes all the boroughsof New York City, boroughs of
Alaska, parishes, louisiana, andwithin a minute or two of
throwing this out, we all agreedlet's go, buy five maps, we'll
(08:27):
each put them on our walls,let's go.
And it just gave us excuses toroad trip together some more, to
be competitive and to just go,go, go.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And you all did this on your own.
I mean, at times maybe youhooked up and met, but in
general this was was there alike we want to finish this in a
decade or we want to finishthis in blank?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
We put a 10 year cap on it.
Okay, so you're right on there.
And we said whoever gets themost wins.
We didn't think anybody wasgoing to get them all and we
decided that a prize would bethe winner gets all expenses
paid to heaven, and that wouldbe Heavenly Valley, california,
and the losers they all go tohell.
(09:11):
And that's a little town inLivingston County, michigan, not
that far out of Ann Arbor, andwe stuck with that.
I'll tell you when we get tothe end there.
But after five years three ofus were halfway there and it
kind of got to.
I think we're going to have tomake a run to the finish line
and get them all.
But then one of the guys had hisfirst child and that clearly
(09:34):
changed his life and his abilityto go.
And another one got a severancepay when the mill.
He was chemical engineer at amill in Bellingham, washington.
They closed and they gave him areally nice severance check and
he said, ah, these counties arepretty good, but I'm going to
go see more countries.
And he spent the next threeyears pretty much biking around
the world and that left just meand I kind of felt an obligation
(10:00):
.
I can't just get the most.
I got to get them all.
When did you complete it?
30 years ago, this week, whichis pretty crazy, and about 100
miles from here, san Juan County, washington.
I kind of saved I always putsave the best for last.
I had actually never been tothe San Juan Islands, despite
going to University ofWashington and always hearing
what an amazing place it was.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
It is, and so it was August 25th it is, and so it was
August 25th of 1995.
What did you learn fromexploring?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
both major cities and the most rural parts of the
country.
Number one how many damn goodpeople there are.
I mean, I met so manycharacters, kind people to help
us when we needed information orsometime when we actually
needed help.
And I say we because I often atthe time traveled.
I did a lot of this solo but mygirlfriend was in the car with
me a lot of the miles, mybrother was in, a lot of friends
(10:55):
here and there, and we justlearned, the more we go, the
more we want to go, and Ilearned, I guess, just how much
I like waking up to a completelydifferent day every day.
Different place, differentscenery, different people,
different food.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
This is a big country .
Did you ever think, oh my gosh,I'm never going to get there?
No, no.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Once I set, like, here's the deadline, the 10
years I am going to finish this,if anything.
Financially, it was a littletough.
I had a job that allowed me totravel and often put me in
places that made it easier, butthere was there was no doubt.
When my mind was set, I wasgoing to get them all.
It was just a matter of whenand how am I going to afford to
(11:38):
pay for those bush pilots inAlaska and those other stops in
Hawaii?
Yeah, so it was.
It was more a money concernthan a time concern.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Do you think the way people explore America today,
especially with the digitaltools and social media, changes
the essence of discoverycompared to your journey?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt it's too planned.
Today there's not enough roomfor serendipity.
I mean, given that the appshave made it easier to book
things and sometimes, because ofthe ease, a lot of towns might
have no hotels available or nocamping spots left.
That's kind of fed on eachother there.
But I would say there's notenough spontaneity in travel
(12:17):
today.
Too many people, even goodfriends that I used to almost
live this way with, they talkabout they got a trip, boom,
boom, boom, boom, and every dayis filled and they know where
they're going to be every night.
So, yes, it has.
The tradeoff is the ease.
The tradeoff might be peopleare going a little more, but the
(12:37):
downside of that is it's toostructured.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You and your wife recently opened a restaurant and
cottages in Union Washington.
How does being a local businessowner influence your
perspectives on tourismmarketing?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
It's right down to the ground, I get to see
everything.
I mean, I always knew how hardhoteliers worked and
restaurateurs worked, but now,here with just two cottages but
a wine shop, retail store, barand a pizza restaurant man, it
has definitely altered ourlifestyle a little, but it's
(13:13):
allowed me to have so manyincredible one-on-one
conversations with friends andneighbors, as well as meet a lot
of travelers.
I think I more than anything,it's a lot harder than I thought
it was going to be.
It's a totally rewarding butcompletely exhausting thing that
we've done.
And five days a week, jolicaand I say oh man, we have
(13:36):
created an amazing gatheringplace for our friends, for our
community.
We love the food we're puttingon the table, we love the live
music that's here all the time,but twice a week we shake our
heads and say what the heck didwe do?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, Well, I saw it firsthand and I think you've
done something special.
Food and drink to me just seemlike it's the best part of how
travelers connect.
Do you agree?
A hundred percent?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Absolutely Always, when traveling in a bar, in a
restaurant, if you want to,there's somebody else traveling
too, and often you kind of catcheach other's eyes and you might
share an experience or the nextplace that you want to go, and
I you kind of catch each other'seyes and you might share an
experience or the next placethat you want to go, and I don't
know anything more local youcan get when traveling than the
(14:23):
fish that was caught in the lakethat you're looking at or the
beer was brewed from the guythat's 30 feet away.
Right, it's every element oflocal.
I think that we seek.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I mentioned at the start that I'm here doing this
podcast interview on location.
Here in Union, we're staring atyour restaurant.
I was here for a fundraiser forpizza and pie and you had a
full house and it was so greatto see the interaction, the
crowd and the support that youare providing for the community,
(14:57):
specifically for hunger relief.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah well, bill, again, thank you so much for
being here.
It was about a year and a halfago when I ran into Bill the Pie
Guy, which I am on the side.
That's right, and I've becomeJohn the Pizza Pie Guy on the
side and we thought you makedessert pies, I make pizza pies.
(15:23):
We eat well.
We provide food for a lot ofpeople, but there are a lot of
people that don't have access tofood.
We know wherever we go, that'sthe case.
Have access to food.
We know wherever we go, that'sthe case.
Um, we agreed to do what we didlast night to put some of your
pies out for auction to help twolocal food banks in our
(15:44):
community.
We got a very generous littletown here, um, with you coming
in, I thought it was appropriateI slip in a spam pizza on the
menu last night, which was myfavorite Spam a lot.
It had a maple baconcaramelized syrup with oh man,
the mango chutney.
Joel can make a great one there.
That one spam pizza sold for$600 and eight of the pies that
(16:10):
you made $3,800.
In about a period of an hour onstage, maybe a little less
$4,400 to local food banks.
That's awesome, thank you, andI'm just so dang lucky to have
this community that steps up foreverything it was fun Looking
(16:31):
ahead.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
what destinations are you most excited to represent?
For Miles, the work you dothere, and then for you
personally?
What destinations do you wantto explore more deeply?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
seven of us that represent Brand USA and we each
have states Six.
The other six people all have acontiguous territory.
I have one that stretches fromGuam and the Mariana Islands,
hops through Alaska, oregon,washington, utah, includes
Minnesota, michigan, wisconsin.
It's that way because years ago, when I sold the magazine to
Miles, I did get to pick andchoose favorites, and so those
(17:22):
are the states and territories Irepresent and will continue to.
And what I hope happens is, asBrand USA looks out there, of
what markets are becomingimportant for international
travelers.
I mean, this year we've addednew programs in Argentina and
Chile and we're looking at doingmore in some Asian markets and
(17:43):
we do a lot with Australia, newZealand and bringing Italy back
in the mix.
So I love the fact that theBrand USA is always looking out
there.
Who should we target next?
Usa is always looking out there.
Who should we target next?
And working with those statesto bring those people on a
personal basis.
After getting done with the3,086 counties, I decided I am
(18:05):
not going to race to do anythingelse.
I mean, that wasn't that fast.
A lot of those trips were long,slow camping trips, some were
sailing, some were biking, butit all was too much, too fast.
So instead of trying to go toall 195 countries, I said I will
only do it if I live for 195years.
(18:26):
That's fair.
I'm 63 now and I've been to 63countries, so I'm just that
alone is impressive, keeping thepace of one a year.
But there's a couple big holesin my travel map.
I have never been to India, sriLanka, bhutan, tibet, nepal.
That whole area is reallycalling.
(18:46):
And I've only looked at Africa,an entire continent, like from
Gibraltar I could see Morocco,and from Sicily I could see
Tunisia.
I think I think that's true, Ithink I could really see it.
It was out there, but there's,there's a whole continent.
I'd love to go on a safari.
I'd love to be in Kenya andTanzania.
I'd love to go across the topof Northern Africa, the
(19:10):
Mediterranean side, from Tunisiato Morocco and all the way
across to Egypt.
So those are calling.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Well, I have no doubt you will do all of that.
John DeLiva, it's been great tohave you on the podcast.
Learn more about your work intourism.
Learn more about your work inbuilding better community.
Thank you for being our gueston the Growing Destinations
podcast.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
You are very welcome, bill, and thank you for coming
to Union Washington and for allyou do.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Cheers.
Thank you for tuning in to theGrowing Destinations podcast and
don't forget to subscribe.
This podcast is brought to youby Experience Rochester.
Find out more about Rochester,Minnesota, and its growing arts
and culture scene, itsinternational culinary flavors
and award-winning craft beer byvisiting
experiencerochestermncom.
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