Evidently, travel writer’s job is never done.  It never fails; as soon as we finish the annual updates to our travel books, something gets changed in the world. (It seems this world never stops changing– especially in the Big Apple!)  But busy bees that we are here at Clued In Travel Books, we are on it.  Even so, we must admit that it can be disheartening.  Examples?  Okay…

When arriving with friends the other night at New Topaz Thai (which is one of our feasting recommendations in Clued In New York) our hearts sank when we saw that the restaurant had installed a new yellow awning over their doorway, with A CHANGE IN THEIR NAME!  Granted, it wasn’t a huge change but accuracy in our books is so important to us that it was difficult to bear.  What restaurant changes its name? Sheesh.  After our sublime meal -with some of the tastiest curry we’ve ever had anywhere- we rushed home to update the raw manuscript and to email Jason, our ebook formatter to make the change from New Topaz Thai to Topaz Thai Authentic.  This change will be reflected in Clued In New York books purchased after January 31st, 2018.  In addition, Topaz has now rented the space next door and is serving different dishes there under the name Topaz Noodle Bar.  It looks adorable and will be reviewed at our New York-specific blog page soon.

Our next frustration came when casually reading a recent article about New York’s famed Metropolitan Museum of Art (our #1 sight recommendation in Clued In New York.) It stated that after forty-plus years of allowing visitors to “pay what they want” for admission, they would soon be charging a mandatory fixed amount of $25 (except for folks with proof of local residency in NY.)  WHAT?!  Our hearts sank again.  Nevermind that the Met Museum was one of our top sight because it was a donation-based entry; nevermind that we committed about two and a half pages on the reasons why they were donation-based, and why visitors should not feel bad paying less than the suggested amount.  Did the Met Museum even think to speak with us first before making such a huge, historic change in their admission policy? Clearly not. Anyway, the one good thing is that visitors paying the full price will have a ticket that is good for entry for three days in a row.

And so once again we have to bother dear Jason and ask for a revision.  It never ends! But we are happy to have our blog site where, at the very least, we can announce any changes to info in our travel books quickly and efficiently, especially between our major annual updates.  If you own one of our books and are going on a trip soon, don’t forget to check the city-specific page – clickable on the top menu bar of cluedintravebooks.com –  so that you will be perfectly clued in on your trip!

Safe and happy travels!  ~Dean and Andie

A slight name change for Topaz Thai but the delicious cuisine is the same