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Everybody loves a winner, and if you’re in the Olympics and come in 2nd yes, it’s an achievement, but being first is always best. Sometimes.

Ed Boitano, the president and the forward thinking travel executive who co-founded the Traveling Boy website today announced that one of the website’s top journalists, Fyllis Hockman, had placed 2nd in a “hotly contested” competition organized by SATW. Recognized throughout the world as one of THE top journalistic organizations for travel writers, the Society of American Travel Writers is a prestigious association where membership is prized and highly valued by all those in its ranks.

They recently announced the winners in their 2011 “Best Online Consumer-Oriented Travel Article,” and Traveling Boy’s own Fyllis Hockman placed 2nd with her story Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.Commenting on this win Boitano said, “the travel business, especially for those involved in the crafting of really interesting travel features, is one upmanship at it most competitive. For T-boy's Fyliis Hockman to have beat out a very impressive list of fellow travel writers’ is a major accomplishment, and we’re delighted that she brings her considerable talents to the Traveling Boy website – and yes, we congratulate her on this significant and much valued award. Plus, Ms. Hockman also scored an Honorable Mention for another one of her T-Boy blogs: Sipping Vino and Savoring Vistas in Tuscany."

Boitano went on to discuss the field of travel websites and, as he termed it, “the exploding torrent of so called travel websites, and the challenges facing the consumer today in trying to figure out which ones are really worth visiting, and are of real value in terms of information and interesting content.” John Clayton, the PR director for Traveling Boy, and himself a long established travel journalist with 16 years on three top LA radio stations (KABC, KKGO and KNX) also commented on this topic. “When you look at what's out there, and when you, as a consumer, try and figure out what website to read, how do you know which one is going to give you the information you want? Too many of them," he continued, “are full of fluff and yes, even poorly written. The fact that really appealed to me when I joined the now ever growing stable of top flight travel journalists at T-boy, is that the website really lives up to its slogan of Discovering Roads Less Traveled.”

Boitano noted that “we encourage our journalists to share (with our dramatically expanding worldwide audience) news and information that you cannot find anywhere else on the web. Yes,” he added, “that may sound like a stretch, but just take a look at our intriguing, and in depth stories that we publish every two weeks, and you’ll see why Traveling Boy is spearheading this growth. We give our readers really interesting news and colorful information about worldwide destinations they can only find on T-boy."

He added that Hockman's impressive SATW win validated the philosophy of Traveling Boy. “Although Vietnam may not be on the top of everyone’s list of ‘Must See’ places, it is a fascinating country, and Fyllis Hockman’s story vividly and I must say brilliantly illustrates T-boy’s emphasis on Discovering Roads Less Traveled.”

The concept of Traveling Boy is best expressed in its Mission Statement that notes "our approach to travel is a personal and very subjective way of writing about destinations and travel themes. To do this," says Boitano, "we have dozens of talented journalists and photographers who give their own unique perspective on things, people and places around the world."