AIN Publications, AINonline’s parent company, publishes Business Jet Traveler and many other magazines, including on-site airshow dailies in seven countries. During my years with the firm, I have traveled all over the United States as well as to Paris, London, Geneva, Dubai, Singapore and–as of March 2012–Shanghai. Being exposed to foreign countries and all the nuances that accompany the experience has been one of the most exquisite gifts I have been given professionally.

Airshows and international travel inevitably produce copious amounts of stress and exhaustion, and more than once I have unceremoniously lashed out at my husband after returning bleary-eyed from halfway around the world. Still, nothing ups your sophistication quotient or opens your heart like exposure to other cultures–even if I often need several long nights of sleep at home to remember this.

Of course, not every international trip produces positive results.  In the February/ March edition of Business Jet Traveler, Joe Sharkey gives a firsthand account of the aftermath of a horrifying midair in Brazil.  An appeals court in Brazil found Sharkey guilty of defamation for his reporting and commentary following the 2006 accident in which 154 died when a Brazilian airliner and a Legacy 600 collided at 37,000 feet over the central Amazon. Sharkey, who was on assignment for BJT at the time, was one of seven on the Legacy 600 who survived the collision when the damaged business jet managed an emergency landing at a remote military airstrip in the jungle.

Those of you who regularly read Sharkey’s work, especially his always-terrific New York Times travel column, will probably not be surprised that he is able to write about this experience with complete (and frankly, extraordinary) lucidity and honesty.

Sharkey’s tale about Brazil isn’t this issue’s only evidence of BJT's determination to cover the globe. We also offer features about business aviation in Taiwan and China,  report on NetJets Europe and provide a travel piece on Belgium. In addition, we are now producing our first-ever Chinese-language edition of the BJT Buyers’ Guide, which will be distributed to our readers based in Asia and at the Asian Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (ABACE) in Shanghai from March 27 to 29.

That reminds me: Please stay tuned for our upcoming Book of Lists, which will contain (among many other things) expert tips on how to make your travels better, including 10 Ways to Outsmart Jetlag, written by AIN Publications’ managing director Wilson Leach, who flies more each year than many people do in a decade.