In The Pipeline:

The last time I spoke with travel guru Peter Greenberg, I was in Two Rivers, Wis., and he was on a cruise ship in St. Petersburg, Russia. When you’re a guest on Greenberg’s nationally syndicated radio show, you never know where you’ll be speaking to him from, so I was excited to hear that he was coming to Huntington Beach to tape a full episode, live and in person, and that I was invited to be a guest.

Some background: Greenberg is America’s most recognized, honored and respected front-line travel news journalist. He is now travel editor for CBS News (after spending years at “The Today Show”), and is the consummate insider when it comes to reporting the travel business as news. He’s also an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and producer, and was named one of the most influential people in the travel by Travel Weekly, along with Al Gore, Bill Marriott and Richard Branson.

As an author, his best-selling titles include the Travel Detective series: “Flight Crew Confidential,” “Hotel Secrets” and “The Travel Detective Bible.” He has also published a travel health and fitness book, “The Traveler’s Diet.”

His newest book is called “Don’t Go There: The Travel Detective’s Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World,” which highlights places readers should avoid. Does that last title sound a bit outrageous?

Well, that’s Greenberg — outspoken, unapologetic and unrelenting. That’s what makes him so good at what he does, and also what’s made me a fan for years.

The taping was to take place poolside at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, and at a luncheon there at Shades before the show, Greenberg told me he was totally at home in Huntington Beach, due in part to his surfing/family background.

“Most of my mom’s relatives hail from Southern California, circa 1915 and up, and they spent a lot of time on the beach,” he said. “My uncle starting surfing here in Huntington Beach with all the big names, back when boards were 15 feet long and made of mahogany; when you went where the waves took you and if you got hit with a board, you didn’t come back. That’s the environment I learned to surf in!”

He grew up in New York, learned how to really surf on Sandy Beach in Hawaii, and then settled in Southern California where, in the early 1970s, his work brought him to Huntington Beach.

“I covered the music scene for Newsweek, so I went to the Golden Bear a lot, and I loved it there. A great venue, part of the local circuit that was really important back then. I saw some incredible shows at the Golden Bear,” he said.

But today, it’s travel that Greenberg writes mostly about, and he may be the best friend a consumer has in the dizzying world of Internet deals — or the perception of deals. But first, what does perhaps he world’s most famous travel writer think of Huntington Beach?

“The good news about Huntington Beach is that it doesn’t seem to change that much. You still have the guys with the boards on the back of the VWs, going out there looking for the perfect wave. They were there this morning; they’ll be there today. That what’s great about it here: the consistency,” he said.

The more prominent he gets, does it get tougher for him to uncover secrets of the trade?

“It gets easier, because the bulk of the people running the travel industry are morons,” he blasts in typical candor. “My mandate for my audience is to let them know how to circumnavigate the morons. How to beat the hotels, the rental car industries, the cruise lines — at their own games playing by their own rules.”

More advice from the outspoken master:

“Don’t think for a minute that the web has all the answers. That’s not where all the inventory for special deals is — it’s where you’ll find what has been released to the web, but that’s it. I’m a big fan of a two-word concept, especially now: ‘human being.’ Talk to one. You can book your flight, and you still have 24 hours to purchase it. It’s in those 24 hours that you can surf the web and if you can beat it, great. But too many people are culturally inclined to think that the web, because it’s so fast and easy, is the only way. God forbid you should have human contact! Research on the web all you want, but always start with a human being.”

Greenberg flies about 420,000 miles per year, or about 8,000 miles per week.

“I’m getting no miles for talking to you, so I’m getting very upset,” he laughs, but I get his point. He makes every mile count, and we, as travelers, are better for it. Visit www.petergreenberg.com for more.

The show will air in a couple of weeks (it also features Dean Torrance and Mayor Keith Bohr) and I’ll post it here.

Thanks to Terry Wills (Wills Communications), Peter’s fine production staff and J.D. Shafer, general manager at the wonderful Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort for making the event such a pleasure (the lunch at Shades was particularly good and recommended).

Odds and ends: Condolences to the family of Jan Vandersloot, who passed away suddenly last week. A prominent figure in the fight to save the wetlands and other natural habitats, Vandersloot is revered by many for his steadfast activism and commitment. The few times I reached out to Vandersloot for quotes and comments, he was a pleasure to speak with (and a wealth of knowledge). It’s hard not to appreciate all he’s done when I take my morning wetlands walk; now it will be impossible. May he rest in peace.

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 21, a car wash/bake sale for Christopher’s Way, the foundation named for Christopher Hernandez, will be in the parking lot of Redeemer Church, across the street from St. Bonaventure. Chris and Dawn, Christopher’s parents, created the foundation in memoriam of their son. For more information or to help, call Gayle Delcoure at (714) 846-4771.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 14 books, including the new “Huntington Beach Then & Now.” You can write him at [email protected] .