Announcing the 2nd Arizona Travel Blogger Meetup!
The time has come for the 2nd Arizona Travel Blogger Meet (and tweet!) up. Bring your stories, pictures and self for a few hours of travel talk, stories and bonding with other members of Arizona’s local travel community.
The goal is simple! Get to know each other while developing a more aware/active travel community in Arizona. We’ve got a ton of talent/experience in Arizona and it’s about time we started helping each other/getting to know each other.
Based on the poll results, I’ve chosen Saturday, August 7th at 1PM as the date/time for the meetup. We’ll be meeting at the Xtreme Bean which is a great coffee shop in southern Tempe. All you need to bring is yourself. If you’ll be attending, please feel free to post a quick introduction, including your twitter info/website/blog in a response to this post.
Date: Saturday, August 7th at 1:00PM-3:00PM (may go longer).
Location: Xtreme Bean which is located on the South West Corner of McClintock and Southern in Tempe, near the US 60/101. Yelp profile here.
Coordination: Use twitter hash tag #aztw. My (Alex) phone number is 480.313.2441 if you want to confirm anything or are having issues finding the coffee shop.
Spread the Word: So, here’s the challenge. Let’s make sure we don’t miss anyone. Are you aware of travel tweeps, bloggers or industry personalities that might like to join? Make sure to either send them to this post, or get me their e-mail and I’ll reach out to them.
AZ COMMUNITY – On twitter? See the list I’ve assembled of AZ based travel twitter users here.
Any questions? Post them in a comment – or feel free to e-mail me directly via alex ~at~ virtualwayfarer.com.
March’s meetup was an absolute blast and I’m really excited/looking forward to round two! Hope to see you all there.
I suppose I should kick the introductions off! A bit about me – right now travel is a side hobby. One I'm incredibly passionate about. I typically manage about 1 major trip (16-20 days) every 6 months. Recent trips have included Scandinavia, Central America, the British Isles, and Spain. I'll also sneak in a shorter/local trip when time permits – the last one was a 3 day trip up to Northern AZ/the Grand Canyon.
My current 9-5 is as an Analyst for a Scottsdale based mid-market Mergers and Acquisitions group.
I blog here on VirtualWayfarer.com and own/run http://ultimatepackinglist.com and http://travelresourcelist.com. I've also got a few new projects in the works – but more on those as they come closer to launch.
You can find me on twitter at @AlexBerger.
I suppose I should kick the introductions off! A bit about me – right now travel is a side hobby. One I'm incredibly passionate about. I typically manage about 1 major trip (16-20 days) every 6 months. Recent trips have included Scandinavia, Central America, the British Isles, and Spain. I'll also sneak in a shorter/local trip when time permits – the last one was a 3 day trip up to Northern AZ/the Grand Canyon.
My current 9-5 is as an Analyst for a Scottsdale based mid-market Mergers and Acquisitions group.
I blog here on VirtualWayfarer.com and own/run http://ultimatepackinglist.com and http://travelresourcelist.com. I've also got a few new projects in the works – but more on those as they come closer to launch.
You can find me on twitter at @AlexBerger.
Hi Alex,
Sadly, well, maybe not TOO sadly, we (The Roaming Boomers) will be in the Caribbean celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, and therefore unable to attend your meet up.
We made our living for 15+ years as business owners, sold our business a few years ago, moved to Scottsdale, and have decided that we would like to be involved in the travel industry when we grow up. 🙂
Therefore, we started http://www.theroamingboomers.com in February. We are having a blast, and look forward to learning the travel business and figuring out how to develop our site into something that brings value to the travel world, and rewards us with a consistent revenue stream.
This will be a challenge as most everything on the web is free. But hey, who doesn't need a good challenge now and then.
Sorry to miss your meeting, but please keep us in mind for the next one.
I'm @bikelady on Twitter, Jackie Dishner in real life. I'm a Phoenix-based writer and speaker. I focus much of my writing right now around travel, since my first book just came out this year (Backroads & Byways of Arizona, Countryman Press). I used to be a paid blogger for b5media, as The Phoenix Traveler. But I ran into scheduling problems with my book, and it had to come first. So now I blog for myself, to promote the travel guide, my self-development work that involves a long bike ride through a difficult divorce, my writing self, and Arizona. And I write guest blogs whenever I can. I have two blogs:
http://bikewithjackie.blogspot.com (about my BIKE philosophy and moving forward in life)
http://arizonatravelandadventure.com (a three-author travel blog)
I've been published in AAA Highroads, AAA Living, Arizona Capitol Times, Arizona Highways, Arizona Republic, Chile Pepper, Fast Company, PHOENIX Magazine, The Writer, US Airways, and many others. Wine Enthusiast is my latest travel credit. I'm working on two destination pieces for them right now. I mostly write about Arizona but am expanding into areas outside the state and country. I am now in the process of pitching an Arizona Centennial history/travel guide with two other writers and also a guide to Arizona wine country. I'll be blogging about all of that as the projects move forward.
I'm looking forward to the TweetUp.
That merits a double congratulations! Sounds like an amazing trip! Be safe, and hopefully we'll see you at #3!
That's awesome about the book Jackie! That's an impressive track record and it sounds like you've got some great projects in the works.
Can't wait to connect face to face!
I was just at the North Rim, Arizona Strip and Lake Powell over the 4th of July weekend. Great time. Good hiking. Stayed at the Lee's Ferry Lodge.
Hey Everyone,
My name is Patricia and my Twitter is @patriciaelenie. I've been a traveler ever since I have memory of being alive! To that point, I do have three citizenships (so I like to consider myself a citizen of the world)!
Currently living in Phoenix, Arizona, and I'd love to connect with other people in the travel community here. Recently, I went on a sailing adventure in the Caribbean. Quit my job to follow a dream, and I've realize that travel is something very close to my heart. I truly felt a connection between the people I met, their stories and lives. In college I studied photojournalism, so I enjoy photography and writing. My website is http://www.patricialapadula.com Feel free to stop by and drop me a line.
I've traveled (well, and lived in some cases) in Central/South America (Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico), Europe (Italy & Spain), the Caribbean (St. Croix, Puerto Rico, St. Martin, Dominican Republic, Jamaica) and all over the US.
Look forward to connecting with others in the travel community!
Nice! Yeah, it's beautiful up there this time of the year. I did a hostel in Flag, then did a day trip up – (http://virtualwayfarer.com/a-video-tour-of-nort…) to Northern AZ with a stop at the Grand Canyon for sunset.
Welcome Patricia! I've followed you on twitter and added you to the AZ-Travel list. Hopefully we'll have the chance to connect face to face at the meetup?
Love the photos on the blog, it definitely reminds me that I need to spend more time in Central America, and start to explore South America!
The North Rim is my favorite area of the Grand Canyon.
Jackie, researching a guide to Arizona wine country sounds like lots of fun to me. Let me know if you need a fellow taster when you come down my way.
Hi Alex,
Sorry but I'm going to miss the Arizona tweet-up. I'll be flying to Jacksonville, FL the next day to meet my new grandson. With my crowded August travel schedule, I need every day at home that I can get.
By way of introduction, I'm @DonnaLHull on Twitter and a Tucson-based freelance writer specializing in travel and human interest content for online and print publications. Along with my photographer husband, Alan, I also publish (write and edit) My Itchy Travel Feet, The Baby Boomer's Guide to Travel, http://myitchytravelfeet.com, which focuses on active travel for baby boomers.
I've been published in Her Sports, Oro Valley/Marana Magazine, Foothills Magazine, Lovin Life (Tucson edition) and many others. This year, I've been concentrating most of my time on online writing and My Itchy Travel Feet. I write lodging reviews for Uptake.com and have also written for iExplore.com and AffordableTours.com. Oh, and if you want to know how a Harley became a salon grand piano, you can read my story, Piano Love, in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Love Stories.
My travel schedule has been a bit hectic this year with road trips to California and across the Southern U.S. as well as adventures in Bluff, Utah and Arizona's White Mountains. Alan and I just returned from three weeks in Montana. In August, I'll be blogging in paradise for Marriott plus returning to Montana for another week. In September, Alan and I will be reporting from an Alaskan adventure cruise. In October, we'll travel for 10 days in northern Italy before boarding a Seabourn ship, Rome to Ft. Lauderdale.
Sorry to miss connecting with all of you in person. Hope it will work out another time. Alex, thanks for arranging the meet-up.
Sounds like a good way to spend August!
Montana is one of those places way up there on my to-visit list and i'm itching to get back to Alaska. Can't wait to hear a bit more about the adventures =)
Hey Alex,
Thanks for organizing another tweetup! I will attend and have started tweeting out the word. I look forward to seeing you on Aug. 7! Join us everyone, it is a great way to put our virtual connections into context.
Excellent Tom! Looking forward to hearing about your latest projects.
See you on the 7th!
Hi Alex: I can't make it tomorrow but I'll subscribe so I can be aware of the next one. It sounds like a great time!
Sounds good Nancy! Looking forward to hearing more about your projects! We'll see you at #3!