Twitter is a small world. Especially in the travel blogging community. Let’s face it. Some of us are addicts. Some of us may spend more time on Twitter than we do with our own family or friends. I may be one of those people. As the Twitter motto is: follow your interests. Through this motto, I have been fortunate to have met some really amazing bloggers out there who are passionate about travel and life. I haven’t met most of the people on this list in real life. The ones that I have met in real life, I wish I had a chance to speak with further, mainly because I’m genuinely curious and admire them in some way. Otherwise, I am hoping I can learn from their successes in some way to further better myself. Bonus: They’re going to be at TBEX (for those who don’t know, this is a conference called the Travel Blog Exchange) in Vancouver in June. Holiday! Celebrate!
They are:
1. Kirsten Alana (@kirsten_al) Not so secret Francophile. Blogger and Social Media-ite for Bonjour Paris. Also manages her popular blog, kirstenalana.com Her Friday Five is easily addictive, with great links to interesting stories and sites. Not to mention her photos will entice you to hop a trans-atlantic flight, stat. She is one of my cohorts in Project Sleepover, a social media project we are working on to align with hotels to bring back the Sleepover. That said, we’ve become genuine friends and I’m excited to talk to her about … life, really! I’m currently updating this as she’s just coming back from Buenos Aires and from Andi Perullo’s wedding. I’m excited to hear about those tales and would love to pop around BC to shoot. (Note: I am in Victoria on June 13 and 14. Come!)
Kirsten Alana looking Parisian in Buenos Aires! Photo: Kirsten Alana
2. Melanie Renzulli (@melanierenzulli) Travel and social media addict. Always responds to your tweets. Has a kajillion blogs and is a tumblr hoarder in the best sense of the word. Want to known about India, Italy, or DC? Or the hot men of the travel industry? (This will be our task for primary research during the conference.) This woman is your gal. I want to talk to her about her blogging/writing and also our mutual friends (including Ethan Adeland (@EthanAdeland), a great food blogger. ). Plus, if you are on her Facebook, you can tell she’s the coolest mom out there to two adorable boys named…get this: Leo and Dante. Adorbs!
Melanie in all of her Melanie-ness. Photo: Melanie Renzulli
3. Josh Washington (@joshywashington) Amazing travel writer. Self-proclaimed ninja. Captures sense of place and emotion in his travels, and I can tell he’s one of the most passionate travelers out there. My favorite video, however, is when he found his stolen bike at a pawn shop. HILAR. LOVE. If you want to learn how to hike, he may be your guy, also.
4. Jen Leo (@jenleo) Why Jen Leo? Because she’s Jen Leo! She’s always on point with tech trends happening in travel and writes about it for The LA Times Buzz Section. She is also a regular on ThisWeekInTravel and the reason why I’m listening to podcasts at 2 a.m. on a weeknight. Basically, she discusses travel news and top picks with other travel experts. It’s very practical and entertaining. I would love to pick her brain about how she got into the industry; how travel is evolving in the digital community; what are her digital tricks? how can I differentiate my blog in the vast sea of travel blogs, and what her favorite sites are. Plus, she just seems so pleasant!
Are you going to to TBEX? Who do you want to meet? And of course, come find me! I’m a chatty Cathy about the following places and subjects: New York, Paris, Toronto, Buenos Aires (it’s on my list), Barcelona, food, architecture, travel literature, spelling and punctuation, breaking into the industry, blogging vs. journalism, travel magazines and the people that write for travel magazines. This is really a segue to converse about Andrew McCarthy. What’s your favorite Andrew McCarthy story? Discuss.
Near. Afar. 
Cannot wait to meet you too dear 🙂 Thank you so much for featuring me!!