This is not really a travel story. Mostly, it is a thank you note.
Over the weekend I participated in a conference about travel and food writing and photography. A travel writing friend had been badgering me to go for years, in fact, the last time we’d talked she wanted me to promise that I’d set aside all my Nerd’s Eye View income for the year to go. I had the amazing good fortune to be invited to join the faculty this year, and off I went to co-teach Travel Writing and Blogging in the Digital Age, a slot I shared with a travel writing editor who published some of my first stories — including two about the ukulele.… continued…
Here’s my wrap up from the Outdoor Retailer show on Practical Travel Gear. What’s the OR show? It’s a huge display of gear by companies looking to get their gear onto retails shelves and in between the pages of magazines. It’s a fun scene, full of people who love to play outside and love to travel.
The one minimally gray cloud over the weekend was the attitude I got from a few dudes who wouldn’t take the time to show me some of the more performance oriented gear when I said I didn’t do back country travel.… continued…
As I unpack and repack in preparation for Book Passage, a travel writing conference in California, I’m delighted to have a guest post from Eva Holland on why such events are worth the money and the bother.
In 2007, I bet it all on Book Passage.
I was an aspiring travel writer fresh off a British graduate degree and a European backpacking tour, with a student loan and credit card debt for souvenirs. During my time in England I’d gotten my first clip – a story in my hometown paper, the Ottawa Citizen, about a “Trainspotting” themed walking tour of Edinburgh – and now that I was back home in Canada I wanted to take a serious shot at writing full time.… continued…
I feel fairly certain that the reason I sit (somewhat unhappily due to a nasty bout of flu) in this lovely hotel is because I attended TBEX last year. In the lobby of the cramped New York hall where TBEX 10 took place, I met a delightful young woman, Teresa Faudon, from the Austria Tourism Board. We chatted for a while, and nearly a year later, she invited me to participate in this press trip. At that same event, I picked up an ill fated editorial gig that went south when the site owner said these kryptonite like words: “I’d like to go to a free model.”
TBEX 10 gave me the opportunity to express my love of narrative to a captive audience through a project I did with Mike Barish — we did a “best of” reading.… continued…
