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Blog

Happy Birthday, Dear Blog!

Birthday 1934 (courtesy Foxtongue at Flickr CC)Today is the 3rd anniversary of the Family Travel blog here on the BootsnAll Travel Network (true story – I first heard about BootsnAll at the stupendously great annual Texas Book Festival in Austin.)

The first post on February 10, 2006 said hello to everyone, the second was some random screed about traveler’s checks, but hey, I started a blog and wrote something, then kept at it, and boy am I grateful.

3 years is something of a lifetime in Internet terms, but I am proud of every gray hair I’ve earned, both on my head and on my blog.

I cannot tell you how often I’ve thought to myself, “Wow, if I wasn’t a blogger, I wouldn’t have a clue about what’s going on right now in journalism/travel/business/communications.”

I wouldn’t have a social media consulting and training business, either.

Props (as always) to the old friend who said to me back in late 2005, “If you’re gonna be a writer, you’ve gotta have a blog:” the Interactive Journalism Editor at the Houston Chronicle, Dwight Silverman. When I started this journey, the only blog I read was his TechBlog, and I usually couldn’t make heads or tails out of half of what he wrote.

Here’s the secret, though….I knew that whatever gobbledygook he was saying about the Web and social media and technology was important, and I’d better figure it out. So I did.

And along the way, what a priceless community of travelers and readers have joined me. Thank you as well to my husband and two kids, who still roll their eyes when they hear me say, “Oh! That’s a blog post!”

Blessings to all of you, and thanks for your support of Family Travel.

Categories
Blog Philosophy

Got a passport? I have a purpose for it….

I want to call your attention to a worthy project that four of my travel blogging colleagues are spearheading this holiday season.

Passports with Purpose seeks to raise awareness of the travel blogging community and its generosity towards the places we travel.

You might know some of the organizers:

Over coffee (in their home base of coffee-crazed Seattle, the lucky dogs!) they decided that this would be a great time of year to harness connections and make a difference.

To that end, they’ve started Passports with Purpose, a travelblogger-driven fundraiser for Heifer International, a worthy micro-funding organization that improves people’s lives worldwide.

What’s the scoop, you say?

Starting Monday, 1 December 2008, you’ll be able to buy raffle tickets to support the cause (they’re only US$10 a pop, and keep in mind that US$20 buys a flock of baby chicks to provide eggs and income to a family.)

Pam said a few days ago that the prizes are super-fab, and they’ll all be listed here starting 1 December.

We believe in in the power of travel. Help us harness it. Thank you!

Categories
Blog

Become a Family Travel Logue fan on Facebook

Are you active on Facebook?

When I’m wearing my Web 2.0 teacher hat over at Every Dot Connects, people often ask me how to get started in social media without getting completely overwhelmed.

I tell them to establish a professional profile on LinkedIn (here’s mine) and go play on Facebook.

There are three places on Facebook where I’d love to see my readers come by and say hello:

  • If you want to see how I consult and teach about Web 2.0/social media, visit the Every Dot Connects Facebook page —  it’s kind of our “digital storefront” and there is always plenty of free parking.

Thanks for “friending.”

Categories
Blog

Bloggy thoughts where life and work intersect

Off the travel topic a bit….I first heard the Brazen Careerist, Penelope Trunk, last year at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive tech conference (I’m currently proposing a travel blogging panel for the March 2008 Interactive.)

I was impressed by Penelope’s refreshing candor on her blog and the articulate passion in many of her readers’ comments.  Her Brazen Careerist book is out as well, which I’ve purchased ’cause you gotta support your fellow writer.

She spoke at BlogHer (where I was also a panelist this past July) and although some didn’t like her blunt style, I’m sure others enjoyed hearing her perspective.

While at BlogHer, she did a podcast with ListenShare‘s Stephanie Roberts, so I thought I’d listen even though, really, I’m not a podcast person because I’d rather read something so I can control whether I want to absorb every word or just skim.

I liked the piece, “Penelope Trunk: Defining the Brazen Careerist,” but I was somewhat frustrated because I took notes of the specific times on the podcast when Penelope addressed certain topics.  My thought was that I could say, “She talks about XYZ at time 21:15” of the 25 minute talk, so if you wanted to jump ahead you could do so.

Topics include her “disgust for people who give advice, but act like they [themselves] don’t need any,” how she posts off of a spreadsheet of ideas and links, how she transitioned from the 700 word ideas of a blogger to the Big Ideas of a book author (and got over “being pissy” about the many rules of publishing) and how she learned that higher-level time management means figuring out what NOT to get done.

For some reason, I couldn’t “click and drag” the little button on the podcast player to pull it ahead, so all my notes about what topic is where, my little podcast table of contents, is apparently for nought. 

This is another reason why I’d rather read at my pace than listen to someone talk at their pace, but don’t let my crabbiness about it all stop you from enjoying a very interesting conversation.