I am a solo female adventure traveler (who wears a size 12) and blogs about the Pacific Northwest.
That was my ‘elevator pitch’ when I went to Austin, Texas for TravelCon 2018 and It Was Awesome!!!
It was my first travel blogger/media conference and my first time in Austin. Yes, I hit two birds with one stone.
How was Austin? Hot. Sticky. I heard cicadas and I love cicadas – I miss them as they’re not in the Pacific Northwest. I went rafting on the river. I waited in line for three hours for BBQ (it was worth it!) Austin is also really fun. The waterfront. The street art. Sixth street and all of the music. Here is a great city guide with vacation rentals in Austin.
For vacation rentals in several cities throughout the U.S. Domio is a great resource.
I learned a lot of stuff about the current state of travel blogging, and all I have to say is that I’m on the right path. But I also have a hell of a lot of work to do! The beautiful soul who put this all together was Matthew Kepnes, better known as Nomadic Matt and arguably the most successful travel blogger in the world!
I heard from great speakers such as Ryan Holiday, who’s main takeaway message was to “Do the fucking work.” That really resonated with me, because as I can attest, there are NO shortcuts to becoming a successful travel blogger. There just isn’t. You have to put the work in. You have live and breathe it.
The Blonde Abroad (Kiersten Rich) also gave a great talk on how she built her six-figure brand. She has got to be the hardest working solo female traveler out there and she deserves every bit of her success. And also Oneika Raymond, who gave us 10 Guiding Principles everyone needs to be successful in this industry.
I’m going to continue to give y’all great advice and information about Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. But I’m going to be doing it better. Watch this space!
I met so many great people who are doing great work, bringing the world together through their love of travel. To say I was intensely inspired by everyone is putting it mildly, and only gave me even great resolve to bring the Pacific Northwest to the forefront of people’s minds as they are planning their next vacation.
Lawrence Noah from Finding the Universe gave a great photography walk session!
