Travel Bloggers Converge in the Rockies and I”ll be There

I’m in that state that only comes when you’ve just gotten home from a trip and another looms tomorrow morning, starting at 4 am. Ugh. An early flight made a little easier because Bradley is so easy vs. Boston or New York. Tomorrow’s destination is Denver, and on Thursday I’ll head to Keystone Resort in the Rockies with nearly 700 other travel bloggers.

It’s amazing to me that there remain so many men and women committed to blogging in 2012. You might have thought that the trend passed by, what with Tweets, and Facebook and now Pinterest. But those of us who enjoy sharing our travel stories and exploring the comparatively long-form of blogger are in good company.

I’m looking forward to meeting some of the stars of our little universe: Gary Arndt, a man with more than 100,000 Twitter followers who never stops traveling. Johnny Jet, who has been a traveling speaker, blogger and website publisher since my earliest days, 2002. And on my panel, two of my friends, Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick, and Tim Leffel, who runs Luxury Latin America and Perceptive Travel, and more.

My speaking will involve money–how I do it for a living, and tips on how my audience can do it too. Both Beth and Tim have developed their own strong brands in their own niches, and both are articulate and well spoken. I will be in good company.

First though, I am spending some time with an old, old friend, Peter Heller, who lives in Denver. Peter is an adventure writer and he just got a big advance for his first novel. It will be interesting to see his adopted home town and then set off for Keystone on Friday morning.