Village Drifter

I was honored to be chosen by Twin Trinity Media to represent them at BlogHer '11 in San Diego, California. I believe I did my job well. So well that I've was becoming tongue tied toward the end of the conference from saying the name so much. I mean, there was over 3,000 people there and I had to tell them all about what a wonderful company TTM was.

San Diego's Convention Center is huge and beautiful. Downtown San Diego is fabulous with little shops, friendly people, fantastic food and an unbelievably relaxed atmosphere. It was like a slowed down, more open New York City. I took my first pedi-cab ride ever in the city and it was a great way to experience it. I highly recommend it to anyone who ever visits California. My pedi-cab driver was super nice, pointed out a bunch of things in the city, talked with a few other pedi drivers and told me a lot about himself which he apologized for after he dropped me off at Stingeree's Bar. I didn't mind his talkative nature at all. I gave him a pretty large tip because he was cute, kind and gentlemanly. He even got off his bike to help me out of the back seat basket.

The BlogHer '11 conferences at the convention center was great. There were so many great sessions to chose from and the worst part was finding out the ones you really wanted to attend were going on at the same time. I had the ones I really, really wanted to attend worked out pretty good.

I went to Food Photography That Will Feed Your Soul, a great session from Penny De Los Sandos, a photographer for Saveur, which will help me with my food blog; The Hungry Kitchen. I went to a session called Our Food Future: Kids, Cooking & Health that featured Diana Johnson, Laura Samson and Mrs. Q, the food blogger who went undercover in her local school to eat kids school lunches for a year. It was really informative and will make a difference in my every day life when it comes to cooking and feeding my kids. I went to the expo for a few hours where I met all kinds of people and gained all kinds of products. Then went back up the escalators to hear the Voices of the Year presentation. That rocked. The women chosen to be the Voices of the Year earned that right hands down. Some made me cry, others made me laugh, and some made me sigh. Each woman was inspiring. And that was just the first day.

Then next day was a little crazier because you just want to get everything in that you can. I did attend a few sessions, but one I felt compelled to leave.  The first on Saturday was How to Pitch Freelance Editorial Work from Some Busy Editorial People. That was extremely informative. The panelists, Barb Dybwad, Nicola Bridge, and Stephanie Wood with the moderator Julie Godar, editor for BlogHer, made the entire session worth it. They answered questions, gave some great feedback and basically told those attending how to get into the magazines and websites that they are with. The next session I went to was Malcolm Gladwell is Missing the Point: Revolutions are Happening Online. This is the one that I left. I'm sorry to say I've never met nor read Gladwell and although I loved the panelist discussion comparing the internet revolution of social media to revolutions in the past, it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Perhaps, because I had not read Gladwell's article. I went by the blurb and was thinking the panelists were going to tell me how to start a revolution online for charity or something like that. It didn't happen so I left and went to the expo.

The last thing I did was go to the Closing Keynote: Women in Media, Women Making Media. It was phenomenal for me. It was everything I wanted it to be and the speakers; Lisa Stone, Fatemah Fakhraie, Carol Jenkins, and Ricki Lake, were awesome enough to talk to the attendees after the session. I got to shake hands with these extremely awesome and inspiring women. That is something I will take with me wherever I go. I think it was a perfect ending to the conference especially since next week I start my journey in college again, but this time as an adult ready to finish and my major is in journalism with a focus on women's studies.

San Diego was great. Look for my next post about Seaport Village, this little town-like place around the corner from my hotel, with pictures!

Love,
The Village Drifter

San Diego is absolutely incredible, but before I get into the beauty of California let me try to tell you how my first flights were. The words that come to mind are incredible, crazy, awe-inspiring, spiritual and a few others. I adore flying. It is one of the most incredible things I've ever done and I'm sorry it has taken so long. I actually think the plane has helped ease my fear of heights and planes.

American Airlines/American Eagle have some of the best flight attendants also. My plane from ABE to O'Hare in Chicago had a wonderful gentleman named David who was just fantastic. David, in my opinion should be given a raise. He was a part of the crew for flight 4085 if anyone from AA happens to be reading this. He was calm, had a magnificent voice and was quick to make things easier for the passengers on the flight. I thought he was fantastic and helped make my first flight a whole lot easier.

So I love to fly. But apparently my ears do not. Pressure, blockage, popping, pain, clogging, and finally a little bit of a scary incident with drainage and blood in the hotel about an hour after arriving have me a little concerned that my ears just don't take altitude changes very well.  The bleeding has stopped, but it is a concern since my other ear still feels clogged. I chewed gum the entire time I was on the planes so I'm not exactly sure what happened. I may try wearing ear plugs on my way home to see if that helps. It isn't painful now just a little wishy washy in my left ear. I have a few days on the ground to get readjusted so that should help.

I have some wonderful pictures to share of the sky from a bird's eye view, but as I'm on a small computer and still learning it they might not be posted until Tuesday when I come home.

Love,
The Village Drifter

San Diego, Ca. from Wikimedia Commons

Today is the big day! I'm heading off to travel across the country for a huge writer's conference specifically for women. It is quite a big deal since I've never actually stepped foot onto a plane before. I'm a little terrified, but the excitement about the trip is putting my nerves to rest.

I'll be traveling from my hometown of Blakeslee, Pa all the way to San Diego, Ca. I know there are many frequent fliers out there thinking it isn't a big deal, but for me this is huge. I'm not well traveled although my dad used to be a truck driver and on occasion I'd go with him for ride in the 18-wheeler. I've seen a few places but I was so young that I don't really remember them. The last real trip my family took was to Maryland which is a 4 hour drive away. It was an awesome trip, but not the same as flying somewhere I've never been with no family in site for thousands of miles.

I was lucky enough to be chosen to represent Twin Trinity Media at the writing conference so it will be a mix of both business and pleasure. I wish I could come up with more words for how excited I am. I'm being lazy so I won't look up the synonyms now.

This is the first time I'll be leaving my children behind. My kids are 10 and 7, quite self-sufficient, but I'll miss them none-the-less and it feels so weird to be leaving them. It is only for 4 days, but it seems like such a long time!

My plane leaves later this morning. I'll be updating from the different destinations I land at if and when I can. During my travels I'll be blogging here, at my food blog, and at my writer website while I'm at the BlogHer '11 Conference in San Diego. I hope you'll enjoy following me and reading about my travels!

Love,
The Village Drifter