This Week on BootsnAll: Hitting the Open Road

There are few things more quintessentially American than a summer road trip. From quick jaunts around your hometown to a multi-day (or month) adventure across the country or around the world, a road trip is a great way to travel in the summer.
This week, we’re hitting the road with four great food-centric road trips in the US, and then ending the week with ideas for road trip in Mexico, and how to do them safely. In between, we’ll debate the pros and cons of blogging while on a trip, and offer up ideas for how to visit developing countries responsibly.
But first, we’re gearing up for a road trip of our own – the ride north from Portland to Vancouver for the Travel Blog Exchange conference next week. In preparation, we’ve put together a list of some of the great attendees we can’t to meet. Be sure to say hi to the BootsnAll team; we’re looking forward to meeting you too!
From BootsnAll’s Editor, Katie Hammel:
There are so many people I’m excited to meet for the first time and to see again, not least of all my amazing BootsnAll co-workers, the writers of our WhyGo travel sites, and all of our fabulous freelancers. I’m really looking forward to chatting with bloggers and writers whose work I love to read – like Andrew Evans, Jodi Ettenberg, Geraldine DeRuiter, Ayngelina Brogan, and Evelyn Hannon to name just a few of the many – and I’m very excited for the chance to learn from fellow editors like Don George, Spud Hilton, Jim Benning, Mike Yessis, and Robert Reid. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg; there are dozens more people on the list of those I can’t wait to meet/talk to/raise a glass with, so please be sure to say hello!
From BootsnAll’s Marketing Coordinator, Olivia Raymer:

JoAnna from WhyGo Las Vegas – With JoAnna being in the first round of BootsnAll Writer’s Platform sites, it’s been great working and learning with her, so it will be fun to finally meet her. And it’s extra fun that we’re both local hosts for Meet, Plan, Go this year!

Malia from WhyGo Hawaii – Malia and I discovered recently that we have a lot of similarities — both of us left on RTWs in the spring of 2008, we’re also both list aficionados and both checked “Go Skydiving” off our 30 Before 30 lists at Skydive Hawaii over the North Shore on Oahu. Who knew! And I loved putting WhyGo Hawaii to the test on my recent trip to Maui.
Andrew Evans from National Geographic – I loved following along on twitter with Andrew’s ‘bus to Antarctica’ adventure last year and checking out the “Where’s Andrew?” pics from the Australia challenge. So I’m looking forward to meeting him, and I think his next challenge should be “Where’s Andrew?” Eastern Europe edition.
Lisa Lubin from LLWorldTour – I stumbled upon Lisa’s travel blog before I left on my RTW trip, and love that she had replied to my email asking about the surf school she went to in Costa Rica. It’s cool that four years later we’re both in the travel sphere still.
From BootsnAll’s WhyGo Italy Writer, Jessica Spiegel:
My list is in two parts – people I’m excited to meet, and people I’m excited to see again.
I’m looking forward to meeting Andrew Evans (because I want to be able to say I know someone who’s had a penguin in his lap), Marilyn Terrell (because she’s helping to bring NatGeo and social media together in a very cool way – plus she’s got a picture of Venice on her Twitter page, so she must be fabulous), Deb from Vancouver (because I want to finally thank her in person for her Haida Gwaii tips), and Kayt Sukel (because we have much to discuss about tattoos – and perhaps a few other things I shan’t go into here).
People I’m looking forward to seeing again include Evelyn Hannon (because I still have dreams of being just like her someday), David Farley (because no one else could make a book about Jesus’ foreskin funny and educational), Andy Murdock (because the Lonely Plant and his wicked sense of humor were sorely missed last year in NYC), Katie Hammel (because I relish any opportunity to hang out in person with BootsnAll’s Chicago contingent), Melanie Waldman (because she is my other half – she completes me), and Pam Mandel (because our new uke-vocal duo is going to rock the world, I tellya).
More road trip inspiration:

Photo by nathangibbs