writing travel

Mid-America road trips for wimps, part 2

First of all, dear reader, I want you to know I am home again safely after spending more than two weeks with my extended family in southern Illinois.

I had intended to stay a week or less, just long enough to recover from the solo drive south and make the rounds to see as many cousins as possible.

And yes, I intended to blog from the road, but I'm a wimp. Besides that, real life happened.

Mid-America road trips for wimps, part 1

 

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A quick informal update: I'm en route to visit family, risking all for my first solo automobile adventure in more than 10 years. The how, why, and wherefore is a story all its own.

Today, however, I want to give a big shout-out to CoPilot Live, sponsors of TBEX '10. During the conference, I was the lucky winner of their GPS mapping product for smartphones.

Before I hit the road yesterday, I installed the app on my iPhone 4 and downloaded maps for Illinois, where my travels are focused, as well as maps for contiguous states Indiana and Kentucky, where my wanderlust may take me.

Two weeks ago, when I was in the car with my husband on the same route I'm now traveling alone, I was kicking myself for not having downloaded CoPilot Live before we set out. With two iPhones and a Blackberry between us, we were pretty much SOL without data service in the rural areas we visited.

On the first leg of my drive yesterday, CoPilot Live worked in the background to keep me on track while I listened to Alexander McCall Smith's latest serial novel, Corduroy Mansions on Audible.com. Granted, the route was pretty simple at that stage, a straight shot south through farms and small towns on Illinois Route 47 and I-57.

Late supper at Bien Trucha

Late supper at the fabulous Bien Trucha in Geneva, Illinois: Rick Bayless would love this authentic Mexican haute cuisine.

No reservations taken, so get there early to put your name in for a table. The kitchen closes at 8:45 pm. We lost count of how many latecomers were turned away.

Arriving before 7 pm, there was a 90 minute wait, so we started on the patio (cash only) with guacamole and a couple of Tecates. If we'd had more cash on hand, I would have gone for one of their special margaritas made with fresh lime juice.

The 10-plus things I learned at TBEX '10

Here's my very personal list, in no set order, of the idiosyncratic things I learned at Travel Blog Exchange '10 hosted by Kim Mance and her Galavanting team in New York City this past weekend. (Forgive me, Spud Hilton. This story is about my trip, not my reader's vacation.)

In part, it's a list of "shoulds." Yes, I know all about the evil of should. I've succumbed to it before and certainly will again.

1. I should get out of the house more. Especially if I want to continue calling myself a travel blogger. 

2. I should post more often, for the same reason.

3. I need to converse in person with other intelligent adult humans more often. (See point 1.) I do this best in small groups or one-on-one. I'm happy enough in a large group, but I tend to drift to the perimeter of the crowd to become an observer.

4. Two cocktails in one evening is my absolute limit when indulging in a public venue. Thanks to Sean Keener of @Bootsnall and Pete Meyers of @Eurocheapo for helping me (finally) figure that out. That's not to say I won't have to relearn my lesson.

5. Travel blogging isn't just a young person's sport, but one should recognize one's limits. (See point 4.) One should also stay in training.

6. It's okay to be weird in the company of other travel bloggers.

7. I can live without my laptop and digital SLRs for a weekend, but I can't live without some way to connect to the Internet. 

8. AT&T 3G service in Manhattan isn't as groovy there as it is in other parts of the country. (See point 7.)

9. It is entirely possible to cultivate real human relationships sight unseen via social media and blogs. Proof: the joy of meeting Zach Everson, Meryl Pearlstein, Renee King, Doug Anweiler, Lola Akinmade, Kara Williams, Todd Lucier, Jennifer Miner, Mara Gorman, Craig Martin, Christine Cantera, Jennifer Huber, Robin Locker Lacey, Trisha Miller, and countless others for the first time in the flesh after long acquaintance online.

10. I'm still capable of hero(ine) worship. Cases in point: Pam Mandel (I hope you don't think I'm stalking you on Twitter), Evelyn Hannon (I read and reread your Journeywoman travel tips before every trip to a new place), Gary Arndt (Your travel porn feeds my fantasies, and I have to agree with your camera advice, although I'd much rather travel with the camera I don't yet have).

11. It will take me a bit of time to get used to referring to people by their real names when I know them so well by their Twitter handles. (See point 9. If I didn't call you out by name, it's because I'm still in the process of rebuilding my internal contact database.)

12. Going out on a limb to write in one's naturally quirky voice is good practice for a persnickety grammarian.

13. I received no compensation or sponsorship for this post or for attending TBEX. I have only myself to thank or blame. I would, however, consider help getting to Vancouver next year.

In remembrance of my father on Memorial Day

Lawrence William Schoeny
1921-1999

T/Sgt, 8th Army Air Force, 448th Bomb Group, Squadron 714