The one picked last…

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Why do I feel like the girl left standing all by her lonesome in the middle of the basketball court because no one wanted to pick her?  Or the girl that just found out that all of her friends went out for drinks last night but failed to invite her along?  Because. 

I am sitting in my bedroom with my laptop on top of my singed pants because I refuse to sit at a desk and all of my “internet friends” (or as my husband puts it – fake friends!) are sitting at BlogHer09 and today, most importantly, TBEX09. 

Do I sound bitter?  Should I be? 

I know that I shouldn’t feel left behind because it is my fault that I am not sitting there in beautiful Chicago and am instead in my dark bedroom hoping that my kids will go to sleep so I can get some peaceful blogging done.  I chose to wait too long to buy my ticket for BlogHer.  I was torn on whether I should go or not.  Then I decided that we shouldn’t spend the money on a plane ticket for TBEX because it was just a one day event.  It was too much money for one day.  Besides the fact that my husband incessantly (in a playful way) makes fun of my blogging side, I am relatively new to the whole blogging-for-the-world-to-see scene.  I started blogging about my family travel when my family and friends wanted a way to keep in touch with us while we take off here and there.  We were headed to Europe and everyone wanted updates as often I could post them.  Not everyone is on facebook, emailing 50 people takes up too much time, and I like to write.  I may not be fantastic at it, but I enjoy it.  Just like I enjoy reading books, hanging out with my kids and spending money!  So I write. 

During the last seven or eight months though, something changed along the way.  My blog went from being read by just friends and family, to being read by their friends, and so on.  As I started inserting myself into the travel blogging world, I began to “meet” some amazing people out there.  Everyone is so different…some are men, some are women.  Some are young, some are old.  Some have children, some don’t.  Some travel for a living, some don’t.  Some prefer one area of the world, while others wouldn’t ever go back there.  Some take beautiful pictures, some write beautiful words that paint beautiful pictures.  Everyone is also alike.  All are adventurous, though some more than others!  All love the joy of traveling…the journey of getting there and experiencing.  When we get home, we are planning our next adventure.  We all love to write about it.

As I look at the site statistics of some of my favorite travel blogs, I can only hope to reach those goals someday.  For now, I will enjoy the vast knowledge that my “fake” friends share through their own sites, Twitter and other various outlets.  Bloggers like Linda at Minnemom who writes about traveling around her state with her kids and MommyPoppins who writes about exploring NYC with kids.  Even though they don’t know this, they were the inspiration behind my newest blog, Pensacola with Kids.  Bloggers like Amy at The Q Family and Atlanta with Kid and Mara at Mother of All Trips who were very quick to answer any questions  I had when I migrated from Blogger to WordPress.  Bloggers who help create networking contacts and friendships like Debbie at Delicious Baby with her Photo Friday and Kim Mance with Travel Blog Exchange.  Bloggers like Julie at Things You Should Do and Amie at Ciao Bambino who gave me the opportunity to write and share my first guest posts.  Bloggers like Lorraine at Keeps Me Smiling, Dominique at Midwest Guest, Marina at Travel Experta, Carolina at Kids Go West, and Bridget at Family Adventure Guidebooks who stop by and leave me words of encouragement just about every week.  Bloggers like Wendy at Perrin Post, Peter at The Carey Adventures, GuynGirlTravels, and Marilyn at National Geographic, Matt at NomadicMatt, Craig at Indie Travel Podcast, and Corinne at Have Baby Will Travel who never fail to answer a question I have asked them.  Bloggers like Shannon at Gifted Travel and Traveling Mamas who chatted with me for 30 minutes on the phone about choosing a theme and a direction for my flailing blog (I guess you are the only one that knows I really-sort of since it was just a phone call-exist!).   The list goes on and on and on and on… 

This is why I am definitely not bitter.  I wish that I could have taken notes myself at all of the sessions this week, however, I will have to continue to learn from all the great bloggers out there instead.  Not too shabby.  But you will have to excuse me…I need to go buy my ticket for BlogHer10…

New York City here I come!