Bonding With Fellow Bloggers

Last week’s press trip to Queensland in Australia was one of the most amazing travel experiences I’ve ever had.

Along with discovering the majestic beauty of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef, I had the pleasure of traveling with six engaging and accomplished travel journalists – three of whom are fellow bloggers.

Travel Buddies: (from left, back row) Writers Jennifer Davoren, Kent St. John, Lisa Loverro, Stephanie Davis and Donovan Webster, and (front row) Barbara Ries, Lori Barbely and Kristin Luna with me and Tourism Queensland’s Kylie Smith, after a delicious dinner at Voyages on Lizard Island

Veteran travel writer Kent St. John delighted everyone with his wit, warmth and unwavering passion for both his wife and every part of our action-packed itinerary. His musings on Be Our Guest are worth checking out.

Prolific San Francisco-based freelancer Kristin Luna astonished us all with an extensive wardrobe of dresses – and her ability to fit them all in one very small suitcase (I, on the other hand, packed only 3 dresses and still managed to exceed the airline baggage limit). I’ve been a fan of her blog Camels and Chocolate for quite awhile.

Atlanta Skirt Magazine Editor and aspiring author Stephanie Davis was great fun to travel with. She brings sass and smarts to her cyberspace musings on Skirt’s website, and I can’t wait until her book comes out.

Jetlag notwithstanding, spending a week Down Under with Stephanie, Kristin, Kent and the six other talented writers in our group has reinvigorated me. Because of them, I’m excited all over again to see what adventures are yet to come -- not only as a travel publicist, but as a writer too.