TBEX is a full-contact sport!
@AOBDolce got her tongue pierced mid-weekend

I'm still trying to synthesize my whirlwind weekend at TBEX10 (this year's Travel Bloggers Exchange conference, held June 25-27 in NYC) into a coherent written post. But in the meantime, here are a few pics that summarize the experience:

SocMed + travel bloggers = ha-yuge!
@myessis & @jimbenning of WorldHum kickoff the opening session

one word: vuvuzela!
it was so excellent to meet @CareekBrkHQs & @ottsworld and the entire MeetPlanGo crew

oh, maybe THAT'S the word
@everywheretrip tells it like it is, as always

TBEX10 was allllll about the peeps & personalities
@savvytravelblog samples some of NY's finest fare
 

and if the all that weren't enough, 'twas also Pride Weekend!

I swear I'll write more soon, once my brain fully recovers. In the meantime, there's a great recap roundup here.

RELATED LINKS:
* browse all TBEX10 pics
* check out more fabulous travel photos at Delicious Baby's Photo Friday

If you enjoyed this post, please help us spread the word!

definitely some f***in' ziti!

I dunno about you, but I associate Manhattan with the world of "clackers" and carb-avoidant anorexic supermodel types. Well, our June weekend spent in NYC — I will post a TBEX recap one of these days, I swear! — proved that starchy goodness is alive and well in the City That Never Sleeps. The above photo was taken at after heading home from one of the TBEX afterparties. I'm not sure if you can quite tell from the photo, but it's a SLICE OF PIZZA WITH ZITI ON TOP. ZOMG, carb catatonia, anyone?

Chocolate-Chocolate at DBGB's

Just to clinch it, we spent Sunday night noshing with our DC friends Wil & Sherri, who are in New York for the summer. Apparently, despite an onslaught of visitors, they'd been experiencing a dearth of hardcore foodie goodness, and gleefully took us to DBGB's for a splurge-tastic meal. This fabulous restaurant specializes in delectable small plates and to-die-for desserts. Their notorious "Chocolate Chocolate" sundae was recommended by our waitress and did not disappoint.

And, by the by, we also visited this charming wine bar, although I have no photographic evidence of that portion of the program.

Boof. To the gym!

(But first, hop on over to Wanderlust & Lipstick's WanderFood Wednesday for more mouth-watering travel foodie posts.)

RECOMMENDED:
DBGB Kitchen & Bar
299 Bowery (btw Houston & 1st Street)
New York, NY 10003

'inoteca
98 Rivington Street (at Ludlow)
New York, NY 10002

If you enjoyed this post, please help us spread the word!

Tomorrow morning, Mark and I will be hopping the Chinatown bus for the Big Apple. We're spending the weekend there to attend The Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX '10). We'll actually, I'm attending the conference during the day, and Mark will be catching up with friends and hopefully not getting into too much trouble. We'll regroup at night to compare notes. We haven't been to NYC since hitting the Fancy Foods show in 2008, which I didn't even write about because Mark's car died on the way up and the whole weekend was fairly traumatic. Let's hope the bus proves to be a better transportation option!

TBEX will have lots of interesting sessions about how to improve your writing and monetize your blog and work with PR folk. Not to mention lots of free schwag from a dizzying array of sponsors. But the real reason I'm going is to finally meet, face to face, so many of the travel soopastars whose blogs/podcasts/Twitter streams I've been following for years. What will they be like in person? And what will they think of me? I think Sherry of Ottsworld said it best: "What if the physical me isn’t as interesting and likeable as the virtual me? ...What if they expect me to be funny... smarter... younger... taller?" It's a relief to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. But I'm bringing my platform flip-flops just in case.

There are so many people I'm looking forward to meeting that I can't even begin to list them here. I'm also psyched to meet up with some of my fellow Meet Plan Go hosts, to continue the fantastic online brainstorming and amp up the excitement for our September event. It's gonna be like a reunion, except for the most part we've never even met the first time. Stay tuned for updates on what promises to be a redonkulously good time, no matter your elevation.