Nomadic Texan

Okay I know the title might be a little misleading, but in essence I was a virgin at TBEX and had no idea what to expect or what I would gain from the experience. In reality it was an eye-opening learning experience and enhanced my ego (my wife Kim’s feedback)! I knew going in that the fact my Speed Dating calendar had almost been filled, that I was in for an extraordinary event. I just didn’t think about the fact that I had just returned from my expedition to Tijuana, building the house for Homes of Hope and would wind up worn down and really tired. I will never put back to back weekends of this much exercise together again, unless I am asked of course!

A church photo from the bus ride in and in the rain

My flight arrived in Toronto at 5:30 PM and I arranged for a round trip bus trip, thinking this would provide plenty of time to get my bags to the hotel and go to the opening night party. Bummer…it didn’t transpire exactly like I hoped. There was a transfer to a shuttle van with about 11 other people and of course I was the LAST one dropped off. I got to my hotel at around 7:45 and the party started at 7:00 PM. So…no shower, no change of clothes, however I was able to brush my teeth! Started walking to Roy Thomson Hall for the party arriving about 8:30 half way through.

Street art/graffiti on the walk to Roy Thomson Hall

I met a charming lady who was just as lost as me trying to get into the party. All of a sudden I hear “Mike” being yelled and I recognize the face right away. It was Kenin Bassart of The Constant Rambler and I knew I wouldn’t be alone at the party. He and his wife Lauren have been very cool connections on my social media links and we have grown to know each other fairly well. Kenin directed me to the other side for my entry. I received my badge and walked into the zoo! It was like something out of a movie. A band was playing, food stations were everywhere (with fantastic eats) and of course the bars were flowing with alcohol.

Kenin and Lauren Bassart…Two Wonderful Bloggers & Friends

I met with Kenin and Lauren downstairs and ran into Derek4Real  from Austin. It was going to be a good night, but I had no idea how good! Toronto was hot and humid, just like Austin so I went back upstairs and enjoyed the A/C inside. Great step! I started walking around and ran into several bloggers that I have met online. I ran into Maria Laborde from LatinAbroad.com and had the ugliest picture of me taken all night! Then I bumped into Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline.de and didn’t even recognize her. She had to tell me who she was (embarrassing)!

Jim and Warren with Derek4Real on the right

Poor Maria…She has to be embarrassed by my ugly mouth

I had people coming up and saying hi and it finally dawned on me that my hat was a “brand”. Everyone kept saying they saw my hat and came over to introduce themselves, as I had asked ahead of time. I lot of the bloggers did not look like their profile photos and this old man struggled all night long trying to see who was who. A few that I talk with regularly like Charu Suri of the ButterflyDiary.com, Michael and Nicole of SuitcaseStories.com, Pola Henderson of JettingAround.com, and Alexandra Kovacova of CrazySexyFunTraveler.com I recognized immediately. Others I had to read their badges and at times even that was rough as my eyes are not what they used to be.

Charu from Butterfly Diaries

Alex from Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler (This may be worse than my photo with Maria–my darn mouth)

Pola from Jetting Around

As the hours flew by it all became a whirlwind and I realized it was time for the “Senior” travel blogger to retire! I knew I had a jaunt back to the hotel and decided to use the men’s room on the way out. As I left and was climbing back up the stairs a voice asked “Are you Mike”? I turned and had absolutely no idea who had approached me “leaving the men’s room”. I was a little nervous to say the least. He showed me his badge and I almost fell over. It was Ted Nelson of TravelingTed.com , but he didn’t have his hat or sunglasses on and I didn’t put two and two together until I looked at his badge! We both got a big laugh. I asked someone passing by to take our photo and we were on record (of course if you know Ted, you know he had a beer in his hand)!

Traveleing Ted, the beer man!

I walked home wondering what the next day would bring and how the “Virgin” would handle his first ever #TBEX conference. Time would tell! I have to learn to keep my darn big mouth shut for photos, if I learn nothing else from the conference!!!

Nicole and Michael of Suitcase Stories, with Emma of “Got to Keep Moving”, in the Center

Lately I have been questioning whether Social Media platforms really desire being used by the little guy or is it just an avenue of PR for the wealthy and famous to play around with? I have had serious issues with three systems in the last week and touched on a fourth issue with another platform.

Once upon a time, I was young and stupid. I thought you went along to get along. I worked over forty years (yes I am old!), in the retail industry and it was a dog eat dog, aggressive business with only one factor in mind. Make more money for the company. There wasn’t any compassion, or understanding that Sometimes Life Throws You Curveballs. Life in reality, is a fantastic roller coaster, and it has a magnificent way of balancing order. In the end it corrects most of the punches thrown your way.

I was almost hesitant to agree to lunch with Stephen Oddo, as he is actually a few months younger than my oldest son. I received very impressive recommendations though from both my mentors Where in the World is Lola and Leah Travels and decided what the heck? Stephen is the co-founder of Walks of Italy and its CTO and Marketing Director currently.

What could I lose, except a lack of communication, from our age gap and maybe a slice of ego, since he was less than half my age! We met and I felt very comfortable with him immediately. He promptly started relaying advice, inquiring what areas I needed help in and asked me what I was trying to accomplish! It was almost an overload, as this young man moves at light speed and his genius of a mind, operates at warp speed!

#1 “Move your blog to WordPress yesterday” and get rid of that crappy platform you are using now! (I actually have been working on converting, but am just slow these days with my activities–I think it is an age thing maybe! Ha!).

-Has more flexibility

-Plug-Ins are free (I love free!)

-Pingbacks are a given and do not have to be written in the HTML language like your existing format

-SEO capabilities are praised by Google’s Web Spam Team

-Multilingual for better Global reach

#2 Define your NICHE. What is it you want to write about and what is it you like? Well…I like travel and food and would like to build my traffic sufficiently enough to have ad income.

-Have you made contact with DMO’s (Destination Marketing Organizations)

-Have you made contact with PR people in hotel chains and other related TRAVEL networks

-Have you made contact with local, province/area/state and country TOURISM boards

-Publish daily whether just photos, blogs or recipes

-Is your niche going to be luxury, middle of the road or lean more towards budget travel

#3 Collaborate with others in your niche.

-Make connections with other Boomers

-Publish photos

-Publish recipes

-Ask questions when you post across social media platforms (you will receive a great deal more interaction)

-Contact local area bloggers and learn from them. Schedule lunches, drinks, etc and ask questions at every get together

#4 Go to #TBEX and maximize your time.

-Network your rear end off

-Putting a face with a blog or platform is so valuable

-Do “Speed Dating” and ensure you have your message defined for the speed dates

-Make sure you have data that identifies what age groups are following you, to offer PR speed dates

-Give out business cards as much as you can (“Your cards have your links and you might be surprised how many have no links, including their websites”)

#5 Take advantage of the Baby Boomer group you are a member of and channel it to your benefit.

-Voice Boomer attitude and ensure Travel associations are aware that the Nomadic Texan is growing in this area and my goal is the be THE authority in the Boomer generation

-Contact travel discount sites (Expedia, Kayak, Priceline, etc) and establish a relationship. Boomers use these platforms to book trips, etc

-Understand the SEO needs of your age group and consider hiring an SEO Service provider to assist you.

-Learn the keywords and phrases associated with Baby Boomers and what will drive them to your site. For instance, there can be a high chance that your website could be large and can be associated with highly competitive keywords. In such cases, you may need to conduct a large-scale seo campaign that can improve the rankings of the site.

-Explore areas that Boomers will use that are NOT frequented by existing bloggers and take advantage of these opportunities

I have been considering participating in Couch Surfing for some time. The majority of the surfers are of the younger generations. I wasn’t sure if anyone except the occasional individual with no luck locating a couch, would really desire to stay with us and use an inflatable air mattress as their bed. I was very wrong and have stumbled upon a media site that is more “social” in nature than some sites I have been on for years.

Our first surfer was Allan Flynn a young lad (49) from Canberra Australia and an architect by profession. We waited Friday night for his arrival, not really knowing what to expect or what the experience would be like. I was surprised when I announced I was doing this on other social media platforms and received a ton of posts, that indicated I had better be careful. They “wouldn’t do this in a million years”. Some were young and I least expected this response from that generation.

Obviously, if I will pick up and go to Ecuador and other parts unknown, I will take a so called risk and have a complete stranger couch surf with us. When Allan arrived he rolled down his car window and stated “Good day mate” (They really say this!). Immediately Allan made us feel comfortable and at ease. I was greatly relieved that he was such a gentle person and always wanted to fend for himself. His instinct was to do tasks, to pay back the use of our house. We acquiesced the final day and allowed him to wash our cars,

On Saturday we toured the state Capitol building and he was obviously elated at its construction and history. We joined a tour in the rotunda and listened to part of the spiel. I haven’t been inside in many years and it was very nice to revisit our state’s heritage and the fashion it was formed. My most embarrassing moment, was when Allan asked what number state we were in joining the Union. My mind went blank and we had to ask the guide! Do my fellow Texans know?

Most of all I was completely knocked over by the hardware on the doors, the size of the door jambs, windows and the tile put down in the 1930’s. I was amazed at the longevity of various furniture, sections of the building and felt a deep reverence and appreciation for my home state. Allan kept stating that I should remember “everything is bigger in Texas” when we would see a looming doorway or imposing window. I asked him, well what do you reckon happened to me, given I am only 5’7″ tall, if I stretch!

We then toured 6th street and SoCo later Saturday afternoon. He was able to see what keeps Austin Weird! I love showing visitors my home town and having their feedback. We saw this character sitting on the street in SoCo and it made me remember one of the reasons why I love Austin so much.

Sunday we took Allan to the Oasis and it was truly an oasis (very little water in Lake Travis and it looked like a dessert in places). He really thought the establishment was a design feat and kept taking various photos on different levels of the restaurant. I took this one of him as he tried a “local” beer and he thought the beer was sweet. He drank every drop though!

There was a charity car show in the parking lot and we were able to see a vast inventory of old cars, sports cars and muscle cars from the late 60’s. Truly brought back special memories for me, if you remember my ’69 Camaro 396″. This one is a ’67, but close enough!

It was a very enjoyable weekend and I was sorry to see him drive away this morning. I do know though, that if I make it to Australia one day, I have a place to stay and a place where I will revisit a friend, made through this wonderful web site. Can’t wait for #2 on Tuesday night! Safe Travels and Saludos mi amigos!