Soultravelers3 Won 2 Lonely Planet Travel Awards!! Thank YOU!
April 07, 2009
For those who haven't heard, we just won TWO Lonely Planet Travel Awards and want to thank all of you for your support and votes. We won all three in the voting part which counted for 50% of the score and then the Lonely Planet judges count for 50% of the score. There was some really stiff competition, so we are really thrilled with these results.
We won BEST Microblog for our Soutravelers3 Twitter account and Best Themed for our blog here!
The day before they announced the winners they notified us and asked us to send an acceptance speech via video to the big party in San Francisco. We dropped everything and pulled together two videos which we hear were very popular that night and brought a few chuckles. We figured we would let the cutest one in the family do the speaking for us!
So now it is your turn to share in the joy and receive our tremendous gratitude for your support. They are just 30 seconds of fun and a way to thank you!
BEST MICROBLOG THANKS
BEST THEMED THANKS
We want to congratulate ALL the winners and All the nominees. Many of us gathered together on Twitter Search to experience it together around the world while it was "live". It was really fun sharing this experience with: National Geographic Traveler's @Janelle_IT_Blog @Marilyn_Res @Stefan_Art winners of Best Consumer Blog ( D.C. I think) ,@umarket nominee in Best Travelogue ( in South America), @nerdseyeview fellow nominee in Best Microblog ( in Seattle), @TravelsWithTwo fellow nominee in Best Themed ( who was at the event in S.F.), @kimmance from Gogalavanting in Chicago, @ericnicolaas from http://www.travellerspoint.com/ in Austrailia and many more.
It was really late in Spain, in the middle of the night, but I could not sleep, so got up and it felt like we were all gathered in the same room together. There is really a wonderful connection and collaboration in the travel community that has been so rewarding and enriching as we all share our passion for travel.
We also keep getting on lists and getting press much to our surprise and delight. We were so pleased to be part of this Bootsnall fantastic list of Travel Writers We Like on Twitter. I am tickled pink that we were chosen for their blog roll on Bootsnall Today as all the other blogs are the tops in travel like Frommer's and Jaunted.
We were also picked as one of the Top Ten Travel Twitterers by Nile Guide. We were listed in the Top 5 Twitterers of Each Country in the world based on number of followers for Spain. We were very happy to be featured in Best Family Travel Sites on the Net ,plus Six Travel Bloggers You Should Follow on Twitter and on 50 More Travel Blogs to Follow!
We certainly are getting much more popular than we ever expected. The only tricky part of this great news is that we are still learning how to keep up with all that comes with this. Sometimes unexpected success is overwhelming at moments.
Most travel journalists and bloggers are not doing constant travel and many have large groups of people contributing. Trying to document travel and share all that we are learning as we go and keep up with all the mail, interviews, other writing requests, homeschooling, research, our weekly volunteer work with the disadvantaged school kids that come with us virtually, social media and more is a challenge.
We haven't gotten half the things done that we thought we would during our winter time in Spain and now it is almost time to start moving again. All I can do is keep plugging away at it the best I can and perhaps give up my unrealistic expectations. We could stay in one place for ten years and we would never run out of material ( videos, pictures and written content) that we have already gathered and learned. We are not ready to stop though, so dear readers you will just have to bear with us getting up what we can, when we can.
I still have so much to share from last season's journey, yet I am trying to get us to Jordan, Egypt and Jerusalem soon before it gets too hot, so extra time is needed for research and booking. Mozart has loved taking her first online class through John Hopkin's University's CTY program, but it also takes up some time and energy from the whole family, just like her piano lessons and homeschool. We can't be plugged in all the time, or then what is the sense of traveling?
We do have some exciting videos coming soon and we will keep getting up as much as we can. We also hope to be going slower this year so that we can hopefully do more work on the blog as we go. Finding that perfect work/play/education balance is as important for world travelers who document their travels as it is for you at home. We thought we retired early and here we have a blossoming business that keeps growing by leaps and bounds, but does not make us enough money to hire help.
We are still looking for interns/volunteers. We would really love to find people that would be interested in archiving our photos and also someone to do detailed archiving of our site.
If you have any ideas or things that you are really interested in seeing, please let us know!
For those who haven't heard, we just won TWO Lonely Planet Travel Awards and want to thank all of you for your support and votes. We won all three in the voting part which counted for 50% of the score and then the Lonely Planet judges count for 50% of the score. There was some really stiff competition, so we are really thrilled with these results.
We won BEST Microblog for our Soutravelers3 Twitter account and Best Themed for our blog here!
The day before they announced the winners they notified us and asked us to send an acceptance speech via video to the big party in San Francisco. We dropped everything and pulled together two videos which we hear were very popular that night and brought a few chuckles. We figured we would let the cutest one in the family do the speaking for us!
So now it is your turn to share in the joy and receive our tremendous gratitude for your support. They are just 30 seconds of fun and a way to thank you!
BEST MICROBLOG THANKS
BEST THEMED THANKS
We want to congratulate ALL the winners and All the nominees. Many of us gathered together on Twitter Search to experience it together around the world while it was "live". It was really fun sharing this experience with: National Geographic Traveler's @Janelle_IT_Blog @Marilyn_Res @Stefan_Art winners of Best Consumer Blog ( D.C. I think) ,@umarket nominee in Best Travelogue ( in South America), @nerdseyeview fellow nominee in Best Microblog ( in Seattle), @TravelsWithTwo fellow nominee in Best Themed ( who was at the event in S.F.), @kimmance from Gogalavanting in Chicago, @ericnicolaas from http://www.travellerspoint.com/ in Austrailia and many more.
It was really late in Spain, in the middle of the night, but I could not sleep, so got up and it felt like we were all gathered in the same room together. There is really a wonderful connection and collaboration in the travel community that has been so rewarding and enriching as we all share our passion for travel.
We also keep getting on lists and getting press much to our surprise and delight. We were so pleased to be part of this Bootsnall fantastic list of Travel Writers We Like on Twitter. I am tickled pink that we were chosen for their blog roll on Bootsnall Today as all the other blogs are the tops in travel like Frommer's and Jaunted.
We were also picked as one of the Top Ten Travel Twitterers by Nile Guide. We were listed in the Top 5 Twitterers of Each Country in the world based on number of followers for Spain. We were very happy to be featured in Best Family Travel Sites on the Net ,plus Six Travel Bloggers You Should Follow on Twitter and on 50 More Travel Blogs to Follow!
We certainly are getting much more popular than we ever expected. The only tricky part of this great news is that we are still learning how to keep up with all that comes with this. Sometimes unexpected success is overwhelming at moments.
Most travel journalists and bloggers are not doing constant travel and many have large groups of people contributing. Trying to document travel and share all that we are learning as we go and keep up with all the mail, interviews, other writing requests, homeschooling, research, our weekly volunteer work with the disadvantaged school kids that come with us virtually, social media and more is a challenge.
We haven't gotten half the things done that we thought we would during our winter time in Spain and now it is almost time to start moving again. All I can do is keep plugging away at it the best I can and perhaps give up my unrealistic expectations. We could stay in one place for ten years and we would never run out of material ( videos, pictures and written content) that we have already gathered and learned. We are not ready to stop though, so dear readers you will just have to bear with us getting up what we can, when we can.
I still have so much to share from last season's journey, yet I am trying to get us to Jordan, Egypt and Jerusalem soon before it gets too hot, so extra time is needed for research and booking. Mozart has loved taking her first online class through John Hopkin's University's CTY program, but it also takes up some time and energy from the whole family, just like her piano lessons and homeschool. We can't be plugged in all the time, or then what is the sense of traveling?
We do have some exciting videos coming soon and we will keep getting up as much as we can. We also hope to be going slower this year so that we can hopefully do more work on the blog as we go. Finding that perfect work/play/education balance is as important for world travelers who document their travels as it is for you at home. We thought we retired early and here we have a blossoming business that keeps growing by leaps and bounds, but does not make us enough money to hire help.
We are still looking for interns/volunteers. We would really love to find people that would be interested in archiving our photos and also someone to do detailed archiving of our site.
If you have any ideas or things that you are really interested in seeing, please let us know!
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Congratulations! I just discovered your site via Twitter. What an interesting life! Kudos to you for following your heart to travel the world!
Posted by: AVCr8teur | April 07, 2009 at 09:29 AM
First, congratulations for the two L.P. awards. That's really wonderful.
Second, don't beat up on yourself for not doing enough on line. I am agog at all you do--pictures, videos, social networking and all superb, not just "what I did on my summer vacation." As a travel writer who can't manage an every-other day simple blog post when I'm on a trip, I think you are doing great.
Don't forget to enjoy your moments.
Posted by: Vera Marie Badertscher | April 07, 2009 at 03:27 PM
Congratulations!!!
Posted by: Karen (KayKay) | April 09, 2009 at 07:54 AM
Congratulations, you three!
Well done. Keep plugging away...it's all you can do. Chase down those dreams the best you can. It seems you are already giving over 100%...
xoxo
Posted by: Gillian | April 10, 2009 at 07:10 AM
congratulations. I've been following your blog for ages. and it's great!
The Travel Expert(a) and an Expat with a Twist
Posted by: marina villatoro | April 10, 2009 at 02:00 PM
Congratulations! I have enjoyed following your blog for awhile. Thanks to your example we are seriously considering taking a year to travel the world. Right now focused on moving to Italy, but looking ahead three or four years to plan a larger global adventure. Can't wait to hear/see more of your travels. You are an inspiration!
Posted by: Lucia | April 10, 2009 at 02:53 PM
Congratulations, again! Your daughter did a great job and had me chuckling.
Posted by: Peter Carey | April 11, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Once again: congrats to the LP awards, you certainly had earned them after all the hard work! I can imagine the shuckle, since Mozart is so enthusiastic cute in the video :-)
I also can imagine how much travel material you've got by now, because even though we're doing a trip here and there, we still have things left to tell and show, so you must have tonnes of stuff!!!!
I'm wayyyy behind in describing it all, feeling a bit stressed about that, so I feel your situation. Well, maybe it's the work we're supposed to do when getting older and not so movable any longer? *giggles*
Good luck with the planning of this season's trips. Take it easy. Remember: we won't forget about you even if you're not on the net for a while :-)
ENJOY!
Posted by: Lifecruiser Travel Blog | April 12, 2009 at 02:30 AM
Congrats to all three of you! :)
Posted by: Dominique | April 12, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Congrats again! Great speech by Mozart in the videos!
Posted by: Erica | April 13, 2009 at 03:49 PM