My reflection on #TBEX11 @journeywoman keynote #TBEX

I had the pleasure to listen to Evelyn Hannon (@JourneyWoman), one of the premier storytellers and travel writing resources for women worldwide (and a Canadian, to boot!). Her keynote was incredibly inspiring, because her main message was, without a doubt, a call to stay true to your mandate, to your values and to your own self. It’s really easy to get caught on the shiny stuff, on the amazing media trips that we can get invited to do.

It’s easy to get caught on issues of monetization, of wanting to make our travel blog the best and most accessed blog worldwide, on the fame and fortune. But listening to Evelyn talk about how she came back from a divorce, from having a life of travels with someone she loved and how she continued to travel solo, and how she built an amazing audience from scratch. She invested $1,000 on her travel magazine/site and it’s grown from there.

I think I already got out of TBEX what I needed. A reminder that staying true to oneself is the most important thing to do. That we can survive heartbreak and sadness, and that we can thrive. Evelyn Hannon is the premier example of that, and for your wonderful keynote, Evelyn, I thank you.