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Why I Loved the Women In Travel Summit in Boston

April 7, 2015 By Katie MacLeod 12 Comments

Press Trip Panel at the Women in Travel SummitBloggers Solo Mom Takes Flight, Kidventurous, The Voyage Vixens, and Adventurous Kate dish out advice.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The 2015 Women In Travel Summit (WITS), held this year at the Revere Hotel in Boston, was my first experience of a travel blogging conference.  Prior to the Cosmo Blog Awards last October, I had never even met another blogger – what would sitting in a room of 300 of them be like? I was about to discover the answer.

From building your brand and selling your work, to the ins and outs of web development, nothing was left off the schedule for the weekend, organised by Wanderful (previously Go Girl Travel).  There were three strands of workshops, geared towards entrepreneurs, bloggers, and travellers, with titles like “How to Make Google Like You”, “Decolonizing the Blogosphere”, and “Building a Blog and a Career That Will Last.”

Dina Yuen, an author, chef, and keynote speaker at the event, advised one blogger – who asked how she stays dedicated as a writer – to “zero in and forget about the financial aspect.”  Catrice, the charismatic ‘Boss Lady of Branding’, told us to “find something that stirs your heart and soul. What tickles your soul? What would you do if you had to do it for free?”  What all the WITS speakers had in common, whether they were talking about branding or business, was their insistence on the importance of being true to yourself, in your travels, your business, and your day-to-day life. (Pretty sound advice, whatever industry you’re in.)

Fun at the Photo Booth at WITS15

Having fun at the photo booth!

The workshops were informative and helpful, but instead of the no-nonsense, business-only networking I had been anticipating, I found myself making friends. Laughing with Mel and Eileen over lobster rolls and nachos. Strolling with SanTara through Boston’s charming Copely Square at sundown. Swapping Shanghai stories with Vy. Getting overexcited on learning that Leanna and Ashley had been to Lewis. Sharing travel tales with Chelsea and Katherine and Shannon and more women than I can possibly mention in one post.

We drank cider from Finger Lakes Wine country at the welcoming party at Boston’s We Work office (and posed with props at the photo booth).  We ate Vietnamese food at the edge of Chinatown; stuffed ourselves with sandwiches near the South End at Flour, the city’s trendy bakery chain; and indulged in lunch at Boston’s famous Legal Seafoods (hearty helpings of good food were a bit of a theme for us during WITS).

This, for me, is what travel is all about: the people you meet.  At the Women In Travel Summit, I felt as if I had met my tribe, fellow women who love to travel and tell stories and take far too many photos of food before actually eating the stuff.  It was inspiring, supportive, and oh-so-much-fun.

So if you’re wondering whether to attend the Women In Travel Summit next year (in sunny Irvine, California), or indeed any travel-related industry event, I’d say go for it.  If you’re determined, it will be professionally productive, and if you’re open to it, you’ll find more than a few like-minded attendees alongside, ready to join you in eating, exploring, and photographing your way around a new city.  I did, and it was one of the best things I’ve done this year: roll on #WITS16!

Map scarves by Shatter the Looking Glass

The sure-fire way to win a traveller’s heart: give out map-printed scarves, as Natalie of Shatter The Looking Glass did.

Have you ever been to the Women in Travel Summit, or a blogging conference?

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Comments

  1. Rachel says

    April 7, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    Yes! I had so much fun too, like way more than I expected. Everybody was super friendly and SO interesting. It was great to meet you! I’m very jealous of your lobster roll and your visit to Flour, by the way. Next time…

    Reply
    • Katie MacLeod says

      April 10, 2015 at 3:30 pm

      It was great to meet you too, Rachel! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed WITS as much as I did 🙂 Flour was so, so good – the cakes were amazing!

      Reply
  2. Mel Hattie says

    April 7, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    We ate SO MUCH GOOD FOOD! The mark of any successful adventure. Great summary – I can’t wait to reconnect with everyone in California next year. I think this weekend kicked off a lot of long-term friendships.

    Reply
    • Katie MacLeod says

      April 10, 2015 at 3:33 pm

      Haha completely agree – food is definitely a good hallmark of a successful trip! And yes, I’m looking forward to California already (though hopefully we’ll run into each other somewhere in the world before then!).

      Reply
  3. Holly @bravecheesehead says

    April 7, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    This is a lovely recap! Such great pictures taken, too! 🙂

    Reply
    • Katie MacLeod says

      April 10, 2015 at 3:34 pm

      Aw thanks Holly 🙂

      Reply
  4. Shannon (Camera & Carry On) says

    April 7, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    Yay!!! Thank you for the mention 🙂 I’m so proud to have made your list and memory bank, haha! It was a great weekend and I’m sure you know, you made a lasting impression in me as well. Thank you for the lovely chats and being a new friendly face in this overwhelming world of blogger personalities. <3

    Reply
    • Katie MacLeod says

      April 10, 2015 at 3:36 pm

      Thanks Shannon 🙂 It was lovely to meet you, hopefully see you soon somewhere on the East Coast!

      Reply

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I'm Katie, an expat Scot in the States, and the journalist behind Stories My Suitcase Could Tell, the travel blog which inspires you to explore the world. Read More…

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