How to meet your favorite blogger (as long as it's me)

I love meeting readers, for a lot of reasons. It lets me get a sense of what kind of people are attracted to this site, and what they like about it. It gives me an unparalleled chance to learn since, as I'm fond of saying, every travel hacker knows something you don't know. And of course it's nice to be reassured that there are really human beings out there reading my blog and not just bots pulling my e-mail address for spam directories.

I've now met quite a few readers all around the country, both during my own vacations and while attending (slightly) more organized gatherings like the Saverocity DO's and TravelCon II last year. With that experience under my belt, here are some tips for what you can do if you'd like to meet me in person.

Follow me on Twitter

I live on Twitter, as my Twitter followers will warn you, and I usually tweet about my upcoming travel destinations and while traveling, depending on my access to the internet. That's the best way to find out where I am and where I'm going.

If we'll be in the same place, contact me

You can direct message me on Twitter, or send me an e-mail, and I'll usually get back to you in pretty short order, again depending on my internet access and how busy I am.

Suggest one or two concrete times and places

This is typically the key hangup. I don't know your city, I don't know your geography, I don't know what you call downtown versus what I call downtown, and if we have to do a bunch of laps back and forth while I'm on vacation, I'm gonna lose interest real quick.

But as long as you're specific about some times and places you'll be available, I'll usually try to join you for at least a beer or two.

Blog subscribers are also invited to subscribers-only meetups

At the suggestion of a long-time subscriber, about a year ago I started holding subscribers-only meetups, which are chances to hang out not just with me but with fellow travel hackers who have decided to support this site through a monthly blog subscription. So far I've held subscribers-only meetups in Chicago and New York City, and the feedback has been terrific. After all, my readers have a lot more to teach each other than I have to teach anybody!

And of course don't be offended if I can't make it

I take my vacations seriously, which means a lot of sleeping in, a lot of site-seeing, and a lot of late nights. So I might not be able to find the time to meet with readers on any given vacation. It's me, not you, so don't take it personally!