Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Why?

People note how often I go to meetups with other bloggers and ask why I do it.  The answer is simple -- I want to make friends!  I want to deepen my friendship with promising online acquaintances. 

Experience has taught me that you don't really know someone until you meet them in person.  Being in their physical presence quickly tells you stuff you'll never learn online.  Like how pleasant they are, how fit they are, how they carry themselves.  In five minutes, you quickly grasp a person's basic nature and social aspirations.

When you encounter someone on the Internet and they seem nice, why wouldn't you want to get to know them better?  That, I believe, is a better question than the one posed to me.

Next weekend, I'm taking a long motorcycle trip up north to visit another blogger whom I've never met before.  Her name is Aimee and she blogs at the humbly-named, Just Another Crafting Blog.  I admire Aimee's exceptional skill at sewing but, even more, I like her personality.  She's sweet, welcoming and full of joy.  Everything I look for in a friend. 

Last January, Aimee sewed me an apron which is cuter than cute.  I blogged about it in deservingly gushy terms.  Check out that post here.

I'm looking forward to some time in the saddle.  Riding a motorcycle on long trips is fundamentally different from buzzing around town.  Your mind moves into a different mode.  If I hadn't experienced this, I wouldn't have believed it.  Your brain, freed of normal concerns, meditates on its own.  You get the deepest thoughts while riding for hours, ideas you can't pump out in the hurly-burly of regular life.

Have you done a blogger-meetup?  Do you want to?  Unless you live on Mars, there's a possibility I could knock on your door some day and ask you to join me for a cup of tea.

27 comments:

  1. Motorcycles scare me, but your experience during long rides sounds amazing! Enjoy your trip. I love meeting blogger friends in real life. Maybe someday we will be lucky enough to share a cup of tea with you!

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  2. I like doing blogger meet ups. Wink wink! I hope you have a great trip.

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  3. How fun that you can do a motorcycle drive to go meet her!! I love blogger meetups, some of my blog friends have transitioned into real life off the internet friends! Maybe someday you will come here and we can share a beer!

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  4. I wish more people lived my neck of the woods - I have met up with several bloggers and a couple of readers. Hoping to meet up with Shawna soon!

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  5. She is CUUUUTE. You should come to MICHIGAN. Do it. You know you wanna.

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  6. You are always welcome here in Canada! I admire that you are so open to meeting new people. I wish that I was the same, but I'm very shy and hesitant to open myself up to others. I am too afraid of rejection I guess. I hope you have a lovely time with your trip and visit!

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  7. I've always thought to myself that the next time I head to NYC, I'm going to make a point to grab lunch or something with you. (Drinks at the ice bar?) I tried to do a meetup with a Canadian blogger I've befriended, but timing and finances didn't work out. And I did meet a Texan blogger who, by pure serendipity, moved to my town. And she is a darling. My fiance says we're kind of the same person and it's weird to see us talking a mile a minute together :)

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  8. I've met several local Winnipeg bloggers. And yes, being in ones personal presence tells you so much about someone, doesn't it?

    I get a bit nervous at blogger meet-ups for that very reason...how will I be perceived by the other party? What are their preconceived notions about me based on what I choose to share on my blog? I try my best to let that go though and just be myself...

    Lisa.

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  9. So when are you planning your Canadian tour? I remember your apron post and how happy the apron made you. I"m so glad you have made such a lovely friend and hope you have a wonderful time when you visit. I am a bit out of the way and not able to travel much myself so not expecting a lot of blogger meet ups in my future, but am expecting to get to meet Sheila in September. I'm looking forward to that!
    xoxo

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    1. Sheila told me she's only about three hours from you. I'm glad the two of you will get together.

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  10. I love your description of riding on two wheels. I agree, and I love feeling one with the machine. It's empowering to me.
    I'm going to go check out Aimee's blog. I'm just learning how to sew!
    Nice to see your blog again, I've been away for a while...

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  11. Of course I have a deep and personal relationship with some of my blogging buddies (Wendy and Alison) however I would LOVE to meet you dear Ally and maybe some day Wendy and I will be able to do that!!! Then I would have to pop up the continent and go and meet Shawna!!! But closer to home I would like to arrange a trip to Port Elizabeth to meet my blog friend Lynette.

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  12. I'm relatively new to blogging and already can't quite believe how much I look forward to the comments and chat from my new bloggy friends. Maybe one day I'll meet one or two of them, but at the moment the thought's quite scary. Real life? A bit different from the online one....! I really like your Blog btw.

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  13. I always attribute the thing my brain does while being in motion to the fact that the eyes never rest on anything for very long. Somehow that frees the mind, and creates a perfect zone for reading/writing/thinking. I am apparently not the only travelling writer who has noticed this, since Amtrak gives train travel (my favorite mode) "scholarships" to writers.

    On the other thing, you and I are 180 degrees opposite. I love the feeling of mystery and freedom of being anonymous, or pseudononymous which is what I'll be with my next blog (coming soon).

    That is NOT to say that we don't still have a date next time I'm in New York!

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  14. After my first trepidation about meeting up with Sue when I was in BC a couple of months ago I am full on for the blogger meet-ups. I leave soon for Amsterdam where I'm going to meet up with 3 different bloggers. I'm so excited!

    There are great tea houses in southern Ontario...and amazing scenery...hint hint! ; ) Also I'm only 1.5 hours from Niagara Falls.

    I'll catch up with you upon my return : ) Have a great meet-up.

    bisous
    Suzanne

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  15. I've done two blogger meet-ups! I went to Nashville to meet http://spashionista.com/ and we had a great time at the flea market.

    And of course my big meet up with Lynne who came here to my town to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Frankenstein with me.

    I want to meet more people, but I live so far away! And have no social life these days.

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  16. This sounds like it will be so much fun! I bet the ride will be very peaceful and how great that you've met so many of your blogger friends! I haven't met anyone yet because I'm kind of reclusive (like your friend a few posts back) but maybe one day I will get out there and meet some of my blogger buds!

    Have an amazing and safe trip!

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  17. I insist, you're gonna break a Guiness Records :)
    I love to see that making new friends make you happy.
    Hugs.

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    1. You were one of my first -- and that good experience spurred me onward.

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  18. i don't know many (fashion) bloggers here. PLUS, IF and WHEN people come to hawaii, they are on vacay, and the last thing they want to do is take time out for a blogger meet up! so....my meet ups are rare. be safe on the road and look forward to hearing about your meetup!

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  19. I have met other bloggers before and really liked all those meetings. With some, I even still meet up regularly (without posting about it). Meeting like-minded people is never a bad thing!

    Have fun on your trip!

    -Kati

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    1. Thanks. And, like you, I've turned some bloggers into friends whom I stop posting about when we meet again. It's wonderful when that happens.

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  20. I love the idea of blogger meet ups and I hope it is amazing for you. I have only ever met one blogger in real life and it was a lovely experience. I would definitely be up for doing it more often but I just don't know many bloggers in Sydney.

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  21. How fun! I agree, there is nothing like being out on the bike. You can take everything in and fully experience it. Suzanne and I are thinking about meeting half way between our homes to meet up at some point. Halfway would be Buffalo...exciting stuff, right?! Maybe you could drop by when we do. :)
    Debbie
    www.fashionfairydust.blogspot.com

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  22. Getting to Virginia wouldn't be a very pleasant ride for you, but the roads around here would make it SO worthwhile. I still sort of pinch myself when I go for local rides. The Virginia Piedmont region is stunning.

    I still want to get up north one day... :-)

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  23. You're always welcome if you ever make your way down to Alabama, just be prepared to eat!

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