When I say IRL I don’t mean ‘Ireland’ but ‘In Real Life’
I was having a catch up over dinner with a friend last night, and she mentioned how she’d like to do some travelling in the USA. I was like, yeah me too!
There are so many things I want to see and experience there though. And more recently, I’ve been wishing I could encounter the people whose lives I read about on the blogosphere in real life. To have a face-to-face conversation. To see the environment I read about – I wonder if it’s how I picture it from what you guys write.
So getting out my old ‘Children’s Atlas’ (I don’t have a proper one – what kind of geographer was I?!) I started working out where I’d need to go…
I’d drive to North Wales where I could hang out with the Gill family and i61 church.
Second stop would be over to Ireland – Dublin to be precise to meet Alastair and catch up with my old uni friend, Emmet and meet the rest of the STIG for CF Ireland crew. I wonder if Connor and his fiancee could meet us there…
Then I’d travel to London, where I think I could meet Paul, Jason and their families. Extra cool points if they have another film themed fancy dress party. While in Englandshire, I’d try to meet ASBOJon and his wife, ASBOClare. Oh, Ben and Lucy too!
From London I could fly to New York City to catch up with my Aberdeen friend, Becky, I’d hope to see a few old uni friends all you crazy Americans who came to spend a year in Aberdeen (madness). But I’d be travelling through Virginia to North Carolina where I’d like to go along to Nags Head Church, and if I could schedule it so I’m there for Trunk or Treat that would be fabulous! Oh, and a stop off in Wilmington (where Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill are filmed) would be required.
From there, I’d go to West to Nashville, Tennessee, where Brandi and I would have a speed talking conversations ‘Southern vs. Scottish’, and I’d head to Cross Point where Brandi’s husband, Pete would be preaching. Maybe I’d get to meet the 2 Matthews whose blogs I read too.
From Tennesse I’d start heading more South, to Alabama to hang out with the Chia family, where Sarah and I would no doubt chat about pregnancy counselling, being not-so-girly women of God and I’d find out who this Dave Ramsey is they keep mentioning.
Then, I’d get to go down Florida to meet the honorary member of our smallgroup, Marla. I would, with her assistance of course, compare Starbucks in Florida with Starbucks in Scotland. We would of course put the world to rights.
Then I’d fly up to Canada to catch up on some reading at The Dusty Cover and meet Jamie, Kim and the Little Flowers Community in Winnipeg. And then visit some friends studying/working in Vancouver.
If I could, I’d go to Australia to catch up on some surfing, my family and of course any blog friends I’ve made who live there. (Can anyone introduce me to some cool Aussie bloggers?)
Then I’d head to Japan to meet Kamsin. She’d teach me some Japanese and show me how to take better pictures.
Then it would be homeward bound. Give me a day or two to recover from jet lag and I’d have to have an Edinburgh bloggers’ gathering. I mean there is one every Tuesday with my friends in ‘real life’ with TSTIAI, BOTJ, Duncan & Gavin. And I know Steve and Matthew too. But there are a few Edinburgh-based bloggers – Harrison, Lincoln, Keepfishing & Ulsterscot84 I’ve either not met or I’ve never really spoken to ‘in real life’ which is pretty shocking when some of them are part of the same church as me.
So there we have it…the bloggers In Real Life tour…!
That’s a lot of travelling.
C’mon down! Anytime. North Wales isn’t that far, and compared to Scotland, it’s practically tropical. I’m not sure how that explains today’s snow…
Aussie bloggers:
I am currently having my mind blown by Alan Hirsch’s book, The Forgotten Ways. His blog is also very good (if you are into organic systems and missional (in the non-trendy sense of the word) church).
http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/
I’ll be a cool Aussie blogger for you! Thanks for dropping in on my blog. I am intrigued as to how you came upon it if you don’t yet know any cool Aussie bloggers… : )
I’m honored. When’s the trip start?
And Dave Ramsey is a financial counselor in the U.S. He helps people get a plan for their money to get out and stay out of debt and build wealth, largely in order to give it away. Christians in America give an average of 2-3% of their income to the church, and he believes that it’s not because they don’t care about giving, but because they’ve bought into the consumer culture we live in. So, part of his thing is to free people from the bondage of debt so that they can be free to give. We’ve loved it, even though it’s often hard to hold to convictions and not buy stuff we can’t really afford.
He has a radio show that you can subscribe to at http://www.daveramsey.com/media/audio/podcast/podcast.xml
Come to Japan!! It’d totally be a blast!
One little Alan Hirsch drawback. He’s from Oz, but he’s living in LA.
@Jeff Yeah, I looked and saw that. He almost got to become my blog friend, but alas, he moved to USA. And he doesn’t really talk about what it’s like to live there. I need a bit of that in the blogs I read…!!
Also, my memory of North Wales was grey sky, rain and seagulls flying backwards. If that’s ‘tropical’ I’m worried!!!
@Prue – Confessional, last night with the realisation that I don’t know of any aussie bloggers I went on a hunt for some. The hot cross buns hit a nerve as I had a similar thing just after New Year when I saw HCBs and easter eggs on display. Lol.
@Sarah – when I have lots of money and get lots of time off work to do it?! lol
@Kamsin – I would love to!! it would be!!
I have a better idea…I’ll come and do the tour with you!!!! How fun.
You know it’ll turn into ‘The coffeeshop world tour’ !!
let us know if you make it to NHC!
Nate
@milepost13 – I’ll be not so tall Scottish girl, clutching a surfboard in one hand and a boxset of One Tree Hill in the other…!!
the kettle is on !!! don’t be long ….
B x
Wow. That’s quite a road trip.
Exciting, though. It reminded me that I’ve never thought “globally” until blogging. Blogging has drastically increased my geographic awareness!! And I’m so glad. I have a mental map in my mind, with little places that all of you are marked for. Makes me happy!
I hope you get your dream trip. I really do. I’ve made a few IRL trips as well, they are life-changing. And the IRL connections are just as real as the blogging ones. It’s powerful.
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