Traveling. Writing. Writing while traveling. Traveling to write something.

I’d really love to do that. I mean, that would be the best way to live my life, for me. I am passionate to do both until the day I die, so to speak. So naturally, I stalk travel blogs and do a lot of arm chair travel as I am strapped to my 8-6 job day in and day out, 5 days a week. My first real life meeting with a travel blogger was back in 2010 when Kristin Luna of CamelsAndChocolate.com and she was amazing. I learned a lot from her and amazed at her stories. I also found out how becoming a travel blogger is not easy as it seems from the outside. It is hard work.

A few days ago, I had the chance to meet another travel blogger in person, Michael Hodson of Go, See, Write. I and other members of the media as well as few other bloggers met with Michael at Shayan Persian Restaurant, Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana.

Michael started his “blog”, or online journal, largely focused on sharing the story of his travels when he left his job as an attorney in the US in 2008 to circumnavigate the world without getting on an airplane. 

Did that get your attention? I bet he’s been asked “how?” a thousand times over.

It was interesting to hear stories straight from the horse’s mouth, per se, than just reading about their experiences. And it doesn’t hurt that we were listening to Michael in a cozy Persian restaurant serving authentic Iranian dishes. If you haven’t been to Shayan and trying to fix that Persian food craving, this is a place to visit (it’s worth the traffic to Deira if you’re traveling from the Marina – though that can be solved by taking the Metro!).

Listening to Michael talk about his adventures, I still hope to travel as extensively as I can, taking the kids for sure. There are many travel bloggers/writers, most of them going to places solo. I would want to take the challenge of traveling with kids in tow (yep, I am crazy) to show people that, that too, can be possible. Go to far places, take photos, write, enjoy. Repeat.