2011 has been an incredibly blessed year for me as a travel blogger, and as an author and speaker! I would like to summarize and express gratitude for all the wonderful things that have happened in my life due to my writings this year. I’ve also experienced some truly amazing international vacations and domestic road trips.

The year started off with a fun road trip to Philadelphia(Philadelphia) in January. Historic landmarks and great vegan food and desserts filled my itinerary. The month ended with my first overseas holiday of the year to Iceland(Iceland). Though the weather was too warm and overcast for the northern lights to appear, there were many sights to make it a memorable trip! Icelandic ponies, geysers, and volcanoes dotted the landscape. Viking museums educated me on Nordic folklore and culture.

In February, my attendance at The Boston Globe Travel Show presented me with the opportunity to meet PBS tv and radio’s travel host “Rudy Maxa”. He graciously asked to interview me for his travel tips, PBS radio program: “Rudy Maxa’s World”(Rudy Maxa Interviews Me). That was definitely one of the highlights of my year! I shared travel tips for vegans on air, for a program that was broadcast online internationally! Much to my delight, it was also re-broadcast in December, as part of a “Best Of” yearly series!

Other road trips throughout the year included Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Baltimore. Historic sights and landmarks, museums, culture, and vegan food were on my must-do list for all of those destinations!

During this past year, I self-published my book “How To Travel The World As A Vegan”, available online through Amazon.com(as regular size(Regular Size) and as kindle download(My Kindle Book)) and through Barnes&Noble online. It is also available through my mini-site (How To Travel The World As A Vegan). It has presented many wonderful opportunities for me this past year!

This past summer, I was ‘hired’ to be the Boston area’s ambassador/vegan restaurant reviewer for VegDining.com. Several vegan websites also interviewed me including VegDining.com(VegDining Interview), nationalrvparks.com(RV Parks Interview), and veganmainstream.com(Vegan Mainstream Interview).

Hostelling International also invited me to teach a workshop on “Vegan Travel Tips” in February of next year, being held at REI Sports in Boston.

Another huge honor that came to me as a result of my vegan travel writings was that I was contacted by a Hollywood publicist who asked me to interview her client, Phil Collen: lead guitarist of the phenomenal 80’s rock band “Def Leppard”! I was given great concert seats and a backstage pass to receive a private tour of the sitting area and tour bus with Phil, then to attend a private, backstage party(Interview with Phil Collen of Def Leppard Backstage)! It was a thrilling highlight of my year!

In the Fall, I was contacted by a tv executive from TBS. He notified that he would give my vegan travel tips book to a Hollywood actor!

My website and blog also won a “VegOnline” award!

This past summer/fall, several Vegetarian Societies across the USA extended invitations to me to be a speaker at their annual VegFests(Northern Connecticut Vegetarian Society) next year or at their upcoming, monthly meetings. I am quite excited about this!

In early October, I was asked to speak and to be on the roundtable for the “Meet, Plan, Go”, career-break, travel conference(Meet Plan Go). I was on the speaker’s panel last year. My task was to represent vegan travelers and solo, female travelers, and to answer any questions related to those topics whenever guests came to my table with questions.

Also in October, I launched my new online business “Vegan Honeymoons”(Vegan Honeymoons). I offer the entire honeymoon package including airfare, eco-friendly sightseeing tours, and vegan-friendly accommodations.

In November, I took a vacation to a country I had never visited! I traveled to New Zealand(New Zealand) for one week, with a several hour layover in Australia(Australia)! That journey meant that I had finally reached my sixth continent as a traveler! I started the year visiting Reykjavik, Iceland… the “northernmost” capital city in the world and I ended the year visiting the “southernmost” capital city in the world.. Wellington, New Zealand!

December brought some new opportunities for me also. I was invited to speak at the “Boston Foodie Social” holiday event(Boston Foodie Social)! The host interviewed me onstage, regarding my vegan travel tips book.

In summary, it was indeed a fantastic year as a vegan travel blogger, author, and speaker! I eagerly look forward to my travels, blogging, and speaking engagements at travel shows and vegan festivals in the upcoming year!