Highlights for Kristin Luna

February 2018 Highlights: The Highs + Lows

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Happy February, folks! It’s my favorite month of the year, though I might be a wee bit biased (hello, Pisces).

It’s funny how my life goes: Some years, I only find myself doing public speaking gigs once or twice for the whole calendar year, but this year, I’m already booked for three—and it’s not even March yet!

Hiking in Zion National Park

Most notably, I’ll be speaking at Nomadic Matt’s brand new conference on the business of travel media, TravelCon, in Austin in September. There are going to be 70+ speakers, some of them my dear friends and long-time industry colleagues, and I could not be more excited about this! Do you remember, KEEN Digital Summit, the one-time conference which I founded and produced five years ago? It sounds like what Matt is doing is what we set out to achieve (only, our business partner bailed and left us in severe debt, grrrrr), so I couldn’t be more stoked to support another friend’s vision.

The second event of the year I’ll be speaking at is Alabama’s PR conference, PRCA Distilled, in April. I’ll be doing a panel with my friend Matt Maxey from Visit Franklin, and it should be a great discussion on the future of influencers and content marketing strategy. (In case you don’t know, on top of working on the influencer end of the equation, I also recruit and hire influencers for other brands and for some of our regular clients.) If you’re in Alabama, I hope you’ll join us April 16-17!

And now, a look back at February, when I somehow only spent a total of eight nights in hotel rooms or rentals, yet feel like I wasn’t at home at all.

HIGHS

I went to Utah! This was my third straight year to go to St. George, Utah for a content project in Zion National Park, only this time I got to check off a bucket list item: hiking the Narrows!

Hiking in Utah with Friends

I finished a huge project for Conde Nast Traveler. Man, that felt good to officially submit the last of it as this consumed a solid two months of my life and I definitely bit off more than I could chew with this gig.

I wrote a piece for Universal’s blog. Though my time in the #UORBlogSquad is over (sad!), I do have one last piece that just went live: a couple’s guide to the Universal parks.

I kicked off the month in the Lone Star State. And in case you missed it, I wrote the ultimate road trip guide to Texas in addition to a post about Hamilton Pool and other cool swimming holes we encountered while there.

Highlights in the Life of a Journalist

I turned 35! I know, I know, I don’t look a day over 34. (You’re sweet; I’m blushing.) It seems like just yesterday, I was writing my turning-30 post. I don’t feel any older, but the mirror and those crows’ feet seem to indicate that I have, indeed, aged! I feel like 35 might be my best year yet.

We’re currently in California! Surprise! When we saw $96 fares one-way from BNA to SFO, we pounced on it. Even more fun is that four of our Nashville favorites were all on our flight out, and we’ll be staying just six blocks from them on the second half of our trip. We’re doing our own thing this trip, though, and not feeling like we have to see everyone we know and do all of the things. This trip is for us (boom).

Highlights in the Life of a Journalist

We’re just days away from my niece, Charlotte Rose, arriving! Not that anyone is counting or anything….

LOWS

I miss Ella. The one downside to all this travel is that our girl hasn’t been with us nearly as much as we would like (*sob*). And sadly, the rest of the year looks like it may shape up to be like that. The upside to this downside is that she stays with my parents and her blood mom and brother! So don’t feel too sorry for her; she rules the roost over there.

What was a major win for you in February?

All of my past monthly highlights can be found here.

COMMENTS
  • February 28, 2018
    Britt

    TravelCon sounds like so much fun! And it seems like all the ~coolest~ travel writers/bloggers will be there!

    You’re in the Bay Area now? Fun! We’ve been getting some chilly weather over in Sac, so I can only imagine the cold over there now. I’ll be in Oakland this weekend, so I suppose I’ll find out!

    • March 6, 2018

      I am! It was FREEZING the first four days, but today was so nice I stripped down to just a sports bra and leggings at the beach.

      Hope you had a nice Oakland weekend!

  • February 28, 2018
    Ris

    Love that picture of you in the red dress in front of Gruene Hall! 😉

    • March 6, 2018

      Thank you! That place is so photogenic 🙂

  • February 28, 2018

    Happy belated birthday! February was a pretty slow month for me, I was getting ready for all the trips I have planned in March!

    • March 6, 2018

      Ooooh I can’t wait to read all about them!

  • February 28, 2018

    Oh thanks for sharing about TravelCon! I just signed up to go – sounds like a blast!

    Happy belated birthday and congrats on all the cool gigs! And I totally know what you mean about missing the pup when traveling – it’s the hardest part of going away.

    • March 6, 2018

      Oh, that’s so exciting! Hopefully, I’ll get to meet you in OKC in June and then you’ll have an IRL friend at TravelCon come September 😉

  • March 1, 2018

    Wow, Travelcon will be great! Congrat’s! I hear you, about the not being with your baby. Us too! We have a Pug (Morty).
    Biggest “win”, finally made a decision to move to Ecuador!
    Morty will be a challenge, but hubby said we will get him there even if we have to row a boat! HA!
    Have fun in Austin–Love that City!!

    • March 6, 2018

      Moving to Ecuador—wow, that’s HUGE! I’ve only ever been to the Galapagos for a very quick stint, but I definitely want to get down there and see more. What an amazing adventure for the three of y’all!

  • March 1, 2018

    I’m so excited for TravelCon! My biggest “win” for February was a trip to Costa Rica–totally amazing. Happy birthday!

    • March 6, 2018

      Ooooh, that’s awesome. My cousin works for a non-profit in CR and I’m going down there at the end of the year to shoot a project for her and couldn’t be more excited. Looking forward to seeing you at TravelCon =)

  • March 4, 2018

    We loved your piece on the Ultimate Road Trip Guide to Texas. We recently fell in love with Gruene and can’t wait to return! Thanks for sharing!

    • March 6, 2018

      Isn’t it just the coolest ever? I mean, I’m from Tennessee and get my share of country and bluegrass, but I just LOVED our afternoon at Gruene.

  • March 16, 2018

    I always, always miss my dogs when I travel. They’re also getting older and I want to be sure I spend as much good time with them as I can possibly get because they are the greatest creatures and I’m so lucky to have them in my life.

    • March 18, 2018

      Ella’s only 7, but I think about how I miss her every single day we’re apart! Why can’t a) dogs live forever and b) go with us everywhere?!

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