We’ve been blogging under the radar for a few years now, but we could never understand why our following would not pick up.  For the month’s leading up to the ECMeetUp, we would follow and keep a close eye on the event on social media.  Being a traveling family, we would always choose a solitary life in the wilderness somewhere.  There where we would be alone and make memories for us to remember.  Even though we were sharing our memories with fellow and potential travelers, we never saw the need to attend any events where you mingle with fellow bloggers.  Being adventurous, we decided to take the big step and signed-up for the ECMeetUp to get out of our comfort zone and see what all the fuss was about.  If you don’t attend, you will not be able to say that “you aren’t one for events like this”, and then simply crawl back into your cocoon and carry on traveling solo.  Even after buying our tickets, we were still looking for excuses not to go, but we took the leap of faith and there we were, all dressed up and ready for the high tea.  We have made it!

It was nothing like we expected and from entering the venue right through to the prize giving, everything was just so amazing!  The food was of a very high quality and the caterers from Petronella Fine Dining really did a beautiful job.  Port Elizabeth has just outdone itself once again and I am so proud to call this city our home (for one half of the Travelbucket team atleast)!  Not only is the ECMeetUp an opportunity to meet fellow bloggers, it is also the opportunity to collaborate with brands like Travelstart, the leading online travel portal in Africa!  Wow, what a privilege to learn from the knowledgable Kirsten Litsen and fellow blogger and influencer Lyle Scritten (VersatileLyle.com).  New ideas on how to improve our blogsite to provide better feedback to our followers arouse from their talks and working in collaboration with them, is a dream come true for the Travelbucket team.

The organisers of the ECMeetUp event know what they are doing and they sure know how to make you feel spoilt and important.  The goodie bag that we received at the event speaks for itself.  Popular local brands like Cape Mohair (mohair socks), Travelstart (Discount flight voucher), Nutristart (honestly the best cereal), and Five Roses (tea is our favourite beverage) to name a few, were onboard and us as travel bloggers could see how we could utilize every single gift in our goodie bag.  We like practical presents.  The competitions that were running on the day was mind blowing and once again Nutristart, HPH Publishing and Daily Dish, just to mention a few, have partnered with the ECMeetUp event to make this one of the events to attend in the Eastern Cape.

Nelson Mandela Bay is a city that is underestimated and underutilized in the travel industry.  People are often under the impression that because we are not an economic hub (although the motor industry is big in the area), that we do not have a lot to offer.  This incredible city is a gold mine of activities and so affordable.  Since one half of the Travelbucket team resides in the Garden Route, they are situated right in the middle between the beautiful Cape Town and the adventurous Port Elizabeth.  Having the best of both worlds, the logical go to city that has everything and more on offer, always ends up being Port Elizabeth.  Make no mistake, Cape Town is a world class city, but Port Elizabeth is not far behind.

Nelson Mandela Bay with Port Elizabeth at the centre point, offers you everything that Cape Town has to offer and more.  Sun, sand, sea, wind and eateries, but there’s more.  Nelson Mandela Bay boasts with the largest South African flag proudly displaying in the wind on  a daily basis, an hour’s drive from the only Big 7 National Park in the Country in Addo Elephant National Park, a world class horse racecourse in Fairview Racecourse (also the venue of the ECMeetUp), a beautiful coral reef to explore with one of the diving companies in the city, ziplining, segways, horse riding, sandboarding, boat trips, surfing spots, a very rich history (we are named after one of the world’s rolemodels afterall), Cheap flights to Port Elizabeth and best of all, friendly people – yes we are called the Friendly City!

To top all of this off, everything is affordable and aimed at family experiences, which makes it a perfect holiday destination and gives you a reason to prolong your stay to have the full experience.

Travelbucket has experienced a big variety of different cultures and activities during our travels, but we highly recommend making your flight bookings, jumping on a plane and making your way to the Friendly City for an experience you will never forget.  We have had a great time and we will definitely be making our way back to Port Elizabeth soon to bring you another few items to add to your bucket list.

The post TRAVELBUCKET MEETS TRAVELSTART @ ECMEETUP 2018 appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

We have been blogging for four years now and our Facebook Page will be celebrating it’s first birthday next month.  It was time to get out of our comfort zone and right into a very active blogging community in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and attend the EC Meet Up.  We have finally attended our very first #ECMeetUp and what an experience it has been!

The end of May and beginning of June was such a busy time for us and because of that we left the decision to attend the biggest blogger meet up right until the very end.  Once we reserved our tickets, we were well and truly on our way to get our brand out there for the first time EVER!  Up until now we were flying under the radar and were just “blogging for fun” (note that we very soon realized blogging is very hard work and for someone to take you seriously you really need to do some research to stay current and on par with what is happening in the industry), so we decided to check out this #ECMeetUp thing that kept on popping up on all our notifications.

We were going to enter the unknown in the sense that we did not know anyone, nor have we been to the venue.  We had no idea what to expect, but somehow we felt like two little girls all dressed up for our “high tea” (thanks to Petronella Fine Dining) and we were geared with pen and paper to learn everything we could from Megan Kelly Botha (By Megan Kelly) and the Travelstart team of Lyle Scritten (VersatileLyle) and Kirsten Listen.  The line-up was already something to look forward to, not even to mention all the prizes up for grabs, the fully stocked goodie bags and most importantly the networking opportunities to connect with fellow bloggers and brands in the likes of Chasing The Rainbow, Going Somewhere Slowly, Daily Dish and HPH Publishing.  It was time to put faces to names and the inspiration from these well-known bloggers did not disappoint.

Arriving at the venue one simply knew that this was going to be a super day.  There’s something about Fairview Racecourse that makes you feel like you are royalty.  Walking through the doors on entering the venue, one could immediately see some of the brands that got involved and you get a sense of opportunity straight away.  We did the admin and simply could not wait to put our smileys on for all the photo opportunities.  The food was top quality and there were plenty of time to mingle with brands and bloggers alike.  The competitions that were running was just great and you knew exactly what you entered for.  It was well structured and the prizes were out of this world!  As more and more people arrived you could feel the electric, excited vibe filling the room and all of a sudden one realize that it just became real.  This is it, we have arrived!

Standing at the window, reflecting on this confluence of Eastern Cape bloggers, you admire the beautiful greens of the Fairview Racecourse and are treated by a jockey practicing his horse on the track.  All of a sudden there’s a rush and it is time to learn from the best.  Megan Kelly Botha, Lyle Scritten and Kirsten Listen all were so informative and some insight was also shed on two projects that one could really consider getting involved in – the R2 Add Hope campaign from KFC and Project Nelson Mandela Bay – these guys are doing a great job of uplifting and caring for the community and we as bloggers give them a powerful platform to make their voice be heard.  The day was ended off with the prize giving and although we were 80+ people at the event, every single one received a prize.   It was incredible to see all the brands that came on board to make this day a HUGE success.

One of the highlights of the day was the awesome goodie bag we received, packed full of goodness, everything you need for your travels.  The products ranged from breakfast cereal from Nutristart to discount vouchers from Travelstart and beauty products (because we need to look good for the travel photos).  Brands like KFC and Mastertons were looking after our essentials in the form of headphones (yes tech is important) and caffeine products respectively.  The list is endless.

Thank you to the organizers Ellenor from JustEllaBella and Luchae from MySpreadsheetBrain for putting together such an amazing opportunity to grow our industry and support each other.  The experience we had really enriched our lives and inspired us to push harder to bring more relevant content to our readers.  It is events like these that grow you as a blogger and no matter where you are in the world, you will always find a like minded person with a different audience, sharing their journey and views with the public.

The ECMeetUp has definitley inspired us to get our gear on and hit the road again.

The post #ECMEETUP 2018 – THE EVENT TO ATTEND appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.