AAR for TBEX at Keystone, CO

Being a member of the military, After-Action Reports (or AARs) are considered a vital tool for learning about experiences and accumulating those "lessons learned."  Consider this my AAR for the Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference (TBEX '12) at Keystone, CO, which happened last weekend and totally rocked my world. I bounced up to Keystone from Monument (a suburb of Colorado Springs) last weekend with my mom, who is my editor and frequent travel companion, to partake in an excellent road trip and an amazing conference in one of the more picturesque locations in a state that thrives on jaw-dropping scenery.  (I took over 250 pictures... in 3 days.  I'm currently deleting all but the best and then I'll post them up here so y'all can live vicariously.  Or just go to the resort.  Up to you!)

My first glimpse of Keystone

Travelling while pregnant...

So, as of today, I'm 27 weeks pregnant (or almost 7 months).  Peanut is starting to make herself more and more known, especially when I give her some chocolate!  I have taken two flights and multiple road trips.  The biggest lesson I've learned is to LISTEN TO MY BODY!!!  If I can't handle a two hour road trip, which I used to scoff at as no big deal, then I need to accept that until I'm past the narcolepsy of the first trimester road trips of more than 45 minutes are a bad idea.  That took a while, and a few yells from passengers, to get through my thick skull.

Here's what else I've learned so far:

Sorry for the extended absence

My dear readers -

I'm sorry for the lack of posting.  I was having a LOT of fun learning how to be a blogger, finding my voice, and having a new excuse to travel.  Then, within the space of four weeks, I lost my day job, found out I was pregnant with our first child, said my final farewells to my grandmother, hosted my mom at my house for nearly a month, said goodbye to my husband for a few months, found a new part-time job as a substitute teacher, and had to let life settle down around me again.  Life, needless to say, has been hectic.  Unfortunately, because this was such a new project, it was the first and easiest thing to set aside until such time I could dust it off, shine it up, and focus on it again.

Well, hurrah hooray!  I think I've found my equilibrium.  Or, at least, things have settled enough that I can enjoy a fun summer of blogging before my latest creation comes into existence, and my life role changes from wife to wife and mother.  I hope this blog will change a bit, too.  My focus when I started was twofold: find fun day trips and weekend trips from my home in North Carolina with the ultimate goal of creating a local travel book for the Fort Bragg area; and, give my friends who go TDY (tour of duty) within the military community something of a guide for different locations.  Now I also hope to either include or spin-off a travelling with kid blog.  I PROMISE that Lost Compass WON'T turn into a Mommy-blog (I'll create another blog for the family updates), but I hope to post what I learn about travelling while pregnant and with kids... because to my great surprise, it has changed a few things.

So, thanks to all my loyal readers for sticking with me.  I'm sorry I've been silent for so long.  I have lots of articles in the works covering places from Orlando, to Miami, to Atlanta, and more!  Stay tuned, and I'll get those out soon!  But first, I'm at this glorious conference called TBEX '12 in absolutely stunning Keystone, CO for the weekend.  The pain I must suffer for you, Gentle Readers...  the pain.

Lynn