Chicago, Illinois Travel
Chicago, Illinois travel information. Guide to Chicago travel destinations, planning, and vacations. Photographs, videos, podcasts and articles about Chicago.
It was fun to record the latest Chicago episode. We had done a show like this one way back in episode 53 wth Mark Peacock from the Travel Commons Podcast (Marks is still podcasting too).
My business cards say that Amateur Traveler “covers everything from knowing what to put on your Chicago dog when you go to the Windy City to swimming with whales in Tonga”. Chicago is literally a part of the definition of what the show is about.
Since that show in 2006:
- I have actually been to Chicago. I didn’t get to Chicago as a tourist until 2009 when I visited with my wife for the first TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange Conference). We went up in the Willis Tower, ate a Chicago dog, took selfies at the bean, went to Wrigley for a cubs game, etc. We had a great time.
- One of the first major press mentions I got for Amateur Traveler was from the Chicago Sun Times. The Chicago Sun Times included the show in their list of 10 “Best travel sites” in April 2007:
“We’re thrilled when we stumble on diamonds in the rough like AmateurTraveler.com. This relaxed weekly podcast hosted by Chris Christensen offers travel tips, news and interviews with fellow explorers that provide that personal perspective missing from most guidebooks. A player embedded on the site makes listening convenient, and amateur videos provide front-and-center glimpses of some of Christensen’s treks.” - Chicago was the first place I met up with listeners of the show. We did the first Amateur Traveler meetup when I was there for TBEX. It was just 6 people but some had driven for 3 hours which floors me to this day. At least two of that group also joined me in Egypt for the first Amateur Traveler trip in 2010.
