how to meet for froyo or cupcakes with blog friends

We've been on the road for over a week, and I've met up with FOUR blog friends IN REAL LIFE along the way. As I've mentioned before, my favorite thing about the blog world is the community. I find that most everyone is very willing to open up and share their blog journey. It's been so fun to plan a coffee, lunch or froyo date, meet in person and hang out.

In Missouri, I met Christa of C. Jane Create and Laura of Along for the Ride. They both work in higher education, as do I, so we met at the University of Missouri Student Center. Christa even gave me a tour of the student center and student union buildings and I think she saw my inner-geek shine as I peeked in the ballroom and commented on signage ((both parts of my 9-5 gig)).

When I arrived in Kansas City, later that night, I had shared an image of my frozen custard on InstaGram and Sandy of Sandy a la Mode was quick to pick up on my location. She tweeted me to see if I had time to hang out. We met later that same evening for froyo ((yes, I had two desserts that night))! We had a fun time talking about what got us started in our blogging journey and our love for connecting with people from all over the place through blogs and twitter.

As we drove west, I decided it would be fun to meet at least one more blogger along the way. I reached out to Mandy of Mandipidy who lives in the same city we were staying while visiting my family in Colorado. She and her sweet 10 month old daughter met me at a cute coffee shop in Old Colorado City. We got to know each other better while sitting in comfy chairs sipping our iced drinks. Then  we decided to take advantage of the nice weather ((low 80s with a lovely breeze)) and walked around a bit, finding a cup cake shop. We had such a fun time talking about everything from living in Colorado Springs to blogging ((and everything in between)).

Have you met any bloggers in real life? I haven't been able to go to a blog conference, but I have learned to make the most of meeting blog friends in real life when I travel. My first great experience with this was when I met Virginia last winter. Here are some tips for planning to meet blog friends in real life:

• Plan ahead, but be flexible. I usually send an email or tweet to see if they want to meet ((depending on how I know/interact with them otherwise)).  
• Use it as an excuse to try a new-to-you coffee shop or a favorite local spot. Who doesn't love the chance to try out the new cupcake place in town?
• Be ready to talk about your blog as well as other stuff. As much as we all love blogging, I think it's healthy to mix it up and be ready to go where the conversation leads ((read: I don't walk in with a list of questions)).

I've learned bloggers are just as friendly in real life, as online. So, if you're planning some travel this summer, why not take the opportunity to connect with a fellow blogger?

Have you met a blog friend in real life? What advice do you have?