My Blogger Babes BFF Wishlist

Men can have Bromances, right? So, as a straight woman I should be allowed to have girl crushes.

And I do. But not a “Single White Female” type of obsession or a starstruck, fan crush on a celebrity like Beyonce or Madonna.

No, I love Blogger Babes.

I don’t mean “I kissed a girl and I liked it,” type of love; I mean these are some seriously cool chicks who I would absolutely love to be BFF’s with.

These women are adventurous and funny and brave and bold and they always say and do whatever the hell they want. These are women you want to dance on tables with, eat the worm at the bottom of the bottle together, and get kicked out of bars with.

These femme fatales are the kind of women you want to watch “Absolutely Fabulous” with while eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s or get thrown in a Mexican jail with.

Okay, maybe not, but if you did ever get falsely arrested in another country or shipwrecked on an island with somebody? Having one of these crazy girls with you would make it not only bearable, but you’d probably figure a way out of the situation and have fun at the same time, laughing hysterically about your experience together.

Well, these are my girls. This isn’t my “Favorite Female Bloggers” list. There are bloggers I love because they’re amazing writers, and I love reading their posts and following them on their adventures.

This is different; it’s my BFF wish list.

They also happen to be incredible bloggers. (Check out their websites!) For different reasons, I am blown away by them. They don’t just inspire me to travel or plan my next trip by giving me tips on how to do something on a budget or try a new exotic food, they have such vivacious personalities they make me want to travel with them! These are the girls I want to hang out with when they’re home because they seem honest and real and genuinely nice; the opposite of the kind of women you say gossiping and screaming and fighting on Bravo reality shows.

If I could have my own Paris Hilton-like reality show (God forbid) and have 10 of the coolest, craziest, sexiest, funniest blogger babes as my best friends, they would be it, and here’s why.

Vicki Winters

http://vickiwinters.com/

Last year I walked into a blogger party after the NY Times Travel Show. I was damn uncomfortable. Although I “knew” these people, like Nomadic Matt and Gary Arndt and Dave and Deb from The Planet D, I didn’t “know” them. I’d read their blogs, followed them, and had even taken trips because of something specific they had written online. But we were strangers, and I am not exactly the life of the party I’m here, let’s mingle kind of party goer. And it isn’t like I could have a few drinks and relax to loosen up; I don’t drink and I hate bars!

So I hesitated at the door that let into the back room where the private party was being held. I could hear the music and people talking and laughing, but I was frozen at the door. Paralyzed. I was gripped in fear, and couldn’t take another step.

Those little voices in my head instantly drowned out the conversations and music around me. You know the voices, like that character Smeagle from “Lord of the Rings”, the one who changes personalities back and forth in a heartbeat, saying things like “Master loves us…” then, “No, Master’s evil. Kill Master, kill him!” Well, my Smeagle was saying, “You have a great blog, go in there and meet people!” but a second later, I only heard, “Are you crazy? These are real bloggers. They’re smart and successful and are Masters of SEO strategy. How many followers do you have besides your Mom? You don’t even know where Kyrgyzstan is, hell, you don’t even know how to spell it. You call yourself a blogger?”

Suddenly, in the middle of the debate going on in my head, a petite little fireball rushed toward me, greeting me, and the strangers standing behind me as if we were old friends she hadn’t seen in awhile. She was wearing an odd winter hat with floppy ears, unique, 1950’s style glasses, fishnet stockings, and a sexy miniskirt. I had no idea if she was 15 or 50, but whoever she was, she was full of energy and charisma and wasted no time handing out her card. Her name was boldly printed across the top, and underneath her tagline boasted, “The Video Blogger With ADHD; I’m All Over the Place!”

I fell in love with her instantly.

Vicki refused to let us into the room until we all took out our cell phones and downloaded Snapchat. I was stunned into submission and immediately obeyed as she insisted we do it and do it now. She then set out on a mission to prove to us why we as bloggers must all begin using this social media platform right away. She shared some of her vlogs with us from Burning Man, and around NYC. Her brand is so successful because she embraces her eccentricity and ADHD, and people love her for it.

I don’t know if I’ll ever warm up to Snapchat, but I went out and got a camera and new cellphone and finally started creating videos for my site. Because of Vicki I was able to push my Smeagle voice aside and have fun that night with bloggers I’d dreamed of meeting for years.

Julianne

www.Itsfivehere.com

You know how you hated the pretty, popular blond cheerleaders in high school? Okay, it’s just me, right? Anyway, when you meet Julianne in person, you want to hate her, you do, she’s just so damn…perfect. She’s beautiful and thin and smart. But when you get to know her, you realize that she’s also cute and perky and adorable. She’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. When she asks you to tell her about yourself, she looks you right in the eyes and listens, really listens. You can tell she really cares and wants to hear how you are and what you’re dreams are. She’s not just asking so she can jump in as soon as possible to talk about what she’s doing. But boy, the things she’s doing! She writes about travel in a way that is so unique, I can’t think of any blog that is like hers. I don’t drink, ever, and I love her blog! Her Instagram photos are so stunning they’d make Bill W. fall off the wagon.

She’s a fairly new blogger, but don’t be surprised if you start to see her name popping up on “Best Bloggers” lists really soon. She may not have a million followers (yet), but her fans seem to have fallen in love with her charming personality and her blog the way I have. She’s definitely a blogger I want to hang out at a bar and swap travel tales with.

Gloria Atanmo

theblogabroad.com

This woman is funny as hell. She will not only make you want to visit every single country she goes to, but she’ll have you laughing hysterically as you read about her experiences there. She’s especially humorous when she replies to mean, racist or sexist comments from assholes.

Gloria is cool and gorgeous, but not at all the typical stick figure, blond bikini model type of blogger popping up all over Instagram. She flaunts her voluptuous figure in stunning sundresses and wears jewelry and hats to die for, but she tells you how to do it with just one carryon.

Gloria’s blog posts will have you laughing your ass off, but her photography will have you drooling, wishing you were in the places she makes look like perfect postcards.

I have not gotten the courage to actually meet her in person yet, but the next time she’s in the same time zone I’m going to invite her to lunch so I can bask in her fabulousness ad hope some of it rubs off on me by osmosis.

This is one woman I’d love to have as a mentor and a friend.

Oneika the Traveller

This Jamaican-Canadian award-winning blogger is one you probably know already, but if you don’t, look her up asap. She’s been to over 100 countries and makes it her mission to inspire women and people of color to travel and explore the world.

It’s easy to see why she has so many followers when you first go to her blog. You can also follow her by checking her out as the host on the Travel Channel.

My reason for wanting this media personality/ journalist to be my BFF goes beyond her talents as a blogger. I find her personality and her politics fascinating, and I think I could learn much from her.She’s intelligent and pretty savvy when it comes to current events and politics, so you won’t just hear about a hot new hotel and restaurant in Rio de Jenerio, but she’ll also point out that other people have encountered dangerous situations, including a fellow blogger who was shot in Brazil.

She writes about injustice and racism and the crappy part about travel, too, like the time she was mugged in Egypt.

Onneika is real, and that’s refreshing in a sea of Instagram photos where nothing is ever as it seems. I would love to hang ut with this woman and just learn about life and love and travlel ‘

.