This week I’m embarking on yet another trip with my two children. No, I’m not certifiably insane. Yes, I am glutton for punishment. Luckily this time the flight is direct and I have practice… Right?

I’m going to a blog conference–Blogalicious to be exact. Heard of it? I’ve wanted to go for years but my work schedule, and vacation time restraints just never allowed for it. Now that I’m unemployed/ self-employed, whatever you want to call it… I can take my work with me. In a last-minute decision I’ve hopped on the chance to finally go.

This is the conference’s fifth year, and it’s in Atlanta once again (that’s where it was their first year). So I’m extending the trip a little bit so I can also visit my mom, sisters, and best friend after the conference.

The last conference I went to was EVO in 2011. Before that I went to BlogHer twice. I’ve always gone with the hope of having fun, and maybe learning something along the way. Sure, connections would be nice too, but I had no idea what the heck I was doing with this here blog. Actually, I still sometimes find myself scratching my head and wondering what in the world I’m doing.

It’s been a great run. So far in my five years of writing here I’ve had almost no strategy whatsoever. I’ve mostly been flying by the seat of my pants, but I’ve managed to you know… Do some pretty fun stuff, like get featured on the Today Show, host fun giveaways, and contribute to other blogs and websites. Now, I’m hoping that if I actually think of some ideas, set some goals, and maybe even form some kind of a plan I could do even cooler things. What that is… I don’t know yet, but I hope to figure that out at this conference and come back invigorated, inspired and ready to breathe new life into my space.

I’m also helping produce their first ever #DearBlogalicious video featuring words from many bloggers who have a Blogalicious success story they want to share.

I hope some of you are going too! I’m excited to meet more people I’ve been connecting with and I’m not going to lie–idolizing online. Let’s just say there are a couple of natural hair YouTube celebs I hope I’ll be seeing there.

If you have any questions about blogging you’d like me to take with me let me know and I’ll be happy to share in my recap post! There’s more than enough good stuff to go around, and I’m all about sharing the goods.

Tags: blog conferences, blogalicious, blogging, goals