Digital Parents Conference (on a cruise ship)

Just a quick post with a heap of links if anyone is interested in reading more.

Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Digital Parents Conference on the Carnival Spirit Cruise Ship. Now that was an experience! I had never been on a cruise ship before and was interested to see if it’s the kind of holiday we could do as a family.  While there are many great and FUN things about the cruise ship experience, my initial reaction was no: I don’t think it’s something we would particularly enjoy as a family (we would prefer the freedom of a road trip; my husband and I are the kind of people who tend to like doing our own thing rather than joining in with structured programs).

That said, I know of many families who adore the cruise ship adventure and I can understand why: all the food you can eat; a variety of fun programs for every age to enjoy; a vibrant and fun-filled atmosphere.  For us, it would be a fun one-off holiday, and I do think I would like to take the kids on a cruise ship one day, because it is COOL and all the volume of food is extraordinary (which means a break from cooking)!  I met the stylish Carolyn from Champagne Cartel at the conference and she summarised essentially my own pros and cons of a cruise ship holiday in her post here: Is a Cruise Holiday for You?.

What I Wore

Day 1

Day: Floral knee-length Mombasa Skirt – navy singlet & beige cardigan from Big W – with big brown belt and my Echo Shoes.

Night: Sacha Drake Grecian Dress {gifted} (Australian Designer)

Day 2

Day: Maiocchi Fairground Attraction Dress (Australian Designer)

Night: Sacha Drake Grecian Dress (worn a different way)

Day 3

Day: Emerald sleeveless button blouse with jeans –  and a big brown belt (for travelling home).

Meeting People

I roomed with Zoey Martin (from Operation Move, The Shake, Zoey Martin) and Karen Andrews (Author and blogger at Miscellaneous Mum).  I’ve met both Zoey & Karen before and I loved spending time with these interesting, intelligent & inspiring women. Here we all are trying out the running track on the top of the ship.

Megan Blandford and I chatted about our love for travel and camping, and seriously, this woman is an absolute stunner (so beautiful).

I connected with Kat from The Organised Housewife in the early stages of her blog over 3 years ago and I’m so proud of all she’s achieved. She’s wonderful and amazing and the most lovely person!

I caught up with Kate from Laughing Kids Learn, Chelsea from Moments A Day and Deb from Learn With Play At Home – I often connect with these ladies online and it was brilliant to meet them in person.

I didn’t get a picture but I had the best chat – you know those people who you just start talking with like you’ve known them your entire life? – with Seana from Sydney Kids Food and Travel (her face just makes me happy) and Lisa from Button Brain (who makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts). Did we cover some subjects in a short space of time! Love those girls!

The Conference

I won’t go into the details of the conference here, but if you’re interested, Katrina Chambers wrote a fabulous summary about the conference here, and her experience on of the cruise ship here.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference: the atmosphere was intimate and relaxed, and each of the speakers left me with things to ponder.  It’s always good to chat to people who enjoy blogging as much as I do. You can be all geeky about it and no one minds! (Thanks so much to Brenda and the DP team!!)

Speaking

Over the last couple of years I’ve discovered how much I enjoy speaking. This is surprising because in the past, I’ve been terrified of public speaking (still am just a bit). But like many things, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.  And I love sharing things I’m passionate about, and blogging is one of them. It helped that I was speaking to such a good humoured audience.

I met many wonderful people and I wish I had time to mention everyone here but must go.

Blog on.