Earlier this month I attended the first-ever Tweet Camp Chicago. Being the geek that I am, I of course toted my Flip camera along and coerced persuaded a few people into talking.

I also had the pleasure of speaking alongside the bright young innovator Craig Kanalley (@ckanal) who founded BreakingTweets, for a session on creative ways journalists can use Twitter. The keynote speaker was Scott Smith, editor of Playboy.com (@ourmaninchicago). He's not shown on the video only because I was so enthralled by his talk, I completely forgot to paparzzi him.

It was a fun and lively event and definitely worth attending -- and not just because food sponsor @Ramon_DeLeon was there feeding us pizza and introducing me to the wonder of phenomenally delicious lava cakes (seriously, I drool every time I think of those now).

Another one of the sponsors was Office Port Chicago (@OfficePort), which has since become my new office home base. The downtown address and unique co-working idea was just too tempting for me to pass up. They just opened the Chicago location in late August and I hope they get their site re-designed soon, since it doesn't do the artsy, loft-like office space justice!

Apparently I'm a sucker for lava cakes and loft office space.

Tweet Camp Chicago was held at Columbia College Chicago and co-organized by Maura Hernandez (@MauraHernandez) and Keidra Chaney (@kdc). All the event's proceeds went to the Association for Women Journalists - Chicago (@AWJ_Chicago).

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Kim Mance is editor of the online travel magazine GoGalavanting.com and host of Galavanting.tv. She's based in Chicago, IL and some of her other writing can be found at MarieClaire.com, The Huffington Post, and Babble.

What do you get when you combine five kids and a little teacup Yorkie? ...Hours of endless enjoyment!

The kids have been ecstatic and also extremely careful around our new little addition, "Rocksie". The spelling is intentional because our house was named Boulderstrewn by the eccentric geologist who built it.

Some people say Yorkshire Terriers aren't the best dog for families with kids, but so far it's been the perfect choice for us. We talked with the breeder about its personality and we had the kids read up on how they have to take care of her.

Much fun. Welcome to the fam Rocksie.

This is a special guest vlog post from my five year-old daughter Abby. She's entering a contest run by The Children's Place clothing store on kids with great style...They're promoting their new summer collection, and Abby was all too happy to give all the reasons why she loves summer, and summer clothes :).

I'm not gonna lie though, I have no idea where she got this interest, genetically speaking. But I'm supportive of her inexplicable love for fashion anyhow. Besides, at five years-old, she's already really handy to have along while shopping. Her dear 'ol mom is usually the one needing vast amounts of style and wardrobe help when shooting Galavanting.tv episodes. I'm usually so focused on the travel plans or getting the right shots, I completely forget to do my hair or put on clothes that match.

Leave Abby a comment, she'll be really excited to read them!

I'm off to film a few more Galavanting episodes -- one on Rome, one on Tuscany and another on hiking the Cinque Terre trail. It should be a blast, and I'm relieved to have gotten my renewed passport in time. It's pretty snazzy (and a little creepy), I tell you all about why in my vlog post.

The Rome episode may of course include a joke or two from Katy and me about women having to cover their shoulders (during a visit to the Vatican), but men not needing to cover their penises (with condoms to prevent aids during sex in Africa) -- according to the Pope. Please direct all hate mail to our PO Box.

Anyhoo, what are your favorite places in Rome & Tuscany...or what do you most want to see when you someday visit?

I caught up with Rick Steves at the recent New York Times Travel Show. He's an expert on European travel and has hosted PBS' Rick Steves Europe for thirteen seasons. He answers what he thinks international travel will look like in 2009, and how it may be different from previous years due to the economic slowdown. His take: "some people are hellbent on traveling".  

He also discusses his new one-hour special on PBS in Iran and an upcoming book, Travel as a Political Act.

 See our full itinerary with links to the places we stayed here >>