"A Primer on VT Meetings" Personal Page by frankcanfly

What is a VT Meeting? There are often misunderstandings about what goes on. There is no definitive answer, because they are all different.

In theory, a VT meeting consists of a group of travellers and virtual tourists that get together and talk about their experiences on this earth; an exchange of knowledge.

Sometimes the meetings take on the mood of the host, or maybe the mood of the host city. They can be an exploration and informative about local culture, and they can be strickly a party. The biggest 'party' meetings seem to be located in cities populated by many VTers. Some of them are just plain silly.

Often a VT meeting can be between two individuals and begin in a coffee shop, but most are larger groups. I've experienced all types of meetings. You can certainly browse these pages and get the wrong impression, but you can look further and see that there is truly a compradery among VTers.

Since I travel for a living, I've had many VTers show me around their town when I pass through. I always get the local perspective, and it's always rewarding.

When Mark (acemj) gave me a driving tour of Charlotte, much like the driving tours of Baltimore I've given so many others, I realized the significance of this website. It really is about TRAVEL. It focuses on the culture of people, the history of places, and the things that you should really see when you are visiting. Since then I've been given the insight to so many destinations, and turned virtual friends into real friends.

I've discovered that VTers that join the site, and contribute to make it a better site, are often very interesting people. Actually, I've only had one negative experience.... sorry, no names.

So browse the VT meeting pages, but take it all with a grain of salt. VTer's are silly sometimes, and they joke about everything. Sometimes the jokes are clean, sometimes they include sexual innuendo. Sure, your perception is your reality, but things aren't always as they appear either.

Boston VT Meeting -

See the Travelogue

Catherine and I organized this one. It consisted of a pleasant dinner and a walk around downtown Boston.

Toronto VT Meeting -

See the Travelogue

This was one of those silly meetings, hosted by Laura (Hayward68). It was focused on a beer festival (clue #1) and attended by beer lovers (clue #2).

I saw Dave & Norine 2 years later in Kansas City while passing through.

Washington DC VT Meeting - See Travelogue #1 and Travelogue #2

There was a sniper on the loose in Washington during this meeting, did we care?

Stephanie came to town from VT headquarters, and we got T-shirts! I met Chris (cjg1) and Tania (skye0820) here, and have seen both of them many times since. Chris has become the King of VT Meetings, this one was his first.

After a few false beginnings, I finally made it to San Francisco to meet

Rochelle and Jessica

They suggested the famous EL MANSOUR Restaurant in the Richmond section of San Francisco. Plenty of finger foods, belly dancing and beer. G_G also passed 'Baton_West' to me, to bring to Chris in NYC.

Baltoberfest VT Meeting

I hosted the first annual "Baltoberfest" meeting in my hometown in 2003. We had some great Cuban food, cruised in the water taxi and explored on-foot until after dark. oops, I completely missed the opportunity in 2004, but wait until Oct 2005!

Intercourse, PA VT Meeting

Here's another Silly Meeting I hosted. We just went there because of the town's name. Nobody in this photo is normal.

Probably one of the most upbeat VT meetings I've been to; the

% [http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1f822/dc8fa/] Toronto Party %L* VT Meeting in September '05 was a blast! That's two for two in Toronto!!