Travel Bloggers Meetup 2015 #TBM2015

This was the first time I ever joined Travel Bloggers Meetup by Sedunia Travel, although the event itself is not new to travel bloggers in Malaysia since it’s first gathering in 2012. Each year I’ve heard of the new things my travel blogger friends have learned from these meetups and each year I couldn’t spare the time to join, until this year.

When and Where?

I first saw the news about the Travel Bloggers Meetup 2015 on Twitter by a fellow travel blogger whom shared a link of the Facebook event. I RSVP-ed at the last minute too, since I only found out my appointment on the event day was cancelled. Luckily, there was still a slot for me. We were asked to RSVP for the event – easier for them to get head count and to prepare the free food and drinks.

Calavera Bar & Restaurant

Located at Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur, my trusted Waze companion brought me right to the doorstep of Calavera Bar & Restaurant (okay, maybe I had to circle the place one time because I missed the turn – it was a one way street – and it wasn’t Waze’s fault). The first thing I noticed when I was outside the bar was the human skull paintings. Why? The name Calavera, fancy as it sounds is Spanish, translates as “skull” in English. There are many colourful and pretty skull photos and mural in this bar.

Greeted by the friendly staff of Sedunia Travel, I registered my name, wrote it on a name tag and received a goody bag. The name tag was taken for a “fun game later” so the next thing I did was head over to some friends who was already there and started mingling with some of the other guests.

We had an hour, between 3pm-4pm to mingle, make new friends and just hang out to settle everyone comfortably.

Games and Talk Session

When we first arrived, our name tags was kept for a game session. After an hour of mingling and settling down, the first session began with an ice-breaking game.

Travel Bloggers Meetup 2015

The names that we wrote on our tags were placed in one big box before we have to take a name tag (not our own) and look for the owner of that name tag. I got myself a Muiz but along the quest of finding Muiz, I met a Michelle, RT, Crip, Vlad, Masitah, Bella (another Bella) and Salhan. It was a lot of fun actually. I eventually found Muiz but before that I managed to joke with Vlad from Romania on him being Count Dracula, talked to Mas about her recent backpacking trip and maybe secured myself a slot (or two) as a guest writer in this near future.

The talk session started soon after, with a panel of four speakers, three of whom I am already associated with and the fourth, I just met on that day.

Travel Bloggers Meetup 2015Travel Bloggers Meetup 2015
Panel of speakers seated from left : Menk, RaW, Anis, Jard

The theme of the talk session was “6 degrees of travel” and it was a very relaxed and interactive Q&A session.

I recalled that one of the ways to get a cheap place to stay is by being a part of the couchsurfing community. So far, couchsurfing has had good feedback from budget travellers or backpackers and the community is growing. I, personally, have never tried couchsurfing. The cheapest place I’ve stayed at during my budget travels are hostels. I am not a backpacker however, and I don’t usually look for the very lowest travel of plans.

TBM2015 Travel Bloggers Meetup

There were so many other topics that was talked about. The speakers also shared their experiences and moments of “terror” that they were involved with.

Menk was in Nepal during the disastrous earthquake in April this year and he shared how sad it was to see the loss of families, lives and homes. RaW shared with us that Syria was one of his favourite places to go to, before the war, saying that it was beautiful and serene. Anis advices us that the best way to learn about a foreign city is to make friends with the locals because most locals are friendly and very helpful to foreigners – as long as we remember to be alert and careful always, too. Jard enjoys mountains and hikings so she picks Indonesia when asked what is her favourite country to go to and why.

But one thing I whispered to Irene jokingly before they wrapped up the talk was, “Does being a frequent traveler means we’ll be single forever?”

Well, because all the speakers are single and most of the travel bloggers at the Travel Bloggers Meetup are single too. *insert laughing icon*

Refreshments and Food

The Iced Lemon Tea free-flowed since 3pm and after the talk session we were also served cute and delicious finger food that I just had to help myself to a second and third helping (not that I was very hungry, they just tastes nice).

Travel Blogger Meetup

Mingling and personal Q&A sessions continued after that along with selfies, wefies and photo taking for Instagram contest (winning prize is an all-in paid trip to Krabi!).

There’s a saying that “When things are going good, time seems to run from you.” It’s true. Before I knew it, it was already 6pm and one by one, people were leaving the bar. It had been an amazing meetup and glad that I took the time to come and make new friends too. Hope there will be more Travel Bloggers Meetup in the future so that we can share more of our experiences and travel plans.

Thank you Sedunia Travel for organizing this event and thank you Calavera for the venue and food!

——

Calavera Bar & Restaurant
No. 13, Jalan Mesui, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : +60 3-2110 5303
Operation Hours : 7.30am - 1am

Written by 

LizzaBella is a part-time traveler, amateur photographer and videographer and writer. Connect with LizzaBella through her social medias today!

40 thoughts on “Travel Bloggers Meetup 2015 #TBM2015

  1. Aliza sara says:

    hey i was there too! but dont think i managed to say hi to you. Oh well, i guess theres always next time 😉

    1. Hey babe.. Ya I saw you, you were at the row of chairs but I was at the table with another group so didn’t get to chat. Maybe some other time, definitely. 🙂

  2. Aww.. The meetup looked so fun. Unfortunately had to miss it.

  3. Betty Liew says:

    i also at the event. Enjoying the meet up and gain different knowledge from travel blogger.

    1. You were? True, there were so many different experiences shared by different people right?

  4. how i wish i get to join such event. i know its going to be super fun 😀

  5. i love blogger meetups like that 🙂 good to have fun, makan makan and enjoy having the great people around!

  6. Interesting place for a meet up… reminds me of day of the dead and also spectre (007) hahaha…. too bad I missed out on this… =( I did not know about it until it was too late

    1. Maybe you can join next time? When I saw the venue of the event on FB, I thought it was pretty cool too. And it was! 😉

  7. I wished I can travel too >< But my work commitments doesn't allow me to do as freely… I shall stalk you your adventures from your blog then 🙂

    1. I try not to allow work overwhelm me and usually have to make the effort to take time off, coz I don’t wanna feel burnt out at my age. And because of that, I shall write more so you can have more material to “stalk” on my blog. 😛

  8. I would love to join the meet up too.
    Perhaps next year.
    Boleh belajar dari otai-otai cam Bella.

    1. I sangatlah bukan seorang otai. Jauh sama sekali.
      Tapi memang ramai gak travel bloggers otai at the meet. Next year kita gi sama2 yea.. 🙂

  9. Great event and great food. Hope to be invited to join next round.

    1. Yeah, indeed it was a great event. Hope to be able to join too next year and maybe meet you too.

  10. Look like a fun event. Wanted to go but I couldn’t because I was sick that day and driving down to KL was just too exhausting. Can’t wait for you to share more of your traveling adventures 😀

    1. Oh no, sorry to hear you were sick. Yes, will definitely be sharing more of my adventures – when I do have the time to write about all of them though. Hahaha

  11. My friend is an avid couch surfer and also hosts here in Malaysia, cheaper version of Airbnb concept la lol. But the fun thing about couch surfing is you get to meet more people in a short period of time because you are always on the go.

    1. I’ve never tried couch surfing before but I do hear good things about it, so far. It’s true, it is a great way to meet like-minded people from around the world, and not to mention, cheap too. 🙂

  12. Interesting meetup event where everyone get to share their travel stories, should do more 🙂

    1. Yea, I hope there will be other travel bloggers meetups or gatherings made by other associations to share experiences and stories.

  13. happening la bella. Travel bloggers also get to meet up in such nice settings such as this. I envy you!

  14. What a lovely meet-up session! It’s always fun to hangout with people shares the same passion!

    1. I couldn’t agree more. It really was an awesome meetup and a great way to make new friends too.

  15. Hi Bella, glad to meet you there too. It was quite information and enjoyable listening to some of the travel otai sharing session.

    1. Hi Kelly. Yup, great meeting you again sweetie. The ice-breaking session was fun and the stuff we chat about till late was nice too. 🙂

  16. so nice to have such meetups of like minded bloggers in the same niche. Wish I can travel more and write about it too.

    1. I guess each of us bloggers have our own interest and passion on the niche that we want to write about right? 🙂

    1. Haha. Nice meeting you too Dan! And proud to say I’m one of your avid readers now. Hehehehe

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