great takes on family travel in the U.S.

I am a Twitter addict. And I’d love to see the broader Travel community and blogosphere adopt this tool as a great way to connect and communicate.

What is Twitter?

At first glance, Twitter looks like a microblogging tool that seems pretty ridiculous because you post to your “Followers” (people who look at your updates) and have to keep the posts under 140 characters! As a result, I didn’t get it initially. But in fact, Twitter is actually more like a cross between a chat room and a social network, and some people have characterized it as a global water cooler conversation.

Want to learn more about Twitter? See this great video from Common Craft to understand what Twitter is all about!

What is the T-List?

We’ve been big fans of the T-List, a list of great travel blogs. The T-List has many founders and contributors, including Kevin May of Travolution, Mathieu Ouellet of Radaron, Jens Threanhart, and Guido van den Elshout at HappyHotelier. (Sorry if I left out the many other T-list contributors).

Introducing the T-List for Twitter - the Travel Twitterati

Over a Twitter chat with @HappyHotelier, we birthed the idea of a list of Travel Twitter people, sometimes called Tweeple, Twitterers, or even Twits! So HappyHotelier created a great NetVibes page with his list of Twitterati.

Using my list and HappyHotelier’s list as a starting point, I then spent way too much time to manually look for other travel bloggers by seeing who is Following whom. I then added them to the list below! (If you want to be added to the list, just contact me by adding a comment, messaging me in Twitter, or emailing me at elliott (aat) uptake (dott) com.)

Without further ado, the Travel Twitterati! (Last updated 4/15/2008. Total people and companies = 112)

Note: this is work in process! It was a time suck too because to my knowledge there are no good automated tools to find people with similar interests.

Who qualified? As long as people seemed interested in travel or related to the travel industry, and had some activity on Twitter, I added them to this list. And anyone who contacted me. I felt a more complete list would be more valuable to the community than a more “selective” list. So decide who fits your interests the best and Follow away!

List I - People
alew Alan A. Lew http://alanalew.com Flagstaff, AZ
albertbarra Albert Barra http://www.albertbarra.com/ Barcelona, Spain
Blogontravel ehotelier http://www.blogontravel.com/ France
Chrispitality Chris Clarke http://www.vacantready.com/ Cairo, Egypt
ClaudeBenard ClaudeBenard http://hotelitour.com/ Marseille
Cortomaltese Carlo Alvarez Spagno http://www.carloalvarezspagnolo.com/ Barcelona
eduwilliam eduwilliam
elliottdotorg elliottdotorg http://www.elliott.org/ Orlando, FL
EverywhereTrip Gary Arndt http://everything-everywhere.com/ Australia
explore Explore Blogs http://www.exploreblogs.co.uk/ Farnborough, UK
Glennia Glennia http://glenniacampbell.typepad.com/ Bay Area
GlobalNomads Silk Road Nomads http://www.silkroadnomads.com/ Global
grah Graham Garland http://q.artho.us/ Gold Coast, AU
HappyHotelier http://www.happyhotelier.com/ The Hague
Horizonte24 horizonte24 http://hotel-horizonte.blogspot.com/ Palma de Mallorca
HotelBlogs Guillaume Thevenot http://www.hotel-blogs.com/ London
indiehotelier Michael Chaffin http://www.michaelchaffin.com/ Colorado
jensthraenhart Jens Thraenhart http://www.tourisminternetmarketing.com/ Vancouver, Canada
karenbryan Karen Bryan http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/blog UK
Larroyo larroyo http://www.sinctrl.com/ Madrid
mathieuouellet Mathieu Ouellet http://www.radaron.com/ Quebec City
Parkylondon Paul Parkinson http://www.thisweekinlondon.co.uk/ Sidcup, Kent, UK
passengersonly http://www.passengersonly.com/ Los Angeles
PhilCaines Phil Caines http://tourismtide.blogspot.com/ Vancouver
samiwasnt http://www.travellerspoint.com/ Oslo
selectworld Lee Harrison http://www.selectworld.travel/ Great Malvern
SheilaS Sheila Scarborough http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Seafarer/ near Austin, TX
soultravelers3 soultravelers3 http://www.soultravelers3.com/ Spain at the moment
stephenjoyce Stephen Joyce http://www.stephen-joyce.com/ North Vancouver, BC, Canada
tarabrown Tara (Tiger) Brown http://getbusy.wordpress.com/ Seattle, WA
TerminalAcom TerminalA.com http://www.terminala.com/ Barcelona, Spain
timothychughes Tim Hughes http://tims-boot.blogspot.com/ Sydney
traveladdict traveladdict http://www.collidingcontinents.com/ Washington, DC
ToddHuffman Todd Huffman
TravelerWIRE Tanya Schliff http://blog.directoryofhotels.com/ California
travelhappy Chris Mitchell http://travelhappy.info/ Bangkok, Thailand
travelrants Darren Cronian http://www.travel-rants.com/ Leeds
travolution Kevin May http://www.travolution.co.uk/ London
trivop thomas Owadenko
wilhelmus William Bakker http://www.passengersonly.com/ Vancouver
whiteraven13 Linda R. Moore http://www.ravensroads.com/ Lodi, CA

List II - Companies and Organizations

atrapalo atrapalo.com http://www.atrapalo.com/ Spain
CarnivalCruise CarnivalCruise http://www.carnival.com/ Miami, FL
Deltaairlines Delta Air Lines http://www.delta.com/ Atlanta, GA
Despegar Despegar.com http://www.blog.despegar.com/ Latam
HalogenGuides HalogenGuides http://www.halogenguides.com/ san Francisco
HostelColonial Hostel Colonial http://hostelbuenosaires.blogspot.com/ Buenos Aires, Argentina
hostelmana HostelManagement.com http://www.hostelmanagement.com/ Taipei
Jaunted Jaunted http://www.jaunted.com/
JetBlue JetBlue Airways http://www.jetblue.com/ New York
latimestravel latimestravel http://travel.latimes.com/ Los Angeles
nyt_travel NY Times: Travel http://www.nytimes.com/travel New York
Reservia Reservia.es http://www.reservia.es/ Santiago, Espana
SouthwestAir Southwest Airlines http://www.southwest.com/ Texas
traveladvice Travel Advice http://www.shoppingblog.com/
twblog Travel Weekly Blog http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/blogs Sutton, UK
uptake UpTake http://www.uptake.com/blog Palo Alto, CA

List III - Recent Additions to the Travel Twitterati!

agcblog Antonio Guerrero http://agcblog.wordpress.com/ Barcelona, Spain
aghman Austin Hill http://www.travellious.com/ Seattle, WA
ajanhelendam Warren http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajanhelendam/
akaSylvia Sylvia http://backspace.blog.me.uk/ Costa del Sol, Spain
Austin, TX
BartLePoole Bart LePoole
Beatricetarka Beatrice Tarka http://www.mobissimo.com/ San Francisco, California
bloggersblog Bloggers Blog http://www.bloggersblog.com/ Dallas
Brockvicky brockvicky http://blog.highlandbusinessresearch.com/ Inverness, Scotland
chris2x Chris Christensen http://amateurtraveler.com/ San Jose, CA
Coldinpdx Martin Stoll
Darrindickey Darrin Dickey http://blog.brandingfire.com/ Murfreesboro, TN
Debutaunt debutaunt http://www.debutaunt.com/ San Antonia, TX
Eastservices eastservices
eddmc Edd http://www.insideblog.net/ Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK
Elcano elcano http://www.tripwolf.com/ New York
Esmevos Esme Vos http://www.mapplr.com/ Amsterdam
Eurostars Eurostars Hotels http://blog.eurostarshotels.com/ Barcelona
filifab Philippe Fabry http://www.odit.fr/blog Paris
Gagneeric Eric Gagne http://blogoramification.blogspot.com/ Buenos Aires
GAP089 GAP http://www.legourmand.de/ Munich, Germany
HawaiiSEO HawaiiSEO Honolulu, Hawaii
hjortur Hjortur Smarason http://blog.scope.is/ Just below the North pole
Itravelnet itravelnet
jakemarsh Jake Marsh http://thejakemarsh.com/ Dallas, TX
JasonCalacanis Jason Calacanis http://www.calacanis.com/ LA
jenleo Jennifer Leo http://www.jenleolive.com/ Always changing, Las Vegas
Jens_Oellrich Jens_Oellrich http://www.tourismus-zukunft.de/ münchen
jordi_ruizr jordi_ruizr http://blog.entornao.com/ Barcelona, Spain
jrosell jrosell http://www.sistemakiwi.com/ La Garriga
Judycurtis judycurtis SF Bay Area
kag2u Kelly Goodman http://www.travellious.com/ Seattle, WA
KeenerGuy Shane Keener http://hotelecomminsights.blogspot.com/ California
lasseweb20 lasseweb20 http://www.promocionweb20.com/ Alicante, España
Leeannecook leeannecook http://tripsforless.gop1d.com/ Page AZ.
Luciamalla Lucia Malla http://interney.net/blogs/malla Pelo mundo…
merrillg Merrill http://www.voyageek.com/ Dublin
Michelle_Greer Michelle Greer http://onlinebusiness.volusion.com/ Austin
Mlepisto Mika
Morrissey Jorge Gobbi http://www.blogdeviajes.com.ar/ Parque Chacabuco, Buenos Aires
nandollorella nandollorella http://megustaelturismo.es/ Barcelona
Nerdseyeview nerdseyeview http://www.nerdseyeview.com/ Seattle
Outlawpreneur Outlawpreneur
Paulkies paulkies http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkies Seattle
Planeteye planeteye
Poolegrl krystal Goodman http://www.myspace.com/poolegrl Annapolis
preparatuviaje preparatuviaje http://www.preparatuviaje.com/ Spain
Reckon Chris Weige http://reckonwordwide.com/ Austin, Texas
Seandodson seandodson
Shirleyjohn ShirleyCook http://livingthelifeofmydreams.blogspot.com/ Ash Grove, MO
tradingnothing tradingnothing http://www.tradingnothing.com/ England
Travellingcari travellingcari http://www.travellingcari.com/ New York, USA
Xotels Patrick Landman http://www.xotels.com/ Barcelona

How do I Follow the Travel Twitterati? Easy!

1. Once you are signed up, your browser will remember who you are.
2. Click on the Twitter link of the Twitterati below.
3. Decide if you want to follow the person.
4. Press the Follow button.

This is just the beginning!

I’m excited about the prospects of Twitter helping to connect up the global Travel blogosphere much as the T-List has already. Lets start having some very interesting global conversations. And I’ll keep updating and improving this and make this list a growing and living resource to the Travel-interested blogosphere. Look forward to seeing you on Twitter. If you follow me, I’ll follow you back!
(CC) Please feel free to share or redistribute this list under Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial Share Alike license 3.0 (CC by-nc-sa 3.0) with a link back to this original post.

Updates:

• 4/11: added Samiwasnt
• 4/15: added Cortomaltese, Whiteraven13, latimestravel