thefutureisred

What To Do In Neuquen, Argentina: Portal To Patagonia

“Portal to Patagonia” signs tout this palindrome of a city in southern Argentina, leading me to imagine lush green valleys giving rise to mountains and crystal blue clean lakes. And yes, I’d most definitely say Patagonia more than matches this scene I describe.

Neuquen, though? Not so much.

While you can find a few lovely touristy things to keep yourself busy, we found Neuquen greatest asset to be it's shopping. It's the perfect place to pick up supplies right before you turn further south to explore Bariloche, Ushuaia and everywhere in between.

You need a fleece to keep you warm at night? Neuquen. You want to rent snowboards or buy last minute goggles, gloves and ski pants for your week at Chapelco ski resort? Neuquen. You want to stock up your RV with vitamin water, Alfajor Oreos and outfit it with new tires? Neuquen is your salvation baby.  Everything you could possibly want can be found there, probably on sale too.

It’s also a hub city, 3rd largest in Argentina, and the perfect stopping point to break up the excruciatingly long bus rides between major cities. We stayed one night – you won’t need more than a day at most – between Cordoba and San Martin de los Andes.

 The bus station is large, clean and ready to serve the hundreds of tourists that pass in and out of this intensely commercial city. A commercialism that indeed borders on the surreal. Firestone, Mercedes, Walmart, Coca Cola signs line the streets, shouting at you to come, buy, get, own.  One big shopping mall boasted well established South American chains such as Easy and Jumbo.

While the stores offer reasonable prices, hotels are pricey. Expect to pay at least $75 dollars per night for a mediocre hotel.  We stayed a bit out of town, which requires you rent a car or pay for cabs into town. We found nothing to rent with a kitchen, so we were forced to shell out additional cash for meals. 

I will say, though, our dinner at Bar 32, corner of Avenida Argentina and Alvear in the center of Nuequen, was one of the best meals I’ve had at a restaurant in I don’t know how long. There was even a very good,  straightforward, sushi on the menu.

One other point of interest definitely worth your attention? Continuing approximately 80 kilometers west on Ruta 237 to the neat little town of El Chocon, you can visit dinosaur bones excavated right there in Neuquen province. The land itself is very old and hasn’t been much changed over the centuries by  landslides, earthquakes or tectonic plate shifts, so the bones are closer to the surface and the terrain, although not the plant life, is very much like what it was when these enormous animals roamed.

Argentina By Bus: Travel At Night, Travel in Style

Traveling by bus in the United States elicits images of sitting in cramped seats, rank smelling bathroom -- if there is one -- leaking noxious odors from the back while some guy rests his knee in your lap so he can more comfortably clip his toenails. That's if you're lucky enough not to be sitting next to the ever-mumbling crazy who may well be on his way to serial killer fame.

It also takes forever. What would be 10 hours by car, can easily become a 24 hour bus ride that feels like a lifetime. I've done it, but generally for short distances and only when I can't find a somewhat decent flight alternative.

In Argentina buses are an entirely different animal. In Argentina, seats recline far enough for comfortable sleep. There's a porter who runs back and forth serving meals and drinks, an in-trip movie, and buses are significantly less expensive than flying. The average 10-15 hour distance costs, approximately 75-100 dollars. That can take you from Salta to Cordoba, Cordoba to Mendoza, Neuquen to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Salta or Buenos Aires to Iguazu.

After three of these such rides in the past couple weeks, I can personally attest to the fact that they are the perfect way to travel, particularly overnight which has the added benefit of saving you a night's accomodation.

A typical night goes as such: You arrive at the station and get on board. Within the hour, the porter -- always unbelievably friendly and patient -- comes to take your drink order. This never fails to surprise me. Then dinner is served.

I'll admit, it's generally a strange mix of foods for my still-very-American-bred tastes, usually packed with breads, crackers, cookies and other various carbohydrate options.

Here you'll see our dinner between Cordoba and Neuquen. Bread roll, half sandwich on white bread, half sandwich on brown bread, pionono -- rolled sandwich on yellowish bread -- and a little packet of bread sticks. On the top left you'll find your desert, sweet jam with quesillo, a raw cheese. Try it! It's not at all bad. Dinners also often include a hot dish ranging from roasted chicken with potatoes to lasagna.

Dinner can occupy you for an hour or so until it's lights out, movie on,and you're finally lulled to sleep by the gentle roaring of the motor. Oh, depending on your ticket type, you might offered a nightcap of whiskey that comes on the rocks in a glass tumbler.

Most times, I wake up just as we're pulling into the next town. 

Roadtripping Argentina and USA: Tips, Tricks and Technology

We’re coming to the close of our Argentina roadtrip during which I've written about Twitter tips for visiting beautiful Cordoba, my first skiing adventure and a bizarre Walmart sighting in Nuequen.

Coming up, more information on Nuequen, Argentina's so-called Portal to Patagonia as well as traveling Argentina by bus.  I’ll also cover a visit to San Martin de los Andes, including details of how to navigate Chapelco family ski resort and local advice for where to stay and rent your ski or snowboard equipment.

Right now, though, I’m in Buenos Aires, staying at Hostel Colonial. It’s tagged as a youth hostel specifically for backpackers, but we decided to try it out as a family. So far, it’s been lovely. We arrived early this morning after the long bus ride from Nuequen, relaxed over breakfast while our room was prepared and now we’re taking our own sweet time getting ready to go out. But this is Buenos Aires, Argentina. Even for a big city, life is tranquilo here, especially on a Sunday. There’s no need to rush.

If you're nearby, please join me for  Buenos Aires Tweet up!  Details are still to be determined, but right now, it’s looking like tomorrow night, Monday, July 20 at 9pm, somewhere in Palermo.  I’ll  post more here soon, but if you’d like, you can also contact my through @thefutureisred, my Twitter account.

As for my fellow roadtrip-bloggers, Kelly, Peter and Pam of TbexRoadtrip, they’re on day four of their trip. I’ve been reading along with them as they make their way from Seattle to Chicago for the Travel Blog Exchange Convention.  Today, it appears they’re just leaving Yellowstone National Park.

One feature of the TbexRoadtrip  I wanted to share. They’ve developed an amazing Interactive Roadtrip Map that allows you to follow along with them through Twitter as well as see their photos from Flickr. I mention this not only because it’s a wonderful way to interact with their trip but it’s also a wonderful use of the technology. They’ve incorporated Google Maps, GPS tracking, Flicker and Twitter to create fantastically detailed updates through a wonderfully user friendly blog interface.

Perfect for those of us who want to stay connected to their trip, suggest places to visit and eat or perhaps offer them a place to stay. It’s also an excellent use of the myriad technologies and gadgets available for bloggers. 

Photo courtesy of MishiMoshiMoshi's Flickrstream

Five Reasons To Face Your Fears Right Now

I went skiing this week for the first time.  Oh, did I mention I am absolutely petrified of skiing?

The thought of standing at the top of a slippery mountain with enormous foot extensions fills me with a terror I can’t quite explain. My mind sees an edge of snow, but beyond that, my fear doesn’t have an end. It is irrational. And while the fear sliding out of control straight down to an untimely death is a natural, healthy one, mine related to skiing is not. 

Thus, I decided this would be my week to overcome my fears as we visited Chapelco Ski Resort in San Martin de los Andes, Patagonia.  So Noah and I began down an easy green path that extends from the top of the first chair lift down the mountain approximately 1000 meters. The first run took almost two hours. I slid back and forth, fell over and over and over, polled myself in the throat a couple times and at least once was brought to tears. 

Here’s what I realized:

Falling Is Important

Yes, it hurt. It was humiliating, too, as I slumped in the snow flopping around with my polls attempting  to get up as small children flew past having a grand old time. Ultimately, though, I learned not only how to fall, I learned to get up again. It also showed me that whatever the horror, pain and anguish of what I imagined falling while skiing to be, the reality wasn’t anywhere near as bad. It was actually manageable.

Fear Evaporates Far More Quickly Then You’d Imagine

The second time I went down the same slope took 20 minute, and the spots that terrified me on first sight, suddenly didn’t bother me at all. What once made me panic and fall, now was just a simple slope that I zipped left, then right and moved on with my life.

What Will I Tell Lila?

I want Lila to live as full and free a life as possible. How could I possibly explain to her that while, yes, I think she should take ski lessons and learn a new skill that I can’t. “Why not mommy?” she’s sure to ask. Then, do I lie about the reason or tell her the truth? Neither is acceptable to me.

Facing Your Fear Frees You

What once made me tense and unhappy is now a source of pride. I faced one of my greatest fears and won.  As I whiled away the hours practicing, starting on the easy green meandering paths, then to open hills and even made my way down a few intermediate slopes, I found myself relaxing, even sinking into meditation. It was actually fun.

If Not Now, When?

Every time fear rises, you have the opportunity to face it. Or not. If you say, no, even convincing yourself you’ll do it later, you create a negative pattern of action. You run away, thus reinforcing the fear and often the shame that goes with it. The thing about those emotions, though, they don’t remain stagnant. They invariably solidify, calcify and grow.  

As time passes, you put up a wall and no longer even consider going beyond that fear. How many walls can you build in your life before you one day find your life has become a tricky maze. You’ll spend more time running from those things that frighten you and less time actually living your life. 

Is that what you really want? I don’t. I want my life to grow and expand no matter how old I get. Of course, there will be limits imposed by age and responsibility. Those I accept, but I simply cannot abide a limitation based on something I have created, grown and cultivated out of fear.

So here’s the challenge. Choose one fear, even something tiny, and do something today, right this second, to overcome it.

And if you’re really brave, share what you’ve accomplished in the comments below.

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Photo courtesy of Ava's Flickrstream

Picturing the Walmart Invasion of Argentina

We found this house one block off the main highway running through Nuequen, Argentina.Walmart sits directly across the street from it.

Yes, Walmart. And not just any Walmart, but a Walmart Supercenter. The kind of Walmart with not only clothes, toiletries and knitting supplies, but fruits and vegetables, tires and liquor.

Of course, I had to see it, so I forced a bewildered Noah -- I'm one of those who refuses to buy a thing at Walmart because of a general distaste of their business practices -- to turn off to find the entrance.

It's oddly located. You can't access the main entrance directly from the highway. Instead, you take a right, keep going, then you sort of lose sight of where it is and begin to believe you've been mislead. Next thing I know, we're driving past makeshift wooden houses with broken down fences and what looked like trash piled up everywhere. The closest thing to this zone I've seen so far in Argentina are the villas -- ghettos, for lack of a better translation -- outside of Buenos Aires and Salta.

Just as I was about to give up on ever finding the superstore with the golden sign, suddenly there it was, glinting in the sunlight, calling us to superb deals on ski wear, snack bars and American brand toys at far cheaper prices I've seen anywhere else in Argentina.

I asked the woman behind the front desk at our hotel if Walmart was new. No, it's been there for a long time. Then I asked about the neighborhood behind Walmart. That is far newer.

So why would this particularly poor and run down area suddenly spring up beside Walmart? Perhaps the people in the neighborhood work there? Or they prefer the cheaper prices? Or perhaps having a Walmart in the area brings down property values so that only small, cheap houses can exist nearby? Or maybe the two are unrelated, and I'm turning a nothing into a something.

I'll be sure to ask more when we pass through Nuequen on our way to Buenos Aires.

The Beautiful Cordoba, Argentina: Twitter Tips For Your Visit

If Salta is compared to a beautiful woman, then Cordoba should be her sophisticated older cousin.

How happy am I that we decided to break up the 24 hour bus trip to Patagonia with a day or two stop in this beautiful city. Cordoba offers a comfortable mix of modern and old. Where else can you walk into a Belle Epoque building to enjoy Saturday night bowling under black lighting. We arrived July 9th, Argentina's Independence Day, so almost everything was closed, but this didn't stop us from wandering the cobblestone streets and peatonales -- pedestrian walkways -- in the warm winter sunshine.

As our bus pulled out of Salta, I twittered a quick message to say I was on my way to Cordoba. Soon after, I received tweets from two different Twitter friends.

The first, Angela, also know as @santelmoloft on Twitter, originally from LA who is now living in Buenos Aires and has a lovely blog on the city. Her response to my Tweet?

"I love Cordoba," she told me. "There's a little known treasure for people who like folklore music... the house of the great Atahualpa Yupanqui." 

Turns out, his house is approximately 150 kilometers outside Cordoba city in Cerro Colorado, He alternated between living here and his place in Buenos Aires.  Perfect for a jaunt into Cordoba province if you have more than a day to spend in Cordoba.

The second, Adrian Bertolini, a.k.a @adbert, Shorty Awards finalist, Posterous blogger, top Twitterer in Argentina and, what strikes me most, an unbelievably warm person. He suggested I check out the churches. We checked out Manzana Jesuitica and the Cordoba Cathedral right off the main Plaza San Martin.

He also suggested Paseo Buen Pastor, an area for drinking, going out, museums, art and more, and the Cordoba flea market or "mercardo de pulgares."

We made tentative plans to meet for happy hour in Buen Pastor, but we unfortunately ran out of time  before rushing for our overnight bus to Nuequen. But now I have far more than one reason to return to Cordoba.

How Local Information Improves Your Roadtrip: An Experiment

We're on the move again. This time, we've just packed up our place in Salta to head back to the US after a quick roadtrip down to Patagonia, some skiing and then back to Buenos Aires before heading back to Atlanta for the summer.

It just happens that as we're leaving Salta, my fellow blogger Kelly Goodman of Travellious fame will also be roadtripping her way through the United States from Seattle to Chicago to join up with the July 26th Travel Blog Exchange Convention.

Kelly and I have been chatting lately about the benefits of local information to the wary traveler. How solid, friendly local information that leads you off the tourist path not only enriches your trip, but allows you to make friends and forge relationships.

We've both met countless people through Twitter, and a few weeks ago, she asked me to write a Newbie's Guide to Couchsurfing. Through our discussions, we came up with the idea of following our respective roadtrips, showing our contacts with locals through Twitter, Couchsurfing and other sources. We'll show you how our travel experiences have been helped., improved, possible confused, hurt or completely changed through these local contacts of ours, hopefully providing ample fodder for fun, travel tips and will be a good learning experience for all involved.

And in late July/early June, I'll write a guest post for Travellious of tips, thoughts, ideas, mistakes and all else to summarize what we've learned over the summer.

Of course, feel free to e-mail, comment or tweet any thoughts or advice you may have along the way.

Our itinerary is as a follows.

July 8  Leave Salta on the overnight bus to Cordoba

July 9-10 Explore Cordoba. The churches, flea markets, peatonales.

July 10 Leave Cordoba on the overnight bus to Nuequen

July 11 Relax for the day in Nuequen. Rent a car.

July 12 Drive our rented car to San Martin de los Andes, known for being a good, local family ski place. We're renting a little cabin here for the week and will spend it by the fire, cooking meals from local produce and skiing. May I just mention, this will only be my second time skiing ever.

July 18 Return to Nuequen where we drop off the car and pick up yet another overnight bus, this time to Buenos Aires.

July 19 Arrive in Buenos Aires. We'll be staying at Hostel Colonial where I'll be writing a story about family stays at hotels.

July 21 Flight leaves for Atlanta.

Kelly and her two travelblog companions -- Peter Carey - @pwcarey on Twitter - and Pam of Nerd's Eye View --  leave Seattle July 16. Their itinerary takes them through Mount Rushmore and the South Dakota Badlands on the way -- two places that featured prominently in a roadtrip I took my senior year of college. My very first roadtrip. You can follow along with Kelly on Twitter as she travels with two other travel blog companions  on their way to the Travelblog Exchange convention.

I hope to see them all there. But I'll figure out the details of that particular trip once we're solidly back on US soil when I'll begin looking for cheap flights and places to stay in Chicago.

Everything I Learned About Packing, I Learned From Grandma Ruth

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Grandma Ruth, the consummate world traveler, could never stay put. She jumped a bus to Chicago to join the communist revolution when was was still a teen, went back to nursing school in her forties and never hesitated to hop in the car to drive twenty hours across country just because. Even in her last years, when everyone, her kids, grand kids, doctors, everyone warned her not to fly, she ignored us all so she could see New Zealand.

She was just that kind of woman.

I learned a lot from her. How to pass the wind in mahjohg. How to make potato latkes – ahh latkes -- and home made pickles. How to get a good deal on just about anything. And of course, I learned how to pack a suitcase.

That I never listened to her is another thing. I tried my own way for years, but now, on the eve of yet another pack up and move (more on that soon), I’m finally taking her advice.

Pack Early and Often

We always knew Grandma and Grandpa were going on vacation because their suitcase stood already packed near the door of their bedroom for about two weeks before the departure date.

They laid everything out, arranged it just so. Made choices, took out what they didn’t need, and then, they were done. If at the end, they thought of something extra, there was space left to pack it, and always enough room for the gifts they inevitably brought back.

I am the opposite. You'll find me panicking in the early morning hours before our bus or flight is to leave, and my bags are too often close to bursting. I doubt I'll ever be the type to be ready weeks or even days before I go, but I have made a concerted effort to begin at least a couple days earlier than usual.

Know the Difference Between What You Want and What You Need

How many late nights have I spent surrounded by piles of things wondering how the hell I was ever going to get everything to fit? That’s when eventually it dawns on me. Choices must be made.

Need is relatively different for everyone, but most must-have lists will include passport, electronic or paper ticket, money, toothbrush and paste, underwear. Pants and shoes for walking and hiking. Soap. This ensures the basics of of staying clean and comfortable. Then, you think weather. Do you need a bathing suit or a coat and gloves?. Are you working or blogging? Then you may need a camera or computer.

I also include tea tree oil because its antifungal, antibacterial and anti-louse. I cannot tell you how many times this has been useful. Lavender, too, can come in very handy for the same things.

Beyond that, you’re getting into wants. Nothing wrong with wanting as long as you're willing to lug it.

Here is a small collection of packing advice gathered from other travel bloggers:

• Uncornered Market lists all the clothing and everything they need to travel the world, from Thailand and Malaysia to Central America.
• Or Nomadic Matt's ideas for the electronics you bring along on your trip
  
• Soultravelers3 offers tips for being a traveling fashionista.
• And finally, a universal packing list from Travellious that includes the ever lovely handy packing calculator.

Ziplock Bags Are Your Best Friend

There’s something magical about a Ziploc. Somehow you can fit more into the same suitcase when each individual item has been placed in one. While the laws of physics seem to defy this, it is undeniably true. And if something spills, the rest of your stuff is protected.

While Grandma and Grandpa put everything that would fit in a Ziploc in a Ziploc, I use them for those things I want to keep together. This little photo here to the right shows a week-and-a-half supply of both mine and Lila’s underwear, all clothing for running in warm to cool weather, both our bathing suits and Lila’s socks. It also keeps them in easy reach of the top of the suitcase.

I’ve also used those vacuum pack bags, the ones like giant Ziplocs that you can just roll the air out, close and go. One caveat: Use too many and your pack becomes surprisingly heavy.

You Can Buy What You Need When You Get There

Clothing, extra underwear, a warm sweater are very possibly cheap and easier to find after you arrive at your destination. For instance, why not buy a handmade llama sweater and gloves when visiting the Andes. It’s soft comfortable and designed specifically to keep people warm in that part of the world. Bathing suits on the Cote d’Azur? Mine was 10 euros. 

You Can’t Buy Everything You Need When You Get There

Noah has a size 14 foot. You cannot find shoes in his size anywhere in France, Italy, Panama or Costa Rica. We have yet to find them in Argentina. Noah’s shoes are enormous, but we make room for whatever he may need because they are not easily replaceable.

Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Charles had a list of medications they needed to take daily. While prescriptions are often cheaper in other countries, I personally wouldn't risk not finding what I need when I need it.

Ok, so this contradicts my previous Grandma Ruth lesson. The key is to do a bit of research before you go. My best advice for this sort of research is to talk to other travelers. Again, Trip Advisor, Couchsurfing, your basic Google search. There's also Travel Blog Exchange -- creation of Kim Mance of GoGalavanting and Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby -- where you can find links to and advice from hundreds of travel bloggers.

You Don’t Need As Many Pairs of Pants As You Think

We all teased Grandma Ruth because she was happy to wear the same clothing day after day. Laugh as you will, I think her mindset was always that of someone who wanted to be free to move around. She never wanted extra baggage.

It’s a choice, take those three pairs of jeans and two shorts. Pack two sweaters for fashion, and all the nail polish colors you want. I know, each item is small, doesn’t seem like a big deal, but somehow they add up quickly.

If you leave behind what you don’t really need, you’ll find quite a bit of freedom to move in return. And yes, feel free to take that as a metaphor for life as well. Because travel is about exploring the world outside your daily life, experiencing the new and expanding your world to include other people, countries and places.

What, then, becomes important to bring along in your bags?

Photo courtesy of David Master's Flickrstream

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Why I Gladly Sully My Twitterstream With #followfriday Recommendations

So today is yet another Follow Friday on Twitter. That's #followfriday to those of you who already know.

To those who don't know, a quick lesson in Twitter hashtags. Hashtags -- twittered words preceded by the # sign -- create groupings of a particular subject. You include a hashtag in your tweet when you want to create or add information to a topic. Say #travel #writers #parenting. Then when someone does a general Twitter search including your hashtag, your tweet appears under that search. 

 Follow Friday -- and it's corresponding hashtag #followfriday -- allows you to recognize those people you follow or those who follow you in some small yet significant way. When you add a #followfriday to a tweet with someones name, you're saying, "Hey, I dig this person. You should follow them too."

What this also means is every Friday, Twitter swells with hundreds, nay thousands of recommendations. It would require amazing time, patience and diligence just to blindly follow them all. The whole thing quickly becomes overwhelming and annoying. Most people stop paying attention. I know I certainly have. And many will even unfollow you if your Friday stream simply spews out list after list of recommended people.

So really then, what is the purpose of Follow Friday?

It's A Great Way To Reconnect With Those I Haven't Talked To In A While

I currently have a following of over 3000. While not the largest on Twitter, by far, it's still huge. To stay in touch with all these people would be impossible, and it's more likely I'd have a nervous breakdown before reaching them all.

Every so often, though, perhaps once a month, I take a Friday to recognize all those who have given me a personalized #followfriday recommendation. These are people I know beyond casual Twittering. We have become involved to whatever extent in each others personal, professional or Twitter lives.

Some examples:

@fogandthistle I met Rachel through YouBeMom when I posted to ask if anyone else was on Twitter. Since then, Rachel has introduced me to many of those she follows. I bought one of her beautiful papercut nightlights for Lila, and we have plans to meet in NY this September to discuss a project we'll hopefully be doing together.

@umarket and @collazoprojects Two travel Twitterers. When they recommend someone, I follow. I read their blogs, and both have supported and helped me in numerous ways.

@worldlyjohn A web developer and winner of the Social Action's Change the Web Challenge. We met when he twittered a request for input on his Change the Web Challenge entry and have since kept in touch. Turns out we will both be at Burning Man this summer. He's also about to move to my old neighborhood in Brooklyn and start his own web development firm. I'd like to hire him to redesign my websites.

When I #followfriday this group of people, I make sure to list them separately and give a specific reason why I so much appreciate them as part of my Twitter community.

Show Appreciation To Those Who Have Recommended Me

This is perhaps the largest group of people in my #followfriday group. Most, I don't know well. Many, I may never know beyond the occasional superficial tweet. But I do very much appreciate that they've taken the time to let me know they like what I do.

I want to say thank you back, so I include them in a longer list of people with just names but no particular descriptions.

Builds Your Following. Builds Community.

Many people send out list after list of people they don't know and probably don't or won't ever know much about. At first, this annoyed me. Clearly these people have no interest in me personally. They just want a bit of attention, want me to follow them, but then afterward, I won't hear a single thing from them.

Then I realized, so what?

Whenever I'm included in a list of #followfridays, it's a good bet the others in the list will follow me or retweet the list. Thus, my name gets around. While the percentage of people who then begin to follow me or read my blog based on these recommendations is significantly smaller than with those people who have taken the time to get to know me, it still builds my following.

And you never know where a real life, real time connection is to be made.

Builds Your Twitter Ranking

When you #followfriday people, they usually thank you and then start #followfridaying you. The more mentions you have on a particular day, the higher your ranking in Twitter Grader, an online ranking tool of Twitterers worldwide. It's divided by country, city and you can even find your overall ranking among more than 2 million Twitterers.

What does that mean? Well, it's not the end-all-and-be-all, but appearing high on any of these rankings will bring more people to your Twitter page and ultimately to your website. It is also quite a thing to say in your marketing profile that you are, theoretically, one of the Top Twenty Twitterers in Argentina -- as high as #4 in the country on a busy #followfriday --  and Number One in Salta.

Perhaps by now, I've convinced you to engage in Friday mania I've grown to know and love. Here are some tips to get you involved.

So How To Know Who Endorses You?

I use Top Follow Friday. You just type in your name and out comes a listing with all the people you've recommended and those who have recommended you. I do warn, though, this list isn't complete. More than once I have noticed key people missing, but it is a good tool.

If anyone has any other tools they use, please leave your ideas in the comments and feel free to let me know how I can thank you in return.

Follow Friday Isn't the Best Method of Connecting with Big Names On Twitter

Yes, I know, Follow Friday is for making connections, but those so-called Big Names -- @guykawasaki @skydiver @kriscolvin @zaibatsu -- receive so many mentions and retweets, it's likely yours will get lost in the crowd. There are so many better ways of getting their attention -- mention them in an article and then message them directly to let them know, for example.

Unless I have a specific reason to recommend them, I save my praise for retweeting.

You Don't Have To Do It All

I never get to everyone, and I'm sure there are people I miss entirely. Like everything else with social media -- and really life in general -- you can't do it all.

Don't kill yourself over it. A solid relationship won't fall apart if you somehow forget to mention a person. By the same token, you shouldn't get all bent out of shape if someone fails to mention you. Think of #followfriday as icing. Appreciate it when you have it, but don't whine if you don't.

As time passes, you'll find you meet more and more people. You'll see your list of endorsers grow and watch as the names on your list go from just names to people you not only recognize, but with whom you've developed real, working, give-and-take relationships.

It just takes time and patience.