A Month in the Life of a Travel Writer (with Zappos and Blundstone)

Sponsored by Zappos

When Zappos approached me with a month-long campaign with Blundstone Boots and follow my life as a travel writer, I said yes immediately. I don’t think there’s another brand that would fit into our lifestyle as well as Blundstone. And we use Zappos all the time, taking advantage of their one-day shipping and easy returns.

So where did I go as a travel writer in one month with my Blundstones? Just Cleveland, Tokyo, Orlando and Bermuda. Oh, and I spent some time at home as well. As I guessed, Blundstones fit in perfectly. The details:

Stop One – Cleveland

The Blundstone campaign started right before my 10-year-old son and I were booked to fly to Cleveland for the grand re-opening of the Ritz-Carlton and there wasn’t time to have the boots shipped to us at home. No problem! I had Zappos ship our boots directly to the hotel (free one-day shipping) and they were waiting for us when we arrived.

During our three days in Cleveland exploring the city as a travel writer, we did everything in our Blundstones, including attending the re-opening festivities at the Ritz, walking around town, visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, glass blowing, and attending a Cavs game. Most comfortable boots ever. And they were great in the rain.

Stop Two – Home

We basically have a farm, with four horses, three goats, ten chickens, three cats, two rats, and a dog. Blundstones are awesome because they’re good looking, but they’re essentially working boots. My wife and kids wore their boots constantly when doing animal-related chores. Then we simply dusted them off to make them look new again.

My 11-year-old guessed her size wrong, so we needed to return her 8.5s and get her a 9. It couldn’t have been easier. I called Zappos, where the rep immediately processed the return and emailed me a shipping label. I shipped the 8.5s back and we had the new boots a day later. Once my daughter got them, she lived in them, wearing them to school literally every day. They’re her new favorite shoes.

Stop Three – Tokyo

I flew to Tokyo with AFAR Magazine to travel deeper into the city and Japanese culture for five days. It was an amazing trip that included museum visits, a tea ceremony, talks with notable locals, dinners at the Park Hyatt Tokyo and a Shinto shrine, and walks through Harajuku, the Tsukiji fish market, and the Meiji Shrine. I wore my Blundstones for every event except for a bike ride through the city, where I went with light cycling shoes.

Stop Four – Orlando

From Tokyo, I flew home, did laundry and flew out a day later for Orlando, where I attended the media sneak preview of Holidays at Universal Orlando. My fellow Universal Orlando ambassadors and travel writers and I had several nighttime events over four days, including the media preview, the Holiday Parade, a Mannheim Steamroller concert, a nice dinner at my favorite Orlando restaurant Mama Della’s, and even an ugly-sweater dinner at the Loews Sapphire Falls. I wore my Blundstones to every event and they couldn’t have been more comfortable.

Stop Five – Bermuda

We have family in Bermuda and it’s typically our every-other-year destination for Thanksgiving. Contrary to popular belief, Bermuda isn’t in the Caribbean and it’s not a particularly warm, flip-flop-type place from November to April. As I’m writing this, I’m looking out on a cool, windy, rainy day.

As a travel writer, I always take the family to explore a little and head into Hamilton at least once, but really we spend time with family and play and relax. We all brought our Blundstones over and they’re perfect day-to-day as well as dressing up for nicer dinners around the island.

Our Blundstone Boots

My daughter and wife both chose the Blundstone BL550 Boots in Walnut. I ordered the Blundstone BL500 Boots in Stout Brown. My son has the Blundstone BL565 Boots in Rustic Brown. All Blundstone Boots can be found here.

How about you? Where’s the coolest place you’re roamed in your Blundstones?