Travel content material creators descend on Richmond. See what they love about RVA!

RICHMOND, Va. — Between the lunch and dinner rush Wednesday afternoon, The Mantu restaurant in Carytown welcomed a small however influential group into its eating room.

Almost earlier than the plates landed on the desk, telephones have been in hand to seize delicately crafted images and movies.

The group was on the town for the TBEX North America journey blogger and journey creator convention, hosted in Richmond this week.

“So we’re here for the TBEX North America travel blogger, travel creator conference,” mentioned Megan Indoe, a TBEX attendee.

Indoe and Scott Herder are from New York City, however to the hundreds of people that comply with their journey tales on-line, they’re known as Bobo and Chichi. The couple has been documenting their travels across the globe since 2013, together with a visit to Richmond only a few months again.

They described what the Travel Blog Exchange, or TBEX, convention is all about.

“Tourism and content creating around tourism. So not only do we learn skills from each other, but we get to learn more about the region and the area,” Indoe mentioned.

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The group’s information round Carytown was Erin Beard with Discover Richmond Tours.

She introduced them to a number of eating places, stopped at road artwork and shared native historical past alongside the way in which.

Beard mentioned her objective aligns with these attending the convention — to indicate off Richmond in thrilling and distinctive methods and encourage folks to go to.

“We get a lot of people on tours who love taking photos and things like that, but this is a whole other level,” Beard mentioned. “It’s fun. The food has to get passed around first for everyone to take their photo but they’re going to have great content and hopefully get people to come out here. I keep getting notifications of new followers so I’m very excited to go see what they’ve put together.”

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At the subsequent cease, Home Sweet Home, the Herders shared what they like about Richmond.

“Richmond kind of has everything you’d want in a big city but it still has a smaller feel that’s really manageable and easy to get around so it has great food, great arts and culture, great museums,” Scott Herder mentioned.

Indoe mentioned Richmond’s relationship with its historical past additionally stood out.

“We really appreciate how Richmond, at the intersection of so many pivotal moments in U.S. history, how they confront history here,” Indoe mentioned.

The couple additionally expressed a passion for Richmond’s well-known feline residents.

“And also the cats. The cats, yeah,” Herder mentioned.

“There’s a lot of famous cats here that we really like. We have to go meet Francine,” Indoe mentioned. “We have to go this trip. We have to meet Francine. She’s a national treasure.”

Watch: Community comes collectively to rejoice Francine

Community comes collectively to rejoice Francine’s return

For anybody contemplating a journey creator life-style, the couple provided easy recommendation.

“So just start being active in your own area, and start expanding on that, especially if you did want to turn it into a career because then you’re already learning what works and what doesn’t work and you don’t have to invest that much. You can start by just falling in love with your own neighborhood,” Herder mentioned.

The TBEX North America Conference wraps up Friday in Richmond.

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