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Episode 37 | Valerie Stimac | Travel Writer at Valerie & Valise | Live from Drake’s Dealership in Oakland, CA

Valerie Stimac

Valerie Stimac

Space Tourism? If you don’t know what that is, Valerie Stimac is here to tell you!

Valerie is the creator of the successful travel blog Valerie & Valise, which has helped her springboard into a number of other gigs within the travel writing industry; she’s a long-time contributor to Lonely Planet, and the Managing Editor for Go Overseas. Most recently, she launched the Space Tourism Guide, an out-of-this-world resource for astro tourism and the emerging idea of commercial space travel.

And yes, this episode has a couple of space puns…

Valerie met up with us in Oakland, CA at Drake’s Dealership – a car dealership-turned-brewpub – to discuss her career in travel writing, give us a crash course on space tourism, and share some actionable tips on how you too can jump into travel blogging. Tune in, because this episode is stellar! (Sorry…)

Drinking Destination:

Drake’s Dealership – Oakland, CA

While Drake’s Brewing is located down in San Leandro, their Oakland taproom is a converted car dealership that is much more stylish. They’ve got a long list of brews in both locations, and a massive patio in Oakland to enjoy when it’s not raining…unlike during our interview.

Drake's Dealership

Inside at Drake’s Dealership

Beer at Drake's DealershipResources for When You’re Sober:

Valerie & Valise – Valerie’s primary travel website, featuring colorful travel stories from around the globe. You can also access the articles she’s written for other travel websites here, including Travel & Leisure and Lonely Planet.

Space Tourism Guide – Valerie’s new site dedicated to astro tourism. Be sure to utilize this as your primary guide to the emerging idea of commercial space travel.

Go Overseas – While I’d love to tell you about them here, click the link to head on back to Episode 8 where we interviewed their co-founder Tucker Hutchinson.

Connect/Drink with Valerie:

Twitter is your best bet for finding Valerie. Her primary handle is @Valerie_Valise, and you can also find her at her new space tourism brand @_spacetourism_.

Visit Drake’s Dealership:

Drake’s Dealership is located at 2325 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612. Taproom hours are Monday through Wednesday 11:30am to 11pm, Thursday and Friday 11:30am to 12am, Saturdays 10am to 12am, and Sundays 10am to 11pm.

Valerie Stimac at Drake's Dealership

With Valerie Stimac

Episode Sponsor:

Tortuga Backpacks are the makers of boutique travel backpacks that are perfect for any trip: functional enough for backpacking around Europe, classy enough for business. The Tortuga Outbreaker is my go-to back for all of my travels. It’s the max size luggage for the overhead bin so that I never need to check a bag (unless of course I’m traveling with beer!). You can hear more about their story from Co-Founder Fred Perrotta way back in Episode 2.

Music Credits:

We have a theme song now! Specially thanks to my brother in podcasting Tom Kelly for putting this together. What do you think of the tune? Let us know in the comments below!

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