Calgary Travel Massive Meets Hecktic Travels

On Monday, November 2, eighteen travel writers, bloggers, professionals and insiders gathered at Juree’s Thai Place to hear Dalene and Pete Heck of Hecktic Travels speak. Originally from Calgary, Pete and Dalene sold their possessions and hit the road full time in the Fall of 2009.

Dalene recounted their foibles during their first stint on the road. They went fast and far and spent way too much money. However, that never made them waiver in their decision that the life on the road was the one for them. Instead, it made them realize that they had to learn to travel for less and how to make a living on the road. One of their key suggestions is to learn to travel as house-sitters.

Travellers can experience life as a local in a much more enjoyable space than a hostel (Dalene related some not so great memories of sleeping in sketchy South American hostels).

Learning to travel as a house-sitter segued perfectly into Hecktic Travels desire to look for alternative revenue streams to support their travels. They wrote their first e-book, How to Become a House-sitter and See the World, and it continues to be a constant revenue stream for them today. Pete and Dalene have also begun working with travel companies and DMOs when they work with travel bloggers. Since they have been on the travel writing scene for years, Pete and Dalene can bring a wealth of knowledge about the best ways to work with travel bloggers to get the results desired. In fact, they just released their second e-book, How to Work With Travel Bloggers.

To wrap up the evening, Dalene reminded us to remember to be authentic to ourselves when making decisions on how to make money as a travel writer. Hecktic Travels has decided to eschew ads on their sites and only works on sponsored content with select companies that truly represent their brand. By diversifying their offerings, they have been able to find a balance that works for them (and they aren’t planning on coming home any time soon).

Thank you to Pete and Dalene for taking time out of their short visit home to spend an evening with the Calgary Travel Massive chapter. We hope to see them both again soon!

Merry Kuchle is Calgary’s Travel Massive Chapter Leader. Merry is a freelance social media manager and blogger of all things food, travel and family at Merry About Town. You can read more about Merry on Travel Massive and be sure to join up with Travel Massive Calgary.