You might be surprised to learn that Indianapolis has been on my (fairly) secret bucket list for years. In fact, Indiana as a whole has been on my radar since I was teen, which is why I’m so stoked to be visiting this week!

I’m heading to Indianapolis in a few days to attend BlogHouse, a three-day and night opportunity to live, work, and learn in a small group environment with both experienced and novice travel bloggers. I’ll be working (and playing) hard as I meet some hard working travel bloggers and new mentors who will help take my blog to the next level.

I first learned about BlogHouse from Valerie of Valerie & Valise and Marissa of Postcards to Seattle last year — at a happy hour in Manhattan, incidentally, two days before BlogHouse 2016 in Philadelphia. These ladies are killing it in the travel blogging space, so when I heard that they were going to BlogHouse for professional development, my ears perked up.

That’s not the only reason I applied, however. I was incredibly excited to see that the 2017 location of BlogHouse was in Indianapolis. Here’s why.

Indianapolis is Kurt Vonnegut’s hometown.

Kurt Vonnegut has been my favorite author since I was fourteen years old. I devoured Slaughterhouse-Five back in the late 1990s and quickly moved on to Cat’s Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. I’m finally getting back into some of his “deeper cuts” now, including Bluebeard and Jailbird.

In truth, Kurt Vonnegut put Indianapolis on the map for me. I’ve been dreaming of visiting the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library for at least a decade so I can pay homage to my revered satirical author.

Speaking of which, Indianapolis has killer craft cocktails.

I was happily surprised to learn that Indianapolis has a burgeoning craft cocktail scene. In fact, I may have (minorly) freaked out when I learned that Visit Indy has partnered with local mixologists to create Vonnegut-inspired cocktails this year.

In what has to be the coolest confluence of my interests coming together ever, I’m planning to visit Bluebeard, a restaurant named after one of Vonnegut’s novels. It serves cocktails based on his books, like the Galapagos, featuring mezcal, tequila, chili arbol syrup, Bluebeard orgeat, cucumber, and lime. #Winning!

Indiana has an awesome craft beer scene.

While Indianapolis is shaping up to have some delicious cocktails, I’m also excited to explore Indiana’s craft beer scene. I’ll be visiting a few places in Johnson County, Indiana — including Taxman and Planetary — to learn more about what’s going on in Indiana’s craft beer universe. The rest of the Midwest had better watch out, because Indiana has got it going on when it comes to high quality beer.

Top travel bloggers are heading to Indiana.

I’m jazzed to meet, and reconnect, with travel bloggers that I’ve been following for a while now. Check out the blogs of my fellow BlogHouse attendees:

Misadventures with Andi
A Traveling Life
Traveling Spud
Speck on the Globe
Global Gaz
Globalphile
10 Miles Behind Me
The Kittchen
Wherever I May Roam
A Southern Gypsy
Coleman Concierge
Archives of Adventure
Carpe Diem Traveler

Last but not least, I can’t wait to take my blog to the next level.

When I first quit my job in September 2016 to pursue travel writing, I worried that people would think I was crazy. But now, I’m in it to win it 110%. I want to learn about all things SEO, newsletters, monetization, and biscuits with gravy (ask the Twitter gods). With mentors Lisa of LL World Tour, Amanda of A Dangerous Business, Anne of Part Time Traveler, and Keryn of Walking On Travels available all weekend, I think I’m gonna like it in Indiana.

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Be sure to follow the hashtags #Bloghouse and #BlogHouseIndy on Twitter and Instagram later this week to see more of what’s going on. BlogHouse Indy sponsors include Visit Indy, Visit Indiana, and J.W. Marriott Indianapolis.