I am supremely happy today to announce the first official writer to Part Time Vagabond (other than myself). Alexandra Munier runs the blog Broke207, and has posted to PTV before. She’s a fantastic writer with a biting wit and sharp sense of humor, knows a ton about having fun while living on the cheap, and loves exploring places most people wouldn’t normally go. I can’t wait to see what Alexandra brings to PTV, but I know you’ll all love it. Here’s a little introduction Allie wrote about herself.

When I was a little girl, my dad used to stuff me (and my mom and 4 additional sisters) into our faux wood paneled (and un-air conditioned) station wagon for 2 weeks of camping all over the state.  And when I say camping, I mean CAMPING. There were no air mattresses, porta-potties, or folding camp chairs. It was just the 7 of us (rowdy and uncooperative as we often were), lots of campfire pancakes, and the great outdoors. My dad taught me everything I know about loving life on the road, finding fun anywhere, and generally amazing travel under inopportune conditions (also known as 5 children under 10), so I’m hoping I can do him proud as I join the cast at PTV.

Other than having logged a lot of road hours with my crazy family, I do have a few other fairly weird qualifications that I hope will add some new perspective to my posts here:

I don’t drive (as in don’t have a driver’s license, and never have).  Surprisingly, it hasn’t kept me from roaming, and it has made me into an excellent co-pilot and expert public transit taker. I can also give one hell of a walking tour.

I’ll do just about anything on a dare that isn’t illegal or dangerously unsanitary. Which is not to say that I’m fearless, but I do believe that some of the best vacation spots lie outside of our comfort zones. If there’s an abandoned building to be explored or a mechanical bull to be ridden, I’m your girl.

I don’t pay full price for anything. I’m a very serious shopper (with enthusiasm for everything from cocktail dresses to plumbing parts), but I am cheap as hell. There are a few things that I don’t tend scrimp on like the occasional amazing meal, or a direct flight when I can afford it, but everything else is fair game for my discount hounding, coupon clipping ways. You’d be amazed how much you can get for free or dirt cheap if you just know where to look (or who to ask nicely).

In my non-traveling life, I am the office manager for a small commercial real estate office, and busy the rest of my hours with my very amazing friends, and other stuff like reading juvenile fiction from the 50s & 60s (go Nancy Drew!), attempting to learn how to dance, and writing about my financial mishaps over at my personal blog, Broke207.  I am extremely excited (and honored) to have been asked to start contributing regularly to PTV, and I’m hoping to use it as an excuse to log even more time out on the road.

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Happy Independence Day to all my American friends! Enjoy the day and be safe, wherever you are! I’m taking a couple of days off, but I will be back to posting later this week. Thanks to all my Part Time Vagabonds!

-Chris

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Congratulations to Melissa Gramling, the winner of the Hi-Tec V-Lite Hornet HPi trail shoes! I’ll be in touch with Melissa to get her info and get those shoes shipped out to her asap!

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Thanks to everyone who entered the Hi-Tec and Part Time Vagabond Shoe giveaway! We got some great entries, and I’ll be announcing the winner LIVE  on Wednesday, June 9th at Part Time Vagabond.com. Keep an eye out for more details on the winner announcement. And thanks to everyone who entered!

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National Trails Day is this Saturday, June 5, 2010. It’s an annual event held by the American Hiking Society to foster awareness of local hiking, biking, and walking trails and engage the public in the protection, conservation, and sheer enjoyment of these trails. In Portland, Maine alone, there are over 50 miles of trails overseen by the Portland Trails organization, and they will be helping to recruit the public on National Trails Day to clean and maintain the trails while educating them on good use practices and local history.

This event is important, especially for us as travelers. We may be part time vagabonds, but our travels to various parts of the world always leave a mark. It’s because we leave that mark that we have the responsibility to give back. We take an awful lot while traveling, so replacing a little bit, wherever we choose to go, is so important.

This National Trails Day, take a few hours to help plant a garden, or build a drainage ditch, or educate your neighbors. It’s not only a great excuse to get outside this Saturday, but a fantastic way to help preserve and protect the trails we as travelers hold so dear.

Thank you.

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With only two days left, I thought I’d have more people entering to win. I guess the video thing scared a few people off. So, to win, you can either make the video OR leave a comment in the post to enter the contest! Now you have two ways to win! No excuses not to enter!

Leave a quick comment telling us why you should win the Hi-Tec V-Lite Hornet HPi shoes. Make it a good story, but any legitimate story will enter to win! Hurry and do it today!

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I’m so excited about this announcement, I’ve been trying to hold it in for weeks! If you signed up for the email newsletter, you already know, but for the rest of you, here’s the awesome news! But since it’s Friday, I figured I’d give you something to do this weekend…
Click past the jump to see!

Part Time Vagabond and HiTec Shoe Giveaway!

The folks at Hi-Tec were nice enough to send me a pair to review, and over the next few weeks, I’ll be putting a pair of Hi-Tec V-Lite Hornet HPi trail running shoes through their paces. But @HiTecUSA told me something else: Go ahead and review these shoes, but we also want to send you a second pair so you can give them away to your readers.

SWEET! But I’m not just going to give these away to anyone. No, you’re going to have to work for these. Here’s what you need to do to win:

The Rules

1. Create a 30-45 second video OR Leave a comment below this very entry telling us why you’re the travel and outdoors lover who should win the HiTec V-Lite Hornet HPi shoes.
2. If you submit a video, Tweet a link to it with the following message: “I just entered to win shoes from @HiTecUSA & @PTVagabond #VagabondShoes” (Use a URL shortener like bit.ly and make sure to include the hashtag to qualify!)
3. Contest Deadline is Friday, June 4, 2010 at 11:59PM.

The contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada. Winner will be chosen randomly from all qualifying entries and announced on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. Winning entry will be used on the Part Time Vagabond website.

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If you haven’t been following Part Time Vagabond on Twitter, you’ve been missing out, especially on signing up for the PTV newsletter. Make sure you sign up soon, because you’ll be first in line for a special giveaway coming to Part Time Vagabond in the next few weeks! Sign up at the link below or in the sidebar of PTV to get a head start…and pass the word!

http://eepurl.com/iCQY

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Last week, Part Time Vagabond was featured on the new blog “Travel Blog Sites,” which is run by the same people who run TravelPod. I’m really honored to be counted in such esteemed company! Woo! We got a nifty badge in the sidebar of PTV now too. Looks good!

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No new posts today. I fell behind on editing the last of the Path Less Pedaled videos, and haven’t been able to post anything new to the blog. Don’t worry, there’s more to come this week, and BIG NEWS coming soon! Thanks for your patience, and keep checking in!

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