Wasn’t Mankato the name of the place Charles Ingalls used to ride his horse and carriage to for lumber and other specialties the Olsen country store didn’t carry? The things we remember from our childhood….what about something more historical or cultural? We’re so wired to care about American popular media and programming. And yet as a result of this wiring, I’ve always wanted to visit Mankato.
Not much to say about Mankato itself…….it was ghostly quiet when we arrived. My only discovery was a characterless barber shop a few miles away. Out of all my barber shop stops, this was the most disappointing. The barber was also not amused when he saw me snapping away and I had this eerie feeling that if we didn’t drive westbound quickly, the local sheriff would have arrived on the scene.
We also found a funky health food store near Mankato and hung out for hours while we chatted with the locals about the limited social scene, ate fruit with flax seeds and secretly wondered whether the sheriff was looking for our out-of-state license plate.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
