Blogger Interview With Dates In The States

Welcome to my new Blogger Interview Series! Each month I will be interviewing a new blogger and finding out some great ideas, tips, recipes, etc. I love sharing knowledge and inspiring others to explore. 🙂

This month – It’s Crystal and Shane with Dates In The States

This couple caught my eye first of all with their cute name! Isn’t the name adorable and catchy?? Their blog is all about going on dates or mini trips in the USA. They also have great tips for traveling on a budget! Enjoy their interview and go give them a follow on their social media links. You will definitely gain some great tips from them 🙂

1. Tell me a little about yourselves?

Shane and I are a couple who travel all over the United States and love sharing about our travels. We’re based out of Rochester, NY and work full-time day jobs at the moment. Shane is also attending online schooling for Exercise Health & Science.

2. What was the purpose and goal when starting your blog?

When I graduated from college, I wanted to take a cross-country road trip – something that has always been my dream since I was a little girl. We both drove in my Ford Mustang for 5 weeks driving all over the United States. We wanted to create a blog for people to follow our travels. We still travel often to this day together and now the blog is geared towards our dates we take together throughout the United States.

3. How did you come up with the awesome name Dates in the States?

Actually, my Dad came up with it! The blog was originally called, “Dates Around the World,” but we knew we wanted something catchier especially since the blog has been mostly based in the United States. We were brainstorming one day and it was the first thing that came out of Dad’s mouth! It was perfect, so we ran with it.

4. How many states have you visited for the blog?

Since we’ve been together and working on the blog, we would guess about 35 states. We’ve visited even more separately.

5. What “Date” in which state was the most memorable so far?

It’s very hard to choose just one! Camping in Page, Arizona and hiking the Antelope Canyon probably has been one of the most memorable experiences. On our 5 week road trip we wanted to save a little money, so we decided to camp in Page. We were totally unprepared – all we had was our tent and sleeping bags. We slept on the hard rock in the campground and could barely move the next morning. It was a pretty amazing experience though camping in the desert and looking up at the stars surrounded by all this gorgeous scenery. The next morning we drove down the road to the Indian Reservation to hike Antelope Canyon. We had only seen pictures and knew this was a place we couldn’t turn down. We spent over an hour down in that canyon being in shock by it’s beauty. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life. Read our blog post Here

6. Do you have any travel tips to share as a couple?

We have so many, we don’t know where to start! Don’t travel hangry, always listen to the other person’s ideas, pack light, and plan your trip ahead of time! We actually give away a whole series when you join our email list on how to travel as a couple! We have some pretty funny (and not so funny) stories!

You can find other travel tips on our Patreon Community and Facebook groups. We actually love giving away our wide variety of tips which include topics like budget travel, road trips, complimentary travel ideas, and so much more!

Patreon: www.patreon.com/datesinthestates

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/USABudgetTravel/

7. How long is your typical travel date?

We love weekend road trips! If we can drive under 4 hours somewhere for a weekend, it’s usually the best kind of date. We also make a point to have at least one date night a week, usually Friday nights when we go somewhere new for dinner. We love trying new places!

8. I noticed on your blog you offer online classes, printables and printable check lists. Tell me more about these?

We created an online course to teach people how we travel for free. We actually receive complimentary stays, meals, and event attendance in order to blog for certain companies. We love teaching other bloggers how to do the same and we even provide our exact email pitch templates in our course. As of July 30th, our course will no longer be available to just purchase outright. However, it will be available on our Patreon Community, www.patreon.com/datesinthestates

On our Patreon we also offer printables like fun luggage tags and check lists for things to take on road trips! We’ll send you postcards, souvenirs, and treats from our travels as well just for joining.

9. What do you hope your readers take away from your blog?

No matter your budget, you can always find something to do in every state with your loved ones.

10. Where is your next “Date” going to be and what can we expect?

We’ve booked our annual trip to Florida in September. My parents have a house in Cape Coral and we like to go just about every other year. We’ll also be visiting Disney and Sanibel Island while we’re down there. Definitely be on the lookout for additional posts! We may even blog about a few companies while we’re there this time!

I Hope you enjoyed the interview as much as I did 🙂 Remember if you haven’t followed my instagram, twitter or facebook accounts please do so. It would be greatly appreciated.

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Chat Soon!

Trudy