Dinoscool3's mom

My son is Dinoscool3 on an internet message board for people who fly frequently and love travel. Introduced to it by his father in 2010 when we were living in Bangladesh, at first he spend his time reading trip reports posted from around the world. It wasn't until the Continental/United Airlines merger that he became a frequent poster. Needless to say, he was one of the youngest people on the board.

One beneficial aspect of membership in this community is access to posts concerning low-cost travel. We took advantage of a price war on flights into Istanbul and booked Thanksgiving weekend, 2011, along with many who also jumped on a good fare. That led to our introduction to another delightful custom: the "Do", a gathering of members of the community, often involving food, drink and behind the scenes tours arranged by local experts. The "Istanbul Do" was a lovely, quickly arranged dinner with animated discussion of our travels and deals along the way. Each participant trying to one-up each other.

We always enjoy these gatherings and have been to several over the last few years. Our travels this weekend were timed to include the "Monterey Do". We shared several meals and a couple of tours.

Participants in the gatherings are often individual travelers or couples, rarely families. I do have a laugh every time I'm introduced, not as a member of the community, but as his mom.