Welcome!

Welcome, tourists!

We hope you'll put down your map, your museum brochures, your GPS and your camera, take off your fanny pack, slip out of your walkin' shoes and take a few minutes to have a conversation about what you did last weekend.

You know, being a Tourist at Home.

Because I've been there. Probably literally.

When I had moved to my 10th new city, I believed I had mastered the art of being a tourist in my own backyard. As a newcomer in Cleveland, Washington DC, the Ohio heartland, Chicago, Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, Lexington, Kentucky, South Florida and San Francisco, I packed my kids into the mini-van and visited every museum, zoo, monument, scenic view and ________ (fill in the blank with your favorite tourist attraction, because it's probably mine, too).

Who needs Welcome Wagon when you have a stack of brochures from the public library and a tank of gas?

While I was awe-struck with the uniqueness that my new communities offered, I was also hit by the discovery that many of my new neighbors - some who lived in town for years and years and years - had never been to the tourist attractions that were drawing out-of-towners.

What's wrong with those people?

So I decided to do what every unemployed freelance writer who's had her second cup of coffee on a Monday morning full of possibilities is inclined to do: Write a book.

Part how-to, part friendly advice, and part humor, my yet-untitled book (but looking for suggestions, you creative types!) will help you be the best darn Tourist at Home in town.

          🚘   How to Put Together a Tourist at Home Vacation Package

          🚘 . When Guests Come to Visit: Know Your Town to Show Your Town

          🚘   Tourist-at-Home Parenting: The Importance of Kids Knowing Their Home Base

          🚘   Planning the Most Amazing Spring Break Without Leaving Home

          🚘   How to Score Local Lodging and Tourism Discounts

          🚘   How Your Small Business Can Snag the Tourist-at-Home Market

Interested? I'm writing as fast as I can and hope to publish in Fall 2018. Meanwhile, I'll be running some promotions, offering some surveys, and picking your brains as much as I can. Being a Tourist at Home is all about connecting: With your community and the people in it.

I hope you'll join the conversation about your Tourist at Home experiences, wherever you live! Here's how:

Diane's email address is diane@dianelaneyfitzpatrick.com.

Read more about Tourist at Home adventures on her website at dianelaneyfitzpatrick.com.

Chatter away on her Facebook page or her Twitter account.


Learn more about Diane's other books here:

Great-Grandma Is on Twitter and Other Signs the Rapture Is Near

Home Sweet Homes; How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves

And check out her blog on the adventures of moving and relocation at It's Your Move!