For McCool Travel’s 182nd travel interview, I am pleased to present Angela DiLoreto. Angela is one of those persons I got to know online (particularly on Twitter) and was fortunate to meet IRL (in real life).
Angela and her husband had recently moved to the Florida Gulf Coast and when my wife and I were on one of our snow-bird-in-training winter vacations the four of us met at an Indian Rocks Beach cafe. I am intrigued with Angela’s history projects, as I love family history research, and, of course, I appreciate her travel exploits and experience.
Angela DiLoreto’s bio:
Angela retired early to work on her own projects with FittinginAdventure.com and her upcoming books. Prior to retiring she worked as a fractional CMO for a variety of companies in the entertainment and travel sectors. Angela transformed tragedy into helping others when a family friend was murdered by a stalker in 2007. Angela quickly and successfully lobbied for legislative change in several states to ensure others would have the legal help that her friend did not.
Angela DiLoreto
HOMETOWN …
I grew up in a tiny town on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Arkansas City, KS. Yes, it is an odd name for a town in Kansas. It is on the Arkansas River though. Locals call it Ar-KANSAS City.
Now we are home-based on the Florida Gulf Coast in Dunedin.
ON EVERY TRIP I MUST BRING …
This is cliché but camera! It is usually in my purse/daily bag each and every day (even around home). Beyond that hydration tablets. We use the Nunn brand for low sugar. It is amazing how easily you can get dehydrated and how quickly that can ruin a trip.
3 FAVORITE HOME-AWAY-FROM-HOME PLACES …
- Florida Keys
- New Orleans
- Carson Valley, NV – It is a small high desert valley just down the mountain from Lake Tahoe and truly beautiful!
A FAVORITE TRAVEL MEMORY …
Standing on the mountainside in Delphi (Greece) and deciding I wanted to travel and tell the stories. I semi-jokingly say the Oracle of Delphi told me to start FittinginAdventure.com
3 FAVORITE TRAVEL BRANDS …
- Keen, because footwear is important!
- Eagle Creek
- Can I count Sony? I am counting Sony since we do not buy souvenirs. Rather, photos we take are our souvenirs.
3 MONEY-SAVING TRAVEL TACTICS I USE …
- Travel points (of course)
- We base camp out of one location. Since we RV it makes it easier to set up less times and cheaper not to drag the trailer to the next spot. We will find one central location and day trip out in spokes from there.
- This is a simple one, but I am shocked at how much money (and environmentally) we save with our reusable water bottles. (Ed. Note, Thank YOU!)
3 WAYS THAT I HAVE FUN WHILE TRAVELING …
- Meet the locals! Just talk. They have great stories and recommendations.
- Relax into that something will go wrong (especially when RVing).
- Take your dogs!
8 WORD (OR LESS) TRAVEL MANTRA …
“Make the memories!”
FAVORITE NON-TRAVEL WEBSITE …
YouTube in general! We have our coffee in the morning to YouTube’s travel channels. I mark our Google Map and use it for future planning.
MOST MEMORABLE SOUVENIR …
We really do not buy souvenirs, but I have a photo of a sunrise in Key West that I am proud of. We blew it up to 40×30 for our home-base living room.
FAVORITE CHEAP EAT …
Cheap eats are a passion so this is a hard one! By location, it would easily be New Orleans. A specific to one restaurant would be Sandy’s Cafe in Key West. We are playing fast and loose with the word cafe though. Sandy’s is in a laundromat and makes the best Cuban sandwiches you will ever have!
RECENT DISCOVERY …
During the pandemic, I finally sorted boxes from my late dad’s house. I found a lot of information about my ancestors. Including the fact that one hid a treasure in Virginia 200 years ago called the Beale Treasure. He left 3 ciphers behind. Only one of which was ever decoded. It was decoded using the Declaration of Independence.
Yes, it is the story National Treasure is said to be loosely based on. Much of our recent travels have been to further research his life in Virginia and New Orleans (where he led the Beale Riflemen in the Battle of New Orleans). I am working on a book on his story.
I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE MET …
A partner that is a wanderlust too!
I WOULD LIKE TO MEET …
More locals. In my previous life, I met a lot of names that top other’s lists. However, the people I have met with the best stories rarely have names you’ve heard of before.
Thank you so much, Angela, for sharing your travel advice and inspiration.
Follow Angela DiLoreto on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and her website Fitting in Adventure.
McCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes travel interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Check out McCool Travel’s previous travel interviews. Previous 5 Minutes travel interview: Christine Lozada.