The Dining Traveler is a wonderful blog that will whisk you away to a foreign land where you can experience the world through the eyes of its Founder and Blogger Jessica Van Dop de Jesus.

To help us get one step closer to her experiences Jessica has created the #DCTravelBlogger Meetup which is a series of events for travel bloggers (and those who love them) come together over food and drinks.  Which we did, first at Rural Society DC and it was a great time!!

For the second gathering we assembled at Jaleo Crystal City who prepared a virtual trip to Spain with their Spanish themed brunch for the group. There was be a Sangria making demonstration, a chef demonstration of paella and the famous Fernan Adria liquid olives. The brunch was in partnership with Stay Arlington and included fun giveaways during the brunch.    That gather was made up for about twenty Washington, DC based travel and food bloggers.

Photo by Domestiphobia

Photo by Domestiphobia

Photo by Evan

Photo by Evan

Photo by Domestiphobia

Photo by Domestiphobia

Tonight she will be doing it again at Bin1301 with a focus more on prep for travel but there will definitely still be food!!  Travel blogger and writer Jessica van Dop DeJesus will be partnering up with consumer travel expert Charles McCool and lead fashion bloggers, Lacey Faeh and Carlis Sanchez to conduct a packing workshop with a focus on weekend travel. The event will be held on Monday, May 18th at Bin 1301 Wine Bar starting at 6:30pm.

Jessica has been a US Marine since 1997, and is an expert in packing 30 days’ worth of survival in one small bag. She translates her expertise into the civilian world, teaching others how to maximize their luggage space whether it is a long weekend in rainy London or a tropical getaway in Miami. Lacey and Carla will bring looks picked based on their favorite weekend getaways in order for Jessica to demonstrate her most effective methods.  Charles is an independent consumer travel expert and a licensed travel advisor. He writes about maximizing your travel dollar for Consumer Traveler and Yahoo Travel. He will incorporate his 15+ years of travel expertise into a Q&A on tips and tricks for affordable weekend getaways immediately following the packing workshop.  Get your tickets here! See you tonight!