One of my favorite things about being a travel writer, besides the whole travel and writing part, is meeting others in my field.
It’s kind of like getting together a bunch of brewers: there’s competition, sure, but there’s also camaraderie, cooperation, and companionship. Each of us has a different voice and appeals to a different audience, and we have a shared passion for helping others experience life to the fullest.
Most of the time, we do this by traveling to and writing about destinations that are not our homes. But, I began my site because I loved where I lived, and as I meet more and more people in this field, I’ve learned they love their homes, too.
It would be selfish to keep these wonderful people and their sites to myself, so I present Meet The Local Tourists. This new series will introduce you to fantastic travel sites, the people behind them, and the places they call home.
Our first Local Tourist is Sage Scott, founder of Everyday Wanderer. We met online through Midwest Travel Network in late 2017, and finally met in-person when she came all the way from Kansas City to Chicago for my book launch party in December, 2018! Over the past year-plus I’ve been astounded by her creative content ideas, her gorgeous photography, her marketing acumen, and how she always lifts others, and I’m excited for you to meet her, too.
Sage is a huge fan of Kansas City. Say hello to Sage and her hometown.
Hi Sage! Tell us a bit about your website, Everyday Wanderer.
While everyone can benefit from travel — be it across town or halfway around the world — not everyone is in a position to travel the world full-time. Everyday Wanderer is a travel blog for people with wanderlust and a real life.
How did you get started as a travel blogger?
I was bitten by the travel bug as a preschooler when my family moved abroad for the first time. Getting to spend half of my most formative childhood years living abroad and traveling extensively exposed me to different cultures, languages, and experiences that greatly shaped my perspective as a citizen of the world.
When my kids were little, I started a password-protected blog as a way to share photos and stories with my family. Since all of my family lives several states away, it was a great way to keep in touch and share the cute (or sometimes cheeky) things that they did or said with grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
Which brings me to the present. After several years of maintaining a 365 photography blog where I took, edited, and shared a photo a day to improve my photography skills, last year I decided to move to a travel blog and share more of the history and other details behind my travels.
A visitor is in Kansas City for one day – where should they go?
Art lovers won’t want to miss the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Set on acres of green, manicured lawn accented with sculptures (like four giant shuttlecocks), the museum is most widely known for its extensive collection of Asian Art. However, the Native American galleries and Hallmark Photographic Collection are equally impressive. If contemporary art is more your style, then take a short walk to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. (The giant spider sculpture guarding the front door confirms you’re in the right place.) It has a small permanent collection, but the temporary exhibits change once a quarter which guarantees there’s nearly always something new to see.
If you’re into architecture, you’ll want to see the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Designed by world-famous architect, Moshe Safdie, the dramatic, concrete and glass, clamshell-shaped building was added to the Kansas City skyline at the end of 2011.
Although it covers the Great War, a rather somber topic, history buffs will love the nation’s only World War I museum dedicated to the “War to End All Wars.” At the Liberty Memorial, enter the museum via a glass bridge that spans a field of red poppies below, each of the 9,000 flowers representing 1,000 soldier deaths. For a lighter historical topic, and more impressive architecture, head down the hill to the century-old Union Station. Don’t miss the permanent Union Station Stories exhibit that starts at the staircase in the southwest elevator vestibule and continues through mezzanine levels two and three. Here you can return to a time when train travel was king and hundreds of thousands of people traveled through Union Station each year, eating at the Harvey House and getting their shoes shined. Science lovers of all ages won’t want to miss Science City also located in Union Station.
Shopaholics will quickly understand why Kansas City is called the Paris of the Plains when they shop on the Spanish-inspired Country Club Plaza filled with sculptures and fountains. With shops ranging from Bath & Body Works and Forever 21 to Burberry and Tiffany’s, there’s a little something for everyone, even if it’s just window shopping. Folks seeking one-of-a-kind finds should head to the West Bottoms. Here more than 15 antique stores full of one-of-a-kind clothing, home decor, and other finds are open every weekend.
Home to several professional sports teams, Kansas City also has plenty to offer sports lovers. Win or lose, the locals are perennially proud of (and forever loyal to) the Chiefs (football), Royals (baseball), and Sporting KC (soccer). Attend a game in person or take it in at a local watering hole and feel the camaraderie that permeates the town on game day.
And last, but certainly not least, Kansas City is known as the Barbeque Capital of the World. With more than 100 barbecue joints, Kansas City’s name has been synonymous with slowly smoked meat for more than a century. While every local will have his or her favorite, these places are usually at the tip of everyone’s tongue: Joe’s Kansas City, Q39, and Jackstack.
What can you find at home that you can’t find anywhere else?
Kansas City’s world famous BBQ!!!
What’s something unexpected about your home?
Located right in the middle of America’s heartland, folks outside the Midwest often discount Kansas City and all it has to offer. But once they experience this unique city that straddles two states , they are nearly always blown away. I love this town!
Here’s where you can follow Sage Scott:
Find a place to stay in Kansas City
