Do you ever feel alone? If you haven’t, I’m not sure you’re a part of the human race. We’re excellent at feeling alone. We can feel alone when we grow up with too many siblings, alone on an airplane, alone in a crowd. And definitely, definitely, we can feel alone in our passions.

Writers, for instance, are known for this. Writing is a lonely job, we often say. Just me, my computer, and the movie soundtracks on Pandora. Then, inevitably, we find a critique group or an agent or – every writer’s dream-come-true – an editor. And suddenly we’re not alone anymore. By the time a book gets its cover art, we realize we’re just one part of a massive team.

Similarly, adventurers feel alone. Some of them sort of like it that way I think. We want to explore the world in order to observe it, not so much to have it sharing hotel rooms with us and choosing where we’ll eat. But how much more amazing could your lonely trip to Somewhere be if you first connected online with people who are there, or if you connected during the trip with people who wish they were. And for goodness sake don’t try to plan group travel tours without a little help from someone who’s navigated the chaos and decision-making of that organizational nightmare. Find people who can help. Twitter is an excellent resource for that.

Because the thing is, while we’re feeling alone, so is everyone else. Not one of us is truly alone. Someone out there has a job like ours, a passion like ours, a family like ours. Someone has been there. Someone can relate. If we feel truly, terribly alone then either we have too high an opinion of ourselves, or we just haven’t reached out.

Enter Twitter. I’m a travel writer who doesn’t get to travel very much (husband, kids, budget, not-in-the-job-description – you get the idea). And I felt really alone in that. Until Twitter. I’ve found a wealth of other travel writers there, a plethora of adventurers who are taking the journeys I haven’t taken but that I want to learn about, plus a ton of people who love to travel more than they actually do.

Twitter is about to launch a redesign that is supposed to be more user-friendly, making it easier to find new and valuable information without ever leaving the website. Until that day, or in preparation for it, try these Twitter tips for getting connected:

1. Be who you are.

I have two twitter accounts, the one for personal use with lots of followers I know in real life. This one points to my personal blog and is vaguely focused on the writing community and book publication but really just focused on me in all my roles – wife, mom, writer, blogger, cancer survivor, observer of life, etc. Because I had this account I really struggled with building the account for my day job as a travel writer. I felt like focusing on that one part of my life was like withholding part of the truth. Not so.

Many people have various twitter accounts for their unique interests. And I’ve now realized that isn’t just possible, it’s preferable. People want to know what it is they’re following. Your bio should tell them. If it’s largely an account for your business, say so. If you want to give advice about the travel industry, let people know that’s the plan. If you’re looking for advice from others, open up about that too. Now I have a twitter account for my writer persona and one for my travel one. I feel fully a part of both communities. Every now and then I follow a person with both accounts, but usually the two worlds never meet. According to recent statistics, Twitter signs up 370,000 new users every day. That’s a large community, and you should be reaching out to your part of it.

2. Be valuable.

I used to think Twitter was largely created for a night on the town. I took the “what are you doing?” question literally and understood that individuals often used it to let their peers know where they’d be at a certain time for drinks, etc. Now Twitter has become the New Media. It’s a place to find out what articles, photos, and blogs are truly of interest, especially in a given field. If someone you’ve been following for a while tells you there’s an interesting article on Paris excursions, you’re likely to believe them.

Therefore, do your best to fight – tooth and nail – the urge to describe your morning bagel. There’s certainly an audience for this. We all do it sometimes. But mostly, people what to learn, to grow, and to weed out all the noise on the internet in order to find the treasure. Help ‘em out. Use your feed sparingly throughout the day so you don’t fill too much of a person’s homepage, and use it to point to things that matter.

3. Search, search, search

I’ve been so thrilled with the travel resources I’ve found through Twitter. You can learn so much about any given subject just by finding the people tweeting about it. How do you do it? Search. Choose terms specific to your interests and see if you can find people tweeting about it in real time. You can also use the Find People feature to look for feeds specific to travel, writers, business, social media, etc. Also, when you find a website you love or a blog, they probably have a twitter feed. Look for the little blue bird or other Twitter icon, and add them immediately. It can be invaluable to you to learn on Twitter every time the blogger updates their page.

4. Lists

Once you find someone well-established in a specific field, see if they’ve built lists with fellow members of the group. Lists can help you find hundreds of tweeters answering the questions you want to ask.

Bottom Line

Don’t go it alone. There’s an entire community out there that wants to hear what you have to say and that wants to talk about the things you love. Find them, connect, tweet. It’s as simple as that.

**If travel’s one of your passions, follow me @shesgoingplaces and discover all kinds of fellow adventurers on the web.

Forbes Traveler online has compiled the top 25 most visited tourist attractions in America.  And tons of sites made the list that we send students to all year long!  We’ve been recognizing their value for educational and student tours since our company was founded – and for the next couple weeks we’ll highlight them.  If you don’t have them on your list of must-see student attractions already, you will soon.  

The number one most visited tourist attraction in America (although I’m really not sure how they calculate this one; it’s not like there’s a ticket gate) is Times Square in New York City.  The Big Apple made the list three times, and I’ll highlight each of these great NYC attractions this week.

I know you’re familiar at least with the concept of Times Square.  It’s the most recognizable intersection in the entire country with its giant digital billboards famous around the world.  Whether or not you dream of being here on New Year’s Eve for the famous ball drop could easily separate one personality type from another.  Still, throughout the year Times Square is a great attraction for New York City student tours.  Good Morning America films there each morning.  It’s home to several Broadway theaters, Toys R Us, Virgin Records, and a Hershey’s store.  You’ll also find two unique and amazing museums in Times Square, Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Madame Tussaud’s wax museum – the one place in New York City you’re guaranteed to get a photo with your favorite celebrity.  All of this makes it extremely popular for student travel and, according to Forbes, the number one choice for American travel in general!

(photo by OliverN5 on Flickr)