A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Tune into Visit Bentonville’s podcast series for a weekly update on all things Bentonville, Arkansas. Hosted by Beth Bobbitt, you’ll hear captivating stories and updates from our city—connecting you with the locals that make this town worth visiting.
A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
The Life of a Travel Influencer with Emily Manasco of Somewhere in Arkansas
Hear from Emily Manasco, the creative force behind Somewhere in Arkansas. Discover how this flight attendant-turned-content creator is showcasing the hidden gems of the Natural State. From family-friendly adventures to seasonal hotspots, Emily shares her favorite autumn Arkansas experiences and offers a glimpse into the life of a travel influencer.
Learn about her exciting projects, including Somewhere Down South, and get insider tips for your next Arkansas getaway.
Follow Emily's adventures and plan your next trip today at Somewhere In Arkansas.
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Welcome to A New American Town presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, Beth Bobbitt, broadcasting from Haxton Road Studio, and today we're excited to speak with Emily Manasco, with Somewhere in Arkansas. Welcome to the podcast.
Emily Manasco:Emily, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here today.
Beth Bobbitt:And so Emily is a part of a mother-daughter duo dedicated to highlighting all the wonderful amenities and hidden gems in our state and providing resources for planning trips. What a fun gig.
Emily Manasco:It is Honestly, I don't know how I lucked into this, but it's super fun.
Beth Bobbitt:Well, let's talk about that. How did you luck into this? What's the origin story? With Somewhere in Arkansas?
Emily Manasco:So I've always kind of been into social media. I'm actually also a flight attendant. So before Somewhere in Arkansas, I actually had when I Wandered and that was all about being a flight attendant, the places I was traveling to and things like that. So I kind of have a background in social media already and I just fell in love with it and um, but sadly in 2020, we all know there's pandemic and I was actually furloughed from flying Um, so I wasn't doing much. And then I me and my husband decided we were gonna have a baby and so I really wasn't flying very much at this point and I was like what am I going to post on my flight attendant account? So that's kind of where, somewhere in Arkansas started. I've always loved Arkansas. I feel like it's such a hidden gem in the United States that people just honestly don't know about. I know that firsthand because when I'd be flying you know, talking to people working, they'd ask me oh, where are you from? Because they would hear me say y'all hear a little accent.
Emily Manasco:I was based out of San Francisco, so people weren't used to that and I'd tell them Arkansas and they'd be like well, I don't even know where that is on a map or what, what is there in Arkansas? So I just realized, you know, people do not know how beautiful it is here and how much there is to offer. So, um, you know, I had a newborn and I was looking to do something to where I could have a creative outlet and maybe a way to make extra money so I could stay home with her and not have to fly so much. So that's kind of where Somewhere in Arkansas started. And my mom she's actually my next door neighbor as well, so it's wonderful.
Emily Manasco:Yes. So we're best friends and she is a writer and a photographer so she's always been into blogging. So she was like you know, we could have Somewhere in Arkansas blog and I could do the social media side, she could do the photography and website side. Kind of she likes to stay behind the scenes. So, yeah, we kind of just decided let's do it, let's start posting about things we're already doing.
Emily Manasco:Me and my husband love to hike, so we were always taking um our daughter Lila, on hikes and we love to eat, so going out to restaurants and I just started posting about those things, um, on somewhere in Arkansas and honestly I never expected it to take off the way that it did and to get such a great response, but it's just been so wonderful and, yeah, now it's kind of my really full-time gig, I would say and it's just been such a blessing so that I am able to stay home with my now two-year-old. She just turned two. Well, congrats.
Beth Bobbitt:And your content is incredibly engaging.
Emily Manasco:Thank, you so much.
Beth Bobbitt:No wonder it took off. Do you have any desire to ever go back to flying? Is that something?
Emily Manasco:Yes, I'm still a flight attendant. I am, yes. I just really um dropped most of my trips to other flight attendants at this point because we've gotten so busy with traveling for somewhere in Arkansas and then being a mom and my husband works full time as well, so we're just constantly busy, I feel like. But I just still want to hopefully go back to that one day and maybe just do it more part-time.
Beth Bobbitt:Um, when my daughter's a little bit older. So for right now I'm kind of just trying to keep the job, but work as little as possible with that and focus more on this right now and I know you're up here in Northwest Arkansas quite a bit and you're in Bentonville with me live today. So I appreciate you being here, Um, but where? Where's home base when you're not? Hereonville with me live today. So I appreciate you being here, but where where's home base when you're not here?
Emily Manasco:Home is. Well, I always say Little Rock. I'm actually from Little Rock but just recently moved to Bryant, arkansas. Like I said, my dad is actually a builder, so he built me and my husband. We built a house with him down in Bryant, but I'm from Little Rock originally.
Beth Bobbitt:Got it.
Emily Manasco:Yes, I'm not used to saying I live in Bryant. Yeah, I guess.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah right. Well, I think our listeners would be curious to know what does a typical week look like for you Parenting, but also you know, content, creating and traveling and all that you do.
Emily Manasco:Yes, every week is a new adventure, it's different. I feel like no week is the same, which, honestly, I love, I am, I don't, I don't thrive on routine.
Emily Manasco:I love the difference in every single day. So, um, really, from week to week, usually we are traveling some, not every single week, but I'd say most weeks we have, you know, traveling, whether it's within Little Rock or outside of Little Rock. Um, my husband also works remote, so we're very fortunate for that. So he works from home, so he's a little more flexible with the travel too. So he comes with me a lot and then, like I said, my mom is also my partner in this, so she um, helps out a lot too with either coming or sometimes occasionally. If it's something just me and my husband need to go do, she can help watch our daughter.
Emily Manasco:So it's really honestly so wonderful I have such an amazing village. All of our family lives in central Arkansas my husband's side as well so we have so much love and support that we are able to do this. Um. So, yeah, really, week to week I primarily stay home with my daughter, so, um, just try to get work done during nap time or after bedtime. That usually entails a lot of video editing.
Emily Manasco:That is the bulk of your work of it, yes, but also, um, emails and you know, reaching out to people or responding to emails, and contracts and invoices, and really just the things that keep the business running. Um, you know writing blog posts, editing photos, things like that. And then the fun part, which is, you know, getting like coming here yeah.
Emily Manasco:Or wherever we're going, and we kind of have that planned out a few weeks in advance typically, so we know kind of where we're going. Sometimes we will have multiple trips, so we'll go multiple places, um, and we'll be gone for like five days and my husband just works remote while we're gone. So we're just kind of in and out a lot. No week looks the same and, yeah, a lot of my work gets done after bedtime.
Beth Bobbitt:I would love to just look at your calendar and see everything going on. Well, uh, the weather's getting cooler. Kids are back in school. Everybody's got fall on the brain right now. Talk to us a little bit about what's in store for the season a fall guide. The holidays are right around the corner when the weather starts to cool off.
Emily Manasco:Sometimes it takes a while in Arkansas for it to cool off, true, but it's starting to a little, and so I'm super excited for Bentonville some of my favorite fall things. I love to go to Kohler Mountain Bike Preserve, whether to bike to airship or just take a walk. I love all the creeks and it's just so beautiful out there and as the leaves start to turn, I feel like it's one of the creeks and it's just so beautiful out there and as the leaves start to turn, I feel like it's one of the best places to go here, just for relaxing and to be out in nature. It's great for kids Um, I'm always looking at things that are great for, you know, taking young children to it, my, we were actually just there yesterday, biking, and my daughter loved it. You know it's such a great spot.
Emily Manasco:There's so many coffee shops here, so if you like coffee, even if you don't, I feel like they usually have other offerings besides coffee, like I mentioned, the Airship Coffee out of Kohler or there's Heroes Coffee and Onyx, there's so many here just in a small radius that I feel like just the perfect cozy vibe Fall holiday. Pump vibes fall holiday.
Beth Bobbitt:Pumpkin, no pumpkin, it doesn't matter, love that.
Emily Manasco:One of the things I've actually done here in Bentonville that I loved was to take a big on Bentonville tour. I don't know if you've heard of that the golf cart yes, the golf cart which I feel like fall. Perfect time to go. Not too hot, there's crisp air and it's so fun. I actually learned so many things about Bentonville that I did not know um from taking that tour, so I loved it. I definitely recommend that, and I think before it gets too cold, you know but while it's not you know, july or August it can be pretty hot then.
Emily Manasco:So it's a perfect time to go this fall. Great idea If y'all have, even if you're locals, even yes, yeah, I want to go.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, you should go.
Emily Manasco:Um yeah, local people, I'd still recommend it. We had such a great time and our guide was really funny and great, and we took our daughter on it too, so also kid friendly, yeah, so um, and if you're looking for just a little maybe road trip outside of Bentonville, I'd say two of my favorite hikes in the fall are the Big Bluff Goat Trail. It's so beautiful. Now I will say probably wouldn't recommend taking young children.
Emily Manasco:It is on a bluff overlooking the Buffalo River, so I'd keep it more just the adults because it can be a little scary, or if you're super afraid of heights, maybe don't go either, but it's seriously stunning. Go when the leaves are changing, you know, in mid to late October, overlooking the Buffalo River. It is just beautiful. And another one of my favorite is Whitaker Point or, as it's also known, hawksbill Craig. Yes, so both of these are kind of in the Buffalo River region, ponca area and great day trip from here, and it's just gorgeous. I feel like Arkansas has so many beautiful outdoor things to offer.
Emily Manasco:So, I always recommend that, for fall, too, is just getting outside, because it's just so beautiful. So if you're in that area, you've got to go eat at the Cliff House Inn. Not necessarily even for the food. I mean, the food's good, it's not groundbreaking but for the staff it overlooks. The Arkansas Grand Canyon is what they've called it.
Beth Bobbitt:And it's just gorgeous.
Emily Manasco:It has a big back deck where you can just see the views and the colors. I try to go every fall. It's in Ponca or around there. It's in Jasper actually, which is really close to Ponca area, that same area where these hikes are, and I always say stop by there because it's just beautiful and get the Companies's Common Pie. That's what it's called. It's what they're famous for. It's honestly worth it, delicious. So I would definitely recommend that and just take in the beautiful views and the mountains and it's a great spot.
Beth Bobbitt:I'm going to start planning now. This sounds dreamy.
Emily Manasco:I love it. Start planning all your fall activities.
Beth Bobbitt:What's next for somewhere in Arkansas? Any new trips or ideas or partnerships?
Emily Manasco:Just honestly taking it day by day, but we have some fun partnerships. I you know I've thought about just also expanding. I work with so many rentals like properties across our state to promote them and I truly love doing that. Like the videography behind it. I think one of my favorite things about content creation is like the creative side of the editing and like we have a drone now we've like upgraded our camera equipment.
Emily Manasco:And I love making, trying to be better and better at like the video quality, and so, after working with so many rentals, I'm like you know this is something I'm truly passionate about showcasing these venture. I thought, about is kind of starting a marketing kind of company just geared towards rentals, where I could maybe manage their social media, do all their content and videos. I think it's so important for these businesses to have social media, you know, and get the word out there, and I think it's kind of like the new billboards or commercials.
Emily Manasco:It's like having these videos and things like that to promote honestly, in my opinion, is more effective, and especially when it's coming from someone that knows social media, knows what does well, performs well, what people are going to like and share and save. So, yeah, I just have a passion for that and that's kind of one thing I've thought about doing is starting kind of a side adventure for people like, hey, let me get all your content of your Airbnb or rental, whatever it may be, and post for you, make the videos for you and help build this and get more bookings, things like that.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah.
Emily Manasco:I think Since I've worked I mean probably in the past year I've worked with at least 50 across the state, you know, and all with a lot of success in that. So that's something.
Beth Bobbitt:I've thought about. Did you ever think your path would lead you to this? You know there's so many options. No, it's so crazy.
Emily Manasco:I love it, though, and I've always. My dad's an entrepreneur, and I've always kind of had that spirit my whole life. I've never I've worked a few desk jobs and I was like, oh, I don't know if I can do this. I just am very much a free spirit, so I'm always thinking of new ideas. Sometimes my idea is there's too many of them that I've got to kind of rein it in.
Beth Bobbitt:Well, speaking of, I was going to ask you about where I wandered.
Emily Manasco:I think you already talked about that, and then the somewhere down South. Yeah, so that's a little bit different. Yes, so we have, like I mentioned earlier, where I wandered, which is kind of about flight attendant Um, and I've actually thought about taking that. I have a pretty big following.
Emily Manasco:And on Tik TOK, with where I wandered and aered, and a big blog too with that. So I've kind of wanted to maybe revamp that a little into turning it into, you know, traveling with kids and kind of what my life is more now. So that's kind of also in the works right now. It's kind of posting and starting that back up. We've been working on kind of rebranding that. And then, yeah, somewhere down South is our other sister blog, kind of just somewhere in Arkansas, which we kind of write about all the places in the South. I feel like the South gets overlooked as travel destinations sometimes, as opposed to other bigger places I mean especially smaller cities in the South. So that's kind of what somewhere down South is an O2 is like. There are so many unique and amazing places in the Southern U S that people don't know about. So that's just another one of our ventures.
Beth Bobbitt:Love it and you do a great job promoting on all your sites. So um, we are going to wrap up with a question. We ask all our guests if you had a dream day in Bentonville to do whatever you wanted, you know see, eat with or without your family. What would that look like? And you may be doing that right now.
Emily Manasco:We've honestly done so many fun things. I'm adding e-bikes to my list of my dream day because it was so much fun and, honestly, our two-year-old loved it.
Emily Manasco:She was just in the little carrier in the back, having a great time and just enjoying the sights and um so, probably renting e-bikes I mean there's or, if you're into mountain biking, I personally haven't really gotten into that yet, but one day maybe because there's so many amazing trails here, obviously, um Like I mentioned, I love Kohler so we'd have to go there If we're doing a family day. Number one on my daughter's list Amazium.
Beth Bobbitt:Yes.
Emily Manasco:We come there every time we're up in Bentonville. She loves it. It's just so much fun for all of us. Also get ice cream at the Spark Cafe truck. That is something we also do every time we're here, and that ice cream is so good, so cheap. It's the best $2. Yeah, I know To spend time on the square. I love the square. I know it's cheesy, but it's just so magical, especially at Christmas which is coming up.
Emily Manasco:And I love when it's all lit up, so I'm excited for that. Um, we are big taco people, so we love yayos, whether it's going to the actual restaurant or the food truck. I feel like that's a must on my um Bentonville day. And also crepes Paulette, which I actually ate today. That is another, another, I just it's so good, so different, so different. Yeah, I really have never had anything like it else in arkansas, so it's one of my favorites and then, if it's a saturday, probably go to the farmer's market um.
Emily Manasco:So yeah, just kind of have a family fun relaxing day, one of my favorite bentonville things.
Beth Bobbitt:Oh, I can picture it. It's amazing. Well, this has been so much fun, emily, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.
Emily Manasco:Well, thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure to be here and get to chat with you.
Beth Bobbitt:Yes, and I hope you all check out Somewhere in Arkansas and all of her other ventures soon. Don't forget, visit Bentonville is here to help you navigate things to do, where to eat and stay and what's going on in our new American town. Give us a follow on social sign up for the newsletter and check out the website at visitbentonvillecom. Thanks for listening.