Liebster Award

I was very touched recently to discover that  Owlivia had kindly nominated this blog for a Liebster Award. I’m really grateful for being recognised and thank you so much for thinking of me.

My understanding is that this award is one of the really nice parts of blogging, that allows bloggers to interact and recognise each others’ work and so I’m really happy to take part in what it involves… which is as follows:

  1. Put the Liebster Award logo on your blog
  2. Thank and tag the blog who nominated you
  3. Answer their questions and come up with 10 new ones for your nominees
  4. Nominate other blogs (with less than 200 followers), let them know you’ve nominated them and link them in your post
  5. No tag-backs

Here are my answers to the questions…

  1. Who is someone, other than your family, who has had a really big impact on your life?

There are a lot of people who have impacted on me, possibly without even realising and sometimes in small ways that make a big difference.  My oldest friend who I’ve known since I was 3, Hannah has had a massive impact on my life. Probably without knowing it, she has always been very inspirational to me. When we were 19 she went travelling, originally with a boyfriend, but when realizing he wasn’t as nice as she had originally thought, she went off solo. Not only did I think that was incredibly brave, but her pictures and experiences planted a seed in me that this was something I really had to do with my life. I have talked about it ever since and always thought about it. It took me another 11 years to manage to get together the money to start my big travelling adventure, but I got there in the end and this was when the wandering feline was born. She continues to travel and live abroad and I was lucky to get to visit her new home in Perth, Australia recently.

  1. You have one hypothetical wish, what do you use it for? (No wishing for more wishes)

This is tricky as there are a lot of places I want to visit and a lot of adventures I would like to have that would make great wishes. There are also a lot of unselfish wishes I would like to make… like I wish that there were no more landmines in Cambodia, which is something I really am going to start talking about more since my visit to the Cambodian Landmine Museum near Siem Reap. However, for the purposes of this post, I think I’m going to say that I wish I could be a better writer in order to be paid to do so. That way, I could work on the road and have as many adventures as possible. Preferably with enough money to sometimes support my friends and family joining me!

  1. Do you have catchphrase? Explain the story behind it. If you don’t have a catchphrase, make one up, and explain the story behind THAT.

Um well I’m known to say ‘F*ck it’ a lot… meaning ‘just do it’ – it’s just that I have a bit of a potty mouth. I started saying this at University when my friends and were worried that we should be going home and studying rather than staying out late. I would do what is known as an F-it toast and then we would continue worry free. Now this applies to much more exciting situations like ‘should I really spend the money to go to the Galapagos?’ ‘F*ck it’ and off I go, or ‘well Colombia isn’t really on my plan so can I really make the journey to go all that way north?’ ‘F*ck it’ and off I go to catch a bus –I never regret anything one bit with this mindset. Sorry it’s a bit rude.

  1. What question do you NOT want to answer?

The next one…

  1. What is your favorite ‘favorite’ question to answer? (Favorite color, favorite food, favorite laundry detergent etc.) And what is the answer to that question?

I have to say that I dislike any and every favourite questions. I just don’t seem to be able to have favourites in anything – films, music, foods – I just can’t give you one answer. The one I get asked the most is ‘What is my favourite country visited?’ I hate being asked this as it is impossible… but to keep people happy, I usually answer ‘Ecuador’ because it is so rich with Wildlife. It’s home to the Galapagos Islands, part of the Amazon, a Cloud Forest and a great destination for watching courting Whales. However, when I say this, I feel bad that I didn’t say Bolivia because the culture there is beautiful and the salt flats are stunning. And then I think of El Salvador where I spent a longer time and met so many great people and got to eat a lot of pupusas. And so it goes on… Please don’t ask me this question.

  1. What is something you can admit?

I admit that I was vegetarian for 18 years and then when I started travelling I started eating meat again in order to try some of the local foods. I’ve since eaten Iguana, Guinea Pig, Pigs head and Alpaca. I still don’t really like meat though. This makes quite a lot of vegetarians a bit cross, but I don’t really regret it as trying foods and talking about food seems pretty important in a lot of cultures different to my own and it is important to me to try and understand as much about other people and cultures as I can.

  1. What is something weird about yourself?

I am pretty weird, so theres probably a lot of answers to this question. Um… I think I’ll say that I tend to talk to animals as if they are humans. It’s just a thing I do. I’ve had some great conversations.

  1. How introverted or extroverted are you?

I am a massive introvert. Sometimes when I’m travelling I have to remind myself to meet other people in the hostel I’m staying in because I’m so happy pottering about with my photos and writing, but I do really like other people too! Meeting people is one of my favourite things about the travel experience and it’s definitely not that I’m anti-social, I can just get a little to far into my own head sometimes. I’ve only recentely discovered that I am an introvert though and it is very liberating to know this about myself. Before I always tried really hard to be extroverted as I thought it was the right way to be – but it’s very stressful for an introvert to do that. So now I can just accept about myself that I gain energy from being solo, listening to some music and taking in a landscape by myself for a bit. These can be great qualities when travelling alone as it is not always possible to meet people depending on your schedule and who else is around.

  1. What fictional land would you most like to be in?

Does anyone remember the far away tree? I would like to go there.

  1. Are glasses cool?

Of course. Some of the best people wear glasses. I have to wear them to read subtitles on the TV and it’s my most seemingly intelligent look. Also – sunglasses?! Very cool.

 

So, that’s a little about me. I’d now like to nominate the following blogs, who I’ve recently become aware of and enjoyed their words. These are not necessarily travel blogs, but my questions are a little bit travel inspired – you can interpret them as you wish. It’s certainly not compulsary to take part in the award if you don’t feel it’s right for you, but please do take it as a recognition that I have enjoyed what you are doing over the last few weeks:

Homemade Naturally  – who has some amazing tips for things you may have in your home as well as some beautiful words.

Life is Nice – because positive psychology is so important and in my opinion this is a blog written by an inspirational person.

Only 100 Words – I love the concept of this blog and it’s a great achievement to write a 100 word story every day.

That Traveling Nurse – For obvious reasons I like this blog… but I can particularly recommend the photography and recent whale spotting in a place that is very high on my bucket list!

Sometimes – for interesting thoughts on lots of things as well as in gratitude for being able to connect with you during the blogging 101 course.

REVolving – I’ve particularly liked your gratitude project. Travelling has made me so grateful for every day and really enjoyed reading your Three Things Thursday post.

 

OK… here are the questions:

1. What is the weirdest thing you ever ate?

2. What place in the world do you feel most happy?

3. What book are you reading?

4. If you could do anything to make this world a bit better, what would it be?

5. Sun and sea or Mountains and lakes?

6. What is top of your bucket list?

7. If you were an animal, what would you be?

8. What are you most proud of?

9. What has been the most important piece of advice you’ve been given in your life?

10.  Do you have a photograph that creates a special memory for you? (if possible please share it also) 

Hope you enjoy answering… I look forward to reading more from you.

 

 

8 Comments

  1. I love your answer to question 3 😀

    Thank you for nominating me. I still have to make up my mind about awards (I’ve got two other nominations…) but I do appreciate being nominated 🙂

  2. Ha ha – thanks. Glad it didn’t offend 😉

    I know what you mean about awards – I’m new to this so had to look into into a bit first. I just hope you take it as a compliment whatever you decide 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *