The Sunshine Blogger Award

The lovely Travel Plans for Miss Fancypants went and nominated my blog for the Sunshine Blogger Award - thank you so much! You really made my day - it feels fantastic to realise that someone actually likes reading my stories and even wants to share them with the world :)!


Here are the questions I got:

1. What songs/type of music do you listen to whilst traveling or that inspire you to travel?
I actually don't really listen to music when I'm travelling even if I always do otherwise. However, sometimes the trip sort of provides the soundtrack, if you know what I mean - in Hawaii, my friend and I were listening to Kim Herold, and in Australia, another friend and I were listening to Kirka (Finnish singers - and I'm not a fan of Finnish music, let me tell you). I'm the biggest Madonna fan possible, and to calm my nerves/make the time go by faster on flights, I sometimes listen to her on my very old mp3 player. Trips bring out the weirdest songs, but the nice thing is that later on, those songs will bring the trip back to you instead :).

2. What inspired you to start blogging? What are your "blogging goals"?
I started travel blogging quite a long time ago. I've always loved writing - letters, my diary, stories, lists, personal blogs, you name it. I love writing down what happened on a trip, how it felt to be some place new or different, what went wrong, what was amazing, what the food was like, who I met, what I struggled with...I want to remember it all. As for my blogging goals, I'd obviously love to gain a huge following of like-minded people, and I'd also like to write more about what it's like to be a lesbian and go to countries where you're not fully accepted - to spread the word, so to speak. It's also important for me to be of help, and the best kind of feedback is when someone lets me know that they planned a trip with the help of my blog :).

3. Have you visited some place you then didn't like/enjoy at all?
Yes, I have to say that Brussels was such a place. We stayed in a shady area and I didn't feel safe walking back to the hotel at night. It was a concert trip so me and my friend needed to be outside around midnight quite a few times, and someone even threw an egg at us, apparently because we were women and were outside so late. It wasn't a nice experience.

4. Do you prefer travelling solo, with a partner or in a group? Why?
I don't like travelling alone because it makes me feel anxious. On the other hand, I don't enjoy being in a big group of people, either, because then everyone will want to do something different and you'll end up wasting a lot of time. I love travelling with my partner, or with a like-minded friend. To me, it's important that we're into similar things - for example, I'm not into art galleries and would rather just observe city life instead of looking at paintings that only make me feel miserable and fed up with everything. I like food, animals, nature - and I also like seeing the main sights of a place (but not the art galleries). So, travelling with someone who's into the same things is pleasant and easy. (PS: My wife loves art galleries and I still love her! :D)

5. Have you had any life-changing experiences while travelling?
Yes - on July 4th 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden, I touched Madonna's hand :). After that, it didn't take long until I found my now wife...it was magic ;).

6. A young girl would like to travel and see the world, but is a bit scared of doing so. How would you encourage her? What advice would you give her?
It depends on how young the girl in question is. I would suggest to go with a friend if you're a shy type who otherwise wouldn't go at all or who doesn't make new friends easily, or to stay at a hostel dorm if you're a more outgoing person as you're bound to meet new people there who're just like you. However, my advice would be to not do anything that goes against your nature - I have quite a few bad travel experiences from when I was between 16 and 18 because I thought I could do things that weren't actually me. Only go alone if you're sure you won't end up anxious.

7. Name something you CAN'T travel without.
I can travel without almost anything, and usually do, too. So, I'm going to be boring and say an ID.

8. Have you ever lived abroad? Where and for how long?
Yes, I have. I spent five months on Erasmus exchange in Växjö, Sweden back in 2007 (it's my 10 year anniversary this year!), then another 2,5 months in Gothenburg, Sweden in the summer of 2008 cleaning hotel rooms. Since 2013, I've spent my summers living in Szeged, Hungary so altogether I've "lived" in Hungary for seven months by this point.

9. Have you ever had a crush on someone while travelling?
Just some random flight attendants...:D


Okay, so now it's my turn to nominate blogs!

The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award from bloggers to bloggers - in other words, it's a way for us to spread our love for the inspiring blogs that we have discovered and to show our support to the blogging community.

Here's how it goes! If you've been nominated, you'll need to...

1) Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog
2) Answer the questions you got from the person who nominated you
3) Nominate other blogs and give them questions to answer
4) Notify your nominees through social media or by commenting on their blog
5) List the rules and display a Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post

I'm nominating the following blogs:

Sillä välin maailmalla - In the meanwhile, somewhere around the world
The Rainbow Route
Chicks Taking Trips
The Strayling

Here are my questions for you:

1) What is the first thing you usually start missing from home after having been gone for a long time?
2) What languages can you speak and are you brave enough to use them all?
3) What has been the most potentially dangerous situation you've ended up in on a trip?
4) What is your preferred way of travelling - planes, trains or automobiles :)?
5) What are your travel plans for the ongoing year?
6) Do you prefer staying at hotels or hostels, private rooms or dorms, or is it couch surfing or house sitting all the way for you?
7) What places or countries would you recommend to a nature lover?
8) Top 3 - Countries with the Best Food
9) What part of being a travel blogger do you love the most?
10) Are you interested in getting to know new people when you travel or do you prefer to keep to yourself?

Happy Blogging to everyone, and Happy Travels for 2017 :)!

Comments

  1. Thank you so much for the nomination! *_* Made my day! I just published my post with your questions:
    The Sunshine Blogger Award - The Strayling

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    Replies
    1. Not at all - I love reading your posts, it's all very interesting to me :)! I'll head right over to your blog to read what you came up with :)!

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  2. Thank you for nominating me! It took me a while to get it done and then another while trying to figure out how to nominate people through social media - must say I'm not as social media savvy as I would like to be :) But at last here we go: https://sillavalinmaailmalla.blogspot.com.mt/2017/04/sunshine-blogger-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks again for the nomination! I got my answers up now that we're back from Japan. Happy travels:)
    https://www.therainbowroute.com/sunshine-blogger-award/

    ReplyDelete
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