How Does it Work?

This award works like a chain mail.

When you get nominated, you can accept the award and nominate other bloggers for it. To accept the award, you need to write a blog post to:

Thank the blogger who nominated you for the award and write a little blurb about their journey.
Answer a list of questions from the blogger about yourself.
Nominate new bloggers for the award and come up with questions for them!

Ways To Get Nominated

To grow your travel blog, you need to connect and network with other travel bloggers.

Do you know more than 5 travel bloggers on a personal level? I don’t…not really. If you are just starting out like me, the answer is most likely a “no” for you too.

Well known travel bloggers like Nomadic Matt started out the same way we all do. Networking with others.

Having a strong relationship with other travel bloggers brings about collaboration and cross-promotion opportunities. Surrounding yourself with bloggers who are also growing their blog keeps you motivated too. Being in travel groups, like Girls Love Travel (for example) helps to serve as a motivator and networking tool, too. So try to get involved in some travel groups on Facebook!

Participating in Liebster Award is a good starting point for networking. It gives you the opportunity to start conversations with other travel bloggers.

When a blogger nominates you, they’ll provide you with 10 questions that you will need to answer about yourself and your travels. The questions you receive and will be asking the other bloggers that you nominate in a Liebster Award blog post help others get to know you and begins the networking process. You can even use them as conversation starters in the future!

10 Questions Assigned to me

What/Who inspires you to travel this world?

The more I see of the world the more I realize how much I haven’t seen. I had this realization when I first travelled to Paris. I’d walk around the streets, going to street markets in Belleville, Barbes, and Saint Denis in zone 5 and see life happening outside the scope of my little bubble.

What is the best memory that you have while traveling?

Turning 21 under the Eiffel Tower while it was sparkling at midnight. I met some friends/classmates on the Champs des Mars for some wine and cheese, then revealed to them 20 minutes before my birthday, that it was my birthday. They immediately asked “why didn’t you say anything sooner??” Soon enough, they were counting down to midnight, then as they shouted “Happy birthday!” the Eiffel Tower lights began to twinkle. People surrounding our little picnic began joining in the singing and soon enough 30 people were singing me happy birthday. Then the group next to us sprayed us with champagne like I just won the NBA finals...it's stickier than expected.

What is the scariest thing you have experienced while traveling?

7 words: Fighting my way out of a car….
When I was traveling around East Africa in 2016, my friend Brett and I went from Nairobi to Zanzibar, with a 24 hour stop in Dar es Salaam. We spent the first portion of our stay wandering Dar, checking out the local spots. The next morning we had a 9am ferry to Zanzibar, so naturally we woke up at 7 to make sure we didn’t miss it. We didn’t know how long it would take to get there so we figured we leave early.

We got a ride from a guy we met the day before on Coco Beach, Robert, a slender guy who took interest in the 2016 US elections. He picked us up in the morning, and introduced us to his driver who’d be helping him that day. While starting the car ride he talked to us about his thoughts on the candidates and how crazy the options seemed. A couple miles into the car ride he asked I roll up the window to keep the street vendors from talking to us in traffic. Brett was following along on Google Maps, checking to see his route, and if there were any faster options. Brett noticed a detour that led us away from the ferry, down a wide dirt road with lots of potholes. Robert had his driver make a slow u-turn. I thought we were turning back around due to the conditions of the road, but they pulled up next to a group of guys who immediately rushed the car. Robert and his driver tried exiting the car fast, Brett reached around and grabbed Robert by the neck to keep him from leaving. I tried getting out and quickly discovered the back doors and windows were locked. There wasn’t any option but through the front. Brett elbowed his way past the driver, while still in his seat. While making his way through the front, one of the guys approaching the car opened Brett’s door and tried grabbing his feet. He was able to get in the car, in the seat next to me, but unsuccessful in stopping Brett. Brett managed to elbow the driver in the nose and stumble out of the car. I was still in back waiting for an opening to get out. With the guy now in the back with me, I managed to position myself to put my foot on his chest, kicked him once, then used his chest to push myself forward. I almost feel bad about full on kicking a dude in the chest, but I kinda feel he deserved it. Falling into the front driver seat, my back scratched against the steering wheel, leaving a scratch - and now a scar- that I wouldnt find until that night. My hat fell off as I rolled out of the car, so I reached back and grabbed it before they could drive off. I’m not gonna lie, I felt just like Indiana Jones. Now that we were out of the car, we started arguing to get our bags out of the trunk. Luckily a guy who saw the whole thing happen, walked over with a 2x4 in his hand (don’t ask me why he had a 2x4 in his hand), and helped us negotiate our belongings. Finding themselves on the losing end, they popped the trunk, we got our bags, and they sped off. Once we had everything we walked a mile down the road to some official taxis and made it to the ferry with time to spare. The rest of the trip we made sure the windows and doors worked in each cab we got into, and now still I tend to check them in Ubers, just a weird habit now.

Name the top 3 most beautiful beaches you have visited:

I don’t really make beaches my destination, but I tend to end up on them. This being the case, my favorites so far are:

• Pajé beach in Zanzibar (pictured above)
• Cannon Beach in Oregon
• Solheimasandur in Iceland

Would you rather explore the deep ocean or outer space?

Outer space hands down.

If you had to pick one country to live in (not your own) for a year, which country would you pick and why?

France. It was the first country I traveled to, and a place I grew a lot in, not only personally, but in my photography as well. There’s no other feeling comparable to walking the streets of Paris in the morning, the sun hitting the windows and cool feeling in the air. That was a good feeling to hold onto before cramming onto the metro and getting uncomfortably close to strangers. I’d still move there though.

What is the luckiest thing to have happened to you while traveling?

I don’t know if I would call it luck, but having a fairly close encounter with a Great White Shark in South Africa comes to mind. I booked a cage dive through Apex Predators in Simonstown because of their work with Discovery Channel, BBC, National Geographic, and Animal Planet. World renowned shark researcher Chris Fallows is a regular during Shark Week, so that was a huge drive to book with them. I went out on the boat with 5 other passengers, who happened to all be friends. When it was time to get in the cage, they all opted to go together, which gave me the opportunity to have the cage all to myself. While I was underwater the shark would come about 10 feet from the cage but turn away. Then finally, after 20 minutes in the cage, it came within 2 feet of me. Close enough to reach out and touch it. With my GoPro in hand I was too excited to take my eyes off it. You can see the video here. But that experience, coming within 2 feet of my favorite animal was an unforgettable one.

Which travel destination most exceeded your expectations?

Iceland, I think. Iceland was amazing for obvious reasons. The cold, desolate landscape swept for miles, interrupted by high mountains and panoramic views of the water. The landscape varied so much, it was almost hard to keep up. The Snaefellsnes peninsula was absolutely gorgeous, then as we travelled around ring road the Northeastern portion was icy and snowy. As we approached the southern portion we saw a mixture of vast glaciers, flat landscape that stretched for miles, and some of the most beautiful waterfalls. I knew it was going to be an amazing trip, especially since my girlfriend and I spent a week and a half traveling the country in a van, but the beauty of the country pushed it over the top.

Beach or Mountains? Why?

Mountains for sure. There’s so much more to explore, widespread views, and the feeling of accomplishment when summiting a mountain. While in Hawaii in 2015 I spent the day on the beach and got bored very quickly. While that might be some people’s ideal spot I was hot, restless, didn’t know what to do with myself. Since then I’ve tried being a beach bum on several occasions with little success.

Why did you decide to start a blog?

I wanted to develop my writing skills, and at the same time get the experiences I’ve had traveling down on “paper” while I still remembered them.

....nominees and questions coming soon...

The Liebster Award