A few weeks ago I quietly rolled out a new homepage for Live,Travel, Teach. Maybe you noticed, or maybe you didn’t but you can find it by clicking Home at the top left corner. I’ve still got a lot of changes planned to make the site more user friendly and am open to all critiques.
Fellow blogger Emma Lomas from www.LuxuryBackpacking.net contacted me the other week saying they wanted to nominate me for a Liebster Award! I gladly accepted so they sent me these interview questions.
What is a Liebster Award?
Liebster Award? What the heck is that? Well its something I’ve seen here and there in the blogosphere. The Liebster Award 2016 is an award that exists only on the internet, and is given to bloggers by other bloggers. Liebster is derived from a German word that means “sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.” Bloggers who accept a Liebster are required to nominate
1. What is your favourite country you have visited, and why?
Do I really have to pick just one? Usually my favorite country is the most recent one I’ve been to which would be Indonesia. I absolutely love Thailand and am heading back for 3 3rd time in January. But I’ve had life-changing experiences everywhere I’ve traveled and Vietnam was probably the most dramatic. My trip to Vietnam was my first time traveling solo and I explored the World’s Largest Cave, Hang Son Doong. I got my first taste of real Asian backpacking which has kept me on this continent for the last 3 years!
2. Are you more of a camping person or a hotel person?
I’d normally say I’m a camping person because I love backcountry but sadly its pretty hard to do out here and I usually end up staying in a hostel or a homestay.
3. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only take 3 things, what would they be and why?
The first thing I’d grab would have to be my camera because you know a deserted island would have some absolutely stunning landscapes and with any luck wildlife! This deserted island is magical and charges all batteries right?
I’m a practical guy so I’m going to need a knife and probably grab some flint to start a fire too. I’d expect to be stranded a while and build some kind of shelter and figure out what I can eat on the island asap.
4. What made you want to start a travel blog?
I wanted to start travel blogging the minute I decided I was going to teach in South Korea. You can even read my first few posts starting at T-50 days from moving to Seoul from New Jersey.
5. How and when did you catch the ‘travel bug’?
I think I got the travel bug nice and early when I heard about my Uncles Edwin & Tim’s travels around the world. Uncle Edwin was an English teacher and I remember hearing stories about South Africa and Bali growing up!
6. Which is your all time favourite hotel you have stayed in and why?
Oh jeeze. Favorite hotel? Well frankly, I usually don’t spend alot of time or money at my hotels and I prefer Air BNB now. I’m gonna have to say staying on a private island near El Nido for my 30th birthday was pretty amazing!
7. If you could give one piece of advice to people wanting to travel, what would it be?
Plan ahead of time but don’t necessarily book and finalize everything. When I first started traveling I needed to have an exact itinerary and know what I was going to do every day. I wanted to maximize my time and had serious FOMO (fear of missing out). What if I missed some awesome place because I didn’t squeeze it in? Heck I almost missed the blue fires of Kawah Ijen if not for a fellow traveler I met on Mt. Bromo telling me about it. But you know what? If I had missed it and done something else instead I’m sure it would have been absolutely amazing too. Do you research and get a few ideas but don’t be afraid to let things change. If I had every day of my trip planned I would have missed those epic azure flames because I didn’t know about them in time.
8. What country have you got planned next, and why did you choose it?
I’m off to Japan for Christmas with my old college buddy Andrew. We are going to road trip from where he teaches in Shimanto to Osaka. 2 weeks of Japanese cuisine will be delicious but I know I’ll be craving warm weather so I’m going to spend a week in Thailand afterwards!
9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
This is such an amazing question and I don’t know! I’m about to leave South Korea and am pretty open to living anywhere. Spain and Germany are high on my list but just today I networked my way into Singapore and I’d love to live in the tropics!
10. What’s your favourite mode of transport, e.g. plane, car, scooter etc?
If I’m driving I absolutely love riding scooters! My buddy Brian drove with me from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son on an 800 km adventure a few years ago. I gotta say that I don’t really enjoy them in cities but if I’m traveling on open road a motor bike is simply the best way to go.
11. If you had to travel to a country purely for food, where would you go and why?
Thailand. Well maybe after I leave Seoul I’ll say Korea because the food here is superb and I’m definitely going to miss it. Buuut right now I eat it everyday so what I’m really craving is some pad thai! The first time I went to Thailand I accidentally ate it for my first 5 meals. Honest accident I swear! You see, I ate it for lunch and dinner on purpose then we found ourselves on a beach and the only thing around was pad thai. I mean we didn’t try to hard to find something else because it was so delicious and cheap too!
I now nominate….
- April And Summer
- My Ticklefeet
- MiddleClass Traveler
- Altitude Treks
- My Adventure Passport
April from April and Summer has some great travel tips and inspiration!
http://aprilandsummer.com/baguio-the-summer-capital-of-the-philippines/
My Ticklefeet are two engineers with a passion for travel and photography!
Middleclass Traveler has some great info, especially about Canada and the Americas!
Altitude Treks is a budding new blog about one of my bucketlist items, Kilimanjaro!
My Adventure Passport is a new blog all about adventure. Be sure to check out this Canadian travel addict!
Here are your questions!
1. What was the first time you remember traveling and what made it memorable?
2. If you could travel with any celebrity as your travel partner who would it be and where would you go?
3. What is one place that you could travel to over and over again?
4. If you suddenly got an unlimited travel budget but could only go to 1 destination, where would you go?
5. What is your favorite travel memory?
6. Do you prefer solo travel, group travel or traveling with a buddy?
7. Where are you headed next and what are you most excited about going there?
8. Have you ever lived in a different country? If yes, where, what was the best part of it and would you do it again? If no, is there a reason you haven’t or a place that you want to live in?
9. What is your favorite way to pass the time on long buses, planes & trains?
10. Do you have any travel horror stories? What happened?
11. Do you have any special travel routine for before, after or during a trip? If so, what is it?
