As we start to get ourselves ready for our “great big trip around the world” this summer, I’ve been slowly ramping up my online blogging presence. I’ve started becoming active on Facebook groups, got serious about instagram and thought about doing a bit of guest-posting to get my name out there. Instagram seems to be the platform where I get the greatest love! That’s where I connected with Melissa, from Thrifty Family Travels. She nominated me for the Liebster Award.

A bit about Melissa

Everything I read by Melissa makes me like her more and more! She’s definitely a kindred spirit. She has an adorable little girl right in between Calais and Kacela’s age, a husband who likes to cook, and she’s all about traveling on a budget! She started Thrifty Family Travels to “help others fulfill their dreams of travelling by providing tips on how to travel affordably and helping with their travel plans”.

What’s the Liebster Award?

The Liebster Award that is given to up and coming bloggers by bloggers as a way of recognising their work and getting them some exposure on the internet.

You can check out the official Liebster site for more information .

As part of accepting the award I need to do the following things:

  1. Say who is my current favourite blogger;
  2. State 10 random facts about me;
  3. Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated me;
  4. Nominate at least 5 other bloggers for the award and ask them 11 questions about themselves.

My Current Favourite Blogger

I don’t like to pick favourites, but Travel Babbo is always worth reading. His blog is full of great inspiration and information, plus the photography is absolutely stunning! Erik takes each of his kids on a 1-on-1 trip every year to a destination of their own choosing. I absolutely LOVE this idea and will probably steal it in the near future!

10 Random Facts About Me

  1. I have traveled to 37 countries.
  2. I love a good, full-bodied red wine or a bubbly prosecco.
  3. I’m super type-A and have a short-fuse, but I don’t like conflict. Go figure!!
  4. I tend to take on too much all at once and overwhelm myself. I’m hoping to remedy this traveling around the world so we’ll see how that goes!
  5. Randy’s a better cook than me (don’t tell him I said that)!
  6. I have an obsession with packing but I hate unpacking!
  7. I am definitely a life-long learning, I love knowledge.
  8. I’m a bit of a nervous flyer now that I have kids.
  9. I don’t like driving.
  10. I usually read 3-4 books at a time and my mood dictates what I read at a given moment.

11 Questions from Melissa

  1. First ever overseas destination you travelled too? I went on a school Europe trip in Grade 11 to Italy, France & Spain.
  2. Hotels, hostels or tents? I prefer smaller hotels or a family room in a hostel. I’m not the biggest fan of sleeping on the ground in a tent!
  3. How do you pass the time on a long flight? Ideally I’d love to sleep, but with kids that generally doesn’t happen. Usually I try to read or watch a movie, something that can be easily interrupted.
  4. Your top two most essential travel items (excluding your passports)? 1. A sarong because it can be used as a blanket, towel, dress, curtains, bathing suit cover-up, scarf, the list goes on! 2. My camera because I love taking pictures and would feel lost on a trip without it!
  5. Where’s your hometown and what’s the best thing about it? I grew up in a small town called Trail in southern British Columbia, Canada. It has the most amazing grocery store!! I love food and although my current town is almost 10X the size none of the stores even come close to having the variety of my hometown Ferraro Foods!! We stock up on meats and cheeses every time we visit!
  6. Where’s somewhere you have always wanted to travel but haven’t? Ethiopia, specifically Lalibela. There’s just something about those underground stone churches that calls my name.
  7. What is one of the best travel lessons you’ve learnt so far? Stuff still happens, even with the best planning! If you can’t change it then don’t dwell on it or get upset about it. Come up with a plan B and move on.
  8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why? A small town in the south of France because I love the pace of life, the food and the scenery. Plus, it never gets too cold!
  9. What was one of the most unusual experiences you’ve encountered? Driving from Tanguieta (northern Benin) to Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), we stopped for 9 passport checks in a mere 400km/250miles. It seemed a bit ridiculous since there was no way to run any of the IDs through a database.
  10. Suitcase or backpack? Backpack hands down, because I need both hands free to hold onto my kids!
  11. What’s your next travel destination? We go to Seattle and Hawaii with extended family, then a girls trip to Costa Rica with my good friend and business partner, and then we leave for our year long round the world trip. I think we’ll start in Korea but that’s still up in the air.

My 11 questions for my nominees

  1. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
  2. What’s your opinion on a selfie stick?
  3. Suitcase or Backpack?
  4. Where was the last place you traveled to?
  5. How has traveling changed your life?
  6. What is the scariest thing you’ve experienced while traveling?
  7. What’s your favourite book or series?
  8. Apple or Samsung?
  9. If you could take only one more trip, where would you go?
  10. Have you ever visited a place just because you saw it in a book/series/animation/movie? What was that place?
  11. What’s your favourite food dish?

I would like to take the opportunity to nominate the following blogs:

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and learned a little more about me! I’m happy to have you along for our crazy family adventures!

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