I was flabbergasted to be nominated for the Leibster blog award not once, but twice! I was nominated by Scott from Backpackerscott.wordpress.com and the lovely Lillian from  Travelarmadillo.com! I have talked to both Scott and Lillian on twitter at length about our upcoming travel plans. Scott is backpacking Asia just after I start and Lillian is about to embark on an exciting adventure in Canada!

Being such a new blog I was surprised to be nominated. It’s nice to see that some people appreciate my blog though!

 The rules of the Liebster Award:

• When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
• Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.
• You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!
• Make sure the blogs you choose are pretty new ones who have great upcoming travel blogs!

OK, 11 random facts about me!

1) I have a post-graduate diploma in theory of podiatric surgery. I’m sure not many backpackers can say that!

2) I have never been outside of Europe before. When I go away in just over 2 weeks (Eek!) it will only be my third solo trip!

3) I used to speak semi fluent Spanish; but I have since forgotten it…

4) I have an addiction to hobbies. I love trying new things but at one point my hobbies took over my life and I only had one free evening in the week!

5) I have a phobia of conger Eels.

6) I’m quite tall at 5’8.5. I am dreading being the tallest person in a room when I get to Asia!

7) I find the German accent sooooooo sexy 🙂

8) I’m obsessed with the TV series Mad Men. I absolutely love the clothes!

9) I have a slight addiction to fish finger Butties!

10) I’ve had articles published in a few different magazines and was even on the cover of one! (and page 3 😉 )

11) I drink far too much tea, my flatmate makes fun of me all the time because of it. I’m very English in that respect!

11 Questions from Lillian at Travel Armadillo

 

1. What’s your favourite place in the whole world? I absolutely love Betws-y-coed in Wales. The place holds some lovely memories for me and is a place of natural beauty. The air is cleaner, the people are friendlier and it’s less than two hours away from Liverpool!

2. What has been your worst travel mishap or misadventure? The infamous ‘Valencia incident’. I dyed my hair bright red in the communal bathroom of the hostel. I thought that I did it quite discreetly and I was feeling quite pleased with myself. I then proceeded to rinse off the dye and watched as a river of red meandered across the bathroom floor, out of the shower cubicle and in to the drain in the centre of the bathroom. A group of French girls actually began to scream and chatter excitedly. I hid in the shower until they were gone! That’s a reason why I have dyed my hair back to its natural colour for this trip….

3. What is the best dish you have had while travelling? Definitely Pinxos and Tapas in Spain. Such delicious morsels of food! I love the Spanish way of socialising where they drink and eat on a night out.

4. Show us your favourite travel photograph! This photo may not look that special but it’s the ‘Do re me’ fountain from the Sound of Music n Salzburg! I LOVE the Sound of Music!

5. What do you look for most in a destination? Is it nice weather, night-life, culture, luxury, adventure or something else? I look for different things in travel destinations. Ideally everywhere that I go would be sunny and warm but I can leave that if the place has an interesting culture or history.

6. What would you look for in a travel companion? Or do you prefer to travel solo? I am going on my big trip solo because I want to experience things at my own pace. I have found that you meet so many people when travelling solo and it really pushes you to talk to people and be more confident. There’s no point waiting for a travel companion because I have found that the majority of people don’t actually have the guts to go for it and travel long term. Lot’s of people are all talk but have stupid excuses like ‘what would I do with all of my stuff’ and ‘I can’t because I don’t want to leave my nephews’. They obviously don’t want it enough.

My ideal travel companion would be a hunky German guy named Fritz. I will have to see who I will meet….

7. What’s you favourite colour? I love red. I had my hair dyed bright red for years but I sadly had to dye it back to its natural colour for this trip. I love to wear bright colours and patterns too! I’m certainly not a wallflower when it comes to fashion!

8. What item could you not travel without? Probably hair styling cream. My hair is naturally curly and can get quite wild it it’d not tamed.

9. What type of accommodation do you prefer while travelling? I prefer hostels because they give you the opportunity to meet other travellers and are very cheap! I’m looking forward to cheap guesthouses in Asia though, hopefully I can find a friend and we can split the cost of the room.

10. Do you prefer to travel fast or slow? I think I prefer to travel slow. If you travel fast you can miss the essence of what makes a place unique. The first day I was in Munich I hated it because I walked down the wrong street away from all of the shops/culture. Imagine if that was my only day in Munich, I would have a completely different perspective on it. I actually came to LOVE Munich and I can see myself living in Germany someday.

11. What’s your favourite thing about travelling? I love the little differences and quirks of places. For example Germany is quite similar to England in many ways but there’s so many little differences that make a place so interesting. I love that each place I visit has a different history and culture and I always want to learn as much as I can about each place that I visit!

The world is a book and those who don’t travel only read one page!

Now for my eleven Nominees!

1) George from Georgeonthego.org

2) Scott from backpackerscott.wordpress.com

3) Lillian from Travelarmadillo.com

4) Bev from thevariouswanderingsofbev.wordpress.com

5)  Laura from http://travelingjerseygirl.com

6) http://www.rtwgirl.com/

7) Hannah from http://www.discovertravellive.com/

8) Jaqueline from http://6monthstolive.me/

9) Iris at http://www.thelittlemissbackpacker.blogspot.co.uk/

10) Jessica at http://waysofwanderers.com/

11) Victoria from http://www.themilnerguide.com/

 

My eleven questions for my nominees

1) Where did you go on your first trip abroad?

2)How big is your backpack/suitcase?

3) What is your favourite country in the world and why?

4) Show me your favourite travel photograph!

5) Are you a minimalist at home or do you hoard possessions?

6) What is your favourite foreign food?

7) Do you prefer hostels or hotels?

8) What is your preferred mode of transport?

9) Do you speak a language?

10) What is the first thing that you do when you get to your hotel/hostel in a new destination?

11) How do you research a new destination?

I hope that you have enjoyed this little fun mini interview! Keep travelling!