Liebster Award!

Last updated on April 5, 2022.

A few days ago, I was nominated for a Liebster Award. This award is given by the blogging community in order to help newer blogs get recognized. I am honored to have been chosen by Weekend Campervanning for this award.

Weekend Campervanning

Weekend Campervanning is a great site about a family in California taking their campervan on weekend and day trips to explore amazingly beautiful places. Thanks to their passion for the outdoors, this thoughtfully written blog with excellent photography has inspired me to visit many of the places they’ve featured on future road trips. Please take a moment to visit the site. Thank you, Weekend Campervanning, and keep up the great work!

The Rules

The rules for nominees are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger has given you
3. Nominate 5-11 bloggers you think are deserving of the award
4. Let the bloggers know you nominated them
5. Give the new nominees 11 questions of your own

My Answers

Here are my answers to the 11 questions from Weekend Campervanning:

1. Will you please describe your blog in a few sentences?
   My blog is about everything I’ve seen and done on my travels around the world (so far). I hope to inspire people to get out of their comfort zone, go see what the world has to offer, explore a little more by doing things at aren’t in the guide books, and to take the time to enjoy it.
2. Why did you start your blog?
   A lot of friends and family were scared to death when I decided to go live in Istanbul in 2010, and even more afraid when I was traveling to places they’d never heard of or believed were too dangerous for Americans to visit. I wanted to show them that the world is not as bad a place as they make it out to be.
3. What do you like most about blogging?
   I enjoy interacting with other bloggers and visitors, helping people out with travel questions, and creating an online journal of the places I’ve visited and the things I’ve been lucky to do.
4. How long have you been blogging?
   Since July 2013.
5. When you’re not blogging, what are you doing?
   Usually teaching English and traveling in my spare time, but for the past 6 months I’ve been setting up a business. I’ll make a post about that soon!
6. What have been your top 3 travel destinations?
   That’s a tough question. 1) Istanbul, because I loved it so much I decided to move there, 2) Chernobyl, because it’s the most surreal place I have ever seen, and 3) my mother’s ancestral home, the island of Chios, Greece.
7. What is your favorite national park?
   After visiting Yellowstone, I didn’t think anything could top that. But then I went to Bryce Canyon. Honorable mention for the Indiana Dunes National Park, where I spent a lot of time growing up.
8. What are your favorite hikes?
   Jenny Lake at Grand Teton, Grand View Point at Canyonlands, Queens Garden/Navajo Loop at Bryce, Rim Trail at Grand Canyon, Santa Elena Canyon at Big Bend, El Morado in Chile, Inca Trail in Peru, and Mnoké Prairie/Little Calumet River and Cowles Bog trails at Indiana Dunes.
9. What is your favorite food and drink of choice?
   My mom’s avgolemono soup, and living in Colombia has made me a fan of passionfruit juice.
10. What are the top 3 places that are on your travel bucket list?
    Yosemite, Southeast Asia, and South Africa.
11. If you were on Survivor (the reality TV show), what would your one luxury item be?
    My trusty old iPod. I can’t survive without music.

My Nominations

I nominate these five talented bloggers for the Liebster Award:

1. Giriş Katından Notlar! (in Turkish)
2. Spanos311 (Maria, you do a great job and need to blog more!)
3. A Peek with the Greek
4. Kelsterjean Designs
5. Lifetrip

My Questions

My 11 questions for these bloggers:

1. Will you please describe your blog in a few sentences?
2. Why did you start your blog?
3. How long have you been blogging?
4. When you aren’t blogging, what are you doing in your spare time?
5. Which person inspires you the most?
6. What 3 places are on your bucket list?
7. If you could choose your last meal, what would it be?
8. What one thing would you change about your country?
9. Do you have any funny stories about a trip you took?
10. Do you prefer to visit cities or nature?
11. What languages can you speak?

Nominees: Follow the rules above to claim your awards. Congratulations and good luck!