Liebster Award Nominee - Answering Questions

The reason for today’s post is because I was lucky enough to receive the Liebster Award. What is that? It's an award to help bloggers like me (with less than 200 followers) to connect with others and spread awareness about our travel writings.

I received this from a fellow blogger through the Pink Pangea network - the impressive Meghan King, whose writings will help me when I'm in Asia soon.

As an Award Nominee, it is my duty to answer a number of questions. You may already know these answers, but in case you're new to my world, enjoy learning about me a bit more.

Where are you from?

I really never quite know how to answer this question. I was born in Buffalo, New York...but we moved around when I was younger.My childhood was mostly in North Andover, Massachusetts. When people ask me this, though, I normally say that I am from New York City - I moved there when I was 18 years old, and feel like that is more my home than most other places, and I lived there the longest than anywhere else.

What was it that first motivated you to travel?

Probably what gave me the travel bug was that my dad traveled a lot when I was growing up, and we watched travel TV shows together. We would see the most beautiful places on TV, and he would point and say, "I've been there!!" I wanted to be able to do that, too.

He would  also bring home my sister and me gifts from his travels that were special to that area (a wooden doll from Japan, some papyrus from Egypt), and I was always fascinated that people had such different stuff than what I was used to.

Golden Temple, Amritsar, India

What is your best travel memory?

While I have loads of favorites, one of my favorite travel memories was visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. The place was so beautiful, and I was overwhelmed by how peaceful and beautiful the place was (physically - spiritually). I started crying by the water surrounding the temple, unable to completely digest where I was. A big (BIG) Sikh man in a bright orange guard outfit walked over to me, looking rather stern. He had a scepter, guys! When he got to me I was nervous...but, he bent down, and made a big smile while asking me, "Hindi hai??" He was so excited to ask me if I was Indian, I couldn't help but chuckle. 

What festival would you like to visit the most?

I know this sounds morbid but....I would love to visit Madagascar while they have a ceremony of "the turning of the bones". It sounds like a beautiful and fascinating festival, and I would love to understand it better by experiencing it. Is that creepy/a festival?

What has been your scariest travel experience?

The scariest experience was when I woke up in my shared house in Kigali one morning to find all of my things (not my clothing, luckily) stolen. Waking up in what was a locked house to find the door pried open and my things - hard drive, laptop, camera - completely gone is horrifying; someone with malicious intent was in my house while I was sleeping! I was also terrified that my banks would be depleted and I would have to go home immediately, but fortunately my cards had my pictures on them.

Blue Lagoon in Iceland

Where is your favorite travel destination?

My favorite travel place is probably Iceland. The place is gorgeous in a surreal way, the food is delicious, and the people are charming and have great senses of humor. I visited Iceland for a short trip, but it has not yet left my mind when I think of peaceful travel. Even if I'm ill and dying, I'd feel comfortable and happy traveling through Iceland.

What’s the strangest food you’ve ever eaten abroad?

I guess it's sad that in a way I have not been to enough places with strange food and that the weirdest food has been while living in NYC eating raw foie gras (not recommended). 

While traveling abroad, maybe the strangest food I've eaten has been choncholi in Lima - basically, animal intestines, chopped and fried in some magical sauce. It was strange to a Western girl, definitely, but it seemed pretty run-of-the-mill to the locals. I thought it was delicious!

Do you prefer traveling solo or with company?

I prefer traveling solo. While it can get lonely as an extrovert traveling abroad and not talking to another human for a while, I have learned that I would rather be alone than travel with someone who ridicules me about my travel style, is dependent on me, or are rude and ignorant to the locals. Luckily, I've avoided that kind of company for a few years now.

If you could only travel in one country, which would it be and why?

A tea estate in Himachel Pradesh, India

India has so much to offer in both culture and geography; I would be happy to travel only in India for the rest of my life. It may smell a bit like toilets (but I'm going into WASH - why would I care?) and things may not run on schedule, but the people are fun and the food is amazing! I could die happy on an Indian diet. And everything always seemed to work out beautifully (with a little bit of flare) while I was there.

In the south, there are boat rides and tropical explorations. In the west there are deserts and camels. In the north you've got the Himalayas. What else would you want for one travel spot?

How long have you been blogging?

I have had this blog since 2006, when I moved to London for a semester. I guess that means I'm almost at my 10-year anniversary!!

What inspires you?

Puppies. I know it sounds silly, and you may roll your eyes at me, but puppies inspire me even in my travels. They are fully in the moment and enjoy every adventure, just like what I aspire to be in my travels. Whenever I am sad and lonely, I look for the puppies in the area (if there are any), and normally they're doing something that makes it hard for me to resist a smile. In Costa Rica, my friend Linda's dog came into the house with a fish head! How funny is that?! Even if they're feral, they're awesome.

Now that you know more about me, my nominees! It's hard to find 11 folk, but here are the great blogs I did find!

1. Aga from To Where the Wanderlust Leads
2. Rina from Girl in the Metro
3. Shannon & Cammy from Wandering Lesbies
4. Amanda from Maps & Memories
5. Jen from One Year 75 Times
6. "It's Just Me" from It's Just Me
7. Vanessa from Girls Drink Stout
8. Michelle from Kalopsia Metanoia

Instructions for Nominees:

• Create a blog post on your site, answering the questions that I’ve provided below.
• In your post, be sure to link back to the blog who nominated you (aka myself, Kim of the kim times, with a thank you and shout out).
• After completing the questions, add a section for your nominees. Select, list and link 11 other bloggers with under 200 followers. Provide these instructions. Finally, create 11 questions for them to answer.
• Notify your nominees and provide a link to your post so that they know what to do.
• Once you’re done, come back here and comment with the link to your post so I can check out your answers.

Questions for nominees (and visitors!)

1. Where are you from?
2. Why do you travel?
3. If you had a Round-The-World ticket, what would your itinerary be?
4. What is one of the stupidest things you've ever done while traveling abroad that you'd recommend others to not do?
5. In which country could you see yourself retiring?
6. What is one things about the culture of the last country you traveled that surprised you?
7. What is one dish you ate abroad you would love to learn how to cook?
8. Do you have one country you do not plan on visiting? Why not?
9. What has been the strangest comment you ever got from a local in your travels abroad?
10. When you travel abroad, what is your method to packing?
11. How could you picture yourself telling future generations of your travel?