The Sunshine Blogger Award!

Credit: La Grenouille Anglaise.

Hello!

A while ago, Rosie from La Grenouille Anglaise nominated me for “The Sunshine Blogger Award,” and I am super honored to have received it! Really, she is a wonderful human being; her cheerful comments and support never cease to make my day, and they are great qualities which I hope to emulate as well, when it comes to supporting other bloggers. That said, thank you so much for the nomination!

Here are the rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
• Answer the eleven questions set by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate eleven other blogs and give them eleven questions to answer.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post.

Here are the questions I was asked:

1. Wilderness or civilisation? I’m a city girl at heart (Los Angeles, born and raised) so I would have to go with civilization. However, I do appreciate nature and even though I’m not a camping kind of person, I’ve learned to enjoy occasional hikes along trails or in the countryside after traveling quite a bit throughout Europe and Asia that way.

2. What was your favourite childhood game? I can’t recall any board/card/sports games that really stuck with me as a child, but with video games, Pokémon on Gameboy Color was my obsession. Unfortunately, I grew out of video games as I got older, but I still have fond memories to look back from then.

 3. If you were offered a free flight to a place of your choosing, where would you go? If I had to choose, I would opt for a first-class trip to Dubai on the Emirates airline. Recently, I’ve watched a couple of travel videos in which the passengers took first class, and it looks absolutely amazing! Not only do they get served caviar during meals, but they also can shower onboard; I find that absolutely mind-blowing and while I may or may not enjoy the actual visit in Dubai, at least I can enjoy the flight over…and for free!

4. What is your favourite thing to bake/cook? I’m not a very good cook, but I love to bake (and consider myself pretty good at it). Cupcakes and muffins are easy go-to recipes; you can’t go wrong with banana chocolate-chip muffins!

5. Bourbons or custard creams? I actually had to Google what these were, for I’m pretty sure that they are a British thing (and I’m American, so sorry about that!). Judging by their photos online and their descriptions, I would probably have to go with bourbons since I’m not a huge custard fan to begin with. Then again, I haven’t tried either of them before, so I can’t say! Hope not to offend anyone (cowers in shame).

6. Can you speak any foreign languages? If so, which? Besides English, I also speak French and Chinese. Chinese was my first language, but I’ve lost a lot of it growing up in the States. I can still speak it, but can’t really read or write it. I started learning French in high school and studied it in college (university) as well, and I would have to say that I have a pretty good command of it now- helps to live in country in which the language is spoken!

7. Guidebooks: yay or nay? Nay…with the wonderful thing known as the Internet in this day and age, guidebooks seem to be a thing of the past. I don’t hate them, but I do find guidebooks impersonal and easily outdated, especially when prices, restaurants, and attractions constantly change every year. I’ve learned to do my research online now, as well as get recommendations by-ear from other travelers.

8. What advice would you give to new bloggers? Although this blog is only a few months old, I’ve been blogging for almost 4 years on WordPress and would tell those new to blogging to keep it consistent; even if life gets in the way and you can only update maybe once a month, finding time to blog whenever you can keeps the creative juices flowing and you’re less likely to get writer’s block that way, too.

Reading other blogs and liking/commenting on them not only increases traffic to your site (if that’s your goal), but it also helps you meet and even become friends with other bloggers! That said, being consistent in your writing will keep you motivated to write, as well as connect you with others and grow as a person in what I believe is a wonderful online community.

9. Do you have a favourite musical? I’m ambivalent when it comes to musicals, but if I had to pick one, The Sound of Music comes to mind, as from time to time its songs pop into my head without warning and get stuck on rotation, which greatly bugs me but at the same time is super catchy! “Do Re Mi” is a common one to get stuck in my head for a long time. Oh, the horror!

10. What is your favourite word? In English, I enjoy the word “therefore,” since it’s such an easy word to insert into the beginning of any paragraph and it makes you sound like you know what you’re saying (as an English literature major back in college, I can tell you that this word has helped me through a lot of essays!).

In French, a fun one to say is “choucroute” (“sauerkraut”); I like the contrast between the soft sibilant “chou” and the hard “croute.” From a sweet, cooing sound to a hard, harsh punch on the second syllable, the word much so resembles the strong, sour fermented dish itself!

11. Share your ultimate travel tip. Whenever possible, find free things! I’m cheap and like to budget travel a lot, so if you’re up for getting free accommodation and/or transportation, consider things like Couchsurfing or reaching out to other assistant(e)s and people in cities you want to visit to see if you could stay with for a night or two, as well as getting carpool rides with friends and colleagues to nearby towns for a day trip. I’ve done my fair share of all of these things, and they’ve really saved me money on expenses, so I could have more for other pleasures!

Here are my nominees:

1. C’était ma destinée, et oui, je m’appelle Destiny!

2. Caroline: Post-Grad.

3. La Dépaysée.

4. As Told By Dana.

5. mon parapluie jaune.

6. Emily Travels the World.

7. Overseas Roamer.

8. Small World, Smaller Girl.

9. Present Perfect.

10. Wanderlusty Writer.

11. Writing Lessons on Trains.

Questions to answer:

1. What is your favorite country you’ve been to so far/would like to visit? Why?
2. Tell me about a funny experience that has happened to you.
3. What do you do to unwind after a long day?
4. What inspired you to start your blog?
5. Tell me the first word that comes into your mind when you see the word “green.”
6. Your favorite drink?
7. What makes you tick?
8. If you were given one wish, what would you wish for?
9. Your biggest talent? (and don’t tell me you don’t have one!)
10. Your biggest flaw?
11. What does happiness mean to you?

Thanks for reading! Until later, à bientôt.

 

— Rebecca