Liebster award: get to know me!

Thanks Emily for nominating me for Liebster award! Seriously, it made my day ☺
Emily is a young and passionate travel blogger who has already been to many countries and right now she has just started her new journey through Europe! Check out her blog full of incredible pictures at EmilyGoesForth.

When I was nominated for Liebster award, I didn’t know exactly what it is all about.
Well, I did my research and it turns out that the this award has a wonderful mission. It helps to discover, connect and promote new blogs and bloggers. It used to be for blogs under 2000 readers and as the reward gained popularity it has lowered to only 200 readers or less.

The rules of the Liebster reward:

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and provide the link to their blog.
2. Answer their questions.
3. List the rules in your post.
4. Display the award somewhere on your post/blog.
5. Write 10 random facts about yourself
6. Nominate 5-11 blogs and inform them of their nomination.
7. Provide 11 questions for these bloggers.

10 random facts about me

1. I dream of having a German shepherd and a husky one day
2. I just love reading, the latest books I’ve read are the Conqueror series about Genghis Khan by Conn Iggulden and Samarkand by A. Maalouf
3. I did my school exchange to Chile from Finland (where I was doing my full degree). Funny fact that I didn’t really speak Spanish and all the courses were in Spanish…So I had to learn the language faaaast
4. I met my husband while traveling in South America
5. I am afraid of heights and yet I went sky diving in Buenos Aires
6. When I was 15, I brought home a little kitten. My parents agreed to keep it if I remove my tongue piercing…I don’t think I had much of a choice ☺
7. When I was 20 years old I went to the USA (Provincetown, Cape Cod) as a part of Work&Travel program. My English was horrible, the first months I literally couldn’t understand a single American 😀
8. I love online course. My favorite platform is Coursera.
9. I spent 12 years learning French, I even have an interpreter degree, however I haven’t use the language for 5 years and I am not sure I ever will.
10. I cant drive..

The questions I was asked to answer

1. What’s the best travel experience you’ve ever had?
Huh… It’s a hard one ☺ however I believe it is the road trip across USA with my husband (boyfriend at that time). Jose drove around 25 000 miles in 2 months!! (Remember I cant drive?!). We started in Philly and made full circle, touching all 4 corners of this amazing country ☺ I cant wait to do it again with our daughter Lia one day.

2. Has there ever been a country/city that you’ve travelled to and it’s surprised you? Why?
I was surprised by the countries in the Caucuses (Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan). I never expected much from the former Soviet countries after being through the Stan countries… however it surprised me with European looking cities, especially Tbilisi and Baku, and outstanding nature with old monasteries scattered all around. Major cities somehow avoided the communist blocks the rest of the Soviet Union had.

3. What languages can you speak?
Ukrainian and Russian are my mother tongues, English, Spanish and French. I spent 4 years in Finland and cant say a word ☹

4. What’s the number one thing to do/see on your bucket list?
I would love to live and work in Antarctica for a year. It will be rather hard to cross it from my bucket list however it is not impossible (already did my research)

5. Name something you can’t travel without.
A good book.

6. If you could go back and give yourself one bit of advice before you started blogging, what would it be?
Just start writing and don’t be afraid. I had an idea of starting my blog for about a year!!!! Was too afraid to fail I guess…so I was postponing and postponing it, finding new reasons I can’t all over again until I got pissed off at myself and started the damn thing ☺

7. Name a song that always brings back a favorite travel memory
Avici, Hey brother.

8. If you could plan the ideal, no-money-worries road trip, what would it be?
Sailing around the south Pacific islands with my family

9. What’s the most inspirational film or book you’ve ever seen/read?
I would recommend the book “Talent is overrated” by Geoff Colvin.
The author presents the evidence that shows that top performers in any field (business, sport, politics, art) are not determined by their inborn talents. What is required is hard work.

10. Who is your favourite stranger you met whilst travelling? How did you meet?

I met this girl whose name I don’t remember in Tajikistan, on the Pamir’s Highway. She is 20-smth years old and was cycling from Switzerland to Mongolia (or Russia). She is just a set of talents, speaks 4 or 5 languages, plays violin (and she traveled with one!!), she does slack lining (tightrope walking), she is a gymnastic teacher for kids back in Switzerland and on top of that she is just very kind and intelligent person! What makes her even more interesting is her family background (mom is Chinese-Malaysian and dad is Canadian, If I remember correctly) and the many different countries she grew up in. Due to the very slow Internet we didn’t manage to connect online and the paper with our emails was lost… Such a pity, I would love to follow her adventures. She is a very inspirational person for me and when I am thinking of what Lia could become in the future, I see this girl ☺

11. Do you still see yourself travelling in twenty years?
I do! Definitely. I hope I will never stop exploring this world.

My nominations and questions

• http://www.philinessunnykitchen.com/ Whether you are a foodie or not, this girl will inspire you to cook very delicious and really healthy meals. Even people like me who try to stay as far as possible from the kitchen are getting inspired!
•http://alaronibigtrip.blogspot.com/  An exceptional family who just finished their big trip around the world and now settled down to work in Myanmar. They also lived and worked in Jordan for the past years and Eritrea. All of this with their beautiful two daughters (12 and 15)! Who is saying you can’t travel or pursue your dreams once you have a family? These guys are a living example that you can!
• http://lostwithpurpose.com/ Young backpackers who prove the world you can travel without spending a fortune. Very informative blog
• https://minimalistsometimes.com/ I love following her journey of fighting off the obsession with the possession of things. She also writes about traveling.
• https://sbwritingsite.wordpress.com/ Steph is writing about everything, traveling, books, movies, and fashion… I love her style of writing, a lot!!!

1. What pushed you to write your blog?
2. What are the biggest challenges you face with your blog?
3. Do you think traveling changed you? If yes, how?
4. What bothers you the most while traveling?
5. What typical souvenirs do you usually bring home from any trip?
6. What is your biggest dream/goal in life?
7. What little thing could everyone do to help make the world a better place?
8. What was your biggest challenge in life and how did you overcome it?
9. What do you do with all your pictures once you are back home?
10. What tip would you give to other travelers?
11. What do you think of selfie sticks? (I stole this question from someone but very eager to hear the answer)