So imagine my surprise, shock, joy, elation . . . there are too many words to use.
Just imagine, you get out of bed on Saturday morning in Siem Reap. You're travelling South East Asia, enjoying your life and the experiences that are coming your way. You open your email inbox to see someone has left a comment on your blog (aww, bless 'em), only to discover it's not just a comment. It's a nomination for an award given to bloggers by bloggers for basically doing something you love.
This happened to me on said Saturday morning. A woman I met in Hanoi nominated me after all this time, so before I really begin, I'd like to make a special mention to Jessica a.k.a https://vitkinj.wordpress.com/ for the nomination. I'm extremely grateful and flattered you picked me as one of your nominations. I'm just doing what I love most!
So, I have 11 questions to answer, which is great because funnily enough, 11 is my lucky number, so let's get going:
1. Where was the first country you fantasized about traveling to? And have you made it to that country yet?
From a very young age, I imagined (fantasized seems to mythical) what it would be like to walk in the footsteps of ancient men. I wanted to sink in the hot sands of the Sahara as I looked upon the only ancient wonder of the world remaining. I'm of course talking about Egypt and the Pyramids of Giza. In my mind, it was the ultimate adventure.
And in 2009, I did it. I travelled to Egypt for just under two weeks and went from Cairo, to Sakkara, to Luxor to Hurghada. And what an adventure it was. I went into the Great Pyramid, I did a sunrise tour of the Valley of the Kings and the Nile by hot air balloon and I snorkelled in the Red Sea.
2. What has been your favorite and least favorite food adventures?
My favourite food adventure to date has to be dumpling hunting in the early hours of the morning in Beijing. It was the first stop on this big Asian adventure and I'd met a great group, each contributing to a different nationality. One was Dutch, another Danish, one other was Candian, whilst the other was from Hungary. We'd pick up new crew members, who'd hailed from Sweden, England, America and Asia respectively.
But the main guy there was my room mate, Will. He was a New Zealander with Cambodia heritage. Anyhow, we would go to Long Bar just down from our hostel, spend the night in there playing cards and enjoying beers before we'd come out and hunt for an early morning snack.
One night, Will and I hit five dumpling stalls to get a taste of all the different types of dumplings between the bar and our hostel. We ended up with fifty dumplings between two of us and come the following morning, our room had a fried pork stench from where we'd hung them up in the bathroom at 3 am, laughing our heads off. Definitely my favourite experience with food!
My least favourite food experience has to be the chicken broth from Da Nang. It was made for me by a really strange man called Mr Happy. You can read back in my blog for the stories about him, and sadly his cooking wasn't much better either. The chicken was a little undercooked and the eggs were over hard boiled. I was grateful for the dish but it left a taste in my mouth that I wouldn't forget.
Except for this experience though, I've no complaints about food in any place I've visited.
3. What is one thing you always bring with you on your trips (a picture, a favorite scarf)?
Being an author, I always like to carry pens and pencils with me in case I get sudden ideas for new books or one of my lame jokes that I want to remember later. With that, comes the need for paper to take notes.
But more specifically, I always carry the same brown notebook around with me for those big ideas and other minor notebooks for day to day use. It's like a tradition for me.
Boring, aye?
4. Are you a kindle reader or do you stuff ‘real books’ into your bag? Why? And are you reading anything fun at the moment?
A bit of both really. I like holding a real book but in a 12 litre rucksack, it's a big no no. So I think I am forced to use a Kindle whilst I travel. I like both either way as long as I can read something when I've done six or seven hours of writing.
At the moment, I'm read Papillon by Henri Charrière. These memoirs of Charrière contain gritty details about his time in French Guiana and his number of escape attempts during the '40s. It's a very graphic and detailed account of his experiences and one I'm really enjoying.
The film from 1973, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman pushed me towards it. If you haven't seen it, get yourself a copy. It's an incredible film.
5. How much research of preparation do you do on a country before traveling? A few TripAdvisor perusals, learn a few words in the local tongue, make Lonely Planet your bible, or just show up and hope for the best?
I do light research i.e. the hostels in the area, best sites to visit and the like. But other than that, I don't really do any big research. I find it's more fun to just turn up and go with the flow.
And when you meet people like Jordy, my travel pal from Vietnam, you have nothing to worry about. Cheers Jordy - you kept me and the other three well organised in Nam. But where are you now when I really need you?
6. What was one of your scariest, can’t believe that just happened, I’d like to go home now experience?
I haven't had a scary, scary experience, yet! And that's not me being macho, if I'd been scared at anything, I would've screamed like a little girl and then confessed to it on here.
I was sort of nervous on my first day arriving in Asia. I'd flown into Beijing after 13 hours of flying. The last thing I'd said to Dad was 'Don't worry, Dad. I won't do anything stupid or dangerous.' Literally as I left the airport terminal, I tried to get a cab to the Forbidden City, knowing my hostel was nearby. None of the taxi drivers spoke English and the so called 'English speaking' help desk didn't help me much either.
A guy approached who spoke relatively good English and said he knew where I wanted to go. He said he would take me for 300 Quan (£30). I'd read in Lonely Planet it was £10 tops but with no other options (I'd forgotten about the subway system at this point), I went with him.
He led me through the car park, far away from the large crowds of people and put me in the back of his unmarked, black Toyota. As soon as he pulled away, I thought, 'Game Over. You stupid prat. You're never going to see Asia.'
But I made it, and have learned to do a little planning. But it wasn't scary, scary. Just stupid, stupid.
Actually, in Mutiyani (one of the sites for the Great Wall) I was with three others and we arrived a few kilometres from The Great Wall of China. I was excited because I wanted to climb and trek the Wall and then toboggan back down.
We were accosted by a group of mini bus drivers with placards which showed the pictures they could take for us at The Wall.
When I denied one guy and selected another, he walked up to me and hit me across the back of the head with the placard. Then across the arm. Luckily, I kept my cool and moved on.
And then over at The Wall, the same guy appeared in a urinal next to one of my co-travellers and was eyeing him up. Creepy sod!
Later after being told the toboggan was closed (I'd travelled 5,031 miles across the world for this one purpose and it was closed due to bad weather. FML), another guy tried to get me into his mini van. Being a foot shorter, he kept jumping up and down and telling me he could take me back to the bus station. After telling him no a thousand times, I selected a woman, who was less pushy. This guy comes up to me, spins me around and points his finger in my face and begins swearing at me in Chinese.
These two incidents shook me up a little but now I've learned to be more assertive and how to deal with pushy people - one no thank you, then ignorance is bliss.
7. What was one of your funniest, can’t believe that just happened because it’s so awesome, this is amazing experiences?
I ran down the back streets of Beijing in my pants after losing a drinking game. The locals didn't know what was going on, but hey, a bet's a bet.
Sorry, no photographic evidence of this . . . actually I'm doing you a favour.
8. Tell us 11 interesting/hilarious/weird and wonderful things about yourself.
OK . . .
1. I once went for an X Factor (singing talent show) audition in June 2015. I sang to a woman in a booth about three foot from me and failed miserably. My cousin went through to round 2! I queued 10 hours for that privilege.
2. I'm ambidextrous. If you don't believe I'm right, what do I have? Left! (Lame joke, you see!)
3. I've been writing for 11 years now (probably 8 of those, I have written maybe 300 days, if not more, out of the year for at least four to five hours per day. At least). It's cost me certain things but it's my dream so I have to keep going until I get it! #nevergiveup
4. I do impressions of movie characters endlessly to my family and close friends. I like to think my specialities include Peter Griffin, Mama Fratelli from The Goonies, Nicholas Cage and Frank Drebin to name a few. I think everyone is at the stage of saying to me 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!'
5. I quit my job straight out to go travelling and I haven't looked back since.
6. I once helped a man stop his car from rolling into three lanes of oncoming traffic at an intersection whilst dressed in office attire, including a tie (I felt like Superman that day).
Forgive me, I was 18 at the time!
7. I always include the number 11 in every aspect of my life, if I can. Every novel I write, when doing something special etc. It's my favourite number, so I always get more productive around 11 o'clock, on the 11th day of the month and so on. If my books ever get published, look out for it! It'll be in there at least once.
8. I once ate a tablespoon of drinking chocolate powder just to prove it could be done without choking or coughing. Just a heads up, it makes you choke, cough, your eyes water and you puff out clouds of brown powder for hours afterwards! Plus, your colleagues laugh at you.
9. I once went to work dressed as Forrest Gump because my friend Jenny and I created a Forrest Gump appreciation day! Who doesn't want to be Tom Hanks?
I took the appreciation day seriously! Chocolates, suitcase and all.
10. I have a Christmas jumper obsession!
11. I love BBQ sauce and believe it goes with anything. Christmas dinner, steak, sandwiches, cheese and crackers, noodles, rice, anything! I once took a hip flask of BBQ sauce with me to a restaurant just incase they didn't have it!
9. What are 3 things you’ve learned about yourself while traveling?
1. That I am a born traveller. I love the feeling of being free, seizing the day and not looking at tomorrow.
2. That life is so short (a few of my friends have lost family members whilst they've been travelling or shortly after they returned home). I take nothing for granted now!
3. That people make the journey. You can be in the most stunning places in the world but without the people, you have nothing but just another landmark to look at.
10. What do you tell people when they ask you about your travels and whether or not you’re afraid or how you can ‘afford’ the travel life?
I tell them I'm having the time of my life because that's exactly what's happening. I've met some amazing people, I've had articles published for the first time, I've seen wonderous sights and eaten some of the best food the world has to offer. It's all down to travelling!
I don't think about it as 'affording' the money to go travelling. I earned it so I'm going to spend it seeing the world. What could be better.
If you haven't done it, down tools and go. I promise, you'll never regret it!
11. And where are you headed next? Or where do you want to head next?
Next I continue to Laos and Thailand and then I move to Indonesia and Australia. It's great having these choices in life. And I want it to go on forever!
So that's me. I hope you enjoyed and are not too scarred by my revelations.
So time for me to nominate:
1 Jade at http://www.jadicusxo.com
2. Sonia at http://afilmadaybysonia.blogspot.ae
3. Markus at http://www.markushartel.com
4. Phyllis at http://www.dcistudio.com
5. Teresa at http://www.insideoutgorgeous.com
Hey, a few of you may know me, a few not, but never mind that. The important thing is I know you through your blog.
Jade - I see how much you love beauty products and fashion and your outlet is your blog. Keep it up!
Sonia - I love movies just like you and reading your opinion on certain films has kept me interested whilst I've travelled. Thanks.
Markus - I've found some on your images when I was looking for inspiration for one of my books, set in New York. Thanks for helping the imagination.
Phyllis - Again, in my second book in New York, I was searching for ideas of how to describe the girl's apartment and I came across your images and looked at your blog. Thanks for sharing.
Teresa - I constantly see you putting good things up on social media and I thought you deserved a little limelight for your hard efforts.
So guys, now you know I've been looking at your blogs, go ahead, accept the nomination. It's really simple. Here's the rules:
RULES
So you’ve been nominated for The Liebster Award. Now what? If you choose to accept it, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:
1. Thank the person who nominated you (That’s me, Dan at aloombabroad.blogspot.co.uk), and post a link to their blog on your blog.
2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which have been provided by me (please find them at the end of the post)
4. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know about this information!)
5. Create a new list of 11 questions for your nominees and attach them to your post
6. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here—That’s what I did)
Once you have written and published your post, please:
7. Inform the nominated people/blogs and let them know that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it! I know I hadn’t until I got this awesome nomination)
And come back to this blog and post the link to your Liebster Award post so I can read more about you.
So congratulations, here are your 11 questions:
1. What is your ultimate dream in life? And are you taking steps to achieve it?
2. What's the craziest thing you have ever done? Come on, don't be shy.
3. If money was no object, where is the one place you would visit in the world and how would indulge yourself? e.g. most expensive hotel. Whatever you want. Remember, money is inconsequential.
4. If it was your last day on earth, what would you do?
5. What is your favourite memory of childhood?
6. Is there anyone in the world that you admire? If so, who and why?
7. What is your biggest regret? Don't worry, I'm not here to judge, I'm just interested?
8. Have you ever had a near death experience? If so, what was it? (If it's too upsetting, please just answer yes and move on - I'm looking for something you can talk about. Like the time a bear almost killed me in Yosemite!)
9. What is your all time favourite breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes?
10. What is the best experience you have ever partaken in? A skydive or similar adventure, perhaps.
11. Who's the one person you would take with you on a desert island and why?
So there it is my fellow bloggers. As soon as you're done, don't forget to let me know. And once more, congratulations on the award - should you fulfil the conditions.
And for my readers, I now have a Liebster Award to my name. Booya!
