I’m very happy to announce that, only just over a month after launching, Travel for Your Life has been awarded the Liebster Award.

A condition of the award is to answer a set of questions. Someone commented the other day that there isn’t a lot of personal info on my blog so having some questions to answer is probably a good thing! Here goes:

Name one thing that inspired you the most to start a travel blog?

I think travel is one of the most beneficial life experiences anyone can have therefore I started my blog to help encourage others to travel; to provide information on overcoming the obstacles that all too frequently stop people from traveling and talk about the benefits of travel while providing practical tools, such as my travel guides, and advice on everything form how to stay safe on the road to enjoying your travels more. It’s the same reason I wrote my most recent book, Travel for Your Life too.

If a reader asked for advise on where to go and what to do over a period of 6 months, what would you advise & why?

That’s such a personal question, as it will hugely depend on the types of activities the person likes doing and their travel comfort requirements, so I wouldn’t want to me too prescriptive in my advice. If they had literally no idea where they wanted to go however I’d suggest getting a map, closing their eyes and pointing to somewhere on the map. They would then have to go to whatever region they ended up pointing to. If you just want to go somewhere, it really doesn’t matter where you start (you would be allowed to go again if you picked somewhere that is really not at all safe to travel around at the moment).

How do you see your life 3 years from now?

I honestly have no idea. I have no plan whatsoever and I love that that is the case. As long as I’m happy and enjoying my life I really don’t mind what I end up doing in 3 years time. If I’m still as happy as I am now in 3 years time I’ll deem myself to be extremely successful.

What challenges so far have you run into with your travel blog and how did you address them? 

Ahahaha so many of them. I built my blog from scratch and wanted to make sure when I launched there was already a lot of useful info here. I therefore didn’t launch until I’d written up and plotted out the routes I’ve taken around 9 countries, including detailed info on each location I went to within them, as well as a number of blog posts. That took a lot of time. Like three months a lot of time, working on it full-time.

Little issues come up all the time. By far my biggest on-going challenge is having enough time to do and write everything I want to. There are still so many travel routes I’ve taken in the past but haven’t had the chance to write up yet, let alone the hundreds of blog posts I have ideas for but just haven’t had the time to write. I guess that’s not such a bad problem to have though.

How are you able to financially sustain a life of traveling?

I saved up for this trip (which I’ve been on for almost 2 years now) but also have a number of income streams as well (mostly passive). If you’d like to read more about them you can see my interview on That Travel Blog about how I fund my travels.

Name an experience that you enjoyed but will never want to experience again or wish on someone else?

I don’t think there are any experiences I’ve enjoyed but wouldn’t wish on someone else. There are certainly a number that I’ve enjoyed but wouldn’t want to experience again however.

For example I climbed Adam’s Peak in Dalhousie, Sri Lanka and I’m so glad I did it. The views from the top were incredible. However, I have zero desire to EVER do it again. The climb to the top of Adam’s peak is up 5,500 steps. I can’t even begin to count how many times I almost gave up before reaching the top. The climb is HARD. I’m so glad I did it and I would thoroughly recommend doing it to others but at the same time I would never do it again. Doing it once was more than enough times for me.

Besides the obvious, which is giving others travel advice, how else do you believe your blog is making a tangible impact on people’s lives?

I would hope it’s making an impact in 2 ways. Firstly by providing inspiration that allows others to realise they can make their travel dreams a reality too. That travel isn’t something that you have to wait until retirement to do. That you can do it now and make long-term travel happen for you. That’s why I’m always asking people when they subscribe to my newsletter or on places like my Facebook page what they’re struggling with in regards to making their travel dreams a reality so that I can provide information that is as useful as possible (if anyone reading this is struggling with any issues in particular please don’t hesitate to drop them in the comments below).

Secondly I hope the site is making peoples’ travels easier. I spent such a long time plotting out the routes I have taken around so many countries in the detail that I did because I want people to be able to go off and enjoy their travels, rather than having to spend hours, or more realistically days, sat in front of a computer researching where they want to go, the best order to do it in, how long to spend in each place, how long it will take to get between each place and what to expect etc. I’ve already wasted lots of time doing all those things, others might as well benefit from the days I’ve lost to travel research and my experience as a long-term traveller.

What is your favorite country so far, and why?

The most beautiful countries I’ve ever been to are Sri Lanka and the Philippines. However my favorite country is probably Indonesia, for so many reasons, including its wonderfully strange quirks.

What is the most memorable trip you’ve done so far?

I honestly couldn’t possibly decide. All the trips I’ve been on have been incredibly memorable for different reasons. I’ve done travels where I spent months at a time in one place, where I moved around quickly, where I’ve focused on learning (such as learning a language), where I’ve just focused on sightseeing, where I’ve traveled solo and where I’ve traveled with others and they have all be wonderful and amazing trips in their own ways.

My nominees for the Liebster Award are:

• Wake Up To The World
  A brother and sister traveling duo, although it’s just the sister blogging till the end of this year. She’s traveling around Europe in a van with no plan and writes about what she discovers on the way.
• Adventures and Sunsets
  I discovered this blog because of her post detailing how she snuck into the Marina Bay Sands Pool. Really funny blog by one ballsy girl.
• Gabriela Here and There
  A travel blog about the journeys of Gabriela who is on a mission to travel to every country in the world. She’s currently on 69 of 197!
• Travel to Drive
  Discovering his home country by road, Rachit blogs about the road trips he takes around his native India. If you want to discover lesser known places to explore in India, this blog will be perfect for you.
• 100 Cobbled Roads
  Blog posts that weave the history and culture of areas into the personal experience of each location.

The questions for these nominees are:

• • Why did you start your travel blog?

• • Of the places you haven’t traveled to yet, where would you most like to go and why?

• • What’s the most inspirational book you’ve ever read, travel or non-travel related?

• • If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?

• • What have the benefits of travel been for you?

• • What’s your biggest travel regret?

• • What’s the thing you’ve proudest of having done or achieved on your travels?

• • What’s the scariest thing you’ve done on your travels?

• • What’s your favorite place in the world?

• • What’s the best experience you’ve had on your travels

• • What’s the most important advice you’ve ever been given about travel that you think would benefit others the most

Leave the links to your posts in the comments below so I, and others, can see your answers. If anyone wants to take part in answering the questions for fun in the comments below please feel free to take part, travel blogger or not, I would love to see your answers.

About the Liebster Award

The Liebster Award aims to encourage and support new bloggers by promoting them through the award. The rules of the award are:

• Post the award on your blog so everybody knows how awesome you are.
• Publicly thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
• Answer their questions about yourself, feel free to add photos!
• Nominate 5 – 10 people with less than 1000 followers, inform them via social media.
• Write your own set of questions for your nominees.

Travel for Your Life was nominated for the Liebster Award by Brown Gal Trekker, who blogs about backpacking, in particular anything and everything to do with mountain trekking. She also runs a social enterprise Peak Explorations, offering affordable treks and tours, alongside a non-profit organisation Trails Without Borders which aims to support and better the lives of those living in mountain regions.

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