I am very happy to announce that Faraway Horizons has been nominated for its second award since go-live this past August!  This honor is called the Sunshine Blogger Award.  It is a blogger-to-blogger award that recognizes up-and-coming blogs that share positivity and spreads sunshine to its readers!  (Read about Faraway Horizons’ first award nomination here.)

In order to accept this nomination, I have a number of tasks to complete to be sure that the blogger-to-blogger love continues to be shared.  Here are my tasks:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

As I would be CRAZY to not accept this nomination, here are my acceptance tasks:

1) Who nominated Faraway Horizons?

I was nominated by Laura at Undercover Travel Agent.  Laura is a travel agent that is eager to share the advice, tips, and tricks she has learned from being in the vacation industry.  She even provides insider knowledge on how to book great vacation deals!

2) Questions that were given to me by Undercover Travel Agent:

What’s the longest flight you’ve ever been on?

I believe the longest flight was about 15 hours.  It was traveling from Los Angeles, USA to Melbourne, Australia.  I was able to sleep and watch movies, so the time seemed to go quicker than what I was expecting.  The food was also fairly good and they gave a lot of snacks throughout the flight, which made me very happy 🙂

What was the most difficult language barrier problem you’ve ever had?

There has only been a few times that I’ve asked for help figuring out where something was on a map and the person didn’t know English.  Luckily, it has always been relatively easy for me to find someone else who also spoke English.  All in all, I haven’t had too many times where language had been a barrier.

On a similar note, I did have a funny encounter my roommate when I was in Australia which related to a language barrier.  My roommate was from Finland and is fluent in Finnish, German, and English.  She spoke to one parent in Finnish and the other in German.  She spoke to me in English.  One night, she was on the phone with one parent.  Shortly after hanging up the phone, the other parent called.  Within a span of about ten minutes, my roommate had switched between two different conversations in two different languages.  After ending the call with the second parent, she had turned to me and started speaking in either Finnish or German (I can’t remember which language it was, but it wasn’t English).  I let her finish her sentence before calmly saying, “You realize I have no idea what you just said, right?”  We both laughed at the situation and my roommate had transitioned back into the English language.

What’s the weirdest thing you have ever eaten abroad?

Kangaroo burgers.  Kangaroo can be found in grocery stores in Australia, just like chicken or beef.  A group of fellow international students had bought kangaroo burgers from the store and we grilled out next to the Yarra River than runs through downtown Melbourne.  Kangaroo is very tasty and it’s supposed to be the healthiest red meat (at least that’s what I have been told).

What was the best last-minute trip you’ve ever taken?

The best last minute trip I’ve taken was a road trip through North Georgia that explored the many waterfalls in the area.  I went with my roommate, my dog, and a friend’s dog that we were watching for the weekend.  This trip was so simple, yet it was filled with both trail and town adventures.  We left early and got home late.  We saw great sights, ate amazing food, and sang our hearts out in car karaoke.

Some of the best trips aren’t in distant, exotic places, but rather in your own backyard.

Who is the most interesting person you’ve met while traveling?

I have met someone that is a professional clown.  She’s well known in the clowning world and goes to a clown convention each year.  I think that is pretty unique and awesome!

What are your favorite winter destinations?

The mountains of Colorado!  The skiing is amazing!  I fell in love with this area on my first ski trip to Colorado when I was in high school.  It’s a winter wonderland.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done while traveling?

I went bungy jumping in New Zealand.  At the time, the jump was the third highest in the world.  You have to jump headfirst and it felt like my stomach left my body!  I was not a graceful jumper.  I screamed and flapped my arms in the air as I was falling, as if I was impersonating a penguin trying to fly!

Would I do it again?  Absolutely!

What’s the best thing about being a travel blogger?

The community of fellow travel bloggers – there are many unique perspectives in the world and there is a ton of positivity within the community.  It also feeds your wanderlust soul by looking at each other’s websites when you aren’t able to travel.

Which of your blog articles are you most proud of?

My article titled 5 Things To Know About Outdoor Rock Climbing is very special in my mind.  It was my first post to be featured on another website.  Girl Outdoor had picked up this post and featured it on their website and social media sites.  I’m very proud of this accomplishment!

I also really like my Forester Pass post.  This is a story about the experience I had on one of the mountain passes while hiking the John Muir Trail.  The story brings you into the experience as it was happening.

What advice would you give to new travel bloggers?

Don’t give up!  It’s a long journey to set up a website, create content, etc.  If you are passionate about it, stick with it.  Also, appreciate the small wins, because each small win will help contribute to your ultimate goal!

What are your favorite travel related movies?

Moana is my current go-to inspirational travel movie.  Great animation, great songs, and a great story about a girl that is looking to expand her world and challenge the status quo.

3) Questions for my nominees to answer?

1. If the police caught you doing something that landed you in jail, what would you have been doing?
2. If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give to the child version of yourself?
3. You’re traveling to a remote area (without phone or internet) of your choosing. What is the first thing you plan on bringing (living or inanimate)?
4. Beach or mountains. Explain?
5. What is one inspirational song that everyone should have on their playlist?
6. What is your favorite lucky number? Why?
7. What did you want to be when you grew up?
8. Are you doing what you had dreamed of being? If not, why not?
9. What’s your philosophy towards life/living?
10. What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who had started a blog, but is now thinking of giving up on it?
11. It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon at home. What are you doing?

4) My nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Award 2018

Trust in the Wanderlust – Gabrielle left her University studies in pursuit of an education from life, travel, and following her passions.  This blog documents her journeys as she travels around the world.

Time Travel Bee – Anita isn’t afraid of running away from life, but rather letting life run away from her.  Through her pursuit of not letting life run away, she shares with us her travels, which include eco-friendly travel and local food tips.

Wander Dolls – Ashley switches between teaching and being a nomad.  Her blog provides inspiring travelers the tips and know-how for working your travel dreams into your life.  She proves that living a life of travel is possible.

Runaway Blond – This blog shares the tales of two friends that met while studying abroad in London, England.

UpsideDown and Insideout – Chantel shares her stories of family life with her husband and children while living abroad in Africa.

The Broad Life – Khoi tells the stories of his adventures across the world.  His posts include countries across the North America, Asia, and Oceania regions.

Nikecream – A Slovenia student finishing her studies in foreign language.  Her blog is used to share her stories and love for travel, music, and living a vegan life.

My Italian Diaries – Val, a well-traveled international globe trotter, had realized that although she has explored the world she had ignored her home country of Italy.  She is now spending her time exploring the beauty and gaining appreciation for her own roots by traveling across Italy.

Congratulations to my nominees and keep blogging!

Until we meet again, get out there and explore!

Andrea