Sunshine Blogger Award

I recently got some wonderful news while wandering around the medieval streets of beautiful Prague. I’d been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award not once, not twice but actually THREE times! Woah! I was so thrilled to find that the lovely Emma (Forever Lost in Travel), Dani (Life in Traveling Chucks) and Aimsy (Aimsy’s Antics) had all nominated me. Thank you so much girls, I feel beyond happy and lucky to receive such support from the blogging community and have my baby blog recognised!

For those not familiar with it, the Sunshine Blogger Award recognises the creativity, joy and positivity of inspirational bloggers. You can imagine how good it feels to know your hard work has paid off!

The Sunshine Blogger Award rules

• Thank the blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
• Answer 11 questions the blogger has asked you
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and ask them 11 new questions
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post

As I’ve been asked 33 questions, and some of them were pretty similar, I’ve selected 11 in order to avoid repetition, shorten this post and make it much more enjoyable for you.

Ok let’s do this!

The Questions

 1. Where is your favourite place to travel to?

Everywhere! I believe every single place in the world is unique and has its own beauty. I associate some places with memories from my childhood; others, with meaningful experiences or just generally fun trips abroad. However, Portugal is a country that never ceases to impress me and makes me want to explore it more and more. I am obsessed with the culture, its food and of course its amazing wine! Sam and I have been to Madeira, Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon and Cascais and have prepared some interesting travel guides and tips for you to get the most of each place.

2. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Definitely an early riser. I tend to fall asleep on Sam while watching TV or Netflix, so you can tell I am not a night person! I also tend to function better in the mornings so I love waking up early and having a lot of things done while the sun is still out. Otherwise, I feel like I am running out of time and get extremely anxious!

3. Which season is your favourite?

Of which show? Joking. I love both summer and winter and I often find it quite difficult to choose between both. Summer equals longer days, early sunrise, sunny weather (yes, please!), birds singing in the garden, ice cream, pool/beach holidays, sunglasses and summer dresses, picnics in the park, an Aperol Spritz on a roof terrace…More light and joyful weather makes me incredibly happy. But then again I find myself missing the cosy jumpers, the fluffy blankets, my hot water bottle, a warm cup of tea and a book, snowy evenings and Christmas holidays, my birthday (December, the best month!) and wooly socks!

4. What are the top 3 places on your travel bucket list?

Argh, this is so hard! There are more than 100 places on my Ultimate Travel Bucket List, but if I had to choose only three, they would probably be New Zealand, California and the whole of Australia. Because they are exotic, far away and so huge to explore that I can fit more places than only the three I have to select. This can’t be considered cheating, right?

5. Who’s your biggest champion/supporter of your blogging?

Sam, no doubt. He is my biggest support in every single aspect of my life – not only my blog (which he is a huge part of), but also career, health, emotional turnarounds and generally everything you can imagine. I am incredibly lucky to have him in my life and it sounds cheesy to say this but I can’t imagine my life without him.

6. Do you have a special talent?

My voice is out of this world, but of course I would never go to the X-Factor or any other singing contest as I’m just too good and don’t want to bring other people down. Kidding, I can’t sing. I used to be part of the city choir when little but then puberty happened. My voice is nothing compared to what it once was.*Sad*.

However, I am a polyglot and can fluently speak three languages (English, Spanish and Bulgarian). I also find it incredibly easy to understand foreign languages and learn new ones (which comes in handy when travelling!).

7. Do you have a favourite TV show, what is it and why?

When it comes to movies or TV series, I like watching different kind of genres. From drama and comedy to sci-fi and crime, I’ve found myself binge watching Game of Thrones, Killing Eve, American Vandal, Making a Murderer, Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Narcos…Each of them is awesome in their own way. But if I had to choose one TV series to watch over and over again, it would probably be The Office (US). It’s hilarious and has some pure gold moments throughout its 9 seasons – Dwight’s fake fire drill, Prison Mike or the CPR training, anyone?

Sam and I started watching it in NY after I damaged my ankle from too much walking. When we got home in London, I found a parcel waiting on the stairs for me containing the complete boxset. Sam knew I had become obsessed with it and, since it wasn’t on Netflix UK, he had bought the series for me so we could carry on watching it at home.

8. Coffee or tea? Why?

Tea. All the way. Green tea, peppermint tea, ginger tea and fruity tea, I love them all. I’ll never say no to a warm chai latte but I prefer tea to coffee as there are a variety of flavours and a great amount of health benefits associated with it. Tea is rich in antioxidants, has much less caffeine than coffee (meaning I don’t necessarily need to get hyper to have more energy), helps with digestion and hydrates the body. Tea is also my favourite companion when cosying up with a blanket, a hot water bottle and a book.

9. When you travel, what is the first thing you pack (or the thing you don’t leave home without)?

I recently wrote a post about my Short Haul Travel Essentials that I always take with me. The first thing I pack is always my passport, as I’d probably have a little (huge) breakdown if I forgot it. Apart from my passport (and the obvious wallet, keys and phone), the things I never leave home without have to be my headphones and loads of music previously downloaded on my iPhone to make the trip more enjoyable and relaxing.

10. Do you have any other hobbies (apart from blogging)?

I’m a big fan of yoga, pilates and meditation. They help me stretch my body and relax my mind after a busy day at work, or a tiring day of travelling. We tend to forget that our bodies are our temple and that they’re with us since the day we’re born until the moment we leave this world. Nourishing our bodies and taking care of our minds is one of the priorities we need to consider and a lot of the time we forget to think about ourselves. I myself am guilty of this, but I am learning to focus more on my wellbeing the more I get older.

11. If you were to be famous, what would it be for?

If I were to be famous for something, then I want it to be for travelling the world and inspiring people to do the same. I started this blog as a way of crossing places off my Travel Bucket List and getting out of my daily routine by travelling as much as possible while I’m here and enjoying all the unique things that make this world amazing. I made it my mission to move to London and when I did, I also wrote a London Bucket List. I’m here to inspire people to get out of their comfort zones, to explore the wonders of our world and hopefully my travel, food and experiences reviews and tips can spice up your lives as they are spicing up mine. Because life is about going out there and taking risks. Funnily enough, Sam and I would have never met if I hadn’t taken the risk to move to London. And it is the best risk I’ve ever taken.

That was fun! Now check out the incredible bloggers below and share some love.

My 11 Sunshine Blogger nominees

1. Melis from Melis Living
2. Kasia from Kasiawrites
3. Jesica from Off to the World
4. Elizabeth from Elizabeth Everywhere
5. Ruth from Ruth in Revolt
6. Nicka from Wander With Nicka
7. Nele from Navigatio
8. Bexa from Hello Bexa
9. Bernie and Jess from Watt? Where? How?
10. Sophie from A Stroll with Soph
11. KB from Her Life in Ruins

My 11 new questions

1. What inspired you to start your blog?
2. What is the most unusual place you’ve been to and why?
3. Bungee-jumping: yes or no?
4. What are three interesting facts about you?
5. If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?
6. What’s your favourite travel childhood memory?
7. What’s your favourite pizza topping?
8. Window or aisle seat?
9. Who inspires you to be better?
10. What’s your favourite day in the calendar and why?
11. What has surprised you about yourself?

G.x

Do you like exploring the world? Then check out some of our travel guides:

• Black Heritage Trail, Boston (Massachusetts) guide and map
• Things you must do in Prague
• Affordable things to do in Cannes, Côte d’Azur
• The 10 best things to do in Edinburgh, Scotland
• Best things to do in York
• Things to do in Monaco on a budget

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