Imagine my surprise and delight when Emily of happynfull nominated me for a Liebster Award! Emily is not only a well-traveled travel blogger with a mission to inspire and inform wanderlust, she seems to be a coffee lover so she is aces in my book! Check out her blog for some travel inspiration, travel playlists, and travel budget advice. Thanks for the shout-out Emily!

The Liebster Award is an on-line only award given to bloggers by bloggers. Liebster is a German word which, according to my translation apps, means either favorite or dearest and it’s a lovely feeling to have been nominated! With the nomination, comes a list of questions from Emily with my answers in bold.

1. How many countries have you visited and which is your favorite and why? (OK, so that was more like 3 questions). 20+ and they are all my favorite! I know that sounds like a cop-out, but even the countries where I had trouble still gave me invaluable experience and memories. Egypt sticks out for the warmth of the people and the food and I will always have a soft spot for the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.
2. What do you primarily blog about? Coffee, travel, and getting the most out of life!
3. What do you love most about travel blogging? The ability to connect with other people who are curious about the world around them.
4. What is your number one travel tip or advice? Maintain a sense of humor. Life is messy and travel is messier. If you expect things to go perfectly, you will be disappointed. Lean into it and enjoy the ride. My second tip (this is my blog so I can add a 2nd!) is to be kind. Manners and lifestyles are different country-to-country and your ways may not be their ways. Kindness goes a LONG way to enhancing your experience.
5. If you could buy a ticket to go anywhere tomorrow, where would it be? I am game to go almost anywhere, but pressed for one answer? Bhutan!
6. Have you made any meaningful connections with a stranger during travel? I’ve met some great folks along the way and made some great memories but there is a crew of people I met while in Costa Rica, years ago, are the people who had the most impact on me.
7. What are top 3 items you always have in your travel bag? Duct tape, safety pins, and mini bungee cords (just call me MacGyver!).
8. What are the top 3 apps you rely on when finding the best travel deals? I am old school (and old) and don’t use apps that often. I rely on sites like http://www.airfarewatchdog.com and my go-to airline http://www.United.com for the best airfares. When it comes to accommodations, I like to search for unique, oddball smaller hotels and then, see what the chatter is on TripAdvisor.com.
9. What has travel taught you? The world is a tragic, beautiful, frightening, and magical place and to see it is to realize how alike we all are in our hopes and fears for the future.
10. For those who say, “I wish I could travel more,” what is your biggest advice to them? Do everything you can to make it a priority and if you truly don’t have the means to travel, you can still learn about the world around you by reading, exploring local museums, and venturing to new places that are local to you. The world really is outside your front door.

Now, onto the travel bloggers I nominate as my Liebsters! I follow some great travel blogs, but I visit all of these sites regularly and feel each one contributes to the mission of showing how gratifying travel can be. They are:

LoveTravelling: Travel diaries providing inspiration for fellow travellers. Why did it make my Liebster list? In addition to the wide variety of destinations, I love the format! Little Miss Traveller chronicles her posts by day, which gives you a glimpse into how you might structure your time in a specific destination. Plus, I am a sucker for photos of accommodations and she is great about showing her readers the details.

HandLuggageOnly: A wildly popular blog with interesting information and varied destinations. Why did it make my Liebster list? These two lads, who started travel blogging at Cambridge, deliver what I can only term as a joyous love of travel. I always get happy when I visit their blog and their enthusiasm is infectious. With saturated vivid photos of their destinations, their blog will inspire you to pack your bags. I am quite sure these two are the life of the party wherever they go and I want to go with them!

RoxyMoto: A blog dedicated to one girl’s love of motorcycles and motorcycle riding. Why did it make my Liebster list? This girl is close to half my age and I have ZERO experience with motorcycles, but seeing the images she posts taken from (maybe) a helmet cam is exhilarating. Just knowing she is out there zooming along mountain passes or coastal roads gives me such happiness. Like when you know someone loves exploration and adventure as much as you do and you wish for them to be granted every good thing because somewhere in the fabric of the world there is a kindred thread of sameness and intrepidness? Yep, that kind of feeling.

TravellerDave: Touted as a travel magazine of beginner writers. Why did it make my Liebster list? Run by the Dave of the adorable grin, this blog makes travel writing accessible to everyone through an open call for submissions guaranteeing a certain charm in the content. Cementing my fondness for his mission, Dave features a Daily Happy Traveller, where he posts people who submit their photos of happy travel. With all the madness in the world, little things like this remind us that it is not all doom and gloom. Visiting this blog is like an injection of positivity.

JohnWreford: Words and pictures from the Middle East. Why did it make my Liebster list? While it seems his site is primarily slanted to selling his prints, it provides a unique insight into a region that remains mysterious for most. Having spent a little time in the Middle East, I long for more but given the way the world is, traveling as a woman alone doesn’t set me up for an easy time there. John’s style straddles the line between fine art and journalism and brings depth to his subject. His use of light and shadow adds drama to even the most common is scenes. Definitely a must-visit site.

To the Liebster winners, I am asking you to answer the questions I get asked most often:

1. Why do you live/love to travel?
2. What has been your biggest travel-related mistake?
3. Which destination has the friendliest people?
4. How many pairs of shoes do you typically pack?
5.  Do you pack light or pack it all?
6. What is your absolute must-have item for every trip?
and finally….
7. Which destination has the best coffee?

I look  forward to reading their responses and invite you, my dear readers, to visit each blog and delight in the uniqueness of the travel blogging world!