We received an early Christmas present! Sunsets and Roller Coasters has been nominated for the Liebster Award! Actually, we were nominated TWICE!
Our first Liebster Award nomination comes from Mary at Bambinos Without Borders. Bambinos Without Borders is a family travel blog so, needless to say, I love it! This fantastic blog encourages parents to travel with their kids and along the way, teach them to become better global citizens.
The second Liebster Award nomination comes from Meredith at The Longest Weekend. Meredith and her husband decided to travel the world earlier this year. They quit their jobs, either stored or sold everything they owned, rented out their home and let wonder be their guide. They’ve already visited Hungary, Portugal and Egypt. How exciting is that?!
What is the Liebster Award?
The Liebster Award is a digital award that has been around since 2011. Each year bloggers who are nominated, in turn, nominate at least five other bloggers for the award.
According to the official rules for the Liebster Award, those nominated must answer the questions posed to them and then ask their nominees 10 other questions. At the end of the year, the blog with the most unique and creative questions wins the award.
It’s an honour to be nominated as the nomination truly comes from fellow bloggers. When I started Sunsets and Roller Coasters less than six months ago, I had no idea the number of incredible people I would ‘meet’ along the way. It really has been an incredible journey with an amazing learning curve. My fellow bloggers have been a wealth of knowledge and an invaluable resource.
Because we were nominated by two people, I reached out to the organizer for the Liebster Award to find out if I should answer 20 questions, 10 from each of Mary and Meredith, or choose 10 between them. I was told I should do the latter. I’ve decided to answer five from each.
So here it goes!!
My Liebster Award Questions and Answers
Liebster Award Questions asked by The Longest Weekend:
- Where have you visited that surprised you most, and why?
That would have to be Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.
In planning for our visit to Prague and Budapest, I keptcoming across details on Cesky Krumlov. It looked simply beautiful but many, many people had said that it was an over-crowded, over-hyped, tourist mecca. We opted to visit anyway.
It was truly incredible and we’re so happy we decided to visit. The streets were way less crowded than old town Prague and it was like a small jewel box. There were of course still many tourists but they didn’t detract from the small village. We stayed overnight so we were also able to experience Cesky Krumlov late at night and early in the morning. It was incredible to be the only ones walking around this incredible Unesco world heritage site.
2. Where are you most excited to travel to in 2019?
That’s such a hard one! We have two trips booked for 2019: Barbados and Portugal. Honestly, I can’t choose as to which I’m most excited about.
I’ve wanted to visit Barbados since my parents visited when I was five years old. I can’t wait to explore the beaches and caves, swim with the sea turtles and meet the wonderful Bajan people.
We chose Portugal for our summer travel destination because we loved Spain so much two years ago. At the time, I had looked into visiting both Spain and Portugal but we would have been too rushed. This was the year to visit Portugal and find out the difference between these two magnificent countries.
3. What are your top three bucket list destinations at the moment?
Is ‘everywhere’ an option? Maybe not. If I had to narrow it down, I would say Greece, Croatia and Japan.
As a young child I was fascinated by ancient Greek mythology. I would love to explore the islands grabbing what history we can along the way.
Croatia is one of those countries that I’ve longed to visit. The cities, the beaches, the islands, the park areas … all of it would make such an amazing, varied destination to visit.
Japan for us is an obvious choice. John has visited many times on business but to date, our family has never visited Asia. We’ve heard so much about Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo that it would be amazing to see it for ourselves.
4. What’s your cure for homesickness while traveling?
We aren’t usually gone long enough for homesickness to truly kick in. We do regularly keep in touch with the children’s grandparents (our parents) via texting and facetime.
We miss Zermatt terribly when we travel but we’re fortunate to have a wonderful company based here in Ottawa.Bone Voyage (get it?!) has several families that take in pups when their owners are out of town. Zermatt gets to stay with a family, usually one with kids, and gets to play, go for walks and sleep in their bed. Even better, we get regular texts with photos letting us know how she is doing and what she is up to.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world other than where you live now, where would it be and why?
I would say Switzerland. Our first trip abroad was five weeks spent in Switzerland (since then all our travel has been shorter).We had a real feel for true live in beautiful Basel and on top, we were able to explore the larger cities and small villages around Switzerland.
The Swiss people are some of the nicest in the world.The cities are beautiful and clean with a great array of activities for kids and adults. Sports, especially hockey, is HUGE in Switzerland along with skiing which the kids love. The Swiss countryside is stunning and holds an infinite number of places to explore.
The Swiss transportation system is one of the best in the world. It’s only a short train ride to the best mountains in the world for skiing and hiking and being in the center of Western Europe, it would be easy to explore throughout the continent.
Liebster Award Questions asked by Bambinos Without Borders:
6. What’s your best travel-disaster story that you can laugh about now?
Our first travel experience outside North America was our five week trip to Switzerland when the children were 5, 7 and 10. It was partly a working vacation for John.
Within the first few days, we decided to take the 1 hour train ride from Basel to Lucerne so that I could get the hang of using the train with the children when John wasn’t around. Our plan for the day was to visit Mount Pilatus. The day started wonderfully. We took the cable car partway up the mountain and debarked so the children could play in a mountainside playground. We hopped back on the cable car to our next stop: summer tobogganing!
We bought our tickets and waited our turn. Lucas would be on one toboggan with Sydney, Lucas would follow next and I would take Caiden with me. Off Lucas went! Then John and Sydney. A few minutes later I was given the go ahead to leave the launching area.
As I took the first turn, I was shocked by the sight before me. Lucas’ and John’s toboggans were smushed together on the track. Lucas was sitting on the side of the track, white as a ghost with blood allover him, John looked stunned and Sydney was crying. A staff member was immediately behind me as they noticed that Lucas’ and John’s toboggan never passed the first tracking location. Apparently, Lucas was a bit timid and driving slower than John. John took the turn and couldn’t stop fast enough and drove over Lucas!
The staff members were wonderful. They brought Lucas to the base and bandaged his arm and then brought us all to the top and gave him ice cream. We hung out for at least and hour at which time he said he wanted to continue up and explore the mountain. He favoured his arm for the next few days and even today has a huge scar but was otherwise none the worse for wear.
7. What’s the most frivolous thing or biggest splurge you’ve spent money on while traveling?
On our first trip to Paris I had one request. A pair of Louboutin red bottom shoes. I’ve worn them only a few times but I still love those shoes!
8. Where are you on the scale from Budget-Backpacker to All-Inclusive-Resort? Describe.
I’d say that I’m very much in the middle.
I am definitely NOT a budget backpacker. I probably would have enjoyed it before kids but not now. I like modern conveniences but I really don’t want to pay a luxury price.
I do like some all-inclusive locations if they’re worth the price that is charged. We found a great little all-inclusive in Jamaica that we returned to year after year that cost way less than a Beaches luxury all inclusive would have. The kids loved the activities and we enjoyed the relaxation.
That said, our perfect location would be self-catering in the center of where tourists generally want to stay. I would definitely want it to have air conditioning and a washer/dryer.
This year we’ll be renting a self-catering villa in Barbados instead of going all-inclusive. In Europe, we usually stay in an apartment either linked with a hotel or booked through a private rental agency or Airbnb. I’ve done a few posts on some of most recent apartments. Check out our Prague apartment and Budapest apartment.
9. What was your first /most transformative travel memory and how did it shape the way you travel now?
My first travel memory is a visit to Florida when I was 10 years old. It was fantastic! We visited Disney, Busch Gardens, Sea World and the beach. I remember walking in the door with our luggage when we returned home and stating “Next time I want to visit a Dude Ranch!” Pretty sure my parents thought I had lost my mind. I never did get to that Dude Ranch but the present me always chooses our next destination as soon as we come home.
My most transformative vacation would have to be Sydney’s Wish trip through Children’s Wish Foundation when she was four. That trip was so special. It was a taste of what could be, setting aside problems, and bonding as a family. We’ve obviously travelled to many destinations since but that is everything all our future visits have been: a time for bonding, a time for hanging out together without interruptions, a special time to make memories together.
10. If you could choose one food that would for the rest of your life be calorie-free and you could eat with reckless abandon, what would it be?
Chinese food. Ok, I’ve never visited China. But I expect I wouldn’t find North American Chinese food there. I’ve loved Chinese food since I was a young kid. It’s actually our Christmas Eve tradition. If I could eat it weekly, I likely would. No calories would be awesome!
Now it’s my turn!!
My Questions for my Liebster Award Nominees
1.If you could travel the world to see any animal, where would you go and what animal would you see?
2. If you were able to change one thing in the history of your life story, what would you change?
3. It is the year 2050. In comparison to 2018, what in our world is different and what in our world is the same?
4. Something has happened and you’re only able to see two colours. What colours would you choose and why?
5. Your trip is paid. You get to bring your children (ages 7-13) with you. Where would you travel?
6. You are 17 years old again. What at that age influenced the person you are today?
7. You have been given $2 million. You can do with it what you wish but it must be divided into two things. One must be a charitable cause. One must be something to make you a better person. What would you do and how much would you give to each?
8. Your choice: travel by horse or travel by bicycle. Which would you choose?
9. What travel destination has had the most impact on your life? Explaini.
10. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
My Nominees for the Liebster Award
I honestly enjoy each and every one of the following blogs and look forward to their latest updates and blog posts. I hope you do too!
I can’t wait to read their answers to my questions!
Sunsets and Roller Coasters nominates:
Again, a big thank you to The Longest Weekend and Bambinos Without Borders for nominating us! I enjoyed answering the questions. They gave me pause for thought and had me relive some of our most memorable travel experiences.
Sharing is Caring. Pin it!!!
0 Comments