The traveling community never ceases to amaze me with how supportive, responsive and endlessly interesting it can be! Each time I turn towards my RSS or blog feed, I come across stunning photos, interesting travel articles, helpful planning tips and heartfelt accounts of experiences abroad. While having a blog can sometimes feel like setting up a lemonade stand on a busy avenue in New York City, it is the readers, fans and followers that like posts, comment on articles and e-mail their thoughts that remind all bloggers about the power of words and their ability to inspire and impact change.
Recently, a reader nominated The Pin the Map Project for the Liebster Award-a badge that highlights budding travel bloggers. A big thanks to the Traveling Explorer of It’s a Hanoian Life for the nomination! The Traveling Explorer is a travel blogger from Montreal who worked as a teacher in Berlin before moving to Hanoi in Vietnam. Writing about her life and travels abroad, she shares stories of colorful road trips through Malaysia, visits to Bangkok and life as an ex-pat in Hanoi. Here, I answer her questions about my best travel memories, advice to new travelers and share my Liebster nominations.
What is your best travel memory?
I have many great travel memories but one recent favorite was during a trip to Cartagena, Colombia with my fiance this past February. During our visit we decided to take a trip to the nearby Isla Baru-which is a very rustic but beautiful island off the coast. With our backpacks in tow, we headed to the island with no plan of where we would be spending the night! Once our boat pulled up on the shores of Playa Blanca on Isla Baru, we headed down the beach until we found a quaint bungalow that we could rent for less than $30 a night. Finding our own little corner of paradise, we had an incredible time spending the night on the island, meeting other backpackers and waking up to an uninterrupted view of the sea.
What is your worst travel memory?
While visiting the Virgin Islands, I got a horrible case of food poisoning from a local restaurant serving Mahi-Mahi. To make matters worse, I was the maid of honor at a wedding the next day and had to pull myself together long enough to stand along side the bride and not get sick! It wasn’t until recently-years after the offending Mahi-Mahi-did I finally give the fish another chance and order it at a restaurant, thankfully no sickness followed.
What is your favorite way to travel?
The beauty of travel is that it takes you out of your comfort zone, breaks routine and brings perspective as you mingle with new people, discover different cultures and experience a different way of living. When I travel, I don’t like to over plan or come armed with an itinerary, rather I bring ideas of places I want to see and things I’d like to do and then let the trip unfold naturally. Similarly, I tend to shy away from resorts, packaged tours or all-inclusive deals since I think these can sometimes eclipse a destination by bringing your comfort zone with you and creating a buffer between the place you’re visiting and yourself. I like to stay in hostels, rent airbnb apartments, backpack and enjoy as much of the local culture as I can.
If you could travel with any one person, living or dead, who would it be?
What a great question! I have a great deal of admiration (and admittedly a bit of a crush) on the silver-haired fox that is Anthony Bourdain. I admire his wit, honesty and ability to step outside himself and show a destination for what it is-flaws and all. Before Bourdain signed on with The Taste and No Reservations, he was just a chef turned writer who went in search of “the perfect meal.” Reading about his travels around Vietnam, Russia and Europe was hilarious and educational; I can only imagine what a laugh it would be to travel with him in-person!
What is a piece of wise advice that you would give a new traveler?
You CAN afford to travel. I know what’s it’s like to live in a big city, be tied down by a 9-5 career, be a post-graduate and have a bank account that barely stays afloat-I am in my twenties and the idea of travel used to seem like a luxury I couldn’t afford. It wasn’t until I booked a flight to Colombia for a trip with friends, did I realize that traveling is as expensive as one makes it. There are so many tips & tricks to planning an affordable vacation-whether you opt to fly off-season or choose a hostel over a hotel-you simply have to be savvy when it comes to travel.
What city are you from and what animal would you compare it to? Why?
I am originally from Bogota, Colombia which, if compared to an animal, would best be represented by a phoenix (yes, I’m going mythical here). Colombia used to be a country torn apart by civil war, ravaged by drugs and labeled as a dangerous destination to be avoided at all costs but today, Colombia has risen from the ashes like a phoenix to become a beautiful country with rich culture, art, food and landscapes. Boldly taking on its bad reputation, the Colombia Tourism board is right in saying “the only risk is wanting to stay.”
Do you collect anything from your travels?
I have started to collect bracelets from every destination I visit-usually they are simple woven bands or string bracelets I tie around my wrist but each one has a specific memory attached. While I love taking photos and writing about my travels, there is something very romantic about wearing my travel memories on my wrist.
If you could choose one city to spend the rest of your life in, which would it be?
It’s a close tie between Barcelona and Paris! Barcelona is utterly whimsical, beautiful and playful while Paris is romantic, inspirational and artistic.
Complete the sentence: I could not travel without… (something other than your passport).
My camera!
What is your favorite “new” food that you discovered while traveling?
On my first trip to France I fell in love with Camembert-a strong cheese that pairs beautifully with a glass of red wine. My fiance’s family introduced me to the cheese as though they were testing my tolerance for truly smelly cheeses and it goes without saying I passed with flying colors. I loved Camembert so much that the next morning my soon-to-be mother-in-law found me eating Camembert for breakfast!
How do you deal with unplanned bad weather when traveling?
There are things I can control and things I can’t and the weather is just one of those things. While I can do my best to try and travel during dry seasons, bad weather happens and when it does I just remind myself that a bad day traveling beats a good day in the office.
Keeping up the tradition of the Liebster Award, I would like to nominate the following bloggers and their fantastic work that is sure to place them on the top of everyone’s blogroll one day soon.
- Rustic Peach
- Earth to Jade
- Madly Mignon
- The Tonic of Wildness
- Thyme & Honey
- The Lost Londoner
- Visit 50
- Palettes and Passports
- Distant Francophile
- Hunters Travel Tales
- Backpacker Lee
My Questions for these budding bloggers are:
- What inspires you to blog?
- Why did you start your website?
- How did you choose the name for your website?
- What is your best piece of advice to bloggers who are just starting out?
- When thinking about your next blog post, where do you find inspiration for story ideas?
- In your opinion, what is the difference between a traveler and a tourist?
- For those who don’t know you, how would you explain your travel style?
- What has been you favorite destination? What about the worst?
- Tell me about a meal or dish that has left a lasting impression.
- Who inspires you?
- What’s next for you and your blog in 2014?
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