It is not often that bloggers are recognized for what we do so I cracked a huge grin when I was given a Liebster Award. The Liebster Award is an online award given out by fellow bloggers to new bloggers. It’s a great way to network and get your blog noticed. Its also a fantastic way to be recognized for your work. A big shout out to fellow Victorian Danielle at Traveller Envy for nominating me.
The Rules are as follows:
- Thank the blogger who gave it to you including a link back to their website.
- Answer the eleven questions they ask you.
- Nominate bloggers with less than 500 followers.
- Ask those eleven bloggers eleven questions.
- Let those bloggers know that they have been nominated so they can continue the chain.
Getting on with the business side of the award here are my answers to the questions that Danielle asked me.
1) What has drawn you to traveling?
My parents used to take us to the USA as a child. Getting there took a really long time. They would fly to New Zealand, then Honolulu before arriving in LA with four jet lagged kids. I loved those trips though, even the flights, even the lay-overs. I vividly recall the sticky heat and smell of frangipanis when we got off the plane in Honolulu for a 4 hour layover and the wonderful sense of newness. Some of my earliest memories are of exploring the National Parks in the United States – Zion National Park, The Grand Canyon and Redwood National Park and being awed by it all.
2) Where is your favourite place in the world?
What a tricky question. My favourite place right now is anywhere with my three little kids (if they are behaving) and anywhere away from them if they are not. I lived for a year in Nashville Tennessee and loved the friendliness of the US south, the green of the landscape and the fact that as an Aussie I was welcomed by the different sub-cultures in that part of the world. Oh, and in Nashville they list macaroni and cheese as a vegetable on menus which is nothing but awesome as far as I am concerned.
3) What is your number one travel tip?
I only travel with my kids now so my top travel tip is to throw expectations away. With expectation comes the possibility for disappointment. Commit to a trip with an open mind and you are more likely to see the positive in every day.
4) Do you like to travel in a group or individually?
I miss the days of individual travel but I am a package deal now. I seem to have stumbled into attachment parenting – not for ideological reasons just because it works best with my kids. As such I always traveling with my little mob.
5) Where are you thinking of going next?
Our next trip is to Sydney for my sister-in-laws wedding. We are staying in The Rocks so expect a post about that region of Sydney soon.
6) Where is a place that you love that is ‘off the beaten track’? That not many people would know about?
We drove from Cairns to Cooktown in the Cape York Peninsula two years ago. It is the most spectacular drive and manageable with little folk. Cooktown is just a small town but rich in history (both colonial and Indigenous) as well as natural beauty. They have a musical ship on the waterfront there that the kids had a ball making music on. If we ever go back I would love to do some boat fishing there.
7) If you could only travel to one more place in your lifetime where would it be?
I love re-visiting places that I have known well. My husband and I spent two amazing years as newlyweds living in Darwin. My experiences there completely changed the way that I view Australia geographically, socially and politically. Eating barra and chips on the jetty, visiting the Mindil Beach markets, swimming in waterholes in Litchfield National Park are all experiences I would love to share with my kids. Perhaps next dry season…
8) What is your favourite travel memory?
As a very young child we would head to the New South Wales central coast town of Terrigal each summer. I remember wading in rock pools, looking for crabs while Dad told me the names of all the different shell-fish we found. It is the kind of memory that I seek to re-create in my own kids when we travel.
9) How have you found starting up your travel blog?
I didn’t know anything about blogging but had a collection of travel health articles for families that I wanted to get out there. Friends convinced me to put them online and Bubs on the Move was formed. I discovered pretty quickly that people are not that interested in the health stuff (Dr in me says grrrrrrr) but that parents with kids the same age as mine want a bit of info about what works when traveling. The blog is evolving as our family grows. I’m on maternity leave this year and have less funds to travel so we are focusing on local exploration.
10) What has been your most successful moment with your blog
I’m still waiting for it.
11) Where do you think you will be in 10 years?
Before I had kids I wanted to be a Professor of Medicine (or at least an Associate Professor) by the time I was forty. My priorities have changed so that I am just wanting to savor the here and now of these precious days. I am sure when all the kids are at school my career driven nature will kick in again. What I would really love is a public health job that allows me to travel with the kids every school holidays.
And more business…
The eleven questions I am asking my eleven nominees are:
Exploring rock pools. My favourite childhood travel memory that I try and recreate with my own kids.
(1) What is your favourite memory from traveling with your kid/s?
(2) What is your favourite aspect of life at home (because all travel bloggers need reminding sometimes that homelife is precious too)?
(3) Describe the scene of your child’s most devastating travel meltdown.
(4) What was the very first trip you took with your child/children?
(5) What is your favourite type of accommodation.
(6) Which country’s residents do you think welcomes traveling families with the most warmth?
(7) What is your favourite memory of travel or local exploration from your own childhood.
(8) One website that you fine valuable in trip planning.
(9) One item that you never leave home without.
(10) Pre-boarding or boarding last. Your preference and reasons.
(11) Where are you going on your next trip?
The eleven bloggers that I am nominating are as follows:
Congratulations on your award! Wow, your parents were hard core – I haven’t been game to tackle time zones like that yet! Looking forward to your post on Sydney.
Hi Bron. Yes my parents were hard core! I was going to nominate you too but saw you have been nominated twice already so thought you may be a little over answering all these questions.
Oh, and congratulations to your sister-in-law too, of course!
Hi Danielle I’ve finally got around to writing mine. I’ll post it in the morning. Thanks so much for tagging me xx
Great Kirralee, looking forward to reading it!
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