The Sunshine Blogger Award

As I approach the one-year anniversary of my blog, I’m honored to have been named a recipient of the Sunshine Blogger Award.  Based on a little investigation I conducted, I’ve discovered that this blogger-to-blogger award is designed to be given to those who the bestower feels radiate creativity, joy, and inspiration through their writing.  Wow!  That makes my day year!

Many, many thanks to Margaret and Neal of Wandering Together, who gave me this honor.  Based in my favorite state of Colorado, they use their travel and lifestyle blog to take readers with them on journeys from the Mile High City to destinations around the world.  It’s a wonderful read and I encourage you to explore their blog.

My research also revealed that blogging awards come with rules and regulations.  The ones specific to this award are:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

The questions:

1.Do you prefer relaxing vacations or active vacations, and why?

Ooh, that’s tough.  I love all types of travel (except for cruises – I’ve never taken one but the idea of it doesn’t, uh, float my boat). I know it’s a bit wishy-washy, but on a continuum of relaxing to active, I’d put myself right around the middle… maybe a tad closer to the active side.  I can lay on the beach for a while (as long as I have a good book and a tropical drink), but not all day long.  I gotta intersperse the lounging with some activity.  Conversely, active travel is great, but gimme some down time here and there.

2. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

I’m not an adventurous eater.  That’s the husband’s domain. (Cow brain and Marmite spring to mind.)  I recall tasting octopus in Spanish class in 7th grade.  Also, as the daughter of an avid Midwestern hunter, my childhood was spent eating (but rarely enjoying) pretty much everything in Wisconsin you can legally kill as long as you’re in possession of a hunting license.

3. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

• Nationally, anywhere in Colorado west of I-25.  Second choice: anywhere else in the western US that is in or very close to the mountains.
• Internationally, Paris.  Second choice: anywhere else in France.

4. What do you like to do in your free time?

• Travel planning!!!
• XC skiing, squash, kickboxing, cycling, running (though that last one is mainly for health and weight maintenance… I don’t actually enjoy it 🙂 )
• Flower gardening is an obsession in the spring and summer (though I’m usually dead sick of it by mid-August).
• Reading, especially historical fiction
• Writing my blog!  This has totally usurped crafting’s place in my life, so…
• I do some crafting: upcycling wine, beer, & liquor bottles into candles, making cork magnets and ornaments, etc.
• I don’t watch a ton of TV, but, though it took a long time to do so, I can now comfortably publicly admit that I love Survivor.  (I can actually hear your eyes rolling, by the way.)

5. What’s your favorite story about your pet (past or current)?

We used to take one of our previous buns to something called Hoppy Hour.  Every few weeks, scores of rabbits and their humans would gather in a huge room at the Humane Society.  The humans would form a fence around the outside and the rabbits would be set loose to play and interact in the middle where there were ramps and other toys and obstacles.  Our bun only got a few “time outs” before he got the hang of rabbit socialization (that is to say, he stopped humping other rabbits).  He was a huge flirt and used to hop around the perimeter of the room soliciting head rubs from adoring humans.

 

 

6. What would you sing at karaoke night?

No karaoke.  I do not sing in public.

7. What three items would you take to a deserted island?

• All six seasons of Northern Exposure (assuming there is a DVD player on this island)
• A huge trunk full of New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles… and several pens
• Hmmm… coffee.  No, wine.  No, wait.  Coffee.  No, wine…

8. What is your spirit animal?

The husband and I are both Harry Potter fans.  We long ago chose our patronuses (patroni?)  I’m a rabbit.  (He’s a hare.)

9. Do you collect anything?

Lately, grey hairs.  It sucks.

As a kid I collected dolls, but as an adult, I just want to collect travel experiences.  (The running joke in my family is that nobody wants to inherit my mom’s extensive thimble collection.  Don’t worry – she knows this and I think she understands.  Right mom?  You understand, don’t you? 🙂 )

10. What are you most grateful for?

Gosh, so much, like the trite but incredibly important things like my health, my education and the opportunities I was given growing up, my job (though you’ll often hear me complaining about its travel-and-blogging-hindering characteristics), and of course friends, family, and our beloved bun.  Oh!  And travel!  How could I forget travel?!  That’s huge.  But the biggest thing is the husband.  Yeah, we tease each other endlessly, and we can bicker with the best of ’em, but he’s my other half.  I won’t get any mushier than that for fear you’ll stop reading.

11. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

Working with words.  Manipulating sentences.  Crafting personal narratives.  I love language and I adore writing.

Questions for my nominees:

1. Where do you land on the introvert – extrovert continuum?  How about the homebody – out-n’-about and the night owl – morning person continua?
2. If you could create one new law for your country, what would it be?
3. One of my favorite categories (to write about, not experience) on my blog is When Bad Things Happen to Good Travelers.  What W.B.T.H.t.G.T experience has befallen you?
4. Knowing what you know now, if you could do it all over again, would you have the same job/career?  If not, what would it be?
5. Tell an interesting little tidbit or factoid about yourself that your readers probably wouldn’t know.
6. If you could eradicate one of the world’s many injustices with just the snap of your fingers, what would it be?
7. A lot of bloggers like to write about their bucket list destinations.  Let’s do the opposite.  Thinking of places that generate lots of travel buzz, what’s one place that just doesn’t interest you?
8. You’re given a surprise day off work (or whatever obligatory time-sucking activity fills your days) – money is not an issue, you’re not allowed to do chores or errands, and there are no family members around to care for or accommodate – just unadulterated free time.  How do you spend the day?
9. Would you rather time travel to the past or the future?  What time/place would you travel to?
10. What parts of travel/travel planning (regular travel that is, not theoretical time travel) stress you out the most and how do you deal with them?
11. Why did you start blogging?  What hasn’t gone well or lived up to your expectations?  Is there a post you’ve written and love that doesn’t get as much as attention as you’d like it to?
12. Optional Bonus Question! (I’m something of a rule-follower.  Adding a twelfth question is an act of rebellion against my true nature.) If there is one question above that you’d skip answering and replace with your own question, which would it be and what question would you put in its place?

And who are the recipients?  I enjoy reading so many different bloggers for so many different reasons.  Eleven who radiate joy, creativity, and inspiration include (in no particular order):

• Tandem Trekking
• An Orcadian Abroad
• Jason Likes to Travel
• Do Sharks Have British Accents?
• The Spectacled Bean
• ESL Ventures
• Wondering Woman
• Fifty & Fierce
• Ana Seas the Day
• Paul Dance – Writer*
• The Life & Times of Henry H. Henri*

* These two very different blogs are written by the same person, but they both embody the characteristics mentioned above.  My challenge to him is to answer the same questions on both blogs – once as his sweaty self and once as his alter-ego, Henry H. Henri.

I realize that some people aren’t interested in blogging awards and don’t care to participate.  If that’s you, no judgement, but I hope you take the bestowal of the award as the genuine compliment I mean it to be.

Mille grazie, Margaret and Neal!  Enjoy your upcoming Italian honeymoon!

The Travel Architect