 One of the lovely, unexpected things about starting our website is that we have already connected with so many like-minded people and discovered some amazing travel blogs. And it was with much delight that we were contacted by Sonia and Ankur from Ticking the Bucket List blog to advise that they had nominated us for a Liebster Award. Who doesn't love awards? Thanks so much Sonia and Ankur. And now for a little confession - I had never heard of the Liebster Award, being rather new to the blogging scene, but a little googling cured that. I discovered that the Liebster Award is actually a lovely gesture between bloggers - it is given by bloggers to other bloggers - and works on a pay it forward concept...you answer eleven questions about yourself, give eleven random facts about yourself and your blog and nominate at least five new blogs for the award. It helps new blogs like ours get a little boost. In the spirit of the award we have duly shared a few bits and pieces below and have also gone on a little hunt for some new and exciting blogs. And now to answer Sonia and Ankur's questions... 1. Are you a full time travel blogger or does another profession take up part of your time? Our website is just for fun - though we dream of travelling and blogging more! We both have day jobs. 2. What is weirdest food that you have eaten and where? Alok - was tricked into eating frog curry once in Singapore - but it really did taste like chicken. Cara - once ate camel, crocodile and emu and a bunch of other Australian critters in Alice Springs. Quite tasty. 3. How do you prefer to stay – luxury hotels, budget hotels, B&B, hostels or camps? We like a mix of experiences. We try to stay in places that reflect something of the culture and spirit of the place we are travelling, which generally means budget hotels and B&Bs tend to make up the bulk of our stays. Big chain hotels are generally not for us, but we do like to splash out occasionally. 4. If there is one place that you could rush to now, what would that be? Cara - The Maldives Alok - Alaska You can see we have a problem here. 5. Have you attended any local festivals while travelling? If so, which one and where? We were also fortunate to be in Tokyo for the brief mayhem that is cherry blossom season in April. Cherry blossom parties in Yoyogi Park were amazing people watching and great fun.  6. Which has been your most memorable trip? Alok - Europe ticked off a lot of childhood dream destinations for Alok and he wasn't disappointed, especially by Germany - Berlin and Bamberg were his favourites. Cara - Likewise for me, Japan was one of those trips that was a long time in daydream mode - but the reality far exceeded my expectations. Some of the best food of my life, enjoying hot spring bathing way more than expected, and beauty in the small details - I would go back any day. For Australian trips we would both say Tasmania - great food, abundant wildlife and spectacular natural features make Australia's island State a very special place for both of us. 7. When travelling, what is it that makes you uneasy? We hate rushing for flights/trains etc. - sometimes (or rather, oftentimes) we cut it a bit fine for comfort. 8. How many countries have you been to? How many more do you intend to touch in the next five years? In the next five years our list for top new destinations would be - The Maldives, USA, Canada, Greece, Turkey, China. 9. Roadtrip? Sailing? Rail trip? What do you prefer? Depends where we are, but we both love rail trips - we have done India, Japan and Europe by train and it has been great fun - it is usually quite relaxing with some lovely scenery and opportunity to chat with fellow travellers. Within Australia, road trips are the easiest and best way to travel - our Far North Queensland and Tasmania itineraries couldn't really be done any other way - and both places were spectacular drives. We have never done a cruise or multiple day sailing - I think we are too impatient for cruising - but maybe one day we will give it a go!  10. Mountains or deep blue seas - what’s your choice? Ooh tough one. Since Australia is surrounded by deep blue seas and is a bit lacking in the mountain department (especially on the West Coast!) it is a bit of a novelty for us to visit mountain areas. In the last few years we have become quite keen snorkelers - the Great Barrier Reef and Thailand have inspired us to turn our gaze underwater more frequently. Whether we become avid mountaineers also remains to be seen!  11. What has been your worst travel experience? Alok - visited Vijayawada in Andra Pradesh, India, in the middle of the Indian summer. In May temperatures reach 47 degrees celcius with humidity up to 80 per cent. He instantly knew it was a mistake when putting his face out into the corridor, and feeling like he had stuck his head in a steam oven. He and a friend went for a drink at 8pm at night on the beach - and the coldest beer felt like a cup of tea after the second sip. Cara - any of my past travel companions will tell you I'm not the sunniest person on midnight flights home from anywhere. I become a very different, and mostly unpleasant, person. 11 Random Facts about us 1. Neither of us have brothers - only gorgeous sisters. We met via one of them! 2. Our style of travel can best be described as 'on-the-go' - we don't especially like sitting on the beach for longer than 30 minutes. We are more relaxed at home than on holidays. 3. Our website started in 2014. The photos are Alok's and the writing is Cara's. 4. Alok has lived in six cities (Bokaro Steel City, Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Perth) and Cara in three (Perth, Canberra and Bristol). 5. Our first holiday together was to Kerala, Chennai and Pondicherry in India - great memories of beautiful Fort Cochin, tea gardens and house-boating on possibly one of the most unseaworthy vessels in Kerala...and great French food in Pondicherry. 6. We are both reformed vegetarians and love to cook - Alok's speciality is lamb biriani and Cara's is pavlova. 7. Alok can eat unlimited amounts of chilli, Cara can eat unlimited amounts of hot chips. 8. Alok's favourite movies of all time are Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and The Shawshank Redemption, Cara's is Amelie. 9. TV series that we can recite at frightening length are, for Cara - The West Wing, and Alok - Breaking Bad. 10. Alok's most memorable meal while traveling has been Schlenkerla, Bamberg - meat, potatoes and (smoked) beer never tasted so good. Cara's favourite was the Thai amazement at Nahm in Bangkok.  11. Our greatest achievement is our daughter, Little Miss O. New Nominations But enough about us - we have been hunting for new blogs and have found seven crackers...our nominations go to - Travel mother Wheels on our feet Wandertooth Emma's Travel Tales Afoot The Travel Chica Mark's travel notes Check them out! It is up to them whether they choose to accept the nomination or not, but if they do here are our 11 questions for them... 1. How would you describe your style of travel? 2. What trip or experience gave you the 'travel bug'? 3. What has been your most memorable food experience while travelling? 4. What is your next destination and for how long? 5. Have you ever had to change your travel plans suddenly and why? 6. What is your best piece of travel advice to offer fellow travelers? 7. If you had visitors to your home town what would be the top thing(s) you would show them? 8. What is your ultimate dream destination? 9. Is there any place you have been to which you would not return? 10. Has travel to any place inspired you to move there? If not, is there a place you have been on your travels that you would like to live? 11. What has been your best surprise while travelling? We would be interested in our readers' responses as well, so do leave us your comments!
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AuthorCara and Alok like planning travel itineraries. We like it a lot. Archives
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