We Received our Second Award: The Versatile Blogger Award

Adam and I have received our second award and we are both surprised and excited to receive another one! In December, we received the Liebster Award and started the New Year receiving the Versatile Blogger Award. We are blown away by the quick success of our website and are grateful to see our hard work pay off. Receiving awards definitely boosts our confidence and drives us to keep getting better and better by delivering our readers with exciting, tasty and adventure filled stories.

So What is the Versatile Blogger Award?

It is similar to the Liebster Award in terms that it is received by fellow bloggers who nominate other bloggers. Bloggers nominate those who they believe deserve some  recognition for their high quality standard of writing, uniqueness of the bloggers content, passion and love displayed throughout the website and to top it off, amazing photos!

How Does It Work?

•  Thank your Versatile Blogger Award presenter on your blog. Try to include a little promotion with a link to their blog for the person who nominated you. It is a nice gesture to personally thank them and give them more exposure from your own readers.
•  Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly that deserve this awesome award. It is best to make sure they accept the award and can nominate 15 other bloggers too.
•  Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. Have fun with this and take advantage of the opportunity for your readers to learn more about you!
• Display the Versatile Blogger Award on your blog by including it in your post and/or display it using a “widget” or “gadget” so everybody knows how awesome you are.
• Pat yourself on the back because you have just received an award you earned and are now promoting 15 other worthy bloggers.

A Special Thank You and Info To Our Presenter

We received our award by the wonderful, Cristie, who is the mastermind behind Out of the 306. A Canadian who travels and explores the world with her loving husband, Devan. Together they have created a healthy lifestyle with the perfect balance of full time jobs and fulfilling their adventures. Out of the 306 has great budget friendly traveling tips, stories around the world and my favorite segment of their website, amazing bucket lists! Seriously their “Before Baby Bucket List” is awesome and coincidentally matches a lot of ours. Be sure to check out their website here.

7 Things You May or May Not Know About Us

After we had fun making our Liebster Award video we decided to make another one for the Versatile Blogger Award. Enjoy!

1# Since the summer of 2013 when we met and started dating we have lived in Las Vegas, Dallas, Italy and Alexandria, Virginia. We lived in Las Vegas for two years, Dallas for one year, Italy for two months and Alexandria since October 2016. Is this where we settle down? Probably not, but we do plan to stay here for at least two years.

2# Opposites attract, right? We are opposite when it comes to personal traits, but similar when it comes to interests and everything important. Christina takes risks and breaks the rules here and there, while Adam likes to play it safe. Adam is very patient, while Christina is definitely impatient, it usually takes a lot for Adam to calm Christina down. Adam is always optimistic, whereas Christina is more realistic. Together though, we are complete *gawrsh*.

3# Our travel bug started five months into dating when we went to Los Angeles from Las Vegas to watch hockey. We made the most out of our first trip together to dine at LA’s best bakeries and restaurants, watch the sunset at the beach, meet Christina’s best friend and finally…watch hockey. Little did we know that trip would inspire us to make a tradition to watch Adam’s favorite hockey team, the St. Louis Blues, play in a different stadium every year. Now we make short trips to see new cities while we watch the Blues bring home victories on the road! We are at six stadiums, only 25 to go!

4# Before we met, Adam had no idea what capers or sun-dried tomatoes were, now he loves both. He also did not eat seafood and definitely never ate sushi, now he is always on a mission to find all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants. Christina never watched hockey before and now she loves watching the sport. When we went to our first hockey game in LA and the Blues scored right in front of us (we were sitting behind the net) Adam stood up and cheered while Christina was still sitting down. When Adam asked what she was doing she had said she didn’t even see puck go in! She is proud to say that she can now follow the puck and always stands and cheers after a goal.

5# Adam’s cooking skills go as far as making cereal. You will always find Christina in the kitchen making Adam clean the same equipment three times before she is finally finished cooking. It really works out for us though because while Christina cooks, Adam cleans the dishes and after we enjoy our meal there is nothing left for us to do but plan our next trip!

6# We are not having kids just yet, but sometimes we will throw around potential names for our future bambinos and 99% of the time we will always veto the name. Yet, we have always agreed on future pet names. We currently have a cat, Tiramisu, (Tira for short) and our next two pets (probably dogs) will be Biscotti (Scotti) and Macaron (Mac).

7# We do not have a set time to when we plan to accomplish this, but our biggest travel goal is to visit every continent.

And The Nominees Are…..

In the words of the Versatile Blogger Award we are “honoring bloggers who bring something special to your life, whether every day or only now and then”.

1# Gabriela Here and There
Gabriela, or Gaby, is a solo female traveler that has been rocking the world since she was 18 years old. She is on a quest to visit every country in the world and in such a short time she has already traveled to 70 countries from every continent, excluding Antarctica. What we love about Gabriela Here and There is her creative writing to tell amazing stories while giving her readers great tips along the way, such as traveling on a budget or finding the best vegan cuisine. The cherry on top of her blog are her beautiful pictures that truly help paint a picture of the adventure she is on.

2# Linger Abroad
Ling is a fabulous photographer and writer. Ling travels with his two companions, Mat, his fiancée and Splinter, their beloved dog.  What drew us instantly to Linger Abroad was a post about a 7 day itinerary to Iceland. Ling gives his readers the BEST itinerary possible that they do not need to do hardly any research. As we said before, Ling is a fabulous photographer and you can tell he knows what he is doing because his pictures capture every detail and are really eye catching. In addition to the pictures are the stories and Ling and Mat’s travel experiences are so engaging and fun to read. We guarantee you will find some great info and inspiration at Linger Abroad.

3# Travel Gal Nicole
Nicole not only travels the world, but she lives around the world! She is originally from Wisconsin,  but has lived in London, Japan and currently living in New Zealand for the past ten years. Nicole has been traveling for 20 years so her list of countries she has visited is amazing! With that being said, she has some of the coolest stories and we are definitely jealous of some of them. She has encountered cheetahs and swam with humpback whales! Seriously, how amazing is that!?! Two of our biggest dreams! She really takes you along her exciting adventures that inspire you to fulfill your own.

4# Your Next Big Trip
Your Next Big Trip is for everyone who has that travel bug and eager to plan their next trip whether it is big or small. We connected with Cliodhna and her blog via instagram (which everyone should follow) over French macarons! From there, we fell in love with her blog and we know you will too. Her blog features so many amazing and helpful posts about Africa. Everything from where to get the best views of Victoria Falls (which is totally helping us this fall), to the best beaches in Zanzibar and more! She also has some great posts about European countries which includes writing about her most recent trip to Paris. Be sure to stay tuned because we believe there will be some more helpful posts in the near future.

5# Luca Travels Around
Luca is from a small city on the Tuscan side of Italy and writes beautifully in English. Luca has traveled far and near to his hometown, which has provided his readers with some lovely content. Luca does not write just stories about his travel experiences, he writes fantastic tips that are important to some travelers such as, travel insurance, how to move to Italy properly (something we could have used a year ago) and more. Reading fun stories about peoples adventures is always nice, but we enjoy Luca’s realism about the truth to when traveling goes bad, like when he took the wrong bus in Brazil. Trust us, Luca Travels Around has it all!

6# Well-Caffeinated Traveller
Lynne is a travel and coffee lover, hence her blog name. When you travel as much as Lynne, 40 countries and counting, you definitely need a cup of coffee to keep going. Her blog captures great hikes, foodie destinations, hidden gems in different countries and of course the best coffee shops she finds along the way. Her photos of food will make your mouth water and her photos of her hiking trips will make you want to get off the couch and go outdoors. As stated before she had been to at least 40 countries, so you know she has A LOT of content. If you love food, coffee, the outdoors and of course traveling, then be sure to check out her lovely site!

7# Luxury Backpacking
Luxury Backpacking is an awesome blog from the dynamic travel couple of Emma and Yannick from England and Germany. After traveling to at least 25 countries within the past two years they have gained valuable insight on how to travel well for less. Their current number of countries traveled is now at 40 and they are not slowing down. Their goal of Luxury Backpacking is to inspire others to travel without emptying their wallet. Did we mention that Emma and Yannick are only 20 and 21 years old? Yet, they have accomplished and seen so much of this world already! Looking at their website, reading their stories and tips you would never guess their age. They are a traveling couple everyone should definitely keep their eye on.

8# Filipokie
Anna is the mastermind behind Filipokie, a website that combines all of her passions: aviation, photography and of course travel. Anna sets up GoPros on planes and takes her viewers through an amazing tour of the sites she sees from the air. It almost feels like you are in the plane with her! Her blog offers some great guides and tips with jaw dropping photography. If you do not believe us, see for yourself!

9# Young, Broke and Wandering
Michelle and James just finished a semester studying abroad in Europe and created their website to keep their family updated. Something we can definitely relate to. What started to keep friends and family updated quickly became more of a love for blogging and found that they had some great traveling tips that could help others too. What makes them unique is they really break down what does and does not work for them during their travels. They also have a great post about how to travel throughout Europe on a budget, it really has it all from flights, accommodation, food, transportation, etc. We are really looking forward to reading the rest of their stories from abroad and seeing where they go next! You should too!

10# When In My Journeys
Ricci works full time on a cruise ship that allows him to see the world allowing his readers to follow him along his journey. Besides having an awesome job, Ricci is a man of many traits; a photographer, newbie biking enthusiast and a travel blogger. His goal is to inspire readers to take action of what they really want, to go out and see the world instead of only dreaming about it. He most certainly accomplishes that goal with his beautiful pictures and exciting stories. Find your travel inspiration with Ricci!

11# A World of Dresses
Nina is a woman who dresses for success, even when she travels! Nina has a very unique take on travel blogging as she combines fashion and travel through her website, A World of Dresses. Nina not only has wonderful stories, but she always looks good telling them! She also has a section called “My closet” where her readers can receive tips on pure fashion. To top it all off, Nina also has guest writers who are inspiring women who love fashion, travel or both! She has so many powerful women involved with her blog and a trend that is to be recognized.

12# Pages of Travel
Kallsy and Logan are an amazing couple from the United States that have created a fantastic website, Pages of Travel. They are the kind of couple we look up to, they have both career and travel ambitions and have found a balance to have it all. Besides amazing pictures and stories on their blog, they also have fun videos that allow their readers to travel with them virtually. There are a few already on their website and they also have more on their Youtube channel. Lastly, they have an abundance of travel resources: gear, tips, guides, travel planning, how to pack, and much more. There is so much to explore on Pages of Travel, but we won’t give it all away, we will just have you see for yourself!

13# Karate and Caviar
First of all, we love this blog name! It’s pretty kick ass (no pun intended). Nadine recently traveled around the world for an entire year and has plenty of stories to share. Her blog cannot fit into just one category because she really captures it all – beauty, fashion, sports, hotel, food and more! Besides her awesome content what really makes her stand out is her travel mascot, Cat Monkey, a little stuffed monkey animal dressed up as pink cat. Nadine takes Cat Monkey along her trips and conveniently places him/her(?) around landmarks either alone or by her side. It is really fun, engaging and you cannot resist a smile when you see the pictures. See for yourself!

14# Delightful Travellers
Anna and Trevor are a Canadian traveling couple making their way around the world. Besides their amazing website layout they also have cool features like their vlogs (video blogging). It gives their readers a better perspective to actually “see” their story and experiences firsthand. Their videos are eye catching and engaging, but their writing is also just as good! Needless to say, Delightful Travellers has it all for their readers!

15# Perpetually Tripping
We see a lot in ourselves in Mansi because like us she became an avid traveler after she planned her honeymoon and had an amazing experience! Traveling quickly became a passion for her and almost an obsession. You can find her on her website always either on a trip or planning one. She really focuses on helping others plans and experience their own journey. What makes Mansi and her blog really stand out is her focus on experiential travel and her writing style, it is very unique and she writes her travel experience almost like poetry. Her stories are always adventurous and exciting, yet peaceful and beautiful because of her writing technique. It is truly a nice change of pace – you should definitely see for yourself on her blog!

Thank You

We just want to say a quick thank you to all of our followers. We love traveling and enjoy sharing our experiences with you. Having people actually read, enjoy and find tips through our blog is the cherry on top of this entire experience!

One more thank you and a BIG thank you to our editor, Shelby. Without your devoted help we would not write as well to receive these awesome awards. Looking forward to our first “company” trip next month!

And that concludes the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you again and congratulations to our nominees. Safe Travels, Eat Well and Happy Writing!