My Liebster Award - WTF Is A Liebster Award?

I got awarded a Liebster Award. That is awesome. First I want to thank all my fellow followers and all my loyal readers. I would like to thank all those people who had to put up with my long stories and me showing them photos of places all around the world. And of course I would like to thank Fernando at http://travelingwithfernando.com who nominated me for the Liebster Award

What Is a Liebster Award?

What the heck is a Liebster award? Well after some google searching I found it is an online only award for new blogs that are just getting started off. It passed from nominee to another. It is kind of a like a chain letter, but for bloggers… I am actually honored to be part of the chain. The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows (there are many versions of the rules):

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.
2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers.
6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.
7. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

Some Facts About Me

1. I started losing my vision at the age of 19
2. I also started losing my hair at the age of 19
3. I once was a semi-pro volleyball player for 1 season
4. I used to work for Apple Inc. before quitting to follow me dream to be a Travel Photographer
5. I never thought I would be a photographer when growing up, I thought I would be an architect
6. I love cheese
7. I love beer
8. I can’t eat cheese or drink beer because of my diabetes
9. I still eat cheese and drink beer
10. I studied Graphic Design in San Francisco
11. I hate chain letters

My Answers

1. Why did you start blogging? - I started PathlessTravels to help a friend. My friend whom I was visiting in Philippines, mentioned that she would love to become a journalist, traveling and writing about people. I so a few months after arriving back from Philippines I put together this blog to help her and any others who would love to eventually like to travel and write. I also did it to force myself to improve my photography. Little did I know I know it would eventually become my new career.

2. What is your main inspiration to write blogs? - Meeting people. I love meeting interesting people around the world and telling wonderful stories about them. Even more so when it is a person I meet in a hidden location from the rest of the world.

3. Share 2 posts from your blog that you like the most. - Hmm I can only choose 2? Well if I can only choose 2 one of which will be Why I Might Not Use Couchsurfing Again - Meet My New Brother Felipe. It is about how I meet an amazing person on my first time using Couchsurfing and my fear that I will never have a good experience like that again using the service. Indie Traveler Manifesto – “Dynamic Possibilities over Static Goals” a blog about facing my fear after travel plans didn’t work the way as planned.

4. What advice do you have for new bloggers? - Write a lot and write often. But do not write just to write. Write about experiences that are meaningful. There are so many blogs out there with general information, there are few blogs that actually TOUCHES a reader. The best way to do this is write about people who have touched you on your travels.

5. What is your favorite photo and where was it taken? - It was taken in Kashmir. My guide in Srinagar invited me to meet his family. In meeting his cousins I realized the beauty of their eyes. I took a photo of one of them and I loved how it came out. She thinks she is gonna be a famous star now

6. What’s your favorite camera? What’s special about it? - I used to love my Canon 60D, but ever since I switched to mirrorless I have been really enjoying my Olympus OMD. I love how how lightweight it is and how much cheaper I spend on lenses.

7. Have you taken photos underwater? - If yes, where? If not, where would you like to travel to take these photos? I have not really taken underwater photography, perhaps I should invest in an underwater housing and shoot underwater in Philippines. The closest thing to underwater photography was taking photos of my ex with her underwater camera. Those were only for personal usage (don’t let your dirty mind wander).

8. Where are you traveling next and why? - Heading through out South America for a book project. The book project will be available this year for readers to enjoy.

9. What is your most unforgettable travel experience? - My trip to Kashmir and enjoying my time in Srinagar. It was both beautiful and the people were not as I expected, they were really hospitable.

10. What has been your craziest adventure while traveling? - The craziest adventure was my adventure in India. It was the first time traveling internationally. Trying to save money I connected with multiple flights, but one got delayed 3 hours missing my connecting flight. I arrived to my destination 6 hours late, my luggage got lost, and I got swindled into getting a hotel paying 5 times the amount.

11. What’s your favorite season of the year? Do you travel to a specific destination during this season? - Winter, in the US, because I travel to South America (usually Colombia) to enjoy warm beaches.

My Nominations

http://www.annedirkse.com - Anne Dirkse is a photogrpaher I stumbled upon recently when I was looking at kickstarter.com for similar projects that I will be starting up soon. I stumbled upon an amazing photographer who has a photoblog. She takes amazing wide angle landscapes with a wide range of colors and details. She does not write a lot on her page, she lets the photos speak for themselves (which also makes her hard to find for SEO reasons). I respect her skill as a photographer, I hope you can appreciate it as well.

http://bryannaplog.com - Bryanna Plog and I stumbled upon each other on travel and photography chats in on twitter. She is as equally passionate about the wonders of Colombia (as well as other places) as I am. Here writing style is easy to follow and she offers great advice. Check out why you think you should discover Colombia, and find out why we both love the place.

http://www.onceatraveler.com - Turner is one of the nicest and funniest guys I have meet. I randomly meet him at a meetup.com group and we both found out we are both travel bloggers. He has a passion for Korean food but also for travel. The article of where he writes about his travel quirks is rather interesting.

http://gypsyshutterbug.com - Tara is a great photographer. I love seeing what she has to show off on her website or in twitter chats when it comes to photos. It is nice to have her wisdom as well.

http://keyboardandcompass.com - Jeff is a great writer. He and I share the same mentality behind our travels. It is about meeting people and creating good connections and telling awesome stories. Jeff does this well. His writing style is a style I aspire to get to. Tell me what you think about his style.

My Questions

1. If you could be a tree what kind of tree would you be? Not really… If you could be a drink, what drink would you be?
2. Why did you start blogging?
3. Did you ever see yourself blogging/writing when you were younger? If not what did you see yourself doing?
4. What is your favorite photography/writing tip you can give everyone?
5. Show us your favorite photograph you have taken (it was too good to not use this one again).
6. Tell us a person you have meet who has really inspired you on your travels and why?
7. Where is your favorite hidden gem place in the world you would like to share with us?
8. What is the scariest moment you had when traveling?
9. What projects are you working on currently?
10. What is the biggest thing you wish you could improve on?
11. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

What do you guys think of chain letters or the Liebster Award? A hoax to get people link to you or a valid way to honor people? Leave a comment below, send me a tweet on twitter, or post on myfacebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know so I can help. Subscribe to our newsletter to gain even more tips. Happy travels