We’re honored to have been awarded with a “Liebster”!
But what the heck is a “Liebster”? The Liebster Award is an online recognition award within the blogging community – for new or established bloggers – a way for bloggers to show a little “liebe” … that’s German for “love” … and help spread the word about great blogs that may or may not be getting the recognition they deserve.
At this time we’d like to thank Lisa Medeiros who is a travel writer for the Vacation Home Exchange website IVHE.com … Thanks Lisa!
And now, without further adieu we’ll jump right in and answer the questions that Lisa had for TravelBloggers.ca:
Tell us about the target audience of your blog?
We’d have to say that our target audience is probably the average Joe – but we really try not to box ourselves in. We’re not about luxury travel, nor are we about backpacking and staying in hostels – we want to have as much fun as possible without breaking the bank, but without sacrificing comfort! Overall, we try to relate to the average traveler and provide travel information and tips that are really applicable to just about everyone.
Which one was your personal favorite blog and why?
Elliot is great! Chris Elliot describes himself as a “consumer advocate and journalist with the goal to empower consumers to solve their service problems and to help those who can’t.” He and his team put out a lot of unique and useful information – stuff you’re not going to find anywhere else. They focus a lot on the travel industry – probably because there are so many issues in the segment – so they give us a lot of ideas and information we can pass on to our audience.
What type of vacation would you say is your favorite and why?
We love a good “self-catered” vacation (read more about that here)! While hotels are lovely, we do hate the pressure of having to get up and out before maid-service is banging at the door. We find you get more “bang-for-your-buck” with a self-catered vacation – often you’re staying in an apartment or vacation rental home with more space, amenities and privacy. Sure you may not be living the all-inclusive lifestyle, but for us, this is far more enjoyable!
Why did you decide to start blogging?
Originally we started travel writing for the benefit of the motorsport enthusiast audience. As motorsport photographers we always tried to take in a few of the attractions while we were away on “workations,” and eventually we decided that it only made sense to promote some of the other things families could do.
Who do you usually travel with?
That’s an easy one … each other!! We actually just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary and travel-versary combined. We don’t take separate vacations – we do everything together! We’ve tried the occasional weekend trip with friends or family, but there’s really never anything quite as enjoyable as time away from home … just the two of us.
How long have you been blogging?
While we’ve officially been travel writing since about 2004, and we officially started blogging as TravelBloggers.ca three years ago – the Spring of 2013.
What is the one thing you’d like to improve upon in regards to your blog?
Quite simply … being a blog … writing short blog posts instead of feature length presentations! We’re so used to writing feature length content, articles, press releases and copy that must be 100% perfect in every way – so we find it hard to just “write as we go” – especially while we’re travelling. It’s also very hard to let go of the perfectionism in our writing – which can be very time consuming. Unfortunately it becomes a real balancing act between keeping up with your blog by writing short posts and not eating into your vacation time, by working on your blog! I think a lot of people think blogging is super easy – in reality, a lot of hard work, energy, determination and stick-to-it-iveness is required … and I think that’s why you see a lot of blogs start up and disappear quickly. TravelBloggers.ca want to be in it for the long-haul and we’re trying to make good decisions about content, social media posts and the like so we remain relevant and interesting without exhausting ourselves or losing interest in our blog.
What is the one (non-tech) item you can’t live without on vacation?
Camera! We’re going to have to say camera, and hope no one calls that “tech”. Photography is really where our journey began, and we can’t imagine exploring new and wonderful parts of this world without a camera to record our memories.
Where are you traveling to next?
That’s a really good question! Since we continue to travel a bit for motorsport purposes as well, our travel is often dictated by racing schedules. This year we’re thinking we’ll likely be back in Germany, hopeful with a side-trip to Austria or Belgium possible … though Italy and Portugal haven’t been ruled out. Only time will tell!
Describe yourself in one sentence.
That’s really a tough one. Though we love travel, exploration and adventure, we love peace and quiet, getting away from it all, and the pleasure of our own company … so while it may seem like an oxymoron, our one sentence description would have to be: “Travel Introverts”
Our Nominees (in no particular order) for a Liebster Award are:
Catch 52
Travel Break
Footprints & Memories
Nomadic Matt
Where In The World
Creatively Karalee
HoneyTrek
Jessetters
Snowbirds in Training
Blog Di Viaggi
Questions for our Nominees:
- What motivated you to start a blog?
- What’s your favorite travel/motivational quote?
- Whats your vacation style?
- What is the biggest/most challenging/most important item on your bucket list?
- What do you feel makes a great blog?
- Who do you write for? (Is your blog more of a journal for yourself that you share or do you write with the intention of providing others with inspiration and tips?)
- What advice do you have for other bloggers starting out?
- When you finally stop travelling, where do you want to live or “retire” to?
- What is the best travel advice you feel you have to offer?
- Where to next?
Liebster Rules:
- Thank the blogger who nominated you
- Share the award on your blog and social media pages
- Answer the 10 questions you were asked by your nominator in a post on your blog
- Nominate 10 other bloggers that you admire/inspire you
- Create a new list of 10 new questions for your Nominees
- Notify your nominees via social media
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About TravelBloggers.ca
Iain Shankland & Gail Shankland started blogging in order to inspire and motivate people to travel the world from their perspective – specializing in having the most fun while using the least amount of money, travelling on the cheap without sacrificing comfort.
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