The Sunshine Blogger Award

Recently, Cummings & Goings was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Elizabeth, from the Fearless Foreigner nominated us for this award. I want to take this moment to thank her and the work she does on her own blog. We have personally read her posts, used her tips, and have learned from her. It is truly an honor to be nominated for this award.

Blogging is not always easy. It can be difficult, frustrating, time consuming, and filled with some happiness and joy. I strive to go out there, and hopefully make a difference in the lives of my readers. There is a hope that they can take one or two tips and make an adventure by stepping outside of their comfort zone.

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award given to bloggers from bloggers. It is a way to recognize and support bloggers who are positive, creative and inspiring.

Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to his or her blog.
Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
Nominate 11 new bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
On your post list the Sunshine Blogger Award logo and rules.

The Questions I received from the Fearless Foreigner:

1. What was your first passport stamp and your most recent passport stamp?

I received my first stamp on my passport from Jamaica in 2003. The most recent stamp came from Chile. As for Sarah, her first stamp would be from Hong Kong. Her family is from there, and they would regularly travel to see relatives all the time. Our most recent stamp came from Chile.

2. What is the most unique item you always take with you on your travels?

We usually never take anything that is quite unique. We take regular items or must haves like a camera, earplugs/ eyemask to sleep in dorms or airplane, a first aid kit, and some clothes.

3. What is the best part of being a blogger?

The best part of being a blogger is sharing tips and tricks with others to help them travel better. We love learning from others about places to go and see and hear their recommendations, and we try to do the same. If we can inspire one person to take a trip and have fun, we have done a good job. Of course, we hope to inspire more than one person.

4. And the worst part of being a blogger?

The worst part of being a blogger would be putting in all the effort to write posts, market, and reach out to people, but have no results. We work as English Teachers, and consistently see some good results in the classroom. Our hope is that we could see the same results through blogging as well. It is not always that easy, and it can be quite hard. Persistence is what we have to keep on doing. Being persistent.

5. What is the most exotic food you have eaten?

Sarah has eaten many exotic food, but her most exotic would be deep fried tarantula in Cambodia. I have eated Pigs Blood in Taiwan.

6. Do you collect anything on your travels?

We have been collecting key chains and postcards from each country. Sarah started this trend of collecting keychains after seeing her cousin with a cool display on his wall with the keychains and all of them placed in which country it had come from. So Sarah has been collecting them from each country she has visited.

7. Do you have a go to activity that you always try to do when you visit a new place?

Go and find a beautiful viewpoint. We love to take some pictures.

8. What is your favorite travel book or movie?

Sarah really enjoys “Lord of The Rings”. It shows the beautiful scenery of New Zealand, which is one of her favorite places to travel to. I read the book “Vagabonding” by Rolf Potts and wanted to leave everything to travel. I am also a fan of the Indiana Jones series, and the beautiful places he ventures out to. It is a bit of an inspiration to go and explore the world.

9. Is there any place in the world you don’t want to visit?

Nope, we want to see it all.

10. Can you speak any other languages?

I can speak a little Spanish. It is not great, but a little. Sarah can speak intermediate level conversation of Cantonese and Mandarin. Her parents are from Hong Kong, and so everyone can speak Cantonese. She learned Mandarin while studying the language in Taipei.

11. When was a time you experienced the kindness of strangers while traveling?

I did not realize how nice people were in other countries until I hitchhiked for the first time in Taiwan. Sarah had said people were so nice that they would give rides to people. We were standing on the side of the road after a river trace, and a car pulled off and gave us a 45 minute ride into town. We had a nice conversation in broken English and Chinese, but the kindness of this Taiwanese couple has shown to me how many kind people there are in the world.