Outstanding Blogger Award Nomination – Interview With an Adventurer

Thank you so very much Tea & Hiking Boots for the “Outstanding Blogger Award” nomination. I loved reading your response about the silver linings of living through a pandemic, and I share the same appreciation as you for a clean bathroom!

I love following the adventures of so many bloggers, and I think its a great idea to be able to pause and reflect on past adventures. I also love the opportunity to create your own questions to ask to keep the award responses new and interesting. I have tweaked the award a little bit, I hope you don’t mind.

Here are the basic rules:

• Provide a link to the creator’s original award post.
• Answer the questions provided.
• Create 7 unique questions.
• Nominate up to 10 bloggers and ensure that they are aware of their nominations.

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Her questions:

1. You are given the opportunity to live a year in any city (or town) in the world. Room and board are completely covered. Where do you go?
2. Sometimes photos aren’t “Instagram-worthy” but they hold great memories or make you laugh. Do you have a travel/adventure photo that fits this description?
3. During your travels and explorations is there a walk or hike you’ve really enjoyed?
4. Do you ever divert your itinerary based on advice from locals or other travelers?
5. If you could learn any language instantly, which one would you choose?
6. What’s the best book you’ve read lately?
7. A visitor is coming to your local area, do you have a recommendation they wouldn’t find on a “Top Ten” tourist listing?

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1. You are given the opportunity to live a year in any city (or town) in the world. Room and board are completely covered. Where do you go?

As of late, I have been completely amazed by Cecilia Blomdahl , who posts about her life in Svalbard, which is a group of islands between Norway and the North Pole. She lives in a cabin with her significant other and their husky, Grim, and shares amazing photos as well as bits of everyday life. I would love to spend some time in such a unique environment, and boy would it ever be a treat to see those northern lights, arctic foxes, and above all a polar bear (from a safe distance of course).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cecilia Blomdahl ✘ Svalbard (@sejsejlija)

2. Sometimes photos aren’t ‘Instagram-worthy’, but they hold great memories or make you laugh. Do you have a travel/adventure photo that fits this description?

Haha, yes. There are two photos that come to mind for me when I think about this question.

The first is on one of my first overnight hiking trips. We had finished a long 20+ kilometer day and just settled down to cook some dinner, only to realize that I had forgotten to pack the propane for our camp stove. This rendered our dehydrated backpacking meals rather useless. Luckily, I walked over to nearby group who was kind enough to lend us a small propane tank to boil some water and everything turned out just fine. The photo is of me laughing in the tent while my sister lectured me for being irresponsible, while simultaneously being glad that I had still managed to find a way for our meals to be cooked.

The next photo is from the section of the Great Divide Trail that I hiked last summer. After days of rain and cold, we finally had a warm evening where we washed a bit of laundry and hung it up to dry. The next morning, much to my dismay, we woke up to frozen solid socks and underwear, I guess it wasn’t as warm as we had hoped.

3. During your travels and explorations is there a walk or hike you’ve really enjoyed?

While there are so many hikes I have enjoyed, Wilcox Pass off of the Columbia Icefield was a magical experience for me. You get incredible mountain views without huge elevation gain, so you spend less time thinking ‘I’m tired’ and more time appreciating the scenery around you. One of my favorite photos is one of relaxing bighorn sheep with my favorite glaciers in the background. It truly felt otherworldly.

4. Do you ever divert your itinerary based on advice from locals or other travelers?

Yes absolutely! I have been so lucky to work at a few tourist destinations and see first hand that the locals get a very different, and sometimes more unique, experience. I think to do what the locals do is such a great way to truly experience a new place. It’s also quite common that what the locals are doing is more inexpensive than the itineraries geared towards tourists. On the flip side, many locals never seem to make it out and enjoy the tourist attractions that are right in their back yard. So, no matter where you live, get out and play tourist for a day! I’m sure you’ll learn new things about the place you call home.

5. If you could learn any language instantly, which one would you choose?

While working as a tour guide in the Rockies, the languages that would have been the most beneficial for me to know would have been Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, and German! The visitors were always so kind and eager to teach, and by the end of the season I could usually add a few poorly pronounced words to my vocabulary, but to be fluent would have been incredible.

6. What is the best book you have read lately?

Unfortunately, it has been quite a few months since I have finished a book, I have been trying to struggle my way through one for the last few weeks but have yet to find the time for success. The last book I read was The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. It’s a story about a young girl who is whisked away by her family to near-isolation in Alaska. She learns both how to survive in the wilderness, and how to survive a turbulent home life. I read this book while I was on a week long hiking trip, and while it was wonderful, I should have chosen one with a desert, or sunny beaches. I felt like a popsicle in my tent It’s a lovely read though that I do recommend with a warm blanket and hot cup of tea!

7. A visitor is coming to your local area, do you have a recommendation that they wouldn’t find on a ‘Top Ten’ tourist listing?

I don’t think that people often visit Saskatchewan with hiking and outdoor adventure in mind, especially with the beautiful Rockies only a province away. We do, however, have some lovely parks and trails. The most commonly recommended would be Prince Albert National Park or Cypress Hills, but I think that Douglas Provincial Park is one of my favorite places to visit. Cacti and sand aren’t exactly what you expect in the prairies, but that’s exactly what you will find at Douglas.

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I adore the Outstanding Blogger Award, but I wanted to create something a little more adventure specific! I changed the title to ‘Interview With An Adventurer’

My Questions

1. What is your favorite photo that you have taken on an adventure, why do you love it?
2. Do you have any mantras or words of wisdom that keep you motivated when you are feeling like stopping?
3. What is the most delicious food you have ever eaten while out on an adventure?
4. Who inspires you to continue exploring?
5. Have you ever been surprised or seen something unexpected out in the wilderness?
6. What is the best lesson that you have learned from spending time in the outdoors?
7. What adventure are you planning right now?

My Blog Nominations

Colorado Chelsea

Hiking Girl with Dog

Fat Man Little Trail

Elizabeth Seeks

Alisen Dopf

Joe the Cockers Hikes

This is all for fun so please don’t feel obligated to participate, but please do let me know if you do so I can read your responses!

Happy adventuring. 🙂