Simply Emma Nominated For The Liebster Award

I’m so excited to announce that Simply Emma has been nominated for The Liebster Award. The award is a community-driven recognition, and it is awarded by previous nominees. The award is designed to connect bloggers and to help readers discover new, up and coming blogs.

Simply Emma was nominated by John from Florida, who writes inspirational articles to #OpenYourWorld on his accessible travel blog, WheelchairTravel.Org. I’d like to say a big thank you to John for the recognition.

In order to accept the award I must follow these rules:

(1) answer the 11 questions provided to me by the nominating blogger
(2) nominate 11 bloggers of my own and share them with my readers
(3) propose 11 questions of my own that my nominees will have to answer to accept my nomination.

So, here goes:

1.  Why do you travel? What gave you the travel bug?

I love seeing and experiencing new places. Although travelling can be stressful, it is also so exciting. I’ve had some amazing experiences while travelling, which always feeds my travel bug and desire to explore more of the world.

2.  Do you have a bucket list? If so, what is at the top of it and why?

I do have a bucket list of sorts, but it mainly consists of two places that I’d like to visit this year – Vienna and Iceland. Although this may change as the years goes on. Iceland has been on my bucket list for a while now, so I’d really like to make that happen this year, if possible. I usually take it as it comes and if a destination takes my fancy I’ll research and start my planning from there.

3.  What does the term “accessible” mean to you?

Absolutely no restrictions for anyone, regardless of ability etc. #AccessForAll

4.  What specific post on your blog are you most proud of?

That’s a tough question, but I think my post about tips for disabled and wheelchair accessible travel.

5.  What is your favourite way to travel, and why? (airplane, train, boat, car, etc.)

I’d probably have to say airplane or car. I love road trips by car and airplanes if it’s farther away. I’ve only travelled by train for short journeys, around 45 mins or so, but it would be good to experience a long train journey as I’ve often considered travelling from Edinburgh/Glasgow to London, which is around 5 hours. I’ve travelled by boat a few times, but again, never longer than 2 hours. My travelling partner doesn’t do well on boats, so let’s just say it’s usually not a pleasant experience.

6.  What has been your favourite destination or trip thus far?

My favourite destination has probably got to be New York as I’ve visited 3 times. There is just something about the city that I love and keeps me wanting to go back again and again. I’d love to have a big loft apartment in NYC that I stay in for parts of year (I can dream can’t i?). This may well change if/when I get the chance to explore different countries around the world.

7.  What is the biggest challenge you have faced while traveling? How did you overcome it?

When travelling to Las Vegas from Scotland we had a few hours layover in New York before catching our connecting flight to LV. By the time we got to Vegas, I was extremely sore and uncomfortable from sitting on the plane and not having the comfort of my own wheelchair all that time. All I could think about was getting in my powered wheelchair, checking in at the hotel and going straight to bed to relax and sleep. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out like that. After landing in Las Vegas we were left waiting on the plane for some time until an airport worker came on to deliver some bad news. My wheelchair was not on the plane! I couldn’t believe it. All I could think about was “How am I going to manage without my wheelchair?”. We tried to remain calm as best as we could as we fought with the airport staff to let me borrow a manual wheelchair at least (they weren’t going to let me borrow one even though I cannot walk). We also had to practically beg them to deliver my wheelchair to the hotel when it arrived the following morning. Remaining calm was key to dealing with the situation as otherwise our whole trip could have been ruined. It did put a little dampener on the start of our trip, but we soon forgot all about it and had a great time.

8.  There are millions of travel blogs – what sets yours apart?

I enjoy writing about places I’ve actually visited because this allows me to truly share my experiences and thoughts on the wheelchair accessibility. I don’t like to write about places I’ve never visited as I could be giving out inaccurate or misleading information. I also love to write about access to live music as that is another passion of mine. This includes reviewing the accessibility of venues and its facilities. I haven’t come across another blog that features both travel and live music accessibility with a mix of lifestyle posts from a wheelchair users perspective.

9.  What is your biggest travel regret?

As silly as it sounds….I regret not getting a slice of New York pizza on any one of my 3 visits to the city. Haha.

10.  Favorite continent? Country? City? (Bonus points for a non-linear answer set!)

Europe. USA. New York City.

11.  Three (key)words to describe your travel style. ;)(i.e. budget, luxury, immersion, cautious, adventurous, etc.)

Mid-range, planner, adventurous.

My nominees:

Now, I have the honour of recommending some great bloggers that bring a lot of value to their readers.

Claire from Wildflowers & Pixels design studio
Hannah from cool breeze & dirty knees
Jay from Jay on Life
Ed from Rexy Edventures
Amy from Hot Wheels Goes
Smith Family from Smiths Holiday Road
Alyssa from Alyssa Writes
Cory from Curb Free With Corylee
Martyn from Martyn Sibley

In order to accept the award, you’ll have to do the following:

1. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, and link my website in your acceptance post.
2. Answer the 11 questions I have created for you:
   1. What encouraged you to start your blog?
   2. What is your favourite song or album?
   3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
   4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
   5. What is your favourite post you’ve written? Post a link.
   6. What’s your favourite blogging topic?
   7. Describe yourself in 3 words?
   8. What is your greatest strength and weakness?
   9. What was the last book you read?
   10. If you could trade lives with one person for an entire day who would it be and why?
   11. Where do you see yourself in five years?
3. Name 11 nominees, and create 11 questions of your own. Then, celebrate!

Thanks again to John for nominating my blog for this really cool Liebster Award! It was fun answering the questions and I hope you all enjoyed finding out a little more about my travel style.

I’d love to hear your answers to some of these questions in the comments below!

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