I must admit that when I started Andrea’s Passions a little over a year ago I never would have imagined the incredible community that I was unknowingly becoming a part of. Meeting surprisingly like-minded people and making actual friends through blogging has been by far the biggest highlight and most rewarding aspect for me. Thus when Catherine tagged me to answer a series of questions in aid of the ‘Sisterhood of World Bloggers’, I was happy to oblige.

Where is your all-time favourite destination?

Thailand. I love everything about it, and don’t think I’ll ever get bored of going back.

I love the climate; the incredibly varying landscapes, ranging from the crazy hustle & bustle to the thickest of jungles and most serene of beaches; the kind-natured, honest and generous people; the unbelievably tasty and fresh food; the eye-watering cheapness of luxury; the many elephants and, last but not least, the #coconutlife.

Thailand is the one for me. 

Which post are you most proud of?

In terms of a personal post, my favourite is probably my post on travelling vs holidaying, as it contains so many of my best memories and reminds me how fortunate and grateful I am for the opportunities I’ve had.

In terms of restaurants, I really enjoyed writing (and living) my experience at Bob Bob Ricard, but naturally my infatuation with Roka means that those reviews are my favourite.

BBR:

Roka:

However, stats don’t lie and based on those I should be most proud of my courgetti with smoked salmon and avocado, mint & brazil nut pesto. Perfect for anyone counting the calories at this depressing time of year.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party, alive or dead?

I mean, based on interest it would include a baddie, a genius and an idol, like Hitler, Einstein and Scarlett Johansson (I need to see that face in real life). But if it was my dream dinner party, i.e. for fun, it would have to include Vince Vaughn, Cara Delevingne and Beyonce. I could definitely deal with that.

Do you have a favourite travel app?

I can’t say I use any apps for travel inspo as such, but I do use travel apps in terms of easing getting around. The obvious culprits being Uber, Google Maps and Tripadvisor. Booking.com was also pretty handy when travelling.

What’s your favourite and least favourite thing about blogging?

As previously mentioned, I love, love, love the amazing people that I’ve met.

I love the ‘inside scoop’ I gain from reading reviews written by people I trust and who I know have similar tastes or standards as me. And the ever-expanding list of restaurants and places that I want to visit. I’ve also definitely learnt a lot of interesting things through blogging, both by reading others’ posts and when researching to write my own.

Of course, the opportunities and invitations that come with blogging do deserve mention, although a freebie is by no means the reason that I invest so much time and effort into my little blog. Believe it or not, bloggers can actually pay for things themselves.

My least favourite aspect would have to be all the stats, Google ranking, SEO chat and numbers malarkey which, quite frankly, I don’t have the time (or energy) to understand, and I think devalues a blogger’s content. I can’t speak for others, but I personally feel that it makes blogging something of a competition and introduces a stressful element, which I know for a fact is not why 99% of us joined the game.

Still, the upsides by far outweigh the negatives, so I’m not complaining.

Is there anything you like to do any time you visit somewhere new?

Food, food, food.

Oh, and explore.

 

I like to get out and get a real feel for the place I’m in, as otherwise you may as well be anywhere in the world.

Where is somewhere you’ve been or something you did that you didn’t expect much of, but ended up loving?

I didn’t expect much of Guatemala, but it turned out to be my favourite country of those that we visited in Central America.

Michael & I travelled deep into the countryside and stayed in one of the few tiny villages by the beautiful Lake Atitlan. The landscape completely blew my mind. Over the course of the day the lake would go from being mirror-like still to reasonably choppy, and the clouds move from providing a clear blue sky to swallowing the peaks of the surrounding volcanoes and mountains.

The people were so incredibly kind and welcoming. The food was so tasty and cheap. And we had so much fun.

We definitely weren’t ready to leave when our time was up.

What’s your pet peeve?

Being made to wait. Whether that be due to people being slow, queues or delays, I am incredibly impatient (and working on this as a 2016 resolution!) so get annoyed about this way too easily, when really the difference it makes to your time and life is virtually insignificant and not worth getting wound up about.

What’s your most treasured possession?

My watch. It was a gift for my 21^st birthday and is definitely my baby.

After that, probably my leather jacket, my second baby.

And then my new camera, which just feels irreplaceable at the moment.

I really hope that you enjoyed finding out a little more about me as much as I enjoyed answering these questions. I think posts like these are a great way for bloggers (and readers) to get to know one another better, so thanks for tagging me Catherine.

Over to you guys to keep the tag going:

Aftab

Honey

Miho

Suze

The questions are:

Where is your all-time favourite destination?

Which post are you most proud of?

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party, alive or dead?

Do you have a favourite travel app?

What’s your favourite and least favourite thing about blogging?

Is there anything you like to do any time you visit somewhere new?

Where is somewhere you’ve been or something you did that you didn’t expect much of, but ended up loving?

What’s your pet peeve?

What’s your most treasured possession?