Sunshine Blogger Award 2018

Sunshine Blogger Award 2018 

Wow, guys, I’ve been into blogging for several months only and I’ve been nominated for both the Liebster Award and the Sunshine Blogger Award. I must say, both nominations are a huge honor for me and make me really proud of my work. 

Cameron, Susan, and their baby Aaron make the team behind the excellent blog First Time Adventure. In their Sunshine Blogger Award blog post, they did me the honor to include my blog Iva Says in their list of nominees. So, I want to use this opportunity to thank them as well as to recommend them to all my dear readers.

Update 2/6/2018: The wonderful Gina Alward from The Here and Now nominated me as well for the Sunshine Award. Gina is a freelance writer and a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada. Check out her site, she has some awesome photography and travel stories. 

Read also: Liebster Award 2018 Nomination

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As for the Sunshine Blogger Award, it’s an award given by bloggers to other bloggers they find creative, talented and entertaining. Generally, it’s a great way of opening yourself to the community as well as to your readers, since you need to answer 11 questions from the blogger that nominated you. Moreover, you then write your own 11 creative questions and nominate up to 11 additional bloggers that need to do the same.

Below I’m pasting the rules for the Sunshine Blogger Award and then we can move to the fun part!

Sunshine Blogger Award Rules:

The Sunshine Blogger award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community.

The rules are:

1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you for a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate up to 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

My Answers to the Questions from First Time Adventure

1. What inspired you to start your blogging journey?

A random conversation I had with Milena on one of our trips to Greece. We just talked how cool it would to have a blog and send people a link instead of answering the same questions over and over again. It’s not that of a fantastic story, I know, but it’s my story.

2. What is your goal/next milestone for your blog?

Oh boy, I’m not even sure really. When I started doing this I didn’t have any expectations because I didn’t even know what to expect. However, now I hope to hit 1,000 Facebook fans, to get a better Alexa ranking (currently ivasays.com is at 4,442,175) and to create a successful Patreon profile.

3. What’s the most frequent question people ask you about your blog?

Do you make any money from it and how much! It seems that people are always interested in that aspect of blogging first and then they move on to topics like do I enjoy it, is it overly time-consuming, do I have any readers etc.

4. What hobby would you get into if time and money weren’t an issue?

Well, besides traveling, I enjoy playing board games and making puzzles. I successfully do both, but definitely not as much as I’d like to. Plus, if I had the money I would buy so many board games, I’d start a collection actually! For example, one board game I’m obsessed with owning this period is Gloomhaven. I also enjoy making ponds… yes, ponds! I made one in my brother’s house and I’d love to make many more, explore various forms, designs etc.

5. Why did you decide to do the work you do now?

I used to be a software engineer in the telecommunication industry, but I wanted more out of life and wanted to go out there and explore. So, I ended up quitting my job and now I travel as much as I can because I love it and I love discovering new places and learning about new cultures. 

6. Who inspires you to be better?

Well, everyone I love inspires me to be better in different ways. My brother, for example, inspires me to be a kind, patient and determined person. He’s older than me, so I look up to him for many things.

7. What’s the title of the current chapter of your life?

The unemployed explorer!

8. How does your blog influence your daily routine?

Before I woke up, had coffee, had breakfast, then I’d go to work on business days or watch TV shows on weekends. Now, every day is a working day, so I write posts whenever I have the time really, I work while having my coffee and breakfast, I check my phone constantly for messages, questions etc. Another interesting thing that is now incorporated into my daily routine is taking photos of cool stuff, so I can share them with my readers, something I rarely did before.

9. How has blogging changed your life overall?

As I said, I photograph more than before. I’m spending more time working since working now has a different meaning in my life. I believe blogging made me part of a community I’m now excited to get to know better, a community I wasn’t even aware that existed before. Plus, travel blogging especially has been a great excuse for constantly going on road trips; I love that!

10. If you could go back in time, what is the one thing you would do differently when it comes to your blog?

I like change, so I constantly change everything anyway. So, my answer would probably change in few weeks too. Anyway, I believe I wouldn’t make it a travel blog only, I wouldn’t limit myself in that way. It’s true that I’m passionate about traveling and I’ve been to places that I wanted to review; however, I’m passionate about several other things too that I’d like to write about, like for example board games, making ponds and so on. That’s why I added the lifestyle sections as a matter of fact. Don’t tell anyone! ?

11. What’s the most valuable piece of advice you can give to other bloggers / potential blog starters?

If they want to have readers and to create a successful blog, not just a random page where they express their thoughts and/or experiences, then they should prepare for a lot of hard work. Blogging, even though it sounds like a hobby, it’s serious business that takes a lot of time and sometimes the progress is hardly noticeable or non-existent and that can be really depressive. Therefore, they should prepare for doing market research, doing keyword research, creating entertaining social network profiles as well as regularly adding high-quality content.

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My Nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Award

It’s really hard to choose only 11 blogs to nominate because there are so many excellent sites out there. However, I tried my best to pick the ones that I personally would benefit from my support the most, so make sure to check them out too.

1. Lukastech Blog 
2. Gistfile
3. The Mommy Spice 
4. Tellheart
5. Califf Creations 
6. Organic Leigh 
7. Lambam’s World 
8. Writer Johnbest 
9. Jane the Wanderer 
10. Adventures of Southern Motherhood 
11. Simply Jaelicious

 My Questions for the Nominees

1. What’s your zodiac sign?
2. Do you prefer board games or video games?
3. What activity takes the most of your time?
4. Did your friends and family give you their support when you started your blog?
5. What do you plan to spend the money you’re making from your blog on?
6. If you go back in time, would you still start a blog knowing all the positive and negative aspects of blogging?
7. Would you rather party on Ibiza or climb Mount Everest?
8. What’s the most recent foreign country you’ve visited?
9. Have you ever been nominated for and/or won other blogging awards?
10. What’s your favorite thing about your blog?
11. Are you, so far, proud and satisfied with your blog’s progress?

My fellow nominees drop your links to your blog posts so I can check out your questions as well. I would love to read everyone’s answers.

Also, here are some Sunshine Award images you can use or make your own: