The Liebster Award - from bloggers to bloggers

I am very honored to be nominated for the Liebster Award, which is given by bloggers to bloggers and helps to build a community and connections. I have received this nomination from Samara and Miles from the Freedom Chasers, a van travel couple with three dogs and amazing road adventures. Right now, they are traveling in Europe, and I hope they will find time to see my beautiful country - be it Czechia or Slovenia.

“Too many people take life so seriously. So caught up in their day to days, their struggles, their personal dramas… in reality, the world is just so much bigger than you. Going out and getting experience, seeing other perspectives, seeing other cultures and religions and ways of life will help to put your life and your problems into perspective. Just get out, laugh, enjoy, play and realize that this life is meant to be fun, to be enjoyed.”

-The Freedom Chasers

How was Czick on the road born

I always loved traveling, but never actually got to do it much, there was either not enough money or not enough time, once I started working. But I still made small weekend or one-day trips in Europe and mostly around Slovenia, after I mmoved there in 2011. It all has changed when my father died and when I broke up with my boyfriend at that time. I was unhappy, restless, I had no plans for the future and nothing to lose, so I started saving money and planning a trip around the world.

During my life in Slovenia, I learned to love mountains and hiking, so it was clear that the destination would be one with mountains and I was deciding between New Zealand and South America. The later one won and I am now already for 7 months discovering this wonderful continent.

Why do I write a blog?

I could tell you how I want to inspire people and share a passion for traveling. And I would love to say that my blog was made to share stories with my friends and family and then became widely read, but it’s actually the opposite. This blog originated to be a money making thing that would allow me to travel forever. That was before I knew, how big and complicated the blogging industry is. Maybe one day, it will be the truth, now it is for sure great way how to keep a travel diary and how to share stories with my family and friends. 

Questions I have received from the Freedom Chasers

1. How do you typically make friends while traveling abroad?

That very much depends on where I travel. Mostly, of course, among other travelers we meet in hostels, Airbnb or while volunteering or Couchsurfing. If I’m in a country where people speak the same language as me, I like to hang out with locals a lot – nothing’s easier than to go out and start talking to people, be it in the bar, on the beach or at the Sunday vegetable market. But now in South America, the language barrier is still to big for us to do it.

2. What is the one travel destination you find yourself recommending most in the world?

Definitely Slovenia, it got so much deep under my skin. When I think about that country and its mountains and friends I made while living there, I would just grab my bag and go home. Having a mountain house there is my biggest dream right now I think (Peculiar, right? When home, I dream about traveling, when traveling, I dream about home.).

3. In what ways do you work to immerse yourself in the culture of the places you travel to?

Food, definitely. One of the most exciting thing while traveling is trying the local goodies. Food tells their own stories about the history and culture of the place which you can easily take home with you and remind yourself of the time in that country by cooking one of their meals. That's why I also try to get at least one authentic recipe in the countries I travel. My favorite one is definitely Lomo Saltado from Peru.

4. What is the scariest thing you have ever encountered while traveling?

I don’t think there was that scary moment during my travels so far. Exciting moments to remember, stupid ones, maybe, yes. I would never forget how we slept in a tent in Georgia in Svaneti Mountains at 2400m right under a glacier and the whole night we heard roaring ice falling down. Or the feeling of standing at the 6088m summit of Huayna Potosi in Bolivia, seeing nothing, snow scratching my face, trying not to move much as I didn’t know where the edge I could fell off is. Or when we went hiking in Slovenia, chosen the easiest path and then found ourselves on one of the most difficult ferrates in Slovenia, climbing those ropes without security belts… Those moments sure made the adrenaline rush through my veins!

5. What do you consider to be your number 1 travel bucket list item?

I find this changing a lot over time. When I was a teenager it was Egyptian Pyramids and white Indonesian beaches. Now it is New Zealand, Nepal, and Iceland. 7 years of living in Slovenia made me a true mountain person.

6. Would you rather the ocean, the river or a lake?

I love hanging out by lakes and jumping over waves of the ocean, but the river, the river is alive. The river goes from high mountains bringing water to lowlands. The river brings life, creates lakes, alleviate thirst of animals, gives living to people and after it has seen it all, it ends up in the ocean and becomes eternity…

7. Do you like flying or do you do so out of pure necessity?

I like it. It’s always very exciting. It means I’m going someplace new. Or home, I love returning home.

8. What is the one thing you have experienced abroad that you would recommend everyone try once in their life?

There are many places to go and things to do I would recommend to people, but what I think is an absolute must that everybody has to see, is the mountains and lakes of trash in poorer countries (in my case it was Peru and Bolivia). Once you see that, once you smell that, it is a true wake-up call. It makes you think of ways how you can change that. Everybody should see it.

9. What is the WORST food you have encountered in your life?

I haven’t been to Asia yet, so cannot relate here :-D All the food in the Americas and Europe I have tried so far was pretty good.

10. Do you ever get homesick when traveling? If so what do you find the best way to combat this?

I get homesick a lot. I used to go and browse through old photos or chat with my friends or family, but that actually makes me homesick even more. I found the best thing how to deal with it is to plan my trip and see photos of all the beautiful places I have yet to discover.

11. Why do you love traveling? What is the one part of going abroad that keeps you doing it?

I think it's the excitement to see a new place, to learn about new culture, to see with my own eyes  the beauties of our world I know only from pictures and movies. It's also all the things I learn while traveling, not just history and culture of the country, but being able to react to crisis, to order food in language I don't know, to spend time with myself during long hikes, when there is nothing else to do than to think, and to stop thinking about money, politics, childhood grudges and stress at work. When I travel, I realize that all I really need is food and a warm place to sleep, everything else is an unnecessary luxury.

My nominees:

Katie from Katies’ Postcard writes an English blog about her travels in Asia and she is a living proof of how small world is. I found her on Instagram and quickly became a big fan of her pretty pictures. And soon, I’ve realized she is married to my high school schoolmate and they are traveling together after getting married in Bali. Sounds like a fairy-tale, right?

Santwona from Saantwonapatnaik.com who took a break from her mundane live to unwind and reconnect to her inner selves. Since then she has traveled 2 continents, 6 countries, 7 states, and 1 union territory, still looking for more to explore.

My questions for nominees:

1. Traveling can be stressful…how many chocolate bars do you eat per day?
2. Where is your home?
3. Who’s your best travel buddy?
4. What is the last country you have visited and what has surprised you there?
5. How do you keep yourself motivated to write a blog?
6. What’s your favorite social media platform?
7. What's your favorite song to listen to while you travel?
8. What is the dummiest thing you have done while traveling?
9. How do you think we could spread awareness and improve trash disposal in less developed countries?
10. You‘ve seen many places during your travels and met many people. Considering the environment, do you think that humanity and planet Earth is on the brink of its end, or there is still hope for us?

I look forward to reading your answers!

The Official Rules of the Liebster Award 2018

2018 is upon us and it’s time to start the new year-round of the official rules of the Liebster Award 2018 to give other blogs exposure to the internet. If you are returning, I’ve updated this article to include new questions and images for you to use in your own blog posts. Each year I read every single entry and pick the blog with the most unique and creative questions. The winning blog wins a prize. This year (2018) prize will be a BioLite Camp Stove worth £150. Each blog gets one entry. To enter you must:

• Link to this blog post in your Liebster Award blog post
• Answer the questions given to you
• Create more questions for your nominees to answer (I’m looking for unique and creative ones)
• Comment on this blog post with a link directly to your Liebster award. To make it easy for me to read them all.