How Well Do You Know Me?

04

Sep

Khoi from Gentleman Within recently nominated to participate in the 11 Questions Challenge, and then Brittany from The Rinky-Dink Life nominated me for the Liebster Award! It’s great timing since it’s been over a year since I participated in the Liebster Award and Sisterhood of World Bloggers challenges and I have quite a few new readers since then, so this is a chance for you guys to learn some new things about me! Basically the way it works is I answer the 11 questions about my blog and me that Khoi and Brittany asked, and then I ask 11 other bloggers 11 questions of my own. Here are the first questions from Khoi:

1. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging after I had lived in Philadelphia for a few months and realized that I wasn’t exploring and photographing it as much as I should have been, so I started this photography blog as a way to keep myself accountable and share all my photos with family and friends back home. You can read all about it on Behind the Blog and in my very first blog post. Since then, it’s transitioned from a black-and-white street photography blog to a colorful travel photography blog, but I still feature lots of posts about Philadelphia, like last week’s post! 🙂 

Society Hill Philadelphia

Photo from Historic Philadelphia: More Than Tourist Sites

2. If your entire life was a movie, what would the title be?

I’m terrible at coming up with titles (I actually rarely come up with the titles for all my articles!), but it would probably be something with Vikings or photography in the title since I’m obsessed with both.

3. Who was your favorite cartoon character as a child?

I grew up watching TV Land and PBS, so I didn’t watch typical cartoon shows as a child. I’ve actually never seen Spongebob Squarepants, Recess, Hey Arnold, Doug, or any other shows like that! My favorite shows growing up were Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, and my grandmother made me a Jeannie costume for Halloween when I was 5-years-old and I was pretty adorable!

4. What’s your favorite quote of all-time?

I honestly don’t have one! My favorite motto is probably “carpe diem” because it’s simple and straight to the point (and because I love Dead Poets Society).

Bassano del Grappa, Italy

Photo from I Quit My Job

5. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your teenage self?

Everything gets better after high school!

6. If you could bring one musician back from the dead, who would it be and why?

Probably musicians like Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky, or Beethoven because I love classical music, especially piano music (my favorite modern pianists are Philip Wesley and George Winston). 

7. What or who has been the greatest influences in your life thus far?

For photography, Ansel Adams and Erika Larsen.

Boathouse Row Philadelphia

Photo from Boathouse Row

8. What are some goals that you have for your blog in the short and long term?

My blog is constantly changing, so I don’t really have any goals. I would like to get some more posts with photography and Photoshop tips, so let me know if there’s anything in particular you want me to do!

9. What’s the one superpower you wish you had and how would you use it?

Flying! I would probably mostly just use it to be like a human drone and take photos from the sky. 

10. What is one of the biggest leaps of faith you’ve taken in your life?

Other than moving to Philadelphia, quitting my job was a HUGE leap of faith. I didn’t know what I was doing at all, and I’m incredibly lucky that everything has been working out so far!

11. What is “Home” to you?

Well, I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and lived in North Carolina for 12 years, and my family just moved to Florida soon after I moved to Philadelphia, so basically the entire East Coast is my home! I’m constantly traveling to all those places to see my relatives and four siblings, and I was just in Florida and North Carolina last week. 

Fort Myers, Florida

Photo from Fort Myers, FL

And these are the questions from Brittany!

1. How do you feel you are making a difference in the blogging community?

I’m hoping that I’m inspiring people to travel more, even for just a day trip! 

Intercourse, PA

Photo from Intercourse, PA

2. What is your most popular post and is it one of your personal favorites?

My most popular post by far is my Four Days in Philadelphia post about everything to see and eat in Philly in just four days. That one is one of my favorites, and some of my recent favorite posts are Bassano del Grappa: Italy’s Hidden Gem and I Quit My Job

Independence Hall

Photo from Four Days in Philadelphia

3. What do you think is the hardest part about writing for an online audience?

I think the hardest part is finding the balance of being honest and personal without oversharing or getting too personal. I try to do this by talking honestly about my travels, like getting parasites in Mexico or the *interesting* bathroom in Italy, because I want my readers to be informed when they travel to those places, but I won’t go into any gross details!

4. If you could speak any other language, what would you choose?

I speak some French, and I’ve been trying to improve my Danish! (If you know anyone in Philly who I could practice my Danish with, let me know!)

5. Has blogging helped you overcome adversity in any way?

Not adversity, but blogging has definitely helped me be more confident with things like quitting my job or finding freelance work. 

Philadelphia photographer

Photo from I Quit My Job

6. If you could own only one book, which one would it be?

Probably Jane Eyre or Villette because they’re great books, and they’re also really long so they would keep me occupied! 

7. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would you say?

It’s ok to change your mind! I’ve completely changed my mind about what I want my career to be quite a few times, and I still have a ways to go before I am on the right path (more details on that to come later!). 

8. Dogs or cats? And no, it can’t be both!

Dogs! I’m allergic to cats (which makes them want to torture me even more), and my family has always had dogs. Which is why I got Annika soon after I moved to Philadelphia 🙂 

Siberian Husky

Photo from Winter in Philadelphia

9. Which of your accomplishments are you most proud of?

Completing a 45-page thesis on Vikings and Icelandic Sagas is one of them! Also graduating with a major I created and 5 minors, moving to Philadelphia after college, and recently quitting my job. 

10. What is one misconception people have about you?

I learned recently that people think I’m extroverted, which is actually untrue! I may appear to be comfortable on the outside meeting new people, but that’s something I’ve had to work at. I’m actually incredibly awkward and terrified of meeting new people because I’m extremely introverted and don’t know how to do small talk. Any other introverts out there have the same experience? 🙂 

11. Do you consider yourself a blogger, writer, both, or neither?

I was a journalist and a photographer before I started my blog, so I think I see myself as a writer and photographer more than a blogger. 

Bassano del Grappa, Italy

Photo from Bassano del Grappa: Italy’s Hidden Gem

So there are some things you might not have known about me! Comment below if anything surprised you or if we have something in common, I would love to get to know my readers! 🙂 

The bloggers I’m nominating:
Sarah from Shades of Sarah
Maja from Simply Stacks
Kendall from Buttons and Blossoms
Mari from Mari on the Map
Emily from Her Philly
Amanda from Sunshine Chasers
Raquel from Sincerely Nourished
Jessica from Jessica Lawlor
Melody from Melody Rose
Corinne from Reverberations
Martine and Jess from Broke Girls Go Out

My questions for the 11 nominees:

  1. What has blogging taught you?
  2. What was your favorite blog post to write?
  3. What are some of your favorite blogs to read?
  4. Where do you live and what do you love about it?
  5. What was your college major?
  6. What is your dream travel destination?
  7. What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had traveling?
  8. What is your favorite season?
  9. What have you been reading lately?
  10. What is the most meaningful souvenir you’ve gotten when traveling?
  11. What is one thing few people know about you?

Blog, Photography

  1. OMG your dog!!! <3
    I totally felt you on the one misconception of the people about you! My God.. I may look approachable and easy to go with and friendly but I suck at meeting new people. Actually, I'm so not comfortable with a situation that involves a lot of people. so I avoid them.

  2. Ana Ro says:

    Now, I’m really curious about you learning Danish! Why? I speak Danish too, but I live in Lithuania, which is rather close to Denmark. What about you?

    And I totally agree with “everything gets better after high school” :)))

  3. Ashley B. says:

    Thanks for sharing! I know i love the photos you post to your blog, but glad to get the know the person behind the camera 🙂

  4. I love this idea of “get to know me better.” How fun! I want to do this for my blog. ALSO it’s good to get the blogger better.

  5. Sarah says:

    Thanks for sharing and nice to get to know you better! I fully agree – everything is better after school! Congratulations on quitting your job too – I quit mine three months ago and next week is my last week. Freedom is so close I can smell it! 😉

  6. Farah says:

    It is so nice getting to know 🙂

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