Been awhile since I did one of these ! Many thanks to Marie from hopsskipsandjumps for the nomination. Marie writes about her travels around the globe, and I always enjoy reading her posts. Thanks again Marie!

The Blogger Recognition Award is an online award given by bloggers to other bloggers as a way of recognising the efforts they put into their site.

Rules for the Blogger Recognition Award

Thank the nominator, and publish a post on your blog about receiving the Blogger Recognition Award. Make sure to provide a link to the nominator’s blog in your post.

• Give a brief story of how your blog started.
• Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
• Nominate 11-15 other bloggers for this award, and inform them of their nomination.

How I Started Blogging

One of my biggest flaws is my low boredom threshold. I crave excitement and I get bored of things (and people) easily. Blogging, however, has been the only thing that I’ve managed to keep up for over a decade. It has helped me through numerous heartbreaks; accompanied me through many milestones and joyous moments. Sometimes, reading old posts is like peeking through a window and seeing how young and different I was, and how it has shaped me into the person I am today.

I started blogging when it was just becoming a trend, back in the mid to late 2000s. I was 18 or 19 then, and college afforded me full access to the wonders of the Internet. I often blogged at my university’s tech centre, because there was only one family computer at home (laptops weren’t a thing/ expensive) and my parents were very restrictive with how much my brother and I were allowed on the computer.

My first blog had a super cringey URL (I think it was tsez; like zest spelled backwards. lol). I used it mostly to update on my daily happenings; kind of like an online journal. Over the years, I migrated my site multiple times (URLs included tacokittens, thesunburntfingers and shortbrows – don’t ask why they’re all such weird names; it’ll take forever to explain :D) but in mid-2015, I finally settled for this blog address, and I’ve kept it since.

These days, I write mostly about my travels, food and experiences, with the occasional lifestyle news or two. It’s much more filtered – I remember back when I’d post about anything and everything, without a thought about online safety and privacy. Blogging is a great way to share my experiences with others, and as I get older, a way to record memories and thoughts. 2020 will mark my 12th year blogging – and I hope I can keep up this zest (or tsez? lol) in the future. 🙂

Okay, whatever happened to a ‘brief’ post?

Advice

I don’t think I’m qualified to give advice.

If you ask me for my thoughts, however, then I’d say purpose is important. What are you writing for? An online diary? To share thoughts and experiences? To express yourself? To be an influencer? To make money? If your passion project turns out to be lucrative, then more power to you – but if you’re really into it as a business venture, I think it should be treated as such.

This may sound cliche, but you have to have a measure of enjoyment for what you do. I wouldn’t be blogging for over a decade if I didn’t at least like it. Sure, there are off days, but the important thing is you always come back to it.

My Nominees

I’ve been out of touch with the WordPress community for awhile now – these days I only upload and schedule posts; I barely have time to read and comment on others – but I’ll try! Some of these nominees have been part of my blogging journey for a long time; others are new. Have fun!

https://theeclecticmiss.com/

https://themonchingsguide.wordpress.com/

https://theperpetualsaturday.home.blog/ 

https://amyrodzmanwackysadventure.com/ 

https://amehase.com/

https://happyfoodtrippers.wordpress.com/

https://sirlewisofclarke.wordpress.com/

https://thatmanilagirl.wordpress.com/

https://chasingpotatoes.com/

https://mooseymares.wordpress.com/

https://lifeofaworkingadult.wordpress.com/

https://barbariangentlemen.wordpress.com/