imageAn extra post for you guys today because we're celebrating! Huge news for those who haven't seen on Facebook, Twitter or heard me shouting with excitement from the rooftops in Vietnam. On Friday night, AbsolutelyLucy.com won the highly commended award in the travel blogging section. My blog was shortlisted among ten or so, chosen out of around 30,000 thanks to your votes and support, and now has been named one of the best out of this incredible collection of  writers. To say I'm bowled over is an understatement. I'm completely overwhelmed by it because it had never actually entered my head for a second that I stood a chance against these other amazing blogs. I love my blog, you guys love it, but I didn't realise that was enough to make these highly experienced judges feel the same way. It has been such a boost to know that you guys are enjoying my posts and pictures, that you love reading about my experiences as much as I love writing about them, so to know that industry professionals have enjoyed them also is amazing. I'm so proud to say that less than six months after I started travel blogging my blog is considered a success and worthy of note.

It is only a year and a half since I started out on this little venture,  as a lifestyle blogger, which at the time was more of a hobby than anything else. Now it has become a huge part of my life and I love it, every second of it. From capturing every moment - the food I eat, the things I see and do, the people I meet - I love thinking about how you will experience the world through my senses. To writing, expressing how I felt about a place and what I loved and my new passions that have formed along the way. And more than any of it, I love the interaction, when you guys say a post has touched you or meant something to you, when others say they are living vicariously through me and when I then inspire others to travel solo or to explore the places I have been. It is amazing, all of it, and I'm so grateful to those who inspired me to start blogging and to those who have encouraged me along the way. I've come a long way since I was Friday's Girl, writing a weekly column in the local newspaper about my time at university - drunken nights out and all - but I hope you are enjoying my work more than ever before!

Sadly I didn't get to celebrate last night as I spent 17 hours on a sleeper bus eating mountains of fruit with my friend Paul, but I'm sure we'll make up for it with a few beers at our next destination! If you're cracking open a bottle of wine tonight, have a glass for me!

As usual, if there is ever anything you would like me to write about, any requests, anything you would like my opinion on, or you would like advice on travelling Asia or travelling solo - I'm always at the end of an email. You can contact me through the contact panel to the right of this post or through my Facebook and Twitter pages.