Your purpose in life is to find your purpose
and give your whole heart and soul to it. — Gautama Buddha

When I started this blog about five months ago (June 2013), I wanted a place where I could do some more writing, work through some thoughts and hopefully engage others in exploring what it means to bring the world home. In particular, as a new mother, my purpose in writing and sharing thoughts and experiences here every week has been to discover how to raise a healthy, happy, kind and well-mannered little citizen of the world.

This blog, in essence, is the story of my journey of cultural exploration—at home and abroad. It also acts as a platform and an opportunity to connect with so many interesting people around the world.

That’s where you, my dear readers, come in. It never ceases to amaze me of the number of people from around the world who visit and follow the Petit World Citizen community everyday to connect. As a dear friend and follower recently commented, “every time I read your posts I feel that the world is just a bit more wonderful, we as humans have more in common than different, and that there is so much more to discover!” It’s true, we humans do have much in common and I feel blessed, humbled and honored to have this opportunity to connect with so many interesting people. It’s been a wonderful journey. Connecting with you—reading your comments, questions, and simply knowing you have chosen to visit and/or follow this site—has both inspired and motivated me to aspire to become a better writer, person, spouse and mother. For this I thank you.

I’d like to also say thank to fellow bloggers (listed below) who have shown interest and support of Petit World Citizen by way of award recognition. Your encouragement is deeply and sincerely appreciated and I thank you for graciously granting and nominating me for the following seven WordPress blogger awards:

The Versatile Blogger Award
Thank you to Sheila from Sweet Baked Life. Sheila has a passion for everything sweet. You can read about her adventures eating, creating, and baking sweet things.

I’m part of the Word Press Family Award
Thank you to Laura from The Seasoned Traveler. Laura and I share interests in cultural exploration, travel, health and global cuisine.

Leibster and Sunshine Awards and Blogger of the Year 2013 (☆ ☆ ☆)
Thank you to Fae of Fae’s Twist and Tango for your generosity and support! Here you’ll find the magazine of a storyteller with articles of world cultures, travel and global cuisine. Fae is well loved and respected in the WordPress Family so I’m very honored to receive such recognition from Fae. Also, Fae has already raised her own little citizen of the world!

Best Moment and Sunshine Blogger Awards
Thank you to Ashley from No Thyme to Waste. Trained in Culinary Arts and interested in opening her own little café one day, Ashley shares her experiments with cooking, baking, photography, writing, and teaching.

Blogger of the Year 2013
Thank you to Shanna from Curls and Carrots. Shanna is a wife and mother of two beautiful children. She writes about her love of cooking and family. Shanna is a kindred spirit. Like a constant ray of comforting sunshine, her comments are always encouraging and uplifting.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to mention one other fellow blogger, my dear friend Christine from Life in The Blue Zone. Christine writes about discovering the secrets of a healthy and happy life. She is also the one who encouraged me to start my own blog. Thank you Christine! It’s been a wonderful journey!

Again, thank you to all of you who visit and follow. You’ve been an inspiration for me to continue with the exploration of my raison d’être—to raise a healthy, happy and kind petit world citizen.

À bientôt,
Martine