Travel tales for the third-world realist: books and travel wisdom thinly-disguised as a gear review blog. Wrong. It is not a holiday, it is a way of life.
Many People think of travel as a pleasurable endeavour, a joyous escape from the drudgery of workaday life into a world filled with pools, cocktails and non-stop entertainment. What I have just described is a holiday; travel is something quite different. Travel involves long bus journeys to remote villages where the food is inedible, there's nothing to see and nobody understands a word you're sayi
ng. Travel is not seeing the sights, it is seeing the lack of sights, seeing the people as they really live, eat and ride to work. Travel is a full-body, pan-sensual experience that cannot be summarised in a smug Sunday supplement article or directed to in a guidebook. There is no substitute for time spent on the road, because as easy as it is to miss - travel involves travelling, from place to place, and lots of it. It will not be easy and it will not be pleasant, yet the sense of fulfilment will be live-giving and self-perpetuating. Travel feeds on itself, an addictive force that takes over your world and changes you for the better. If you arrive home relaxed, tanned and clutching a souvenir ashtray - you were on holiday. If, however, you return exhausted, bruised and sorely in need of a holiday - then it sounds like you've been travelling. Get out there, see the world as it really is and make it your own. Destroy your prejudices, make the planet a better place, Live!
Sometimes I like to spend my Tuesday evenings on remote atolls in the Indian Ocean. This week, it’s the turn of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. I’ll elaborate further in tomorrow’s post, suffice it to say I’m here as a guest of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Tourism Association, and I’ll be writing stories for Australian Geographic Adventure and Great Australian Outdoors, for starters. 🌴 ☀️ 🌊 😎
Painting #6 - 400 George St reflected in 367 George St, Sydney.
This week, I ‘ave mostly been testing … Expedition tents ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️
Finally got my hands on the new issue of Aus Geo Adventure, and what do I find in the editorial? Editor Justin Walker describing my Sierra Traverse piece as ‘One of my favourite all-time stories’ - high praise indeed! Thanks, mate! I hope you all enjoyed it too. 🙂
#🙂🙂🙂
https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/hiking-and-backpacking/hiking-the-pct-with-ms/
This is not a holiday: Travel tales for the third world realist
Painting #5
I call it ‘410-420 Elizabeth St Reflected in 60 A’Beckett St, Melbourne’
A few pics from our Easter trip to Mount Jagungal, a three day circuit capped off with a night beside Blowering Reservoir.
Look out for Track Notes in a future issue of Wild magazine
A cheeky weekend paddling the Clyde River from Shallow Crossing to Batemans Bay, overnighting in Nelligan. Great kayak packing practice for future, longer trips. Watch this space!
Wow, what an honour! At this year’s TravMedia International Media Marketplace event, I somehow found myself sharing a table with the cream of Australia’s outdoor adventure writers! So many incredible stories have originated in these clever heads. And such lovely people, too. Great to meet/remeet you all!
From my right: Caro Ryan, Alex Mitcheson, Justin Meneguzzi, Tim Ashelford, Huw Kingston, Anabel Dean, Andrew Bain, Marie Barbieri and Laura Waters.
Ooh, look at me! A proper travel writer at last! Thanks to the Australian Society of Travel Writers for letting me bring down the tone, ha ha.
A quite lovely and well-written review of Black Dog, Blue Sea by fellow travelly writer, Caro @ Lotsafreshair. Beautiful words. Makes me want to read it all over again! 🙏
A multi-layered and nuanced tale family, mental health and identity, that draws you out of your seat and into the rum-scented alleys of Grenada.
My old man finally got his signed copy of Black Dog, Blue Sea! I struggled for a couple of minutes to think of something to write, but then it was suddenly just obvious. Never was a truer word written.
“And like that! - whoosh - he was gone.”
Testing Testing! After my experience last year hiking the Sierra Nevada in a pair of Hoka Speedgoats, I thought a review of trail running shoes suitable for long-distance hiking was in order. 👟 Great Walks agreed, so this month I’ve been testing the biggest names in trail shoes for their next issue. The best? You’ll have to read the full review to find out! 🤡
Look who turned up for a quick visit with precisely one day’s notice! it’s the star of that book - Black Dog, Blue Ses, otherwise known as Peter, and coming up to his 83rd birthday. It was strange but lovely to see the old man in the flesh for the first time since late 2019. He doesn’t have Instagram or FB, but never mind - Great to see ya, ya grumpy old man!
Remember my piece in Wild magazine on hiking Tasmania’s Western Arthurs with a pack raft - Get WAKT? Well it was lovely to get a visit today from Dana, who we met on that trip, and a disembodied Glenn (at the end of the phone line). Dana was on her way for a few days hiking in the Blue Mtns, and even bought a copy of my book - Black Dog, Blue Sea.
Good to see you again Dana!
Co-wrote this one a few years back. Nice to see it making it to the GW website now. All still relevant!
Your outdoor gear will love you for it!
Another terribly boring Sunday in the Blue Mountains…
Spent New Year exploring the wonderland of Mugii Murum-ban SCA, adjacent to the Gardens of Stone NP out past the Blue Mountains. Love this place. It’s packed with barely-documented yet stunning geographical features - perfect for random exploring. You never know what you’ll stumble across, and it’s so under-visited it feels like you have the whole of Gondwanaland to yourself! Definitely not our last trip there.
Self-portrait with sister, Bendigo, 2023.
Live from Melbourne, one night only!
I think I need to be doing more of this...
(pic by Nestor)
My brief write up of the Hobart launch party/adventure story slam from last week for Australian Geographic. A great night!
The North Face celebrate the spirit of adventure with tales of derring-do at a Hobart brew-house. Yep, it sounds like the perfect day to us.
Managed to get a decent look at the snow pack while flying over the Sierras. from San Fran to Salt Lake. Doesn’t look too crazy at this point, although this will only be about a week into my walk. It gets higher and snowier further south. ❄️❄️❄️. We might manage with basic MICROspikes for this section, but I’ll likely need more serious crampons on the JMT.
The last 3 images show our flight path (thick, straight, red line) crossing the PCT (dotted, meandering, red line).
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Scenic Rim Trail, Day 2. Gooooood Morning! 🌧 🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧
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