The blessed of Bundeena
I had a really lovely church experience at Bundeena recently. Bundeena isn’t even 20 minutes’ drive out of…
What I found curious about Japan
In my uni days, I took a course called Japanese Law & Society, of which I remember only…
Jindy Journal 2: Living and leaving the quiet life in Jindabyne
The winter has flown by and we will be moving back to Sydney in a little over a…
Jindy Journal 1: A winter in Jindabyne
Originally it was going to be the Austrian Alps: extended time in Europe for me, extended time skiing…
A dream come true and some deja vu
Anticipating a 6am start, I dreamt last night that my alarm didn’t go off and I woke at…
Dad’s travel tips: visiting (almost) 100 countries
With international travel once again opening up, I thought I’d share with you some wisdom from my dear…
Nomad no more
Australians boast the inglorious irony of being the best off people in this pandemic and yet we’re potentially…
NYE lessons from Ecuador
Australian New Year’s Eve traditions mostly involve drinking hard, watching fireworks and calling it a party. This is…
Cambodia: Cycle. Sweat. End slavery.
This month Cambodia marked the fortieth anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge. It’s prompted me to…
City love (and lack thereof)
There are lots of things I love about you, Sydney. I love your dazzling waterfronts, stretching out from the Sydney…
A Canberran perspective on Vivid
Is it just me or have I seen Vivid before? In Canberra.
Taking 5 in Taswegia
I went to Tasmania and it was awesome. Here are just 5 special moments and accompanying pictures for you to gawk at.
From travelling light to living light
Packing light Coming back from 12 days away over the Christmas-New Year break, I realised that I only…
Re-entering the darkness
I wasn’t procrastinating – I actually wasn’t planning on ever reading the book. It was going to be one for the mantelpiece, to adorn the bookshelf. After all, I spent a year working for the organisation founded by the author, so I didn’t just know the content – I was living right amongst it.
It was a surprise, then, how much the opening chapters of The Locust Effect moved me. Two months back on board with International Justice Mission (IJM), now in Australia, and we’ve talked on a number of occasions about vicarious trauma. I’ve shared with my colleagues some of what I went through that year in Bolivia. They’ve shared about how advocating against cybersex trafficking has had a toxic personal effect on them.
A cure for emotional jetlag
You've been feeling jetlagged this last week although you never left the state, let alone the time zone. Sometimes the world and your past come to you.
My biography, as told by my booze
A personal atlas of alcohol.
Before you get the wrong impression, this post is not about booze-filled nights from my backpacking days. It's an anthology of anecdotes and memories, linked by a common theme: alcoholic beverages.
My discovery of different drinks parallels some important memories. These are what I'd like to share with you.
So let me take you from my childhood, all around the world and back home again. In this brief autobiography, I'll let the alcohol do the talking.
10 Tips For More Meaningful Travel
What's the difference between a tourist and a traveller? And how can we have more meaningful travel experiences even while traveling for leisure?
Throughout my experiences of being a tourist, exchange student, international intern and expat, I have been reflecting constantly on these questions of identity, foreignness and the assumptions bound up in the practice and concept of travel.
Seeya, Sydney
You cried the day I left. Well, I like to think grey skies and rain spattered across the…
No chocolate fix at Sweet Addiction
Question: What does a $14 million state-of-the-art glasshouse and a $15 entry ticket to the new Sweet Addiction chocolate…
Reflections from the Reef
Dreaming Embedded somewhere in my subconscious is the ultimate Tourism Australia campaign. Sure I also learned how to…
Next stop: Sydney
Tomorrow will be my first day in Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, paid employment in Sydney. There is…
It’s not your fault, Australia
The highest point in all of Australia sits at about the same altitude as the average for the whole…
Torotoro: Dinosaurs and rocks that rock
Hello! Here’s a quick post to give you the low-down on visiting Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. We did a…
Travel delusions
Note: I was pleased and privileged to have this post published on A Life Overseas. In that process, I was…
All About Altitude (Charquini and Chacaltaya)
I thought we were going to the jungle. Turns out we went to a glacier. On the road Emerging…
Turning points in Timor-Leste
January 2011 was the month I spent as an intern in Dili. It was an amazing experience: I got…
Easter in the Amazon
As we emerge sleepy-eyed from our mosquito net tents, Lauren murmurs to me, “Happy Easter …” For a few…
Carnaval Act II: Oruro-Tarija-La Paz
After Oruro, the roadtrip. Oruro to Potosí (Saturday) Making it from Oruro to Tarija in the one evening…
Carnaval Act I: Oruro
4.30am. Get up after 5 hours of sleep. For some reason, it’s easier than dragging myself out of…
All About Evo
To commemorate the official start of Evo Morales’ third term as president, I thought I’d share a few images…
New Year’s Day, 0546 hours
I dose up on adrenaline to dull the pain of your absence – well, of mine, I should…
IJM Interns/Fellows: Top Ten Moments From 2014
Reproduced from the IJM Newsroom/Blog: http://news.ijm.org/ijm-internsfellows-top-ten-moments-from-2014 WASHINGTON, DC, December 31, 2014 IJM teams around the world are celebrating the end of…
Today I went to jail
The concrete walls soar straight up towards the sunny sky. It’s just like a fortress should be – a…
Meeting La Paz
Apparently I’m now living in one of the 14 finalists for the Seven New Wonder Cities of the…
Two words for Washington
If I could choose two words to describe Washington, D.C., they would be EMPIRE and EXTRAVAGANCE. Perhaps they…
Meeting Moscow
Moscow was hot and muggy when we landed. She was temperamental – at times overcast, at times sunny.…
Cold feet?
Thanks to the infamous Canberra winter, I think I have cold feet both physically and metaphorically. I’ve just…
365 days ago today
This time last year I … … said goodbye to a lot of people. Too many for one…
From Childhood Fantasy to Fling: Where to now?
Those days when you get to thinking about your ex The truth is that I miss you. Beautiful…
The “prophetic” song I wrote as a 7-year-old
Let me introduce you to Bluey Snowflake. She’s one of the best birthday presents I’ve ever received, a…
The photos you delete anyway
I’ve finally gotten around to the task of going through the 12,000+ photos I took in my two years…
Bring on Bolivia!
I always knew, leaving Ecuador last year, that my time back in Australia would be an “in-between” thing,…
Okay, you’ve put me in a box
Since I was a teenager, I’ve wrestled with the complicated truth that when you try to be different…
The “novelty” of a Christmas and NYE at home
So it’s 2014. I’ve only just realised that spending Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Canberra, my hometown,…
The end of the honeymoon period?
About time for a new post, isn’t it? The last couple of months, I’ve wanted and not wanted…
Being a tourist in my birth city
Same place, different eyes. We used to come a lot to Kuala Lumpur to visit when I was…