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Sep

The World Awaits: Bali and memorable wildlife encounters

On this week’s episode of my travel podcast The World Awaits, we discover how to have the best wildlife encounter (best for you, best for the wildlife), and is Bali really all it’s cracked up to be? Also, sip your way around the world at these leading wine destinations and find out how you can while away your time (for free!) at the airport. What an episode!

My co-host Kirstie catches up with award-winning wildlife photographer and journalist Rachelle Mackintosh to chat about the powerful impact of seeing wildlife in their domain. She shares hair-raising tiger encounters, talks of her obsession with sighting whales, and explains how you can ensure you’re doing the right thing by the wildlife experience you book, ⁠https://faunographic.com/⁠

I chatted with Bali-based author and travel writer Penny Watson, who moved to the Island of the Gods in the midst of the pandemic. Penny talks about how not to be an absolute loser when you visit Bali, and how to spread the love. We’re talking Kintamani, the waterfalls of Munduk, Amed on the east coast and Lovina in the north – basically anywhere beyond Ubud, Kuta and Canggu – for access to local businesses, ceremonies, and a connection to the Balinese people. She’s also just released her new book, Wilderness, which you can order here⁠ pennywatson.com.au/books⁠

Also, here’s the link to Alex the Flemish Giant bunny at San Francisco’s airport, take a listen to Belle’s chat with ABC radio Melbourne, talking about how to while away the time in airports around the world,

And a big shout out to our producer ⁠Alaisdair Leith⁠ for his zen-like patience, and to you for listening! Don’t be afraid to subscribe to The World Awaits via your favourite podcast wrangler or at ⁠theworldawaits.au⁠

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/episodes/Episode-12–Bali-and-memorable-wildlife-encounters-e28n42p

Aug

Free things to do in airports: ABC Radio interview

Waiting in airports is one of the downsides of travel. But is it? I reckon airports are magical places, and there are so many free things to do in airports.

This week, I chatted with ABC Radio Melbourne’s Sunday program about the best things to do in airports over the world – and many of them free or just the price of a cup of coffee.

Sure, you can scroll on your phone or put on your headphones and tune into a movie. Or… you could wander through a museum dedicated to Hellenic history (Athens), admire the great Dutch Masters (Amsterdam), have a cup of tea at Harrods (Doha) or dress up in traditional Korean hanbok and try a few handicrafts (Seoul). What could a be better way to spend your time?

Even our Australian airports are worth discovery – I love that in Melbourne, you can drink coffee from some of our most famous cafes – I’m thinking of St Ali here, and snack on food by our top chefs, such as Movida and Cafe Vue by Shannon Bennett.

Click here to listen to my interview with Lisa Leong on ABC Melbourne.

Aug

Food of Saudi Arabia: Gourmet Traveller

Hot off the press, my travel feature in this month’s Gourmet Traveller magazine tells of the food of Saudi Arabia, and the landscapes that created it. Focusing on the sublime oasis of AlUla, in northern Saudi Arabia.

It’s mid-morning, and our camels are resting in the shade of a stone pillar. It’s a gharameel, the remnant of an ancient mountain, eroded by time, on this desert plain in north-western Saudi Arabia.

Like the camels, I’m also resting, but on long, embroidered cushions atop richly coloured rugs, drinking sweet mint tea as my mount is saddled.

To one side of the cameleer’s camp, the cook is browning cuts of tender lamb in an enormous stockpot, and I watch as he creates the classic Saudi lamb-and-rice dish, kabsa. Earthy cumin, fragrant orange blossom water and citrusy coriander are all added to the browning meat, and what looks like turmeric, for colour.

Do I detect a flicker of disdain across the cook’s face?

“It’s not turmeric,” he corrects me. “That’s saffron.” Of course it’s saffron – here in the desert, with a kitchen on the back of a truck, a couple of grumbling camels nearby. Using the most expensive spice is a reminder that, while we dine alone in a remote desert, we are still in one of the world’s wealthiest countries. A world away from clichéd Arabian bling, this is desert luxury.

On newsstands now, if you like a delicious read!

Jul

The World Awaits podcast goes to Spain and Nauru

It’s been a big couple of weeks in GlobalSalsa World – Turkiye, Australia’s Northern Territory and I’ve also also refreshed my podcast, with a fresh new name and a little nipping and tucking at the format. It’s now The World Awaits podcast, and you can listen to the latest edition here .

This week, fellow travel writer Kirstie Bedford and I take you to Spain and Nauru – at opposite ends of the tourism spectrum. I interviewed one of Australia’s best known travel writers, Ben Groundwater, who is a Spain aficionado and total foodie. Ben invited me on his Flights of Fancy podcast, with Nine Media, a few times – sadly now defunct (but still live if you’d like to take a listen), so I asked him to return the favour.

After embedding himself in San Sebastian in the Basque country, for a year, Ben is a great one to chat about how overlooked Spain is outside the major hotspots such as Barcelona. You know I”m a lover of this country as well, especially after my train adventure in Andalucia last year, which started in (very touristy) Seville, but pushed on through to Jerez, Cadiz and then I ended up in Spain’s most beautiful pueblo blanco, Vejer de la Frontera. If the chat makes you hungry, you can join Ben on one of his foodie tours to San Sebastian with World Expeditions, next year.

You’ll also hear from Lisa Pagotto, founder of Crooked Compass tours. Lisa goes seriously off track in her travels – she’s talking to Kirstie about travelling in the beautiful island of Nauru, best known for its role as the host site of Australia’s detention centre for refugees (please don’t go there, a particularly ugly part of Australia’s foreign policies). I travelled with Crooked Compass on a week-long hike in Palestine a few years ago. How’s that for off-beat travel?

Anyway, tune in, I hope you enjoy the show, and let us know what you think, or where you’d like us to go next on the podcast.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever else you get good ear candy.

Jun

Hot air ballooning in Cappadocia, Türkiye

This week, I’ve been in Cappadocia, Türkiye, possibly the world’s best location for hot-air ballooning. Yeah, you’ve seen the brochures, you’ve been bombarded by the instagram shots of women in ballgowns in balloons.

I couldn’t resist: I threw my hat in the ring, and went up on high, too.

My revelation, while coasting through the quiet skies the other morning is – it’s famous for a reason. Because hot air ballooning over Cappadocia’s extraordinary landscape is, truly the most glorious experience.

The central Anatolian landscape is like nowhere else on earth: primordial shards of weathered rock jut from the earth; yes, it’s all very phallic, if you wish to go that route; but that doesn’t make them any less beautiful.

Over a couple of days, with my guide Ece from Intrepid Travel, I crawled through ancient cave systems, craned my neck to see beautifully rich paintings of Christ the Pantocrator in early Christian churches, heard stories of the Hittites, the Persians, the Romans, Seljuq Turks… who all lived, died, conquered or were conquered at some stage here in Cappadocia’s long history.

It was part of Intrepid Travel’s women’s expedition, which visits Istanbul, the Aegean coastline, Konya and Cappadocia, stay tuned for further posts about this super fun adventure.

For more photos from my Turkiye trip, take a squiz at my instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/global_salsa/

The 12-day guided tour costs from $4,025. See https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/turkey/turkey-womens-expedition-145256

Jun

Our new podcast has dropped: listen to Episode 1!

Welcome to the very first podcast for Travel Writers Radio, which I’m co-hosting with fellow travel journalist and editor Kirstie Bedford. This week, we take you to Rome, Tasmania and Champagne.

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode, actress Alicia Gardiner talks about the filming locations you can visit in Tasmania where her newest series, Deadloch, was filmed. To see more, visit instagram.com/aliciagardiner__

Author Maria Pasquale tells us how to eat like a Roman (and the author of The Eternal City shares her tip for where to find Rome’s best gelato, see smithstreetbooks.com/catalogue/the-eternal-city/

And wine expert Tyson Stelzer talks about touring France’s Champagne region, and closer to home, shares a tip of one of his favourite, best-value wines. Connect with Tyson at champagne.guide and tysonstelzer.com

Connect with us on travelwritersradio.com

May

Teaser alert: the newest travel podcast in town has dropped!

I’m super excited to announce that I’ve teamed up with fellow travel journalist Kirstie Bedford to create a new podcast for the Travel Writers Radio show.

Kirstie Bedford and Belle Jackson have launched their new travel podcast.

Travel Writers Radio is a two-hour, drive-time slot running on Melbourne’s J-Air 88FM each Wednesday, and repeated on Saturdays 1-3pm, which you can also listen back on https://soundcloud.com/travelwritersradio and the podcast takes the show further out into the world.

Rome! Tasmania! Champagne! They’re just a sample of the places we’ll take you on the first episode Travel Writers Radio podcast, which drops on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and wherever you find good podcasts, this coming Thursday 1 June.

You can also visit us at https://travelwritersradio.com to check it all out.

Click here for a little teaser full of promises. See you on the pod!

See https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/travel-writers-podcast/

May

Hotels reborn: 10 historic buildings that are now luxury hotels

Where are you sleeping tonight? In a prison cell? A castle? A monastery. A jam factory? I’m talking about rooms inside buildings that have been reborn as hotels – buildings that may otherwise have fallen into irretrievable disrepair, or worse.

Traveller cover photo The Interlude @ Pentridge Prison

This weekend, my cover story in the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers is about hotels whose buildings have served a previous life – I rounded up 10 across Australia and abroad, with an extra serve of five Australasian hotels on the side. I looked at hotels as far apart as London, Peru and Turkey, which have been train stations, palaces, even a state Department of Education. Some, like the Las Casas de la Juderia, in Seville and London’s St Pancras Renaissance, were from recent travels. Some, like The Interlude here in Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison complex, are only just about to open. All are close to my heart.

Sometimes, it’s the location or the beauty of a building that lures developers to imbue it with renewed life. Other times, it’s the building’s backstory that a visionary can weave into its incarnation, to be reborn with new purpose.

“Heritage is the art of saving what is useful and beautiful, but also updating it for modern use,” says Terry Fripp, of Kerry Hill Architects, whose projects include Perth’s much-lauded COMO The Treasury, formerly Western Australia’s historic State Buildings.

It’s the ultimate act of recycling: reusing existing resources while also giving back, in the form of hotel restaurants, bars, spas and event spaces that are, for the most part, accessible by the public.

Click here to read my story on the 10 great hotels reborn, with another serve of five Australasian hotels on the side.

or see https://www.theage.com.au/traveller/inspiration/10-historic-buildings-reborn-as-stunning-luxury-hotels-20230512-p5d7vp.html

May

Six of the best historic hotels in Egypt

Fancy splashing out on a luxury hotel for your Egyptian holiday? I’ve been to a few in my time, and let me say that this fabulous country is interwoven with blockbuster stories, best tapped into with a stay in one of its great historic hotels.

Who’s your historical hero? Ramses II? Agatha Christie? Alexander the Great or maybe Winston Churchill?

I’ve rounded up six of the best historic hotels in Egypt, from up in the north in Alexandria to the deep south, in the heart of Nubia, in Aswan. I’ve headed out into the Sahara to the impossibly exotic oasis town of Siwa, where a mudbrick marvel awaits, and onto the shores of the Nile in Luxor with these six stays.

Click here to read the story, which I wrote for the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers.

https://www.theage.com.au/traveller/inspiration/six-of-the-best-historic-hotels-in-egypt-20230424-p5d2uw.html

May

There are 248 phones stolen in London every day: mine was one of them

This week, I published a story in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age about my phone being stolen in London. We’ve all had stuff stolen – what made it pertinent was the release of recent figures that show just how many phones are stolen in London every day.

Take a guess? 248 phones. A day. Just in central London.

The story was the top read in the Sydney and Melbourne digital versions, and some readers were lovely and shared their own theft and scammer stories, others, not so. I’ve also had a share of emails telling me “pro trvlrs don’t lose phones” and “experienced travelers have been taking those sorts of precautions for years.” But my point is (apart from picking out your terrible spelling) – these sorts of things happen even to pro/experienced travellers.

If you’ve never, ever lost a single thing while on the road, if you’ve never ever been scammed, if you’ve never inadvertently found yourself in a scary situation, I applaud you. You are truly genius. Or you’ve had someone behind you picking up and collecting you as you rotate the world in your golden bubble.

But if, like the rest of us, you’ve had your wallet nicked, your taxi fare tripled, you’ve been lured into a dodgy shop or found yourself in a very unsavoury environment where you’ve feared for your safety, then know that I’m there with you.

And you know what? We’re not all pro travellers. We’re not all experienced. Somewhere today, some kid is starting out on his first big roadtrip with mates. An older couple is on their first international flight. A woman is taking her first ever solo adventure. A family is testing the waters as the first time travelling with little ones.

I haven’t read the comments – I don’t have an impenetrable hide – but this ain’t my first rodeo. I knew the scam, I knew it was happening. And let me tell you, it happens to the best of us.

If you fancy reading, here’s the story.

Thanks for listening, friends.

https://www.theage.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/my-phone-was-stolen-while-visiting-london-here-s-how-i-coped-20230501-p5d4kj.html

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