^{I achieved my goal to travel widely when I was young by keeping a strong focus on my travelling ambitions, putting all my spare money into my travel fund! Fortunately, my career as a News Journalist paid well, and provided six weeks of holidays a year because of shift work.}

^{My first priority was to explore Australia – my own country – taking my one and only ever bus tour to visit Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia. I trekked around my own State of Tasmania regularly, often exploring as a member of the the Hobart bush walkers club.}

^{I took a six week trip to England, with a long weekend on a travel deal to Paris when I was 19. I then moved onto a solo trip to South Island, New Zealand. And a two week Pacific cruise out of Sydney with a friend.}

^{My employer granted me 12 months leave of absence when I was 23 so that I could experience other cultures – regarded as beneficial for my career as a Journalist.}

^{I took off to the U.K and Europe, returning home the long way via the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Thailand.}

^{Very early on I realised, through experience, that group organised travel – cruises, bus tours etc – were not for me. A lot of my travel joy comes from researching and planning my own trips.}

^{Fortunately, I married a partner – MJ – who also enjoys travelling, so travel has become a lifelong enjoyment. Together, we’ve lived for lengthy extended times in Canada and New Zealand, both fabulous countries for natural beauty.}

^{We are now into our retirement years, with plenty of travel plans still on our agenda! We continue to explore Australia – we have taken many outback trips in our Landcruiser.}

^{I am a keen amateur photographer, snapping thousands of travel pics over the years. Don’t ask me for photography tips! I take photos on automatic settings. I rely on my eye, instinct and light for a good pic. I have, however, always invested in a good camera – starting off with a Pentax film camera in the 1970’s, and these days using a Sony 7iii and a smaller Sony 6400. I’ve recently bought an iPhone, and I find it great for foodie pics.}

^{Favourite places? So hard to choose. In my youth, Greece, India, even Afghanistan. I am particularly drawn to cultures vastly different to my own.}

^{New Zealand is in a special category of its own – its natural beauty and ease of travel is definitely something to be experienced.}

^{My all time passion is Japan, a late life love. I did not visit until my 40’s, a trip planned in about three weeks when I was searching for somewhere to take my sons as an end of year celebration marking one’s Year 12 graduation and the other’s University graduation.}

^{I’ve now visited six times, with the 7th visit coming up this year (2025) – all self planned and self guided trips (so easy to do via the internet these days). During Covid, I continued my exploration of Japan with online virtual tours – a great travel innovation.}

^{I’m now in my 70’s, and hope to be still travelling for quite a while yet – I have so much more to explore and share. I hope my stories will help other travellers with my travel tips and experiences.😊}