Community. When it comes to travel blogging, what does that even mean? Is it compatible with cutting out the noise and being productive? Can you be connected to community and also appreciate the joy of quiet? When I started as a travel blogger in 2007, I was very keen on the idea of community (how hilarious [...]

I have been doing a spot of digital housekeeping to ring in the new year. I used TwitCleaner to clear out some of the junk that has ended up in my Twitter stream. I’ve locked down the privacy settings for my new Facebook Timeline on my personal account (I invite blog fans to ‘like’ my Facebook [...]

Some cities demand to be admired from the water. I know – I live in one of them. As lovely as Sydney is, it is never lovelier than when you are out on the harbour. There are other cities too where the water is a huge feature. Copenhagen and Seattle are famous for their beautiful [...]

Passports with Purpose has rolled around again and I’m proud to be a participating blogger for the fourth year in a row. I’m thrilled about the prizes I have secured – just one more day before the big reveal! I will give you some clues… One is a travel prize based in northern California and, [...]

Earlier today I passed a small but passionate protest in Sydney’s Martin Place. There were a few men in the group but most of the protesters were women, wearing the modest garb and head coverings that marked them out as Muslim. Waving the Syrian flag, their voices rang loud and clear and their accents were [...]

Sunday was Mother’s Day in Australia and my first one as a mother. My twins were born exactly three months earlier. They are obviously very advanced babies because they brought me breakfast in bed – scrambled eggs on toast with coffee – and gave me money to treat myself to a massage. Clever babies! Being [...]

Roaming Tales has been on a hiatus. These last few months have been extremely busy for me, with an international move from California back to my hometown of Sydney, late pregnancy in a summer heat wave and finally the birth of these two delicious creatures three weeks ago. Of course, now that the twins are [...]

It’s been another super-awesome year for Passports with Purpose! We set ourselves a goal of raising $50,000 for LAFTI to build a village in India for people from the Dalit (“Untouchable”) caste. We’ve raised $52,000 so far! That is thanks to the collective efforts of the founders, participating bloggers, sponsors and everyone who has bought [...]

In two weeks’ time I will be flying from the United States to Australia – we’re moving home. If I get asked to go through the full-body scanner – whether it’s the millimetre-wave machine or the back-scatter machine – I will be opting out. I won’t be doing this as a form of protest. I [...]

Call me suspicious, but I think the TSA has just made a rather brilliant PR move. Today is the day before Thanksgiving in the United States. It was also the day nominated for “National Opt-Out Day” when travellers across America would protest the TSA’s new security measures and opt for an enhanced pat-down rather than [...]