Travel Goals
The Goal
My travels in Tasmania
My long term goal is to travel everywhere in Australia and New Zealand.
Taken to it’s literal extreme, this could mean visiting every town, road, and every place in between - a goal which probably can’t be fully achieved in one lifetime. Still, I want to try to explore as much of these great countries as I can, in as much detail as I can, and enjoy the life-long journey.
Why?
I feel as if I was born with an in-built need to travel, and having travelled fairly extensively in Australia and New Zealand I’ve grown to love these great south lands. I’ve travelled overseas too, but keep feeling drawn back to home territory. Partly because it makes good practical and economical sense to explore my own backyard, rather than further afield. And partly because my visits elsewhere, and what I’ve learned through others, have helped me realise just how blessed we are down under. It really is a great part of the world.
My travels in southwest Western Australia
So Far
To track my progress, I’ve begun marking my journeys on scanned copies of maps. This gives a quick visual overview of where I’ve been so far, and the unmarked areas highlight the parts I’ve yet to visit. The maps on this page show my coverage of Tasmania, the southwest section of Western Australia, and the south island of New Zealand - these are the areas I’ve covered most thoroughly. I’ve also covered a lot of Victoria and New South Wales, but haven’t got around to doing similar maps of these states yet.
Still To Come
Although I’ve explored parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, I’ve only scratched the surface of these states in comparison to the others. I’ve also visited New Zealand’s north island, but have only scratched the surface there too. The north of Western Australia has yet to see my footprints.
Because I prefer cooler weather, I’ve naturally given priority to the cooler or more mountainous southern parts. I aim to cover all the warmer and northern parts too, eventually.
My travels in New Zealand, south island
My Travel Methods
Here are some of the main aspects of how I travel, which is relevant because it largely determines what you’ll find (and not find) on this site:
- I travel independantly, having never been on a package tour (nothing wrong with that; it’s just not for me).
- I travel slowly, taking time to soak up the scenery and seek out places that could be missed on a quick visit.
- I visit places more than once. Return visits over a long period, and in different seasons, allow a place to be more fully appreciated. Anyway, it’s usually not possible to see everything a place has to offer in just one visit.
- I stay in budget accommodation, because I can only travel extensively and repeatedly if I can minimise accommodation costs.
- I focus on natural attractions, rather than commercial attractions and activities (which can be expensive).
- I prefer to avoid crowds, travelling out of season and avoiding holiday periods whenever possible. This saves money, but also allows most aspects of travelling to be enjoyed more.