The World Incorporated Travel Blog

Tag: Queensland

  • Waltzing Maltilda, Back in the States

    Waltzing Maltilda, Back in the States

    Photo: stars & palm trees in Queensland, Australia
    A clear night on Kewarra Beach in Queensland.

    Waltzing Matilda is not a woman who likes to dance in rhythmic one-two-threes. Rather, it’s a squatter’s knapsack  endearingly named Matilda (that’s a rough “American” translation).

    If you’re perplexed with the reference of “Waltzing Matilda,” familiarize yourself with the song that was almost Australia’s National Anthem by watching this YouTube video.

    Now, I didn’t name my traveling bags Matilda, but these bags are back home in the states and can you even believe it, they’ve been sitting here emptied and unused for 10 days now. They are having an identity crisis; they may just name themselves Matilda anyway. And 10 days after my return I’m still wondering if the trip to Australia really happened or if it was just a 2 week dream that ended in what feels like a blink.

    I’m still processing two weeks of culture, adventure, excursions, food, landscapes, people… I’m still sifting through thousands of photos and hours of GoPro video. I’m still trying to figure out how I can express on this blog & give justice to a place that is truly spectacular.

    I can’t wait to share my experiences in Australia – Sydney & Tropical North Queensland & Hamilton Island – so stay tuned for some down under love!

  • A Queensland Itinerary for a Queen

    PFI Patio
    The current view of my office patio.  Fancy an outdoor lunch? And after we can go deep-snow diving for frozen squirrels.

    The ground is blanketed in white. The temperature is flirting with subzero numbers. I spend almost 2 hours per day staring at cars’ rears and 8 hours looking out at a parking lot (actually, there’s so much snow outside my cubicle window, I can barely see over the berm).  While this is my current realty, there’s another reality that is unfolding – the realty that soon I will embark on a journey to Australia.

    The dream in my head of palm trees and blue oceans and tropical fish feels out of reach.  It’s crazy that it’s been months since I won a trip to Queensland from this entry and now it’s less than 3 months until I’m going on the vacation of my life. (more…)

  • The Unnecessarily Elaborate Story of How I’m Going to Australia

    Image Source: JohnnyJet.com
    Image Source: JohnnyJet.com

    I won a trip to Queensland, Australia.  Check the date; it isn’t April 1.  I still can barely believe it and it’s been a solid 7 months of processing this information.

    Back in June I made the decision to try to jump back into travel blogging.  It had been a year since I returned from my European backpacking adventure.  I perused through some old posts and reminisced about the joy of traveling & the fulfillment from writing about it.  The flame was rekindled when I published a couple posts.  During my lunch breaks I began collecting the blogs of career travel writers.  I ate their content like chocolate and felt sick with admiration & slightly jealous of their jetsetter lifestyle.  I’d return to my stable, stationary cubicle and continue with my 8 hour workday at my computer screen.

    On one particular lunch break, I escaped from the frigid air conditioned office and soaked up the sun on the office patio.  As I browsed through a series of travel sites, a “Top 10 Travel Blogs of 2013” article caught my attention.  An appealing site was “JohnnyJet.com” – what a clever name!  At first brush, I was turned off by this “blog” – it seemed more like a busy commerce website than the typical format of personal travel tales (I’m a novice, remember?).  Just as my finger extended to tap the back button, the line “Travel Blogger Contest” jumped off the page.

    Oh, blogger contest? Really!? I’m a travel blogger! Kinda… (more…)