Some trips stay neatly on an itinerary.
Others unfold kilometre by kilometre, detour by detour, until you realise you’ve fallen a little bit in love.
This week on Travel With Us A While, I had the pleasure of chatting with Brianna Leake, who recently took on one of my favourite places on Earth — Tasmania — in a compact motorhome, entirely on her own.
Nineteen days.
Twelve stops.
2,561 kilometres.
And around 280 litres of fuel.
But numbers only tell part of the story.
A “Mini New Zealand”… and Then Some
Before this trip, Tasmania wasn’t high on Brianna’s travel wish list. Like many younger travellers, her heart had been pulled overseas — Europe, America, Indonesia, Canada. Friends told her Tassie was like a mini New Zealand.
After nearly three weeks circling the island, she agrees — and then some.
From rolling farmland to dense rainforest, rugged coastline to mirror-still lakes, she didn’t experience a single dull stretch of road. In fact, she joked that Tasmania is not a place where you want to fall asleep as a passenger. There’s simply too much to see.
Wildlife That Makes You Slow Down
Brianna has road-tripped before — including a solo Sydney-to-Cairns adventure — but Tasmania introduced her to a whole new level of roadside magic.
Echidnas waddling across the bitumen.
Wombats grazing along fence lines.
Birdlife everywhere.
Cows and sheep calmly claiming the landscape as their own.
She found herself pulling over constantly — not because she had to, but because Tasmania gently insists that you slow down, step out, and pay attention.
Signs Worth Following
Some of the best moments weren’t planned at all.
A handwritten sign pointing to Little Blue Lake — “Why not?”
A sign for Lake Leake, sharing her surname — spotted too late for a detour (next time, Brianna!).
Tasmania rewards curiosity. If you follow the sign, chances are you’ll be glad you did.
Discovering the Joy of Solo Travel
Brianna travelled completely solo — a choice that once made her hesitate.
Not out of fear, but uncertainty. Would she enjoy her own company for weeks on end?
As it turns out — she loved it.
No compromises.
No rushing.
No pressure to stick to schedules.
Some days she’d leave one place at 9am and arrive at the next destination just before sunset, simply because she kept stopping. Wandering. Exploring. Sitting quietly somewhere beautiful.
Solo travel, she says, has changed her — and changed her for the better.
Three Places That Stole Her Heart
Every journey has its stand-out moments, and Brianna’s voice lit up when she spoke about these three:
Stanley
Penguins waddling straight through the caravan park at night.
The Nut rising dramatically above the coastline.
She stayed at the Big4 — completely unaware of the nightly penguin parade until the receptionist casually mentioned it. A real-life Happy Feet moment.
Cradle Mountain
Her first ever experience of snow.
Watching it fall while soaking in a spa, Christmas movie playing, snow drifting through the trees.
The next morning, the mountain dusted in white. A bucket-list moment she’ll never forget.
St Helens
Quiet. Gentle. Beautiful.
That special East Coast calm that makes you slow your breathing without even realising it. A place she’d happily return to.
Just a Taste — Not the Whole Feast
Even with nineteen days on the road, Brianna knows she barely scratched the surface.
Tasmania is like that. The more you see, the more you realise how much there still is to discover.
She’s already planning her return.
And Brianna — if you loved Tassie, just wait until you see Flinders Island.
Tassie on steroids 😉
Thank you, Brianna, for sharing your journey around our island state. And to our listeners — may this inspire you to take the detour, follow the sign, and make time for the places that surprise you most.
Listen to Brianna’s full story on Spotify:
