Some people collect souvenirs.
Others collect stories.
My guest on this week’s Travel With Us A While podcast has spent a lifetime collecting both.
When I first came across Tim Bunge’s photography on social media, I felt an immediate connection. His images weren’t the polished postcard shots designed to attract clicks and likes. They were photographs taken by someone genuinely paying attention to the world around him. Ancient trees. Forgotten railway tunnels. Remote mountain tops. Hidden pieces of history tucked away in places most people walk straight past.
As it turns out, Tim and I share a similar philosophy. We photograph what fascinates us.
Growing up on a farm in western Victoria, Tim discovered bushwalking at just fourteen years old. Armed with old army haversacks, uncomfortable packs and more enthusiasm than experience, he and his friends headed into the Grampians. They were terrified by strange grunting noises during the night until they discovered the “wild pigs” stalking their campsite were actually koalas.
The adventure bug had bitten.
Over the following decades Tim explored Australia’s wilderness areas, climbed mountains throughout Tasmania, completed some of Australia’s great long-distance walks and travelled extensively throughout the world.
But what fascinated me most wasn’t the destinations.
It was the people.
Travelling through Romania shortly after the fall of communism, Tim found himself invited into local homes almost every night. Farmers, families and complete strangers welcomed him as if he were an old friend.
In Syria, a chance meeting at an embassy led to an invitation to stay with a wealthy local family.
In Pakistan, he found himself travelling on an ancient bus full of Taliban fighters who shared their blankets, food and hospitality.
And in a tiny mountain town, he unexpectedly found himself chatting with Princess Diana.
Not bad for a backpacker carrying little more than a sleeping mat, a camera and a sense of curiosity.
One of the things I loved most about our conversation was Tim’s passion for history. Whether he’s researching abandoned mines in Tasmania, tracing family roots back to Germany, or uncovering stories hidden behind old photographs, he constantly reminds us that travel is about much more than ticking destinations off a list.
It’s about understanding people.
It’s about listening to stories.
It’s about recognising that every landscape has layers of history beneath the surface.
His family history journey alone could fill an entire book. Through persistence, old photographs and a little good fortune, Tim reunited pieces of his German family’s story that had been lost through wars, migration and time. Listening to him describe sharing those discoveries with his grandmother was one of the most moving moments of our conversation.
Today, while many travellers race from one Instagram location to the next, Tim still believes in slowing down.
Walking.
Observing.
Researching.
Learning.
And perhaps that’s why his stories resonate so strongly.
They remind us that the world is still full of wonder if we’re willing to take the time to notice it.
As Tim prepares for another five-month adventure through Europe, Scandinavia and Japan, I suspect he’s nowhere near finished collecting stories.
And I have a feeling we’ll be hearing many more of them in the future.
Listen to the full podcast here:
Check out Tim’s Facebook page here for more adventures.
