Some conversations linger long after the microphone is switched off. This week’s Travel With Us A While podcast with Tasmanian storyteller and photographer Meg Jacobs is one of those. It wandered gently, like a quiet track through coastal scrub, touching on courage, solitude, wildlife encounters, and the magic that happens when you simply slow down and look.
Meg’s love affair with Tasmania didn’t begin with a grand plan or a bucket list. It began, as many good things do, with a single brave decision.
First solo trip to Stanley
Back in 2018, Meg decided she was done with waiting for others to be available. Life was busy, friends were busy – and Tasmania was right there, quietly waiting.
Her first solo booking was to Stanley. Excitement was mixed with nerves (and a healthy dose of self-doubt), but what she discovered was something many of us only learn later in life:
once you start saying yes to going on your own, the world opens up.
One trip led to another. The rush of discovering new places became a little addictive. And when Meg began sharing her images publicly, something unexpected happened – she realised she was never really alone at all.
Through comments, messages, shared memories and “I’ve always wanted to go there” moments, strangers became friends. Social media, used with heart and generosity, became a campfire where stories were exchanged.
I understood this deeply. It’s exactly what Ken and I experienced when we began sailing and started sharing our journey online. The friendships that grow this way are very real – built on shared wonder rather than shared resumes.
Tasmania: Where Magic Sneaks Up on You
Meg spoke about seeing a photo of the Tessellated Pavement years ago and thinking, That’s too far away – I’ll never get there.
Fast forward to today and “too far” no longer exists. Tasmania has taught her that distance shrinks when curiosity leads the way.
She describes the far south – places like Cockle Creek – as magical.
Midnight phone calls announcing an aurora, driftwood fires on the beach, full moons, quiet wine, and conversations with people who feel like old friends almost instantly.
And then there are the moments you don’t plan for:
- Wombats on beaches
- Dolphin sightings
- Seal pups along the east coast
- Wedgetail eagles circling patiently until, if you’re lucky, you finally capture them mid-flight
These things don’t reveal themselves to people who rush.
Slowing Down Is the Point
Early on, Meg travelled with lists, schedules, and carefully timed stops. Many of us do. But over time, her travel style softened.
Now she might turn down an unmarked track just to see what’s there.
She might arrive somewhere beautiful and… stay.
No agenda. No guilt.
Accommodation is no longer just a bed – it’s part of the experience. Farm stays, bush retreats, riverfront cabins with fires and generous hosts who share their own stories. Sometimes she doesn’t even leave the property.
And isn’t that a lesson worth remembering?
Travel doesn’t have to be about doing everything.
Sometimes it’s about watching an eagle pass overhead – something you’ll only notice if you stop long enough to look up.
Wildlife, Wonder & a Shared Love of Echidnas
Our conversation wandered, as good conversations do, into wildlife. I shared my long-standing love of echidnas (those waddling, determined little beings), my volunteer work with Bonorong Wildlife, and one unforgettable rescue that still makes me smile.
Meg, in turn, spoke about moments that surprised even her – like spotting an echidna in the water. (No, you don’t see that every day.)
Tasmania has a way of offering up these quiet miracles to people who walk gently through it.
The East Coast, the Far South… and Coming Back Again
When asked where visitors should spend their time, Meg did what most seasoned travellers do – she hesitated. Favourites are impossible.
But she spoke lovingly of:
- Binalong Bay and the Bay of Fires (with its shack vibes and soul-soothing beaches)
- Mount William National Park, where crowds thin out and nature carries on uninterrupted
- The joy of returning to the same place in different seasons
Tasmania, she reminds us, isn’t a one-visit destination. It reveals itself slowly, layer by layer.
Travel as Self-Care
One of my favourite parts of our chat was when we reframed travel not as a “holiday” but as self-care.
Meg put it beautifully:
It doesn’t have to be a big hike or a grand adventure.
It can be a wander.
A photo.
A quiet sit with the wind in your face and nothing on your mind except where you are, right now.
When you’re out there, the noise of life fades. Work, worries, expectations – they all fall away. What’s left is presence. And that, I believe, is deeply healing.
Sharing the Journey Matters
Meg started her Facebook page not to be an influencer, but to relive her own adventures and share them with others. In doing so, she’s become a guide for armchair travellers, for people who are time-poor, health-limited, or simply dreaming.
I know how powerful that is. We hear it all the time with our Travel With Us A While Facebook page:
“We travel with you.”
“You take us places we can’t go right now.”
And that is no small thing.
Meg, thank you for reminding us that you don’t need to go far to experience wonder – you just need to go open.
Keep wandering. Keep sharing. And please, never stop posting – some of us rely on our daily dose of Tasmanian magic.
Until next time,
Travel with us a while…
Click to listen to the podcast here:
