In this blog, I want to share why travel is so important to me — and I’d really love to hear from you too. What kind of travel excites and inspires you?
Where It All Began
Growing up in Zimbabwe as a teenager in the 60s, there was no internet, social media or mobile phones. My desire to travel was born from books — and a curious spirit.
Back then, most people left school and worked in the same job for 25 years, eventually receiving a gold watch for their loyalty. But I didn’t know what I wanted to “do” to make a living. What I did know was that I wanted to work in different countries, to travel and discover new things.
My family enjoyed exploring. We often visited places that madalas (older African men respected in the community) had shared with my parents — places of special meaning such as:
- caves
- canyons with hot springs or unusual rock formations
- riverbanks where Arab dhows once moored during the slave trade
- sacred trees and natural landmarks
The only regular travel we did outside Zimbabwe was spending six weeks exploring the Mozambique coastline in two cars, with a trailer full of camping gear. For four years in a row, we explored different areas and caught up with friends we’d met on earlier trips. People were incredibly generous with their time, often arranging for us to visit places of special significance to them.
If that kind of adventure travel interests you, you might enjoy my blog Memories of Mozambique.
Organised Travel vs. Independent Wandering
Social media and online booking platforms have made choosing travel destinations quick and easy — sometimes too easy. We’re constantly shown “deals” and “must-do” experiences that tend to funnel everyone into the same kinds of holidays.
And that’s fine — especially if time is limited.
But after six years of living aboard Nichola, and several road trips in our campervan, I’ve come to realise that highly organised travel just isn’t for me anymore.
I groan inwardly when friends talk about going to the same holiday home each year, doing the same things with the same people. How do they meet new people or experience the unexpected if everything is so familiar?
I’ve done a cruise and — to be fair — I did enjoy it at the time. But now, after sailing independently, the idea of being “stuck” with so many people and a fixed itinerary just doesn’t appeal. I can’t help wondering what we might be missing on such a tightly controlled schedule.
Friendships Forged Through Travel
If you follow our Sail With Us A While Facebook page, you’ll know how much we loved being aboard Nichola and exploring the world under sail.
We lived aboard from 2016 until Covid interrupted things. We started with the east coast of Australia, giving me time to find my sea legs — I’d never sailed before meeting my partner, Ken.
Ken was already a qualified sailor and taught me everything I know. I’m proud to say that I now feel confident I could sail us to safety alone, if needed.
In 2017, we sailed to New Zealand via Lord Howe Island, then continued on to Tonga, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Each stop brought new friendships and invitations to explore places we’d never have found on our own.
In Vanuatu, we met Martin and Gwen, a young couple from New Caledonia. We buddy-sailed with them along Australia’s east coast and on to Tasmania. When Covid struck, their yacht was stuck in Tasmania. Once borders opened again, we helped sail it back to New Caledonia — a journey I wrote about here https://bronhogan.com/returning-sv-no-soucy-to-new-caledonia-part-1/
Another couple, Rob and Barbara, who were circumnavigating the globe in their yacht Zoonie, also became great friends. We hosted them in Tasmania and later circumnavigated the island together. https://bronhogan.com/circumnavigating-tasmania-on-sv-nichola/
A few years ago we flew to the UK and enjoyed exploring the Inner Hebrides, Scotland with them on Zoonie.
Travelling on Land — a Different Kind of Adventure
During Covid, a sailing family with three kids was stranded in Australia. We lent them our little car, which we kept in Brisbane. When they were given the all clear to leave Australia we decided to fly up to Bundaberg and collect it ourselves, using it as an excuse for a road trip.
I posted on our Sail With Us A While Facebook page, asking followers for tips on where to stop — and, jokingly, added: “And if you have a spare bed, we’ll bring wine!”
The response was incredible. We spent months on the road, visiting amazing places and meeting generous, fascinating people — and we didn’t pay for a single night’s accommodation.
Oh, the power of social media!
Campervan Travel: The Joy of the Open Road
A few years ago, we bought a second-hand campervan and began exploring Tasmania by land. After tweaking the interior to suit our style, we set off for our first mainland Australia adventure.
We had a rough route planned — just enough to give us direction. Our first destination was Whyalla, South Australia, where we swam with the giant cuttlefish. Sharing our travels on our SailWithUsAWhile facebook page is done while we are on the move and when wifi reception allows.
Here are just some of the places we visited on that journey:
- Melbourne
- Port Fairy
- Fleurieu Peninsula
- Whyalla
- Adelaide
- Lightning Ridge
- Emerald
- Roma
- Charters Towers
- Atherton Tablelands
- Cairns
- Port Douglas
- Townsville
- Mackay
- Coffs Harbour
- Sydney
- Blue Mountains
- Lakes Entrance
- Wilsons Promontory
- Albury
- Back to Melbourne, and then home to Tasmania
In Conclusion
Travel, for me, is about curiosity, freedom, and connection. It’s about discovering places that aren’t on the brochure — and forming friendships that last long after the journey ends.
Now, over to you:
What kind of travel lights you up?
Are you a planner, a wanderer, or something in between?
I’d love to hear your travel stories — feel free to share in the comments or message me directly. Let’s swap tales.
I love a bit of both. My kids need some rough plan to be comfortable, so knowing where we are staying on which days and roughly what we would like to do when we get there helps, but both my husband and I also like to explore if something interesting comes up. So we generally will stay in one place for two or more days if time permits to give us time to explore and decide if we want to investigate a cave we were told about or follow an interesting sign. We will give ourselves a day to get somewhere that is only two hrs drive away to accommodate our spontaneity if it accors. So we plan to be spontaneous! Which I know is an odd thing, but with both kids being nuerodivergent we need time for them to process the change of plans. I have found over time that when we let them know this day is a “let’s see what we find day”, they will be more open to going with the flow. Which means everyone has a good time. Two of our family members like talking to random people, which also opens up opportunities and has led to us exploring places we had not heard of before…
Thanks for your detailed response, Tam. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences.
I love the idea of making time for ‘spontaneity’.
It has really got me thinking more about traveling with a family and how important it is to make plans to ‘go with the flow’.
Awesome
Love following ‘Sail with Us”. Bron certainly is very entertaining.
Thanks, Christine, we look forward to catching up with you when we are in your state again.
I’d say I’m a bit of a mix—a wanderer at heart with a healthy respect for a good plan.
I grew up camping in old-school canvas tents on beaches and in forests, where the days were long, the sand was everywhere, and the campfire stories were endless. I also spent part of my childhood sailing between hemispheres on large sailboats while my parents worked on board—life was literally in motion, shaped by the wind and tides.
Later, I travelled through Europe by hovercraft, ferry, plane, car, bus, and train—each journey opening up amazing scenery, unforgettable artworks, and the chance to meet people from different cultures. That kind of immersive travel, from nature to art to connection, planted a strong desire in me to keep exploring—and to pass that love of adventure on to my own children.
Over the years, we’ve travelled as a family in all kinds of ways: sometimes with a group itinerary all mapped out, and other times just wandering freely and seeing where we landed. Now that the kids have grown up and left home, my partner and I love to plan a getaway every couple of months. We have so much fun choosing the destination, the transport, who we’ll travel with, and how long we’ll go.
We feel incredibly lucky to call Australia home—it’s the perfect base for both big overseas trips and spontaneous weekends away.
Thanks for your beautiful blog, Bron. It continues to inspire us to stay curious and keep exploring.
Thanks for your lovely comment, Hel. I appreciate you sharing your story with us.
I like to go to new destinations each time and have learnt that revisiting a favourite place is never as good as the first time. My love of travel started from my love of maps. Curiosity is the main motivation for my travels whether it be a place close by or far away in a distant land. Meeting new people all over the world has shown me that most people are decent and kind and some of the happiest are some of the poorest.
Thanks for your comment, Marc, I agree very much with most people being decent and kind.
And, yes, often the happiest people are the poorest too! I remind myself often that having ‘enough’ is the most important thing in the world.
I love to travel too, Bron, and your blog has re-ignited my inner travel bug!
I have followed your Facebook page ‘Sail With Us’ Facebook page for some time now and absolutely love all of your stories and adventures.
You and Ken certainly make the most out of life.
I look forward to hearing of your next adventure.
Thank you so much Desma. We look forward to experiencing it! hehe
We are known as Decaf Detours because Dean and Cath (De Cath) are always talking the road less traveled
We always have a rough destination but somehow always get sidetracked to somewhere else interesting or that someone has suggested we should go
We love meeting people and hearing of their experiences and often this is the reason for our detours
We have made some lifelong friends on the road and also so many amazing memories with them
Keep inspiring people Bron you definitely are an inspiration and we look forward to meeting you on the road wherever that might be
Thanks, Dean & Cath, I look forward to ‘bumping’ into you guys again somewhere ‘out there’
So many ways of travel and I like them all!Love independent travel when I’m in control what adventures will do and how long we stay in each place! Always start with a loose plan with plenty room for changes While we are retired now we can afford the extra time.The important things for us is to book in advance the key attractions like boats and scuba diving etc as those often not available the last minute! Also some accomodation for those days we know what we are doing! It’s much easier to do it before the trip.
Thanks for your response and reminding us how important it is to book in advance for key attractions.
I used to be far less structured and enjoy that type of holiday, but with a little one now we tend to plan ahead a bit more to make sure we get in lots of kid friendly activities she will enjoy.
Thanks for sharing that, I guess, because I no longer have to care for little ones, I have got rather used to the freedom it gives one!
Being sailors like Ken and you, we like a combination of structured and unstructured travels. At sea, we love to explore depending on what Mother Nature has to offer. On land, it would usually take us a little more planning to visit different places. It was this kind of open mindset that brought us to meet people like you! Thanks for sharing your insights and journeys with us.
Thank you so much for responding to my blog, Will. I hope we meet up with you somewhere ‘out there with mother nature’ again. We enjoy following your travels with Chloe so much too.