~ Hometown Tourist or Worldwide Traveller ~

To stay near or go far that is the question that Terri from Second Wind Leisure is asking this week for the Sunday Stills Challenge.

For me it will always be to travel far and hopefully on a plane to somewhere exotic. But any kind of travelling is okay, as long as it involves a suitcase and a new destination. I love the planning stage of a trip and normally by the end of it I know the place inside out! Sometimes I’ve completely changed my mind after sifting through reviews and images of the destination I had in mind.

During the two year “lockdown” that Australia had – no-one in and no-one out – only the most extenuating circumstances accepted, we did a few “home” trips. By that I don’t mean staying in the house but actually exploring Western Australia. Western Australia was the most locked in state, we couldn’t even travel to anywhere in Australia.

We did most of this travelling in the South West of Western Australia and tried to go to towns that we had never been before, although one trip was to Kalgoorlie which is 600 km east of Perth.

I have written posts about most of these mini-breaks but here’s a gallery of some of the photos.

Mini Breaks – 2020

  • Porongurup Hills
  • Porongurup National Park
  • Lake Muir
  • The Glastonbury Tree, Pemberton
  • Pemberton
  • A night at the Historic Caves House
  • Badgingarra
  • Buntine Rock
  • Rothsay
  • Dunsborough
  • Dunsborough

2020 was also the last year that my parents would visit us, so Covid was good in the fact that they had to stay for five months and not their normal three! My nephew was also visiting and we had some wonderful days out.

  • Gidgeganup
  • Gidgeganup
  • Shelley Beach
  • Cottesloe Beach
  • Baskerville Winery

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”

Away somewhere in the World

Discover more from Travels with Ali

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Author: Alison

Hi A nanny of two and a mum of two adult children, mum to two fur babies and wife of one. I love to travel and up until recently travelled the world, now exploring Western Australia! I play bridge, board games, read dance and blog in my spare time.

30 thoughts on “~ Hometown Tourist or Worldwide Traveller ~”

  1. That last quote sounds like a definition of retirement too, Alison. But it’s as busy as you want it to be and you certainly make the most of yours.

  3. Like you I’m always happiest when I have my suitcase packed and I’m off to explore a new part of the world! And I too love the planning phase 🙂 But the pandemic showed most of us that we can find fun things to do and places to see closer to home if necessary.

    1. Thanks for your comments Sarah, the pandemic did have some good points, making us appreciate what’s on our own doorstep

  4. Pingback: Sunday Stills: Why I Chose a #Staycation Over a #Vacation – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

  5. Yep, I like that last quote, too (I almost used it myself), Ali! While traveling abroad is so sought-after, I’m sure it was nice to explore your own areas. Australia is such a destination, I’m sure you enjoyed checking out the sights like a local! Probably the only good thing about the pandemic restrictions is that many of us took this option. I enjoy planning our road trips and securing reservations at the KOA campgrounds along the way, Plans do change though, so flexibility is a good thing! Great post to show your area!

  6. We absolutely love the planning and research stage…all a big part of the fun and stimulation of travel. Love buying a big “old school” map, laying it out on the floor and poring over it as we plan our routes. One if the best things about going home is starting to plan the next one!

    1. Oh yes that’s right Phil, plan the next trip while you’re still on a trip
      I don’t use big maps I like to zoom in on google maps and look at the images to see if the place is worth a look

      1. Michaela usually does the zooming in bit and homes in on the specifics and then runs them past me for consensus. Each stage of planning has its own pleasure. We got home about an hour ago and Michaela is already printing off calendar pages so we can plan dates! Love it…

  7. I also love the planning part of travel. I currently have a nine-page itinerary for our upcoming week-long road trip. Your stay at home travels look like they were wonderful. Maybe someday we can come to visit some of your national parks.

  9. I love the photo of you on the beach
    And also – we had fun doing local travel during the the pandemic too – well sort of local –

    1. Yes very Teresa, you could go somewhere different every week in Victoria but we are quite limited here! That’s why we love to visit Melbourne

  12. Ali, Lovely photos of your mini-breaks. In the first two years of the pandemic, I also had fun exploring places close to home.

Comments are closed.

Discover more from Travels with Ali

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading