![[detail]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4793462184_9b4c701c34.jpg)
Detail of Painting on handmade Thai paper, 70 x 100cm, 2010
My life is split between two amazing cities: Sydney and Bangkok. At first glance they seem to have little in common besides loads of fresh produce and a generous dose of sunshine. Bangkok has double the population, ten times the pollution, and costs a fraction of what it takes to live in Sydney. But both cities are a haven for long-term travelers – and the travel industry that caters to them.
Last night the Sydney Travel Tribe met in the city’s CBD (Central Business District), and we talked late into the evening, fuelled by a World Nomads-sponsored bar tab. Most of us run websites – like the Travel Tribe co-founder Ian, who runs Travellr.com – or we write about travel online. It was an excellent chance to talk travel p*rn. I saw Stuart from Travelfish for the first time in years; met Brooke, a fellow American in Sydney; ran into Dina, who’s passing through town on her trip around the world; was bowled over by the character behind Brokepacker, a new discount hostel site; met several writers; and had a look at the BUG guidebook and publisher.
All of the websites at Travel Tribe have different goals. Their creators range from burgeoning travelwriters to seasoned guidebook professionals.
But one thing we all have in common: without exception, we’d all skimp on our hotel room for the sake of an extra beer.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stuart McDonald. Stuart McDonald said: RT @Ebriel: One thing travelwriters have in common: they'd skimp on the hotel room, not the beer: http://bit.ly/cBunkI #sydneytraveltribe [...]
Love this
It is SO very true!
Hi Elizabeth – thanks for the writeup about Travel Tribe!
I should make a slight correction and point out that I’m a co-founder of Sydney Travel Tribe amongst many wonderful people who’ve helped along the way, including:
Alicia Smith (worldnomads.com), Kevin Lippy (brokepacker.com), Brooke Schoenman (brookevstheworld.com), Graham Robertson (projectwander.com), and Michael Ball (from TNT)
We don’t have a doctrine other than to turn up, invite and welcome others to our tribe, and talk about travel! Oh – and extra beer of course!
- Ian
Ah, I had a great time that night! Nice talking to you there, Elizabeth! I’m looking forward to seeing everybody again in the next meeting. There were so many people there, I didn’t get the chance talking to everybody yet. It’s very nice to put faces and characters to names tat previously we just know from blogs and twitter. Also nice to meet new wonderful people like you!
Oh, I forgot to mention, I like the drawing in this post!