Freelance journalist, copywriter and editor
It’s no secret that Airbnb is booming, with 70,000 listings in Australia alone – double that of last year.
But while its founders are laughing all the way to the bank, Airbnb’s success is also paying dividends for the many businesses that have sprung up around it.
ShortPress. Full story here
Without getting too salty, losing your ‘virginity’ (cruise virginity that is) is apparently quite the big deal.
Indeed, it’s clear there are two types of people on any cruise. Those who have, and those who have not sailed the high seas.
Those who know the difference between a boat and a ship, for example. Or those who can stroll from starboard to port without a second thought.
Traveller, Fairfax Media. Full story here
Can you fall head over heels at first sight if the object of your affections is considered lazy, dirty and only goes to the toilet once a week?
The answer – clearly written across the charmed faces of our group at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica – is a most definite YES.
“It’s very easy to fall in love with a sloth,” confirms guide Jeff Rochte, clearly himself smitten with the slow-moving, ever-smiling animals.
Rochte, an American who has lived in Costa Rica for the past nine years, is here to help carry on the legacy started by his grandparents – Alaskan Judy Avey-Arroyo and her late husband, Costa Rican Luis Arroyo.
Traveller, Fairfax Media. Full story here.
It’s a wild old day when I meet Australian Sarah Trinler and her Swiss-American husband Scotti in a small surfing town on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
The tropical rain is thundering down, and we’re trading shouts to make ourselves heard. The town’s main, dirt road is turning into a sloshy mud bath.
Powerful things seem to happen in this part of the world – surfboards are snapped in two by unforgiving waves, rivers flood, kaleidoscope-coloured sunsets put on a nightly show and crocodiles swim among stand-up paddle boarders.
But last year something completely unexpected struck at the heart of everything the Trinlers – a world-travelling, thrill-seeking couple – loved.
MySmallBusiness, Fairfax Media. Full story here
Janine Hall’s first attempt at running her dream business turned into a bit of a nightmare.
Realising her high-flying city life as a marketing executive was making her “lonely and sad and incredibly unhealthy,” Hall dusted off some old business plans and flew to Brazil’s north to launch a surfing and yoga retreat, dropping $60,000 in the process.
But the timing was shocking.
MySmallBusiness, Sydney Morning Herald. Full story here
He’s been mobbed at airports in Asia, whips up an online frenzy in the US and was once called on to talk all things YouTube with former PM Julia Gillard.
But online cooking star Rob “Nicko” Nixon recorded arguably his biggest success yet when his world-beating YouTube channel, Nicko’s Kitchen, hit the 100 million view mark in February.
Goodfood.com.au. Full story here
In the past 15 months, I’ve lived in 10 houses across Melbourne – and haven’t paid a cent in rent, electricity, gas or water bills.
The New Daily. Full story here
Our Cuban salsa instructor demands, ”Look at me like you love me!”, his face just centimetres away on a sweat-soaked Havana morning.
He sashays effortlessly across the tiled floor, an open window providing minimal relief from the heat as salsa beats pour out of an old CD player. ”Moooove your body. One, two, three!”
Leonardo, a former doctor, has swapped his stethoscope for salsa shoes and has landed my amiga and me on day two of our Cuban adventure. Having caught the salsa bug in Melbourne, we’re here to learn from the best but we’re off to a nervy start. ”Move your shoulders!” he says, as we double over with laughter.
In Cuba, the Castro-loving Caribbean island still largely cut off from the world, one thing hasn’t changed – music’s in the blood, and salsa dancing is as natural as walking.
Traveller, Fairfax Media. Full story here
What started out as a way to relax after a hard day’s work has turned into a tourist trap in Laos, writes Larissa Ham.
The man who claims he accidentally started the tourist craze of tubing in the Laos riverside town of Vang Vieng says its popularity is now hurting the town and its culture.
Thousands of tourists visit Vang Vieng each year – about four hours’ bus ride north of the capital city, Vientiane – to float on a rubber tube down the Nam Song River and to party at rickety riverside bars.
Traveller, Fairfax Media. Full story here
