Life

Adventures at home

Australians have always been drawn to travel. Leaving home, and even living overseas for extended periods, is an Australian rite of passage with the experiences forming important perspectives as we return and then move on through our lives.

Selector loves travel; we believe that life is enriched by the exploration and the personal discovery of great food, wine and culture from all over the globe. We love these discoveries, and we also love understanding our motivations.

Travel is particularly important to Australians because of our geographic distance from the rest of the world. We want to experience the cultures and histories that we brought with us, or have broken off bits from and made our own. And while we’re there, we usually stay for a while and look around, because it’s a long way home and getting there is a trek.

We cherish our sense of adventure and like exploring. We like to be open and friendly when we scout around and we like to connect to a place and its people when we get there. And why not? We are a wealthy enough nation to do it and we generally get four weeks off a year, so it makes sense that we treat the world as our oyster.

According to the ABS, Australian residents took 11.3 million outbound international trips in 2019. Of these, nearly 60 percent were for holidays, with the most popular destinations being New Zealand, USA, Indonesia, UK and China. Loose calculations have us spending nearly $53 billion, with the average time being two weeks and the main reason for leaving to visit family and friends. 

But, despite wanting to get out into the world, we like travelling in our backyard more and more and spent almost double domestically ($102 billion) on overnight and day trips in 2018/2019. This desire to spend more time at home has been increasing year on year and this trend, even with the challenges that presented themselves in 2019 and 2020, doesn’t look like slowing any time soon.

Travelling Through Change   

It’s reasonable to say that no one alive has had a year like 2020. Locked-down and/or locked out, the confined, enforced pause had us appreciating the simpler things. As a result, we started thinking more about our backyard, a trend that began following the 2019/20 fires, when we sought to support our rural, agricultural and artisanal communities like never before.

From grape to grain, fish to cow, we are more motivated to keep these parts of our country breathing and now that we are a little less restricted, travel is a big driver in this change of attitude. Currently, one in three of us would rather stay and support our domestic industries, even if we could go overseas.

This issue, we have teamed up with some of our travel partners to showcase and celebrate some of the great options available to you when looking for your next adventure, break or roadtrip. From tropical beach getaways and riverboat, coastal and open ocean cruises to iconic, passion driven roadtrips, there’s plenty to be inspired by and dream about. Enjoy.

Choose your own adventure

Australia’s islands are the envy of the world for their size, beauty and unique wildlife populations. The largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island off the Queensland coast is home to towering rainforests, impossibly white beaches and crystal waters. While the adventurous can pitch a tent, if you’re looking for luxury, Kingfisher Island Resort is Fraser’s premium destination to indulge your senses. 

Further north, Magnetic Island provides another tropical paradise with palm-fringed beaches, coral reefs and the largest wild koala colony in Australia. And speaking of wildlife, way down south, Kangaroo Island is one of the country’s best destinations for spotting our native creatures, from kangaroos to echidnas, fur seals to sea-lions and more.

But, of course, for the world’s most comical wildlife selfie, you can head west to Rottnest to get cheeky with a quokka. 

Magnetic, Kangaroo and Rottnest Islands are all destinations offered by Brilliant Travels, bespoke holiday experts who specialise in island escapes. They’re also cruising aficionados who’ll see you sailing down the Swan River in Perth, Australia’s only capital city where you can access award-winning wine regions by river boat. Or cruising Sydney Harbour as you savour lunch with the sparkling city as your backdrop.

Naturally, staying safe on board is now front of mind more than ever and our cruising partners see your health as their top priority. As Princess Cruises get set to sail again in 2021/2022, they’ve introduced their MedallionClass Experience to their global fleet. As well as ensuring personalised service, the cruise line’s OceanMedallion wearable device significantly expands touch-free options when embarking and disembarking, making purchases, accessing entertainment, and more. 

On dry land, road trip choices are endless, from coastal drives to outback excursions. If you’re looking to head inland – think Arnhem Land, the Kimberley, Central Australia – it’s often better to have a local behind the wheel. And if they’re driving a 5-star Mercedes-Benz vehicle, even better. Outback Spirit is Australia’s leading small group outback tour operator waiting to take you to these destinations and more. 

But there’s a certain freedom in driving yourself too, allowing you to stop and explore whenever you please. Avis encourages you to hop in a hire car and find joy among the many regional destinations throughout the country. 

However you choose to spend your holidays, get set to cruise, drive, or simply relax your way into a bright new year.

Theres no better time to discover the treasures in our own backyard. From roadtrips to crusing, tours and more, theres plenty to plan in 2021.