About Me

I love to travel and I love to write. 

Like a lot of  Aussie kids, I grew up camping, sailing and holidaying at caravan parks along the east coast of Australia, staying in budget accommodation with my family.  The yearning for adventure  my mum and stepdad gave me in my early years took hold and I booked my first overseas holiday to Bali in 1991, an end of high school present to myself.

I never looked back, the travel bug  bit me hard and I have visited more than 30 countries since that first Garuda flight.

A journey begins for me with the idea.  It then grows as I spend hours reading and researching the Internet;  blogs, websites and pinterest for images and information about my destination.  I read books about the places I want to go, watch movies and scan magazines to absorb what I can for a greater understanding of where I am travelling to.

This blog started as way to help friends and family traverse the globe, to share in my experience and help others find the freedom and joy of travel.  It is also a little bit of therapy.  I am now raising a young family so the three month backpacking trips are very limited.  Writing helps me revisit the wonderful places I have seen and relive the memories I cherish.

Gate 77 is definitely not about the latest hipster hangouts or for those seeking hard core action adventure.  If you are after that, go to another blog.   That is not how I am wired.  I am what you would call your average traveller.  I like to rough it sometimes,  I like to wing it and have travelled independently but I don't scoff at the comfort of hotels or at the path most travelled.   I have enjoyed package tours, jump on jump off buses and have backpacked on my own.  I don't believe in travel snobbery or becoming blase about the world.     Each adventure, experience and location is like opening a present, full of excitement and wonder.

What I do hope,  is that this blog helps you take the plunge and engage in the amazing world we live in.  That it helps you to get out there and get to know the people around you wherever you are.   Try new and exciting experiences, embrace the differences of this world and absorb the beauty of our fragile planet.  But mostly I hope it lets you escape from your routine, dust off the cobwebs and incites you to try somewhere or something new. 

I now have a baby and a dog, so the focus will shift no doubt to more family friendly Australasian locations.   Fortune allowing I still hope to do many trips with my little family, both in Australia and overseas and cannot wait to share these with you.

Until then, enjoy the memories, the latest experience and my random musings on life and parenting.  I wish you happy travels and I hope to see you on the road or at Gate 77 checking in soon.

Trudi