By It’s been a few weeks between bites but Bite with a Blogger is finally back!
My recent travels have meant I haven’t been in Sydney long enough or often enough to sit down with a fellow blogger, eat some delicious food, and do a little bit of chin-wagging. This one was actually done several weeks ago with the lovely Annie from Wayward Traveller. She’s just been a tad slow in getting her answers back to me >_>
I met Annie the way I seem to have met most Bite with a Blogger participants – on Twitter. But right after we had our bite to eat at Jazz City Diner, she tagged along for all of the fun of the recent Tea Gardens adventure.
But answer she did! So let’s get on with the show.
The Venue
You may have recently read a guest post here about Sydney’s vintage scene. One of the locations Michelle suggested was the very cool Jazz City Diner.
Growing up in Australia we’re inundated with images of deliciously frosty root beer floats; decadent hamburgers served with curly fries; and steaming hot apple pie – but it’s remarkably hard to actually get these things in Australia.
You’d think a country as Westernized as Australia would have caught on to the wonder of diner food, but it just hasn’t caught on. Thankfully there are places like Jazz City Diner and Norfolk Hotel (more about this venue soon) catering to those of us who want a more ‘traditional’ American dining experience.
We arrived with rumbling stomachs and immediately faced the age old dilemma of deciding what to order. Did I want the Texas Chili Cheese Burger, the Kansas City style BBQ pork ribs, or the chicken and waffles? Should I drink an old fashioned milkshake, a frosty glass of Dr. Pepper, or a root beer float? And would I have room for a slice of banana cream pie?
First world problems of the most delicious variety.
I eventually settled on the Texas style chili cheese burger and a milkshake. Anne opted for a milkshake of her own and the chicken & waffles.
And away we go!
The Questions
So, how long have you been travel blogging?
I started blogging for family while I was abroad in Sydney in 2009. And by blogging for family I mean I wrote approximately three posts in five months.
While I was living in Florence, I had nothing better to do so I would write about my daily trials and tribulations while it poured icy rain outside. One day I discovered a couple of self-hosted travel blogs and I was in awe. Then I met some of the bloggers and they encouraged me (and held my hand) as I embarked on creating my very own self-hosted blog.
I guess that answers my ‘Why did you start a travel blog’ question then…
Yeah.
Boredom. Let’s be honest.
What made you choose the Wayward Traveller name?
It just came to me. I used to say that my friend and I in Sydney were Wayward Travelers. I don’t know where it even came from, it just seemed like we were doing things different, even though looking back, we absolutely were not. A star was born.
Where have you been so far?
Do you want me to list each city individually? Don’t mind if I do.
I guess to be fair I first traveled internationally to Canada, a nice three hour drive across the border. I was introduced to the world outside of the U.S. and it looked shockingly similar. In Canada I’ve seen Vancouver, Whistler and Kimberley. Lots of ski trips in high school and drinking trips in college.
My third year in college I embarked on the cliched Mexican Spring Break in Puetra Vallarta. That was good fun.
Then I boarded my first (real) international flight, and freaked out to my brother about getting lost in the international wing of the Seattle Airport as I boarded a giant plane to Sydney. While here the first time around I saw most of the east coast (backpackers destinations anyway) as well as Christchurch and Queenstown in New Zealand and some of the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.
In the States I have seen the least ten or eleven states. I have so much left to see there (and so much that is not worth seeing). We’ll have to put more quality time into it sometime in the future.
In Europe I was lucky to have a job that allowed me to travel for free. I saw some of the most famous cities as well as having the freedom to see some of what the company didn’t offer in my spare time. I’ve been to parts of Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, England, Ireland, Greece, and the Netherlands.
That’s quite a list. So where to next?
I plan on sticking around here for a while. I’ll do some small trips before planning something bigger. I have my eyes set on the Northern Territory, the West Coast, and Tassie.
What has been your most memorable travel experience?
The entire five months I was in Sydney are pretty memorable (thanks to the photos, otherwise I might not remember anything!). I met some amazing friends from all over the world and we generally just lived the most care-free life possible. Sydney was the perfect setting for that life.
What’s the scariest/most exciting thing you’ve done while traveling?
I’ll have to go with the typical answer and say it was bungy-jumping. I know at this point, everyone’s done it but I wasn’t planning on it. I like to think that I’m adventurous but actually I can be a bit of a wimp. I did it because my friends told me that they had already paid and I had no choice.
Some friends huh?
It was one of the best experiences of my life, even though I still get butterflies in my stomach watching the video.
Had any travel romances? Share a story!
My life is a travel romance!
When I was in Sydney, I was busy scoping out the Aussie surfers while my friend’s roommate had his eyes on more attainable goals; me.
As fate would have it, spending every day with someone who has most of the qualities you like in a person means that you’ll inevitably get together. Nearly, three years later and here we are, we’ve traveled most of Europe and the States together and we’re back in Sydney to see if we want to stay a while.
Go Read!
Our bellies full and my lactose intolerance already grumbling at me for drinking a milkshake and eating a cheese burger, it was time to go our separate ways. Thus ends the third installment of Bite with a Blogger.
So, go read Annie’s tales over at Wayward Traveller!
