Australia Blog

Meeting Maree

Last night I met with Maree, one of our QLD Insiders at a buzzing neighbourhood in Rosalie.

Lots of cafes, restaurants and ice creameries all crammed into about 2 blocks, with outdoor seating made easy by plenty of large heaters. This place has grown plenty since I was last here and was very popular on a Saturday night.

Maree was coming off a late night the night before (Powderfinger concert) and I was knackered after being thoroughly thrashed in tennis earlier in the day so we chose a Thai restaurant to get some grub.

As an Insider, Maree says she gets a few queries every week and enjoys helping those people as much as she can. She received help from countless strangers during her travels and feels this is a great way to give something back. Maree winces at the cliché, but I know what she means.

Maree has travelled quite a bit - Germany, UK, USA, Mexico, and she mentioned Asia but we didn't get to that - and adopts super-budget mode when on the road. She's spent nights in airports or riding on overnight buses and trains to save on accommodation, which she then spends on sending home memorabilia from her trip. She says she has boxes and boxes of stuff from her trips all piled up that she just can't bear to get rid of.

After living in Brisbane for about 6 months she has itchy feet again and wants to try and find work overseas. Given her choice of destinations, she'd probably hit South America next, though Africa is also high on the list.

Maree is meeting up with someone else today (Sunday) who also contacted her through BootsnAll. Pretty cool to see the community in action.

Last night was a lot of fun and I'm sure I'll catch up with Maree again while I'm here.