Part 2 – Getaway

The year 2000 gave me my first taste of independent travel. It was an instant love affair.

It was the peak of European Summer, so my friends and I headed straight for Greece. It was on the island of Corfu that we met a TV crew from Canada. They were filming a show called Alternate Routes which followed backpackers around Europe. My friends and I were the subjects of an episode filmed at the infamous Pink Palace in Corfu. They trailed us morning, noon and night. Not much was left to the imagination and needless to say that VHS recording is buried in the depths of my past. The experience however, was truly amazing and I remained in contact with the film crew. In 2001, I received an email from the EP who invited me back to Europe to co-host 5 episodes of the show. This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, albeit, I was a total amateur. We travelled through France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and the UK.

After wrapping up, a seed was planted. I had one goal in mind. I was focused on becoming the next Catriona Rowntree, the host of popular Australian travel show, Getaway. I began to follow her footsteps by volunteering at the same community radio station she worked at when starting out her career. Let’s just say my 10pm-12am dance music radio show didn’t quite catapult me into a media career.

Next stop, Channel Nine. I was determined to find a job at the network that produced Getaway. I managed to land an advertising sales role which I saw as a stepping stone into TV production and then to become the host of Getaway! Once again…this didn’t quite go the way I had planned and it led me down a 20 year path of sales and marketing. I got steered off course and while travel was no longer the career focus, it was still a huge part of my life. I travelled annually and at the completion of every holiday, was the commencement of planning for the next. It was this passion that eventually led me to Roam.

To be continued...