About

Alice Springs, Australia

Alice Springs, Australia

Welcome to TravelTipsPlus. This is my first Blog and is intended to provide inspirational destinations from around our wonderful world. Some will be places I have travelled to and others are on my wish list! This Blog came about from my daily #dream #travel tweets I post on Twitter. I was finding that many of my ‘Followers’ were retweeting my posts, commenting and then offering their favourite destinations of which I then tweeted and referenced their Twitter ID as the inspiration for the post.

I am a four year trained Primary School teacher but had a career change very early on and ventured into Quality Assurance and Business Administration. The experience gained in small business lead me to start my own ‘Business Support / Virtual Assistance’ business during 2005. This being Interim Business Solutions. I am also the mother of two school age children and they too, are showing a great deal of interest in our beautiful world and what the differing countries and cultures have to offer.

A Brief History of My Travels

I am fortunate to belong to a family that are also passionate about travelling and holidays. As children we had a couple of good holidays a year. Usually one relaxing break and the other, a touring holiday. The touring holidays took us from Melbourne to places all over  Victoria; New South Wales; ACT; South Australia and as far north as the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. My father as a meteorologist had a six month placement in the Antarctic when I was 15.

Cycling around Gozo, Malta

Cycling around Gozo, Malta

First Trip Abroad
Once I completed University and after a few months holding down 4 jobs to save lots of money, I did the usual Aussie back-packer thing and headed off overseas. At the age of 21, my first cultural experience outside of Australia was Mumbai (Bombay back then), India. What an eye opener that was! From Mumbai, I headed to Europe and spent the next two and a half years alternating between six month stints of work in southern England and travels to the mainland. I fell in love with the Mediterranean countries and would dearly love to return to Italy and see so much more.  
The Sahara Desert, Tunisia. Taxi with a flat tyre!

The Sahara Desert, Tunisia. Taxi with a flat tyre!

I travelled extensively through North Africa with the exception of Libya as the borders were closed at the time. This was disappointing because a visit to Leptis Magna would have been a wonderful experience. I managed to have two trips through Egypt. The first was amazing and I was concerned that the second may not turn out so well and that it would dampen the memories of the first but no, it was truly as wonderful as the first visit.

Probably the most memorable travel experience I’ve had was the ‘discovery’ of Petra, Jordan. I really knew very little about this place. I never learnt about it during my schooling years and because I knew so little about it, I had no expectations. Consequently, it was a real ‘discovery’. Beautiful and full of history.

Other areas travelled include Ireland, Scandinavia and a number of smaller islands in the Mediterranean including Crete, Malta and Majorca.

Pamukkale, Turkey.

Pamukkale, Turkey.

Later Trips Abroad

During 1992 I had a trip to Fiji. This was a mix of luxury, relaxing on Castaway Island, followed by backpacking along the mainland’s southern Coral Coast. A nice mix of a holiday.

The last overseas trip was during August 1996 and I took myself to Turkey for three weeks of independent, sole travel. A fabulous place!

More Travels Around My Home Country
Northern Territory, Australia

Northern Territory, Australia

So yes, it has been sometime since I have travelled overseas but we, as a family have had some wonderful trips in Australia over the years. Including Perth, Magnetic Island, Tasmania, The Grampians, The Murray River, Northern Territory (inc. Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Katherine) Wilson’s Promontory, Corowa, The Barossa Valley, Flinders Ranges, Central Australia and most recently Jindabyne, NSW.

Dream Destinations

In the future I would hope to see more of Italy and spend time meandering the country roads and lanes. I would also hope to visit west Africa in particular Mali to visit Timbuktu, Mopti, Bamarko and the great Djenne mosque. Canada, South America, Syria and…and…there truly are too many places to list here.

Please enjoy this space and feel free to comment on posts or leave suggestions for new destinations.

Happy & safe adventures!

Kirsty

A Map of Where I Have Been

30 Responses to “About”
  1. Nerida says: June 14th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

    Great site, very valuable information. It will be very useful on our up and coming world tour. Thanks Kirsty!

  2. Nina Eason says: June 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am

    Hi Kirsty,

    Great website, you should be very proud of yourself.

    Hope this email gets to you.

    Nina Eason

  3. Marcus says: June 19th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

    What a great site, really enjoyable. Makes me want to travel more and more. Where are we going to next? Kirsty!!!!.

  4. Julie says: June 22nd, 2009 at 8:47 am

    Well Done! This is a super site Kirsty! I love the photos of you in the exotic destinations. Anyone reading about your travels and seeing these photos will get “itchy feet”.

  5. Maxine says: June 22nd, 2009 at 9:03 am

    What a treasure chest of experiences Kirsty! And many more to come, no doubt..

  6. jimmy says: June 22nd, 2009 at 10:50 am

    Very inspiring content and pictures. I’m ready to drop everything and travel to your highlighted places in the world! Cheers on a wonderful presentation.

  7. Jodi Gibson says: June 22nd, 2009 at 11:07 am

    Congrats Kirsty! This is just great – well done. Look forward to reading it and sharing experiences. xxx

  8. George Hall says: June 22nd, 2009 at 11:08 am

    Great extension of what you’ve been doing with travel destinations on twitter. And it is a great site. Cheers on a top effort

  9. Andrew Blanda says: June 22nd, 2009 at 11:24 am

    Kirsty, great to read up on some of your travels :-)

    This year we’re committing to see more of Australia – we are planning more camping trips with the boys – already have a Dubbo trip planned in Oct, as well as 3 more before the school year starts next year!

  10. Alexandra Popovic says: June 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Awesome effort my friend! There’s no stopping you now!! Congrats :)

  11. Debbie Alford says: June 22nd, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    Kirsty, this is amazing. Congratulations on your site. My favourite subject right here, travelling. I really look forward to reading more. Well done!

  12. Deb says: June 22nd, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    Well done Kirsty, great to see more about all your travel destinations.

  13. SandiMon says: June 22nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    Kirsty–love your site. It looks great! I’ve bookmarked you and look forward to regularly reading your posts.

    xx
    Sandi

  14. TK says: June 22nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    I’m with you all the way regarding travelling to Italy Kirsty. My wife’maternal grandparents originated from Positano and I have made a promise to take her there, by hook or by crook. Also, the last time I was in Rome was 1965!

  15. Cherie Fletcher says: June 22nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Congratulations on a wonderful venture! I highly recommend the country lanes and narrow roads around parts of Italy. My favorite being San Daniele (Udine) in northern Italy, which we did on push bikes! Looking forward to more posts! I can’t wait to go back and visit my friends there. If you ever need a companion…..

  16. phil collins says: June 22nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm

    hi Kirsty

    absolutely fantastic, keep it going, looking forward to reading a lot more.

    I agree about Italy, been to a few places and will be going back many more times

    have fun

  17. Kirsty Wilson says: June 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 am

    WOW! Thank you to so many that have taken the time to visit Travel Tips Plus. The comments and support during the past 24 hours since the launch, have been amazing. I hope you all enjoy this space and I’d like to think that those that are keen travellers may have stories and destinations to share here.

    Thanks again!

    KIRSTY

  18. Green Room says: June 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 am

    Thanks for alerting me to this wonderful thing you are doing Kirsty, how amazing your life has been!
    I thought I was well travelled by living in Japan, UK, and holidaying in Barbados, Germany, Italy and Broome, Australia.
    You are certainly an adventurer.
    Thanks

  19. My Recent Twitter Updates | says: June 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am

    [...] About Kirsty [...]

  20. Dave says: June 23rd, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Travel advice from an expert!!!

    Let the frequent flyer points start rolling in.

    Where should we go if we want to see the best in NewZealand?

  21. Chris Owen says: June 23rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    Well done Kirsty!
    I have a funny feeling that this may end up being a much bigger focus of your life than you currently imagine!
    My personal obsession is a bit weird as I have not really done much travelling. Before we got married we were “gonna Travel” but 3 kids later and my own business has meant that our travelling has extended no further than a couple of trips to Fiji and one to NZ North island.
    But they aren’t my obsession.
    Before i die I have this COMPULSION to go and stay in Ireland. My only explanation is that I have Irish paternal grandparents on one side and 4 maternal Irish Great-grandparents and something Celtic in me calls me to go there. I just know I’ll feel at peace when I’ve visited there!

  22. kirsty_wilson says: June 23rd, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    Oh Chris…you must visit Ireland. My Maternal Grandmother was from Carrickfergus north of Belfast and I was thrilled to finally get there and meet her cousins. They have since all passed away. I also visited many other places during the 2 weeks in a hire car, battling the January horizontal rains!!! The Ring of Kerry and Giant’s Causeway are spectacular. You *will* get your turn.

  23. Ric Willmot says: June 24th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Good luck, Kirsty.
    I have enough frequent flyer points that I can bump the co-pilot if I need to.
    So we can share some stories along the way.
    Have fun and I look forward to the updates.
    Rgds,
    Ric

  24. B.B. says: June 25th, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    Wow! This all looks fabulous!
    I spent 7 years of my life as a ‘tour-hostess’ and travelled into every nook and cranny of Australia. It gave me a ’sense of self’ and showed me exactly where I fit in, in this great planet of ours. And there is still much more to discover!!!!
    Well done for making it happen!

  25. Lurquer says: June 25th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    Wow, Kirsty! What a great looking site! I can’t wait to peruse every last word again and again! While I love the little 140char twitter blurbs (@kirsty_wilson), I’m really looking forward to what you have to say on a more in-depth level!

    I AM excited! =) And congrats! You Rock!

    -David

  26. Geoffrey Gordon says: June 27th, 2009 at 1:25 am

    This site is great @kirsty_wilson, good information for someone that wants to travel sometime soon…. me

  27. Ange Recchia says: June 30th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

    Now I feel a bit behind the times Kirsty! WOW! What an awesome site and what a great idea to travel Virtually ;)

    Looking forward to more inspiring posts and destinations to dream about. Congratulations on your first blog!

  28. Sam Mutimer says: June 30th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    owww Kirsty Wilson! The hairs on the back of my neck are up on end !!! I’m excited and my hearts pumping after reading this! woohowww!
    What an informative, friendly and valueble site full of Kirsty-ness! Will certainly flick a few people to this space who are into the travel sceen! I’ve now got the bug back!
    High fives
    Sam Mutimer – aka – Sam2.0!

  29. kirsty_wilson says: June 30th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

    Thanks to all the newest visitors that have left lovely, supportive comments regarding ‘Travel Tips Plus’. I really do hope you enjoy this space & do a little bit of virtual travel daily with this Virtual Assistant…whilst you plan your next holiday of course! ;-)

  30. Tigerpounce says: July 31st, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Hi Kirsty,

    Many thanks for your inspirational website! I’ve stumbled across this interesting piece on japanese street names for european travellers and will send it onto you. I think it will assist a few of us travellers navigating japanese towns,

    Cheers Tigerpounce

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