Our Tasmanian Road Trip to National Parks, Historical Sites, and Towns
This past week, we had the pleasure of driving around Tasmania, Australia’s biggest island, which is famous for its incredible natural attractions and pure air. We started our weekend in Hobart, the largest city of the island and the state’s capital. We were able to explore this quaint fishing town and start our time on the island with a great introduction to the culture of the region.
The British used Tasmania as a settlement for their penal colonies even though it was occupied by Aboriginal people who had inhabited the island for over 40,000 years. While the Aboriginal culture of Tasmania is not blatantly apparent because very few descendants have survived to today, the history of the prisoners and colonies that developed the base infrastructure of the island is commemorated throughout. (We even stayed right outside the ruins of a penal colony for a night!)
The main reason we wanted to explore Tasmania, Australia is because of the amazing nature that we heard about. The island has some of the purest air in the world and we just had to check for ourselves. Because the island is so isolated, they also have some unique animals, including the famous Tasmanian devils. We never got to see these in the wild but explored a sanctuary where they help rehabilitate the animals and only keep the ones that can no longer be released to the wild.
And we couldn’t go the weekend without hiking! We managed to squeeze in two days of hiking, one in Freycinet and one in Cradle Mountain National Park. We definitely rushed to get to see everything we wanted to see but it was worth it. In the future, we would love to spend longer in Tasmania, Australia to get to see some of the less traversed parts of the island and dive deeper into the beautiful and untouched nature here.
There is a lot going on in the world right now that we are talking about and following. Much of what happens in the United States has major effects on the policies and economies of the world and we feel it first hand when talking to locals about their daily lives and hardships and the conversation often leads to United States politics. We want to find ways to weave these perspectives into our writing and blog posts. For now, we will share some articles that are less impacted by the geopolitical chaos of the world right now.
TRAVEL + LEISURE
This New Uber Setting Makes International Rides Cost More—Here’s How to Turn It Off
If you are traveling to another country and using Uber, make sure to turn off this new setting if you have a credit card that waves international conversion fees.Uber is now providing a service where they charge a 1.5% fee for converting the local currency to your currency. If your credit card has a foreign transaction fee, do not turn off this feature as it will save you money, given that most credit card fees are over the 1.5%. You can read more about how to turn off this feature here.
Measuring the 'White Lotus Effect': How TV and Film Locations Impact Travel
Popular TV shows and movies have dramatic effects on the travel industry, increasing tourism to particular locations. This has happened over the past few years with the popularity of the White Lotus locating its storyline in Hawaii, Italy, and now Thailand but this is not the first time this has happened. You can read more to get a glimpse about how tourism, show-biz, and local economies all come together in this article.
