'travelling light' – the full and final set in my suite of social media blogs

Today I launch 'travelling light', a final, fifth blog to add to my suite of four blogs on Blogger. For 16 years I published almost 300 articles there, with some articles posted on earlier outlets for closer to 22 years. 'travelling light' is different to all of these – not serious articles about creativity and culture, not humorous snippets, not creative and travel writing and not articles about food and cooking. It is a personal view of the light – and sometimes heavier – matters that come up in daily life and make me sit up and take notice, whether travelling or staying put.

Travelling light completes the set. My main blog is indefinite article, which I describe as irreverent writing about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age. balloon is collection of short humorous articles, thought balloons for our strange and unsettled times – brief quirky articles about the eccentricities of everyday life, almost always with a sense of short black humour. handwriting, homegrown graffiti from the digital world – writing, rhyming and digital animations, is creative writing, including a series of seven articles about travel. Lastly tableland is about food, produce and cooking, land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko.

Settled into a National Trust former fishing cottage at Port Quin on the Cornwall Atlantic coast in 2019.

Rationalising outlets

I have been rationalising some of my social media outlets and starting to place material on Substack, which has a different purpose to Blogger. I publish to both outlets, sometimes posting on both, with some cross-referencing. My most recent travel article on the 'handwriting' blog, which is about France, is part of a series of articles also called 'travelling light', in keeping with the same theme as this blog.

'When I left full-time work, I was asked what I intended to do. Once I no longer had distractions, like work – fun though it was at the time – it was clear that I would definitely have some time on my hands. I replied that I planned to keep up with my friends and to travel – when I wasn't gardening, cooking, reading or writing.'

When I left full-time work, I was asked what I intended to do. Once I no longer had distractions, like work – fun though it was at the time – it was clear that I would definitely have some time on my hands. I replied that I planned to keep up with my friends and to travel – when I wasn't gardening, cooking, reading or writing. It sounded like a fine plan at the time and as things panned out, it was a fine plan.

Back when we travelled
Back in the days when we travelled, before we were reminded that pandemics had long existed and would exist again, I used to post news of my trips to Facebook, so anyone who cared could follow my exploits overseas. For a long time it has been apparent that Facebook has issues, so back in 2019 I set up this blog 'travelling light' to replace my Facebook posts. However, in the end I decided to stay with Facebook, so this blog was never used.

I've come back to it because I have largely abandoned Facebook, with its hands in your pocket algorithms and relentless advertising, but I still want to have an outlet for the interesting, entertaining, sometimes humorous news about daily life in Australia and beyond – about travelling the neighbourhood, the country and the globe, about travelling light everywhere.

Whether standing still or moving, I aim to travel light, in all the ways a quiet traveller can. If you find it interesting, feel free to follow travelling light.

© Stephen Cassidy 2025

See also

Walking with ghosts
‘Increasingly people I have known for a long time seem to be dying. In fact my generation is steadily starting to disappear. Who is replacing them? We shuffle along in a world that is unravelling, a world – that for both good and bad – our generation gave birth to. We are teetering in a strange balance between building on the achievements of the past and desperately trying to dismantle them. In many countries, the current generation is poorer than the previous one, upending generations of dreams by working class parents and migrants for a better life for their children. In this time of upheaval – both welcome and unwelcome – creativity is needed like never before’, Walking with ghosts.

On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future
I'm on the road again – well, on the rails again. On Monday I caught the slow train from Canberra to Sydney, and today I’ve woken up to a third morning in Surry Hills. I’m enjoying the days in Sydney – after all, I did live here for twelve and a half years. I’m mainly here to see the Yolngu Power exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, which finishes next week, but I’m also using the trip to see to other business’, On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future.

Looking down on dire predictions
‘I see the latest report on looming climate change has some pretty dire predictions – like a future of four times the length of heatwaves, up to five times as many deaths due to extreme heat, a massive drag on productivity, 1.5 million Australians at risk of coastal flooding and a potential half trillion dollar hit to property values by 20250 – and that’s just the good news’, Looking down on dire predictions.

Self-imposed lockdown

'For all their faults and disadvantages there were some positive sides to the pandemic lockdowns. As I often say, ‘good times’ – maybe my memory isn’t what it was. I realise that I planned and prepared for so long to move to an apartment and now I am here I keep discovering more and more things I like about it. I could stay home and read and write and never leave it, just popping down to the shops when I need supplies – perhaps it’s a case of self-imposed lockdown', Self-imposed lockdown.

Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen
‘From time to time my posts on ‘travelling light’ include references to restaurants we have eaten at or enjoyable places we have stayed. However, most of my regular writing about food, produce, restaurants and places we have stayed is on one of my blogs, tableland, which I describe as: ‘Food and cooking land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko’, Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen.

Cooking minestrone in an art gallery – pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
‘In winter my mind turns to food, but since it is never turned away from art, cooking and looking manage to fill in the cooler months – or maybe that’s all months. I haven’t made hand-made pasta for a while but I have made sushi and sashimi – though only once in recent memory – as I resurrect all my food traditions. Cooking, eating and cruising around art exhibitions – that’s winter for me’, Cooking minestrone in an art gallery - pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day

Winter markets in a creative city

'The winter we had to have (and could have hoped for) finally arrived on the Southern Tablelands. We have gone back to going to the Farmers Market every week. To add to the winter sun good news arrived. For over ten years we worked to have Canberra listed as a UNESCO Creative City of Design, part of a global network of creative cities. Finally the ACT Government announced that it intended to take the bid forward – and that it had allocated funding for it, the true sign of a government being serious. It’s always a pleasure to help initiate a worthwhile endeavour, but even more of a pleasure to look back ten years later and see that it has been a roaring success in more ways than one', Winter markets in a creative city.

Speaking in tongues

‘Where I live a statue of French maritime hero, La Pérouse, looks out over the suburb as though to say: this, too, could have been France. For a period it seemed everyone who went to school in Australia studied French. Perhaps it was a belated attempt to acknowledge how much better everything would have been if the French had got here first. As I like to say whenever I’m in France, ‘j’ai étudié le Français pendant six ans à l’école’ and I would like to have had more opportunity to use that knowledge', Speaking in tongues.

Looking down on birds

'While the world unravels and some gleefully repeat the mistakes of the past, life goes on in gardens everywhere. I remember that in the Roman Empire, if a change of regime occurred, soldiers, recognising that they were also farmers, would often retire for a time to their farm - until circumstances and duty called them back. Some wit commented that what is happening now is like the fall of the Roman Empire, but with wi-fi', Looking down on birds.

Back in the days when we travelled

'Back in the days when we travelled, I used to post news of my trips to Facebook, so my friends could follow my exploits overseas. For a long time it has been apparent that Facebook has issues, so back in 2019 I set up this blog 'Travelling light' to replace my Facebook posts. However, in the end I decided to stay with Facebook, so this blog was never used', Back in the days when we travelled.

Travelling light by being still

'As I've said repeatedly, I don't have any problem with flying, it's landing and taking off I don't like – and all the logistics in-between. I have few problems with lounging around for hours and on a flight, you get to sit still while people bring you food and drink. How much better does it get?', Travelling light by being still.

Popping in at Edgars Inn

A few years back I started to post reviews to Google Maps. It was just for fun and because it’s good to acknowledge the local businesses that help make your everyday life worthwhile. I recently heard from Google that the photos with my reviews had been viewed over 460,000 times – who would ever have guessed? It was ironic then that I had never mentioned the place I go to most of all – Edgars Inn at Ainslie shops in Canberra.

This is a location that has gone from strength to strength over the 20 years I have been going there. It now has the downstairs pub – the longest-running venue – and two upstairs venues, The Inn, a restaurant and bar, and Wakefields Bar, with more of a lounge feel. It also has a private dining area upstairs and Mama Dough, a pizza outlet downstairs. It’s in the heart of the Red Centre, so-called because supposedly at one time, it had the highest Labor vote in the country. 

Breakfast of poached eggs and smoked salmon on muffins with spinach and hollandaise sauce.

‘I’ve been going for 20 years and even though I have now moved to the opposite side of Canberra, I still keep coming back regularly. The proof of the pudding – or the burger – is in the eating.’

Even better in real life – the magnificent Maison Jazey

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about an exceptional place on France. I don't know how I found tiny Semur-en-Auxois, and then the magnificent Maison Jazey, from Australia months before we went there, but I'm glad I did. It's one of those places that looks fabulous online, and then turns out to be even better in real life.

We discovered Maison Jazey at the end of a trip that included a cruise up the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, when we spent a week and a half in Northern Burgundy before a finale in London. There have been a few exceptional places like Maison Jazey – our first ever (and possibly almost our last) Air BnB in Vaison-la-Romaine in Provence in France, a Landmark Trust gatehouse in Saddell on the Kintyre Peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland and a National Trust stone fishing cottage in Port Quinn on the West Cornish coast – but not many. They are places you remember – again and again – forever.

The magnificent Maison Jazey.

‘It's a beautiful apartment in a beautiful building in a beautiful town, not much more than an hour by car to all the sights of Burgundy,’

The hosts were terrific and very welcoming. It was like living in a very liveable museum or your very own chateau. The place is extremely roomy, with high windows with shutters, filled with light, and warm. The kitchen is terrific and the parquetry floors – a personal favourite of mine – are amazing. We stayed nine days and could easily have stayed longer.

 

Like living in a very comfortable art gallery or museum.

Beautiful apartment in a beautiful building in a beautiful town
It's a beautiful apartment in a beautiful building in a beautiful town, not much more than an hour by car to all the sights of Burgundy (and many are only twenty minutes away). On top of that there are lots of places in walking distance in the town. There are some high quality shops (I still have a substantial belt that was cut to length as I stood in the shop) and a very reasonably priced Michelin-starred restaurant, La Fontaignotte, which was exceptional and had magnificent views from its terrace.

'The Romans decided they could move from the hill fortress to the plain since once they had defeated everybody, there were no threats to guard against.' 

View of vegetable gardens and the river valley from Michelin-starred restaurant, La Fontaignotte.

It was a real treat in a part of Burgundy where we hadn’t previously been. Dijon was a revelation and after we came back I was reading about its first class art museum and exclaimed ‘I wish we had seen that’, then realised we had, we’ve seen every corner of it it for hours and hours. It was exceptional.

Interior of Maison Jazey – the dining room with the parquetry floor that was throughout the apartment.

Rediscovering France – and French

Northern Burgundy seems to be close to everything. We drove to the ancient Celtic hill fortress of Bibracte, the site where, after defeating the Gauls, Julius Caesar wrote his book, The Gallic Wars. Then we headed down the hill to the site of what became the Roman capital of the region, Autun. The Romans decided they could move from the hill fortress to the plain since once they had defeated everybody, there were no threats to guard against. We bought a top notch locally made umbrella there and it is still doing its job back in Australia.

Walking through the medieval quarter of Semur-en-Auxois in the rain. 

I also had the chance to rediscover my French, especially in the tiny, well-stocked shop next door to our chateau. I studied the language for six years in high schooI in Tasmania, so I did pick up quite a bit (J’ai étudié le Francais pendant six ans a l’ecole). I realisd though that while I read French reasonably well and speak a limited amount of French reasonably fine, I understand spoken French badly – there’s just too many words at once. My education was good, but it didn’t prepare me as well as I would have liked. Still, practice makes perfect.

© Stephen Cassidy 2025

See also

Echoes of Tasmania on the island to the North – chilling out in summer in the Snowy Mountains
‘Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a location a mere two and a half hours from Canberra. The Snowy Mountains are one of the best reasons to live in the national capital. We've been there more times than I can count. I've reviewed some of our favourite places, but have yet to add a few more, even though we've been to them numerous times. Thredbo is an obvious drawcard, but there are many lesser known spots, like Tinkersfield, on the way to Thredbo, for accommodation, and Wild Brumby Schnapps Distillery for terrific food and drink (some of which they distill themselves). It's as close to the centre of Tasmania, where I grew up, between Cradle Mountain National Park and Lake St Clair,’ Echoes of Tasmania on the island to the North – chilling out in summer in the Snowy Mountains.

The short road to Sydney – out and about in Surry Hills and Bowral
‘Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about Sydney and the Southern Highlands. Given Canberra is increasingly moving closer to Sydney – it used to take four and a half hours to drive to Sydney and it’s now down to three hours, door to door, we have developed a habit of recent decades of driving to Sydney for wild times (more recently, mild times), followed by a wind down in the Southern Highlands on the way home. This means that posts about both places often sit well together, even of the visits are always at the same time’, The short road to Sydney – out and about in Surry Hills and Bowral.

Moss Manor – on a rise above Moss Vale

‘Continuing the series of posts about places we've visits and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a relatively new place to stay in Moss Vale. Moss Manor was a newly-discovered place for us, even though we have been visiting Moss Vale for years. It only opened the year before we visited. It was very impressive and a great addition to the Southern Highlands. We had a fantastic time utilising a special offer on a three day break from daily life. Even though, now they are established, the special offer seems to have ceased and we can't afford to go back, it's extremely high quality and highly recommended’, Moss Manor – on a rise above Moss Vale.

Echoes of Tasmania on the island to the North – chilling out in summer in the Snowy Mountains

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a location a mere two and a half hours from Canberra. A mere two and a half hours from Canberra, the Snowy Mountains are one of the best reasons to live in the national capital. We've been there more times than I can count. I've reviewed some of our favourite places, but have yet to add a few more, even though we've been to them numerous times. Thredbo is an obvious drawcard, but there are many lesser known spots, like Tinkersfield, on the way to Thredbo, for accommodation, and Wild Brumby Schnapps Distillery for terrific food and drink (some of which they distill themselves). It's as close to the centre of Tasmania, where I grew up, between Cradle Mountain National Park and Lake St Clair.

Holed up in Thredbo Dec 2024/Jan 2025
The Thredbo Alpine Hotel is an alpine heritage gem. After our stay, I rated everything highly, even though as a heritage hotel, some things are showing their age, despite upgrades and refreshes. We also missed the hotel sunken bar, which was closed during the quiet season when we were there. None of this detracts from the charm of this historic place. We love staying here and keep coming back during the summer quiet period (and sometimes the not-so-quiet summer period) when it's not too hectic – all those car parks must get used sometime – and the rates are usually good.

Winter at Thredbo looks pretty good – but summer is our time.

A Chef’s Tour – roaming Bangkok foodie spots

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is only the third Asian city I have been to. One thing you can say about Bangkok – it never seems to stop. It’s sprawling, crowded, busy and boisterous – and at times as you encounter the traffic, seemingly life-threatening. We wouldn’t normally have chosen to come to Bangkok, but our flights worked through the city, so it was an unexpected bonus.

We arrived very early in the morning at the tail end of a trip that included a cruise up the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, followed by a couple of weeks in Northern Burgundy and a finale in London. The airport was fairly chaotic, through I did comment at the security desk on the way out of Bangkok, as we boarded the Thai Airways flight to Australia, that it was the fastest fast lane I’d ever encountered. With a long history of enjoying Thai food all over Australia – like most Australians – we discovered a food tour of Bangkok and decided that we couldn’t visit the city without going on one.

The first of many stops on the foodie tour.

Everything was ready
The Old Siam Chef's Tour was fabulous and absolutely topped off our visit to Bangkok. We went to so many markets and tiny restaurants, jumped on a canal ferry and a tuk tuk and a bus, and ate so many varied and marvellous dishes. Our champion guides, Annie and Champion, were like a well-oiled machine, ensuring everything was organised in advance and guaranteeing that the food was fresh and fabulous. One roamed ahead of us and made sure that everything was ready and everything, like bus fares, was paid.

The short road to Sydney – out and about in Surry Hills and Bowral

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about Sydney and the Southern Highlands. Given Canberra is increasingly moving closer to Sydney – it used to take four and a half hours to drive to Sydney and it’s now down to three hours, door to door, we have developed a habit of recent decades of driving to Sydney for wild times (more recently, mild times), followed by a wind down in the Southern Highlands on the way home. This means that posts about both places often sit well together, even of the visits are always at the same time.

Franquette Creperie, Bowral June 2025
Franquette Creperie is a gem of a place in the main street of Bowral. It describes itself as a contemporary creperie and it is. On a cold winter night we had a quiet corner. It worked well for our party of two, but it is obviously also a huge hit with family groups – and you can see why.

Pulled pork with cheese, potatoes and onions in a mustard sauce

We had two galettes - the duck breast with orange and the pulled pork with cheese, potatoes and onions in a mustard sauce (I won't try to capture the French letters on this keyboard). Wednesday night was a special, so we followed with crepe suzette (more orange, but can there ever be too much orange?).

Moss Manor – on a rise above Moss Vale

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a relatively new place to stay in Moss Vale. Moss Manor was a newly-discovered place for us, even though we have been visiting Moss Vale for years. It only opened the year before we visited. It was very impressive and a great addition to the Southern Highlands. We had a fantastic time utilising a special offer on a three day break from daily life. Even though, now they are established, the special offer seems to have ceased and we can't afford to go back, it's extremely high quality and highly recommended.

Moss Manor was luxurious, well renovated, top quality and very comfortable. Heated bathroom floors were a bonus. The renovated function rooms/dining rooms and lounge at the rear were a very effective addition to a heritage house (and double glazed, which is good, because one of the other great attractions of Moss Vale is its trains and they passed behind very close).

The front door to Moss Manor in the former Council Chambers.

Nearby activities
Just down a short hill are all the attractions of Moss Vale – more excellent furniture, design and homeware shops than you can count and Mosaic Wine Bar, so good it should be my local.