September 3, 2025 • 44 mins
Airports are one of the most stressful places we'll find ourselves, and this week, we're looking at travel from the viewpoint of a neurodivergent traveller.
Sarah Maree Cameron is a radio and TV presenter, writer and comedian. She presents the House of Wellness on Nine Radio, and in Melbourne, the Weekend Break with Grubby on 3AW and TravelOz on Channel 7.
With that job description, she's constantly on the road, and we chat about how she manages her hectic schedule while juggling a number of dietary and health issues. Listen for her top tips on staying stress-free and healthy. Follow Sarah Maree on instagram for more wellness tips
Also, which are the most crowded tourist destinations in the world? A couple are particular favourites for Australian travellers, according to new analysis from Deluxe Holiday Homes.
And Kadi Luggage reveals how to get the best bang for your buck when shopping duty-free at airports.
Sarah Maree's tips include:
Listening to sleep stories with the Calm app
Hotteeze heat pads
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:02):
Welcome to The World Away.
Travel tales to inspire yourwanderlust.
Welcome back to The WorldAwaits.
How is everyone?
I hope you're all well.
How's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
Oh, you know, it's like just a turgid mess of
things that I haven't yet done.
But what I am doing, I haveactually filed stories about my
bargain basement flight withAirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to
Melbourne.
Let me tell you, if you want tocarve your flight bill down to
nothing, go on an airline thatgives you nothing.
(00:35):
And it's a beautiful thing,right?
You get to carry I mean, youknow, you get what you pay for.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Isn't
SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
that raw dogging?
I did write it as the airlinebest for raw dogging because
it's like you're like eighthours, you know, seven hours
from KL to Melbourne, noscreens, no blankets, no eye
masks, no food, nothing.
But you get to bring all yourown food on, which can I just
say, I'm going to do a littleplug for the interview later on,
(01:02):
is a great thing if you'retraveling with dietaries and
you're BYO and nobody frowns atyou when you pull out your
little pack of sandwiches orwhatever.
Sorry, I was writing about thatone for the Sydney Morning
Herald.
Also, I've been writing aboutthe Block Arcade, which is one
of the National Trust Victoria'slisted gems of Melbourne because
shopping and design are a matchmade in heaven, don't you think?
(01:22):
Interestingly, it is modelled onthe Galleria Vittoria in Manuel
in Milan.
And here's another budget tip.
If you don't have the money fora plane ticket to Italy, the
Block Arcade is the next bestthing.
So there you go.
I'm giving it my all to So whatabout you, Kirsty?
What have you been up to?
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Well, actually, as this goes to air, I would have
just recently returned fromNoosa, so I'm doing a bit of
time travelling.
I actually haven't been to theSunshine Coast region, to this
resort region town, if anyonedoesn't know.
I'm sure everybody knows and hasheard about Noosa.
Even Kiwis love Sunshine Coast.
(02:03):
But I haven't been to Noosa formore than 15 years.
Isn't that embarrassing?
Isn't that so shocking?
So anyway, I can't wait to goback and it's whale season.
So we're going to do some whalewatching and all the things I
love.
We're doing hiking and bikingand kayaking.
So it's like a dream weekend forme.
So yeah, can't wait.
SPEAKER_00 (02:22):
Oh, that sounds awesome.
Love whale watching.
You know, I swam with them downon the South coast, New South
Wales last year.
Very, very nippy.
I think you're going to havemuch nicer, warmer, warmer
weather in Noosa.
So I'm looking forward tohearing your thoughts.
It should be pretty quiet too,because you're out of school
holidays, yay.
Not that ever, like Noosa wouldever compare to the overcrowded
(02:44):
likes of, you know, like Veniceand Barcelona, which brings us,
segue, insert segue here, whichbrings us to the latest data
from Deluxe Holiday Homes, whichhas analysed the annual
international visitors at toptourism destinations to show you
the top hotspots to skip in2025.
SPEAKER_01 (03:03):
Yes, and sadly, top of us is one of my favourite
destinations, which is Phuket,although I have to say, I do
love the quieter parts ofPhuket.
We normally go west Phuket whenwe go.
But the data found that it isactually the most crowded city.
So one to avoid this summer.
I was actually surprised aboutthis.
And it says that they have morethan 840,000 visitors per square
(03:24):
kilometre.
And with 3,392 attractions andan average summer temperature of
27.4 degrees Celsius, it canfeel pretty packed.
And the fact that many scenes inWhite Lotus were actually also
filmed in Phuket means that it'sno doubt going to get even
busier.
I mean, Thailand generally isgoing to get busier, right,
because of the rise of setjetting.
SPEAKER_00 (03:47):
Yeah, and you know, the second destination on the
list was another Thaidestination, and that's the city
of Pattaya.
And it has nearly 180,000visitors per square kilometre,
so it's nowhere near as crowdedas Phuket.
But Pattaya still sees a largenumber of visitors because, as
it says, it's got the best ofboth worlds, a bustling
nightlife, and beaches.
(04:09):
And because a lot of the expatslive there, I also thought that
the certain particular bars werevery much a drawcard for Pattaya
as well.
The food is also subsequentlyreally diverse as well with
expats and Thais there in theone destination.
SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
Yeah.
And third on the list was Paris,which it sees has 166,600
visitors per square kilometre.
So while that doesn't match thedensity of Bruket or Pattaya,
the city still has massivecrowds because of its landmarks
and we all know this.
Paris has 10,000 touristattractions, which is amazing,
right?
(04:46):
10,000 tourist attractions.
And also a slightly coolersummer temperature, it says, of
close to 20 degrees, so it makesit a bit more comfortable than
the southeastern places, but itstill was number three on the
not-to-go list.
SPEAKER_00 (05:02):
Yeah, well, I mean, Paris is, you know, it is the
most visited city, just, youknow, not in not in terms of
density, but the most visitedcity in the world.
So there's no surprises there.
Barcelona, of course, followsParis with 65,000 visitors per
square kilometre.
So it's a lot less crowded.
But of course, anybody whofollows travel would be across
(05:22):
the mass protests there acrossBarcelona, thanks to
Overtourism.
And the report says that itactually has nearly 6,000
attractions and the summertemperature is a whole lot nicer
than Paris at nearly 24 degreesCelsius.
It is going to be popular again.
So those numbers aren't going toslow next year when Sagrada
Familia's structural towers aresupposed to be scheduled for
(05:45):
completion.
I have to say, I was chasingthem for those dates of
completion and they were like,oh yes, that's what some people
say.
Like this was the press officefor Sagrada Familia.
They say, yes, that's whatthey're saying.
And I'm like, what are yousaying exactly?
So yeah, so there are reportsthat construction on the longest
(06:05):
running construction site in theafter that.
SPEAKER_01 (06:09):
Yeah, and just like what you said, Belle, we had the
same feedback when we were therelast year.
The local guides were saying,they were saying, there's no way
it's going to be finished.
And they were saying that a lotof it is because of the locals,
you know, the locals areopposing a lot of the extensions
because there's some housesaround there.
And the locals weren't happyabout it.
(06:31):
So that's what the local guideswere saying, which was really
interesting.
And rounding out the top five isMiami, which ranked was close to
57,000 visitors per squarekilometre, although visitors to
the US are dropping because ofthe Trump era.
Actually, the Flight Centrerecently released some stats
saying that it's had a 10% dropin profit due to backlash to
(06:54):
Trump's controversial tariff andentry policies.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
I don't know.
I mean, I see different reportscoming out every week about
this, and some say that it'sbusiness as usual for
Australians.
Others say that there's been amassive drop.
So, I mean, I think, you know,you can see definitely between
Canada and the U.S., like thatis a clear and definite drop.
But I don't know.
There's just so much researchcoming out that even though, you
(07:23):
know, Flight Centre with thatbig drop is there, but then, you
know, they had a very strongMay.
But, you know, if you're talkinganecdotally, we had those U.S.
digital nomads on the otherweek.
Scroll back on the podcast andhave a listen.
And they said that the fullimpact to tourism in the US is
years away from being felt.
(07:43):
Others on that top touristhotspots to avoid the summer are
Kuala Lumpur, Dublin, Amsterdam,Milan and Portugal.
Probably put Greece on there atthe moment because it has had
such bad press from all of thoseterrible bushfires that are
happening in the hightemperatures.
But look, if you're going to goto these places, the key is just
to consider the fact that itwill be busy and plan ahead.
So you can always make attemptsto avoid the crowds.
(08:05):
I mean, Eiffel Tower in peakseason in the Oh, don't know
about that one.
This week, my guest isSarah-Marie Cameron.
She is a presenter on TV andradio.
(08:26):
She's a writer and a comedian.
The girl has got a hecticschedule.
She presents the House ofWellness, which is networked
around the nine radio.
And locally in Melbourne, shedoes the weekend break with
Grubby each Sunday on 3AW from1pm.
She also writes for Body andSoul as a freelance writer.
And you might see her on Channel7 with Trouble Oz.
SPEAKER_01 (08:48):
Oh, I love Sarah Marie.
She's just so vivacious.
So it seems the obviousquestion, but what made you want
to interview her on the pod?
SPEAKER_00 (08:56):
Well, apart from being so vivacious.
And, you know, a lot of peopleall know her from her work with
Travelers and Radio.
She is on the road constantly.
But what you might not know isshe manages this incredibly
hectic schedule while juggling anumber of health and dietary
issues.
So we are touching on how shemanages as a neurodivergent
(09:17):
traveller.
And she shares some reallyfantastic tips as well for
anybody who's looking to maketheir travel smoother for
whatever reason.
So take a listen.
Sarah-Marie, welcome to TheWorld Awake.
It is so exciting to have you onthe podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
I honestly can't believe you asked me to join.
The calibre of guests that youhave had on, I love listening to
the podcast.
And I was beyond chuffed whenyou invited me on, so thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
No, we love having you on here because, I mean,
part of the reason is that youbring the drama and you bring
the resolutions as well, becausetoday we're going to talk, we're
talking about being healthy andtraveling healthily.
And, you know, there are so manythings that we just take, some
people take for granted.
(10:03):
I take the ability to sleepstanding up for granted, but
that's not the case foreverybody as we're going to find
out as we chat to you.
So let's dive into it.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself, how you got into the
media industry and in generaland travel specifically.
SPEAKER_01 (10:19):
I've been working in media for just shy of two
decades now, predominantly inradio and in the last couple of
years been doing a lot morefocusing on television as well.
Plus there's over the course ofthe time, there's new media that
comes into the fold.
So social media is part of that.
And I had a bit of a moment acouple of years ago, I thought
(10:41):
that I needed to get away fromradio and just have a break.
I felt like I'd been in a studiotalking to myself for far too
many years.
years.
And over the years, like I'vedone different radio shows and
different hours, but I'd beenworking at Triple M and I just
thought, you know what, I justneed to get out and need to do
something different.
And the entire time that I hadbeen doing radio and television
(11:04):
and a lot of sports presentingas well and emceeing, I was also
writing.
So I lived over in Canada, livedright across Australia, moving a
lot for media and you get incontact with local publications,
local newspapers.
There was also a bit of awriting element with some of the
radio stations that I workedfor.
So writing content for theirplatforms.
(11:26):
And I wanted to do a lot morefocusing on that as well.
A long time ago, I had a blog.
I ended up canceling that andjust deleting that for a while.
And I thought, you know what?
I really want to go back towriting.
I love it so much.
And through comedy, I get to doa lot of writing as well.
So I just wanted to dig deep andwas super fortunate that Jammo
(11:46):
hired me at Get Lost TravelMagazine.
And I was there as the assistanteditor And it was so much fun.
And then I ended up goingfreelance and still write
freelance and now write for Bodyand Soul as well.
And I'm unbelievably fortunateto be one of the co-hosts for
the House of Wellness, which ison Nine Radio on a Sunday
(12:06):
morning with the divine GeraldQuigley.
I just got so lucky having himas a co-host.
So that's where I am now.
So that's the shortest versionof 20 years in media.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
There you go.
In a nutshell.
One of the really interestingthings when we first started
talking about this was I saw onone of your socials, you were
talking about negotiating travelas somebody who's
neurodivergent.
And I kind of hadn't thoughtabout this a lot.
And then I thought, hang on, I'mputting myself into an airport.
(12:40):
The most stressed I am in mylife is that hour before you get
to the airport.
I am absolutely beside myself nomatter how many times I do it.
And I thought, that is such astressful environment.
How does anybody negotiate it?
Talk to me about being aneurodivergent traveller.
SPEAKER_01 (12:56):
Yeah, so my husband now knows that we've got a set
procedure if we are flyingdomestically or internationally.
The first time that we flewinternationally together, he
couldn't understand why I wantedto get to the airport so early.
We got there so early that thechecking counter wasn't even
open.
How early are we talking here?
Oh, it was just over threehours.
(13:17):
I think we had to wait about 10or 15 minutes with a check-in
counter to open.
And he was so unhappy.
He was so unhappy.
Anyway, got our coffees.
We checked in.
It was divine.
And we got through, you know,customs and all that kind of
stuff.
And you just don't know what'sgoing to happen depending on the
country that you're in.
We were fortunate enough to havea credit card that would give us
(13:40):
access to a lounge.
So we went in and we justchilled out there.
And he was like, why?
Why all of this?
And I was like, this is why Ineed to sit here now and relax.
like it's done the things theheavy lifting I want to do the
big jobs first so that it's notweighing down on me so yeah I
get to the airport a full threehours before an international
(14:03):
flight and if it's a domesticflight I'm usually at the
airport with an hour and a halfto go because I want to have
about an hour in the loungebeforehand again just to chill
out and allow myself time I gotcaught in traffic just the other
day when I was flyingdomestically and so that chewed
into my time, which didn't makeme feel good in the car.
But I just need to be on time.
(14:25):
I don't want to be havinganxiety about being late.
I don't want to have anxietyabout missing a flight.
I've only missed two flights inmy life, a domestic and an
international flight.
Kills me, kills me to this daythat I've missed those two
flights.
And I just can't have thatagain.
So when you're neurodivergent,anxiety can be something that
(14:45):
you were just living with andyou don't realize that you are
high functioning in that areaand that other people don't
think like that or start rollingthose scenarios.
And it's just about trying toalleviate as much stress as
possible.
So it's getting there early.
It's packing the night before.
Packing shelves, the best thingsever.
Again, my husband couldn'tunderstand why I was making
(15:06):
these investments in packingshelves, but he's 100% on board.
Travel toiletries so that I'vegot my skincare.
I've got skincare that I take onthe plane as well.
So as we know, we can have allthat moisture suck down on our
skin when we're flying.
So if I'm doing a long haulflight, I actually take,
actually I'd take eye patches ondomestic flights as well, but
(15:27):
I'll take my face mask and myeye patches.
And you know, when they say, youknow, that we're about to start
our descent, give or take what,about 40 minutes if you do
international.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that is where I get rolling.
That's where the face mask comesout.
That's where the toner comesout.
I'm landing with the best facethat you could see.
I don't fly with makeup oneither, but the Those are just
(15:49):
things that make me feel betterwhile I'm flying.
I've just got to feel clean andready to go and have my
toothbrush and some sanitarywipes and be clean and
organized.
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
How's that different to somebody just being kind of
organized as well?
I mean, I've got my littleroutines and stuff like that and
things that I do.
And yes, I have put those, youknow, the under eye patches.
Yeah, I've done those in flight.
I don't think that I've done afull face mask, but a on a day
flight in economy and I had tolike where everyone had fallen
(16:22):
asleep woke up I had my daughterwith me and she woke up like
screech you know the fullAnthony Hopkins look going on
right beside her scared thepants off me but I'm back to the
seriousness of it with somebodywho's neurodivergent I mean how
what if it doesn't go rightwhat's the ramifications
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
well it's not a good one that's for sure um I guess
what makes it different is thatthere's an order that all of
that has to take place and it'sthe same.
It is like clockwork.
I also travel with earplugs aswell.
So once I start to become reallyoverstimulated, the earplugs
have to go in and my husbandknows that as well.
And yeah, I've got to distractmyself.
(17:07):
I've also got the Calm app,which was probably one of the
best investments that I evermade.
A friend of mine actually saidto me, this is a couple of years
ago, I was traveling aroundAustralia, just doing all the
comedy festivals.
And I was really struggling tosleep on flights.
I was just really anxious atthat time and I couldn't calm
down.
Normally I can sleep on flights,but I couldn't.
And he just said to me, we triedlistening to sleep stories and
(17:29):
that changed my life.
So I bought the Calm app.
There's a bunch of sleep storiesthat I have.
I don't listen to any new oneswhen I need them.
If I'm on a plane, it's one thatI'm already familiar with that I
love and I'll usually be asleepor calm and rested within 10
minutes just to help me selfsoothe basically.
And so if something does gowrong, And I don't know, it's a
(17:51):
flight delay or my luggagehasn't turned up.
That's happened a couple oftimes.
I've got, you know, air tags inmy luggage, which is super handy
to know because sometimes theyhaven't known when my luggage is
and I've been able to tell themwhere my luggage is.
So when those sorts of thingshappen, car map is on.
I start listening to, if it'snot sleep stories, it's
(18:12):
something else.
Try and have a moment, meditate,do mindfulness.
I have to do things to try andre Otherwise, I become an awful,
agitated person.
SPEAKER_00 (18:26):
Right.
Okay.
So you've mentioned a couple ofthings and I'm just going to
pull them back out because I didwant to talk to you about sleep.
We have talked about sleep.
I think being five foot threehelps me with the whole sleep
thing because, you know, ifyou're a six foot seven person
trying to cram yourself and Iwas literally, I was on an
AirAsia flight.
I was writing a review for itthis morning and there was a guy
(18:49):
beside me who was about six footand he really broad shoulders.
I mean, so I don't have thoseproblems of cramming myself into
a little puddle, but let's talkabout how you sleep successfully
on flights because I thinkyou've got loads in there.
You've mentioned the Calm app.
Is that, and I'll put these inthe show notes as well, but also
what's a sleep story?
SPEAKER_01 (19:11):
Sleep stories are just beautiful stories that have
been recorded by lots ofdifferent people.
There's so many differentcelebrities that have done it
over the years and you can findthem on YouTube as well.
You don't need to have the Calmapp, but if I'm just opening my
Calm app right now and if I goto sleep and then I'll go to
sleep stories there's a wholebunch of people or actually one
(19:34):
lady I love Tabitha Brown Iadore her I don't know if you
know her she's a wonderfulcooking influencer online and
she's just got a gorgeous voiceand it's just soothing you know
it's just a gorgeous soothingvoice my favorite sleep story
that I listen to quite oftenthis is my I have tried
everything else and nothing isworking this is the sleep story
(19:55):
that puts me to sleep everytime.
It's called Blue Gold and thevoiceover for it is Stephen Fry.
SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
Right.
Okay.
I'm with you on this one now.
So if you're sat on, you've gotheadphones or do
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
you use earpods?
Yeah, I use headphones.
Yeah.
I've just found one from ScottyPippin.
Hey, is that your jam?
You can listen to a sleep storyfrom Scotty Pippin.
I get it.
He's got the voice for a sleepstory.
So, you know, they talk closerto the microphone.
They really pull you in.
They try and make you feel safeand secure so that you can
sleep.
They talk like that.
SPEAKER_00 (20:31):
It's a bedtime story.
Okay.
Right.
It is.
It's a bedtime story for adultsand it's the best.
Okay.
I'm with you now.
So headphones or earpods?
SPEAKER_01 (20:44):
I'm an earbuds kind of gal.
I'm old school.
Plug in earbuds.
That's me.
SPEAKER_00 (20:51):
Right.
Okay.
And are you a sleep mask person,a non-sleep mask?
Because I've got to say, for me,if you're going to sleep, you
need to do sensory deprivation.
SPEAKER_01 (21:01):
Yes, I am just really good at sleeping now.
So I don't need a sleep mask.
I've got a large head.
So sometimes they just simplydon't fit on my head.
Thank you to the airlines thathave gifted them to me.
In the toiletry packs, theydon't often fit this head of
mine.
But I can just, you know, whenyou adjust the headrest on the
plane, like even just economy,you're sitting up straight, I
(21:23):
can sleep Melbourne to Sydney.
I can sleep Melbourne toAdelaide.
I can sleep Melbourne toLaunceston.
Okay.
Bye.
can sleep.
If I've got time and I'm out, Ihave flown domestically eight,
10 times this month already.
I've slept on just about everysingle plane and missed the food
and coffee service every singletime.
SPEAKER_00 (21:45):
I don't think you're missing much with the coffee
service myself.
But anyway, that is animpressive, that is a really
impressive track record.
But interestingly, I mean,missing the food, missing the
coffee is one thing, missing thefood is another one.
But that brings me into the nextquestion because You also travel
with dietries, don't you?
I do.
(22:05):
How does that work?
SPEAKER_01 (22:07):
Yeah, so gluten-free.
Tell us your dietries,gluten-free.
Yeah, gluten-free.
I have a shellfish allergy and Idon't have pork.
So those are my dietries.
I often just go for a vegetarianmeal when I'm traveling.
And, for instance, if I'mflying, I fly with Virgin a lot.
I recently flew with Qantas, butI just have my aligned
(22:31):
preference, with Velocity.
When I go into the Melbournelounge, they've got gluten-free
food.
They'll make me a gluten-freetoasty.
Just go line up and ask themvery nicely and you'll have a
lovely little gluten-freetoasty, which they make behind
the counter away from everybodyelse.
So if you're celiac, that'sactually really fantastic.
For me, I have an intolerance,so cross-contamination, I'm
fine.
But I'm really impressed by thesnacks and the lengths that
(22:54):
Virgin go to in their lounge forthat.
So yeah, I'll just go get myselfa little gluten-free toasty.
That's probably why I'm able tosleep on the flight because I've
already eaten and doneeverything thing of the lounge.
And then if I've got a thousandthings that I need to do, I
write that out on a notepad,empty my brain, and then I get
onto the flight and I'm good togo.
In terms of international, look,it can vary.
Sometimes you can fly an airlineand they've got a great stir fry
(23:16):
and you can have that and that'sokay.
And then there are other timeswhere there isn't necessarily a
meal available, very few and farbetween, but it does happen.
It does happen.
But if I'm just going for, say,a vegetarian gluten-free meal, I
think that that is way morecommon these days.
SPEAKER_00 (23:35):
Yeah, I think the pork thing is interesting
because I noticed I've been, youknow, I've lived on and off in
the Middle East and then comingback to Australia and you'd find
Qantas, like those choices, youknow, you don't think, you
wouldn't think about it, butthey've just got, you know, pork
and pork on it, you know, you'vegot a pork sausage and then
you've got some bacon on theside and you'd be like, yeah,
look at that, I can have fourtypes of pork now, yum.
(23:56):
So that has kind of struck me,you know, coming from a very
non-pork, society back into areintroduction to something
where ham is a vegetable,basically.
Do you travel with snacks inyour bag as well?
What do you throw in there?
SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
I normally have gluten-free bars of some
description, just as a safetyprecaution.
If it's a long haul, if it'sshort, it's fine.
If it's anything under sixhours, I'm going to be okay.
I'm not going to be malnourishedon the other end.
But if the flight's longer thanthat, then yeah, I'll normally
have a couple of snacks.
And I think it was when myhusband and I were coming back
from Canada and then I had todeclare the ones that I hadn't
(24:37):
eaten because the food wasgreat.
When I was flying back, it wasperfect and suited my dietary
requirements.
My husband's like, can you justput it in the bin?
I don't want to line up in thedeclaration.
So I just get rid of it.
So I just binned it, walkedaway, let it go.
But yeah, I have to fly withsnacks.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think anyone who's everflown with children has always
got like a nose bag that they'reemptying out at the other end of
half eaten snacks from theirkids and stuff.
Been pinged by the dogs too manytimes that I can't count.
In your role, you've been in thepublic eye for many years and
part of that is you're anambassador for a number of
(25:14):
organisations that deal withhealth conditions.
Those health conditions, I toldyou, she brings the drama, but
those health conditions alsoimpact upon how you travel.
Tell us about thoseorganisations that you are an
ambassador for.
SPEAKER_01 (25:29):
I've been an ambassador with the Australian
Cervical Cancer Foundation since2011, I think, towards the end
of 2011 is when I jumped onboard with them.
And then for EndometriosisAustralia, I want to say that
was around 2015 that I became anambassador with them.
And I'm fit and healthy now andsuper thankful with the journey
(25:51):
that I went on when I hadcervical cancer.
I was diagnosed very young whenI was 22.
And it just opened me up to awhole world of different, you
you know, gynecological issuesthat people born with female
reproductive organs canexperience.
Then going down the diagnosisroute of endometriosis, that can
(26:12):
be a little problematic forsome.
Some people have it and theydon't even know that they've got
it until they're trying to havebabies.
And then you've got other peoplewho have it and are acutely
aware of it and it affects everysecond that they are awake.
And I guess I've experiencedboth ends of those spectrums.
I think I had a memory pop uptoday.
(26:33):
Actually, my last laparoscopywas three years ago today for a
clean out, as we call them, forsome excision surgery.
So you can experience lower backpain, abdominal pain,
endometriosis can grow whereverit wants.
It's most often found within thepelvis and in tricky little
spots called like the pouch ofDouglas, which is between your
bladder and your bowel.
(26:55):
And I think just about anybodycan experience bowel issues when
they're flying because it of thepockets that you get, the air
pressure, also the food that youmight be eating as well.
So try and combine that withsomebody who has growths and
lesions and cysts fromendometriosis.
It can be quite difficult.
(27:15):
So that's another thing that I'mvery wary of.
I pull back on food.
I can't get too excited when I'mflying.
You know, some people want toget on, they want to have the
shampoos and they want to havethe food.
And I remember the first timethat I flew business, I was
like, oh my gosh, this is goingto be so exciting.
And then I saw the food.
I was like, I can't, this is toomuch.
It's too heavy.
I'm going to struggle at theother end.
(27:37):
So I have to just be consciousof the amount that I'm eating,
what I'm eating and find thingsthat are basically easy to
digest for me while I'mtraveling to make that flight
and the day that I land a loteasier, particularly on a long
haul flight.
And you can even take thingslike hotties.
(28:00):
I love hotties.
They're Stick on heat patches.
Don't stick them directly ontoyour skin because they warm up
so much that you can getblisters.
But if you wear a camiunderneath and you can stick it
on top of the cami.
When I'm flying, sometimes Ihave them shoved down the back
of my high waist jeans.
You'd never even know.
You just get them from ChemistWarehouse in a pack and I love
them and I travel with hotties.
(28:21):
Actually, I learned the hardway.
When you're in America and maybein other countries, by the way,
I'd need to double check this.
There is a limit as to how manyyou can travel with.
And I entered America.
Anyway, they pulled my bagaside.
They said, you can't travel withall of this.
Like, this is ridiculous.
And I was like, oh, sorry.
And I had a medical letter frommy doctor for my medications and
(28:43):
it stipulated on the letter thatI had endometriosis.
And the woman who was goingthrough my bag, she looked at me
and she's like, all right, butnever again.
She's like, you definitely havebrought too many of these into
the country.
She's like, you know we sellthese here.
I was like, I panicked.
I didn't know if you did.
But of course they do it, like asneaky yes.
Of course.
Anyway, I travel with those andthey're fantastic because
(29:05):
sometimes my pelvis and my lowerback can get a little bit sore
and a little bit tight, morethan your average person.
So I've got to try and keep itwarm and keep it limber.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
right.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (29:17):
For me, I feel like I've been traveling in a
beautiful bubble.
I'm really learning.
I always learn a lot when I'mtalking to you as well.
So straight back at you.
Yeah.
Bringing nothing here.
I mean, yes, I I've changedbabies in toilets in airplanes.
(29:37):
Gosh.
And I'll tell you what, that isa steep learning curve.
You know, interestingly, I wastraveling through Istanbul last
year and it's got a new airport,gorgeous new airport.
One of the things I noticedthere, and I've been looking for
them since then in otherairports, and I think I saw the
other in Qatar as well, and theyare quiet rooms.
Oh.
(29:58):
Yeah.
So.
Oh, my God.
That one in Istanbul.
is actually it was written onthe front it was a low stimulus
room um for travelers with withdementia and for travelers that
suffer from you know suffered inin an overstimulated environment
and like in Qatar I spent eighthours in that airport and every
every announcement was done inthree languages and after three
(30:21):
hours that starts to feel oldbut coming at it from from your
point of view that would be likea an absolute nightmare for you
wouldn't it
SPEAKER_01 (30:30):
yeah Yeah, definitely can be.
And that's why those rooms areso fantastic.
And I'm even noticing sportingstadiums having those now.
There's a friend of mine whoruns a charity called Friend in
Me.
And one of the things that sheraises funds for is they're kind
of like transit vans, I guess.
And then she decks them out as aquiet space and they go to fates
(30:53):
so that children can go and havetime out.
They go to festivals and createthese beautiful spaces for
people and children to have thatchill out time and it's
incredible what it does thereare so many people like oh who
needs them well not the personwho's asking the question but
for so many other people youknow it's it's actually not that
hard to make travel accessibleand if it is by adding a room
(31:19):
like that to help peopleregulate their nervous system
and to cool their jets basicallyif they're overstimulated it is
such a fantastic addition andlike oh the airport in Doha
Seriously, one of the best.
It's so great.
And it's so spacious.
And you do have those placesjust to calm yourself before you
(31:39):
get on the plane.
You definitely don't want to begetting on the plane agitated.
That goes for anybody, whetheryou're neurodivergent or not.
You could have just had a reallytough time.
And I look at airports as one ofthe most magical places in the
world.
I love being in an airport.
There's a side that stresses meout, but I find them so
beautiful.
And there's gorgeous storieshappening in and out of
(32:01):
terminals and arrivals anddepartures, but there's also
harrowing ones as well.
And while you and I and so manyother people, we get to travel
because of a positive, somepeople are traveling because of
a negative.
And so if you put yourself intheir shoes for a moment and
then they've got this room andthis space just to center
themselves and gather themselvesbefore getting on that flight to
(32:23):
do whatever it is that they needto do, I
SPEAKER_00 (32:25):
think that that's
SPEAKER_01 (32:26):
beautiful.
SPEAKER_00 (32:27):
That's an amazing way to look at it.
Really Really, really wellcooked.
Thanks for that, Sarah-Marie.
I'm going to use this to steerto our last question, which is
the question we ask all ourguests, and I reckon you're
going to bring a good one to thetable.
What is your most bizarre travelexperience?
SPEAKER_01 (32:48):
Okay, this is the first one that sprung to mind.
We could probably call it a fewother things, but this was my
first foray into solo travel.
I made a decision that I wasgoing to pack up, leave, go work
overseas and backpack.
And between making that decisionand leaving was approximately
five weeks.
So no real time for my family toadjust to that.
(33:09):
I just took off.
Anyway, I was super pumped andexcited and had all the bravado
of somebody my age would.
Friends out of uni and wantingto go tackle the world and learn
and grow up as quickly aspossible, basically.
And I had to hop my way toAmerica.
So it was Melbourne to Auckland,first Auckland over to LA.
(33:33):
Anyway, I had my boarding pass.
I was traveling with a couple ofother people and I looked at my
boarding pass and I saw thatthere was a weird code on my
boarding pass that looked just alittle bit different to the code
that they had.
The other people had the samecode.
I did not have that code.
And And when I landed inAuckland, I was swiftly taken
away.
(33:54):
And I was taken into a room andI was moments away from being
stripped and searched due towhat I believe was mistaken
identity with someone that has avery similar name to me.
And it wasn't until I washysterical and then they checked
my birth date and then theyrealized that I was not involved
(34:16):
in any unbecoming activities.
And they eventually let me go,but I had to go through a full
interrogation and nearly missedmy connecting flight to America
and then I saw that code again Ithink I must have been in New
York when that happened and bythat stage I just got ready for
(34:38):
it like I braced and I thoughtokay I'm going to get taken away
here into a room and I did itwas by no means as terrifying as
what happened to me in Aucklandthat's nothing against people in
Auckland like they're doingtheir job my name came up as
something for whatever reasonand on that in entire trip it
did and it was a big trip um soI definitely don't hold anything
(34:59):
against them and I've been toAuckland airport numerous times
with many other carriers andeverybody is wonderful and
delightful and I can't wait togo there again but when you're
going through that alone and youknow this is 2006 for me so we
you know we weren't connected wedidn't have an iPhone are you
joking I probably had like aNokia 5210 I don't know what I
had but whatever it was itwasn't calling mum and dad you
(35:21):
know I didn't have a phone callto them I just just had to go
through the motions of beingtaken away from customs and
going into this random room andnearly being strip searched so i
mean that'll stay with you ilove a good strip
SPEAKER_00 (35:37):
search story i do and it stayed with you the whole
way through i wonder what theother person had actually done
SPEAKER_01 (35:42):
they just uh they just made traveling in 2006 very
difficult for me but i got thereand funnily enough when i got
into canada it didn't happenwhen i when i got to canada It
was just, yeah, New York and,yeah, Auckland were the two
locations where I got pulledaside.
I still have the boarding passwith the code, by the way.
(36:05):
And I now know because thesearticles have come out, like if
you have this code on yourboarding pass.
What's the code?
What's the code?
Oh, now I need to Google.
I feel like it's a, is it SSSX?
SPEAKER_00 (36:19):
Hang on.
That
SPEAKER_01 (36:19):
sounds
SPEAKER_00 (36:19):
dodgy in itself.
Okay.
So people, if you've got thiscode, chances are that you're
going to be...
Maybe not strip searched.
Oh, you might have a check onyou from AusPol or something
like that.
Sarah-Marie, it was awesome totalk to you today.
Thanks so much for sharing yourexperiences because they're not
ones that you hear every day.
It's not just a chat about whereyou went on your holidays.
(36:41):
Thanks so much for going deepinto that and for giving us some
resolutions as well.
And we're going to put thoseideas in the show notes as well.
So have a look in there andThanks again for coming on The
World Awaits.
SPEAKER_01 (36:51):
Thank you so much for having me.
And I'm all about sharing tipsand tricks.
I feel like that is the purposeto life.
If you can make something alittle bit easier for somebody
else, then absolutely.
And getting to speak with peoplelike yourself who've been in the
industry for such a long time, Ifeel so blessed.
So thank you.
Thanks again.
Gosh, it's so interestinghearing how Sarah-Marie manages
(37:13):
her anxiety while travelling andsome really good tips in there
too for people, you know, withany sort of anxiety issues
really.
And we will put all theinformation in the show notes.
And you can follow her onInstagram at Sarah-Marie Life.
UNKNOWN (37:30):
Music
SPEAKER_00 (37:42):
Our tip this week is for getting the best bang for
your buck when shoppingduty-free.
And a new study from Aussietravel brand Caddy Luggage
reveals that some of Australia'sbusiest airports are actually,
come on, let's be shockedpeople, charging more than
national retailers like BWS,Chemist Warehouse and Sephora
for popular duty-free items,sometimes more than$50 for one
(38:06):
single item.
SPEAKER_01 (38:08):
Yeah, and sadly, I am not surprised.
So I used to, decades agoprobably, used to buy all my
perfume duty free because it wasso cheap.
And then after prices juststarted going up and up and, you
know, in the last sort of five,10 years, I've just stopped
doing it because it's just somuch cheaper to get it at the
shopping malls.
SPEAKER_00 (38:28):
Yeah.
And because we're not the ABC,we can name names everywhere.
I think too, you know, it'staken a bit of the romance out
of buying perfume, hasn't it?
So the report backs yourexperiences, Kirsty, not that
this might be your go-toperfume, but as Estee Lauder's
beautiful Eau de Parfum is$30more expensive in Adelaide and
Cairns airports than at ChemistWarehouse.
SPEAKER_01 (38:50):
Yes, no, I'm an Yves Saint Laurent girl.
In case you want to buy me someperfume.
But yeah, mine is definitely atleast$30 cheaper at the chemist
than the airport.
And the report also found thatPenfold's Bin 8 wine is the same
price or more expensive at fiveof the seven airports when
compared to Dan Murphy's.
(39:11):
And also Clinique Lipstick, Ilove a bit of Clinique, is$10
more at Gold Coast Airport thanany of the other airports.
SPEAKER_00 (39:19):
Oh my goodness.
And most of the perfumes I likeare out of my own price range.
So I just wash myself in them atthe duty-free.
But for the best deal, thereport says, try Sydney Airport
for that same Estee Lauderfragrance, which sells for just
$112, which is a$57 savingcompared to the most expensive
airport that was in the list.
(39:42):
Perth Airport has the bestsingle bottle price for Johnny
Walker Black Label, which is aone litre, of course.
Always important to rememberwhen you're buying alcohol
duty-free, you get the one litreones, not those$750 50 mil,
like, little testers that theysell at the BWS.
So at Perth, it was that JohnnyWalker was$75, which is a decent
(40:05):
saving over BWS's$82.
And the real value comes inagain at Sydney Airport where
bundle deals make it one of therare duty-free wins.
Two bottles of Johnny Walker, soyou've got to love it,
obviously.
Two bottles for$119, which youwould be coughing up$164 at BWS.
And if you want to buy three,it's a you 77 bucks.
(40:28):
So there you go.
Whiskey lovers.
Personally, I do.
You've really got to love it.
I do what I call the gindex,which is when I check out how
much the Tanqueray is.
I take it as a measure allaround the world.
I'm like, today the gindex is$37in Muscat.
There you
SPEAKER_01 (40:48):
go.
I was going to say, don't eversay that the World Awakes
podcast doesn't bring you thebest deals.
And if you're listening onplayback, I'm sure that the
relativity will be the same.
So Clinique lipstick, do youlove a bit of lippy?
And you, my friend, aresynonymous with the red lippy.
Totally.
Absolutely.
(41:08):
So Clinique's cult, Clinique'scult favorite, almost lipstick,
is identical in price at GoldCoast Airport and Sephora, both
charging$48.
But that's a$10 markup comparedto nearly every other airport
where the same product is just$38.
So if you're flying out of GoldCoast, you're paying$10 more for
the same lipstick.
SPEAKER_00 (41:29):
Oh, sacrilege.
Right.
Actually, I wear a MAC one,which is what all of the Virgin
Australia girls wear as well.
SPEAKER_01 (41:37):
Oh, yes.
And didn't you ask them aboutthat when we were at the tennis?
SPEAKER_00 (41:42):
Oh, the Qatar girls.
I always talk lipstick withthem.
I love talking lipstick with airhostess.
So, because I've always got, youknow, their lips stay on.
They do.
In a 14-hour flight.
So, I always ask them and I'vegot to say, look, secret.
They always look gorgeous.
The secret is, Kosti, I'm goingto share it with you, lip paint.
(42:02):
Lip paint.
So you whack a lip paint onunderneath, you put the color
over the top, and then a sealerif you need it, and you don't
need to touch up until you touchdown.
So let me see.
What else did we find out fromthat report?
Oh, look, here we go.
We've got some more bargainscoming in here.
One of the few products whereDuty Free actually delivers is
(42:23):
Grey Goose.
The one liter was consistentlycheaper than BWS, which at at
$105.
And if you are in airports, youwill pick it up for$86 in Perth
and$89 in Melbourne or Brisbane.
The catch is it wasn't availableonline at the time of research
at Sydney or the Gold Coast.
So we're kind of limiting youroptions if you're flying out
(42:43):
from those hubs.
But why don't you make it alwaysdrop us a line and tell us your
great duty-free wins.
I would love to hear that.
SPEAKER_01 (42:51):
Yes, I would too.
So the key takeout from all ofthis, sadly, the days of cheap
duty-free are over, my friends.
Do your homework and pricethings up before you go so you
know if you're being ripped off.
Next week, I'm going to take youto sunny Queensland to talk all
things Noosa.
You can expect whale watching,biking, hiking, and I'll explain
exactly why a weekend in thispopular Sunshine Coast resort
(43:14):
area should be on your travelto-do list.
SPEAKER_00 (43:17):
And we'd love it if you joined us on socials.
You'll find us at the WorldAwaits podcast on Instagram,
Facebook, and on LinkedIn.
So feel free to drop us a lineat hello at the World Awaits And
if you are enjoying thisepisode, give us a rating or a
review.
And don't forget, we still havegot a giveaway of Ultimate Dive
Sites, which is by our guestTodd Stineos from a couple of
(43:39):
weeks ago.
So if you need to know where todive around the world, that is a
book for you.
Jump on the Instagram and putyour name in to win.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
Welcome to The World Away.
Travel tales to inspire yourwanderlust.
Welcome back to The WorldAwaits.
How is everyone?
I hope you're all well.
How's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
Oh, you know, it's like just a turgid mess of
things that I haven't yet done.
But what I am doing, I haveactually filed stories about my
bargain basement flight withAirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to
Melbourne.
Let me tell you, if you want tocarve your flight bill down to
nothing, go on an airline thatgives you nothing.
(00:35):
And it's a beautiful thing,right?
You get to carry I mean, youknow, you get what you pay for.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Isn't
SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
that raw dogging?
I did write it as the airlinebest for raw dogging because
it's like you're like eighthours, you know, seven hours
from KL to Melbourne, noscreens, no blankets, no eye
masks, no food, nothing.
But you get to bring all yourown food on, which can I just
say, I'm going to do a littleplug for the interview later on,
(01:02):
is a great thing if you'retraveling with dietaries and
you're BYO and nobody frowns atyou when you pull out your
little pack of sandwiches orwhatever.
Sorry, I was writing about thatone for the Sydney Morning
Herald.
Also, I've been writing aboutthe Block Arcade, which is one
of the National Trust Victoria'slisted gems of Melbourne because
shopping and design are a matchmade in heaven, don't you think?
(01:22):
Interestingly, it is modelled onthe Galleria Vittoria in Manuel
in Milan.
And here's another budget tip.
If you don't have the money fora plane ticket to Italy, the
Block Arcade is the next bestthing.
So there you go.
I'm giving it my all to So whatabout you, Kirsty?
What have you been up to?
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Well, actually, as this goes to air, I would have
just recently returned fromNoosa, so I'm doing a bit of
time travelling.
I actually haven't been to theSunshine Coast region, to this
resort region town, if anyonedoesn't know.
I'm sure everybody knows and hasheard about Noosa.
Even Kiwis love Sunshine Coast.
(02:03):
But I haven't been to Noosa formore than 15 years.
Isn't that embarrassing?
Isn't that so shocking?
So anyway, I can't wait to goback and it's whale season.
So we're going to do some whalewatching and all the things I
love.
We're doing hiking and bikingand kayaking.
So it's like a dream weekend forme.
So yeah, can't wait.
SPEAKER_00 (02:22):
Oh, that sounds awesome.
Love whale watching.
You know, I swam with them downon the South coast, New South
Wales last year.
Very, very nippy.
I think you're going to havemuch nicer, warmer, warmer
weather in Noosa.
So I'm looking forward tohearing your thoughts.
It should be pretty quiet too,because you're out of school
holidays, yay.
Not that ever, like Noosa wouldever compare to the overcrowded
(02:44):
likes of, you know, like Veniceand Barcelona, which brings us,
segue, insert segue here, whichbrings us to the latest data
from Deluxe Holiday Homes, whichhas analysed the annual
international visitors at toptourism destinations to show you
the top hotspots to skip in2025.
SPEAKER_01 (03:03):
Yes, and sadly, top of us is one of my favourite
destinations, which is Phuket,although I have to say, I do
love the quieter parts ofPhuket.
We normally go west Phuket whenwe go.
But the data found that it isactually the most crowded city.
So one to avoid this summer.
I was actually surprised aboutthis.
And it says that they have morethan 840,000 visitors per square
(03:24):
kilometre.
And with 3,392 attractions andan average summer temperature of
27.4 degrees Celsius, it canfeel pretty packed.
And the fact that many scenes inWhite Lotus were actually also
filmed in Phuket means that it'sno doubt going to get even
busier.
I mean, Thailand generally isgoing to get busier, right,
because of the rise of setjetting.
SPEAKER_00 (03:47):
Yeah, and you know, the second destination on the
list was another Thaidestination, and that's the city
of Pattaya.
And it has nearly 180,000visitors per square kilometre,
so it's nowhere near as crowdedas Phuket.
But Pattaya still sees a largenumber of visitors because, as
it says, it's got the best ofboth worlds, a bustling
nightlife, and beaches.
(04:09):
And because a lot of the expatslive there, I also thought that
the certain particular bars werevery much a drawcard for Pattaya
as well.
The food is also subsequentlyreally diverse as well with
expats and Thais there in theone destination.
SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
Yeah.
And third on the list was Paris,which it sees has 166,600
visitors per square kilometre.
So while that doesn't match thedensity of Bruket or Pattaya,
the city still has massivecrowds because of its landmarks
and we all know this.
Paris has 10,000 touristattractions, which is amazing,
right?
(04:46):
10,000 tourist attractions.
And also a slightly coolersummer temperature, it says, of
close to 20 degrees, so it makesit a bit more comfortable than
the southeastern places, but itstill was number three on the
not-to-go list.
SPEAKER_00 (05:02):
Yeah, well, I mean, Paris is, you know, it is the
most visited city, just, youknow, not in not in terms of
density, but the most visitedcity in the world.
So there's no surprises there.
Barcelona, of course, followsParis with 65,000 visitors per
square kilometre.
So it's a lot less crowded.
But of course, anybody whofollows travel would be across
(05:22):
the mass protests there acrossBarcelona, thanks to
Overtourism.
And the report says that itactually has nearly 6,000
attractions and the summertemperature is a whole lot nicer
than Paris at nearly 24 degreesCelsius.
It is going to be popular again.
So those numbers aren't going toslow next year when Sagrada
Familia's structural towers aresupposed to be scheduled for
(05:45):
completion.
I have to say, I was chasingthem for those dates of
completion and they were like,oh yes, that's what some people
say.
Like this was the press officefor Sagrada Familia.
They say, yes, that's whatthey're saying.
And I'm like, what are yousaying exactly?
So yeah, so there are reportsthat construction on the longest
(06:05):
running construction site in theafter that.
SPEAKER_01 (06:09):
Yeah, and just like what you said, Belle, we had the
same feedback when we were therelast year.
The local guides were saying,they were saying, there's no way
it's going to be finished.
And they were saying that a lotof it is because of the locals,
you know, the locals areopposing a lot of the extensions
because there's some housesaround there.
And the locals weren't happyabout it.
(06:31):
So that's what the local guideswere saying, which was really
interesting.
And rounding out the top five isMiami, which ranked was close to
57,000 visitors per squarekilometre, although visitors to
the US are dropping because ofthe Trump era.
Actually, the Flight Centrerecently released some stats
saying that it's had a 10% dropin profit due to backlash to
(06:54):
Trump's controversial tariff andentry policies.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
I don't know.
I mean, I see different reportscoming out every week about
this, and some say that it'sbusiness as usual for
Australians.
Others say that there's been amassive drop.
So, I mean, I think, you know,you can see definitely between
Canada and the U.S., like thatis a clear and definite drop.
But I don't know.
There's just so much researchcoming out that even though, you
(07:23):
know, Flight Centre with thatbig drop is there, but then, you
know, they had a very strongMay.
But, you know, if you're talkinganecdotally, we had those U.S.
digital nomads on the otherweek.
Scroll back on the podcast andhave a listen.
And they said that the fullimpact to tourism in the US is
years away from being felt.
(07:43):
Others on that top touristhotspots to avoid the summer are
Kuala Lumpur, Dublin, Amsterdam,Milan and Portugal.
Probably put Greece on there atthe moment because it has had
such bad press from all of thoseterrible bushfires that are
happening in the hightemperatures.
But look, if you're going to goto these places, the key is just
to consider the fact that itwill be busy and plan ahead.
So you can always make attemptsto avoid the crowds.
(08:05):
I mean, Eiffel Tower in peakseason in the Oh, don't know
about that one.
This week, my guest isSarah-Marie Cameron.
She is a presenter on TV andradio.
(08:26):
She's a writer and a comedian.
The girl has got a hecticschedule.
She presents the House ofWellness, which is networked
around the nine radio.
And locally in Melbourne, shedoes the weekend break with
Grubby each Sunday on 3AW from1pm.
She also writes for Body andSoul as a freelance writer.
And you might see her on Channel7 with Trouble Oz.
SPEAKER_01 (08:48):
Oh, I love Sarah Marie.
She's just so vivacious.
So it seems the obviousquestion, but what made you want
to interview her on the pod?
SPEAKER_00 (08:56):
Well, apart from being so vivacious.
And, you know, a lot of peopleall know her from her work with
Travelers and Radio.
She is on the road constantly.
But what you might not know isshe manages this incredibly
hectic schedule while juggling anumber of health and dietary
issues.
So we are touching on how shemanages as a neurodivergent
(09:17):
traveller.
And she shares some reallyfantastic tips as well for
anybody who's looking to maketheir travel smoother for
whatever reason.
So take a listen.
Sarah-Marie, welcome to TheWorld Awake.
It is so exciting to have you onthe podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
I honestly can't believe you asked me to join.
The calibre of guests that youhave had on, I love listening to
the podcast.
And I was beyond chuffed whenyou invited me on, so thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
No, we love having you on here because, I mean,
part of the reason is that youbring the drama and you bring
the resolutions as well, becausetoday we're going to talk, we're
talking about being healthy andtraveling healthily.
And, you know, there are so manythings that we just take, some
people take for granted.
(10:03):
I take the ability to sleepstanding up for granted, but
that's not the case foreverybody as we're going to find
out as we chat to you.
So let's dive into it.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself, how you got into the
media industry and in generaland travel specifically.
SPEAKER_01 (10:19):
I've been working in media for just shy of two
decades now, predominantly inradio and in the last couple of
years been doing a lot morefocusing on television as well.
Plus there's over the course ofthe time, there's new media that
comes into the fold.
So social media is part of that.
And I had a bit of a moment acouple of years ago, I thought
(10:41):
that I needed to get away fromradio and just have a break.
I felt like I'd been in a studiotalking to myself for far too
many years.
years.
And over the years, like I'vedone different radio shows and
different hours, but I'd beenworking at Triple M and I just
thought, you know what, I justneed to get out and need to do
something different.
And the entire time that I hadbeen doing radio and television
(11:04):
and a lot of sports presentingas well and emceeing, I was also
writing.
So I lived over in Canada, livedright across Australia, moving a
lot for media and you get incontact with local publications,
local newspapers.
There was also a bit of awriting element with some of the
radio stations that I workedfor.
So writing content for theirplatforms.
(11:26):
And I wanted to do a lot morefocusing on that as well.
A long time ago, I had a blog.
I ended up canceling that andjust deleting that for a while.
And I thought, you know what?
I really want to go back towriting.
I love it so much.
And through comedy, I get to doa lot of writing as well.
So I just wanted to dig deep andwas super fortunate that Jammo
(11:46):
hired me at Get Lost TravelMagazine.
And I was there as the assistanteditor And it was so much fun.
And then I ended up goingfreelance and still write
freelance and now write for Bodyand Soul as well.
And I'm unbelievably fortunateto be one of the co-hosts for
the House of Wellness, which ison Nine Radio on a Sunday
(12:06):
morning with the divine GeraldQuigley.
I just got so lucky having himas a co-host.
So that's where I am now.
So that's the shortest versionof 20 years in media.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
There you go.
In a nutshell.
One of the really interestingthings when we first started
talking about this was I saw onone of your socials, you were
talking about negotiating travelas somebody who's
neurodivergent.
And I kind of hadn't thoughtabout this a lot.
And then I thought, hang on, I'mputting myself into an airport.
(12:40):
The most stressed I am in mylife is that hour before you get
to the airport.
I am absolutely beside myself nomatter how many times I do it.
And I thought, that is such astressful environment.
How does anybody negotiate it?
Talk to me about being aneurodivergent traveller.
SPEAKER_01 (12:56):
Yeah, so my husband now knows that we've got a set
procedure if we are flyingdomestically or internationally.
The first time that we flewinternationally together, he
couldn't understand why I wantedto get to the airport so early.
We got there so early that thechecking counter wasn't even
open.
How early are we talking here?
Oh, it was just over threehours.
(13:17):
I think we had to wait about 10or 15 minutes with a check-in
counter to open.
And he was so unhappy.
He was so unhappy.
Anyway, got our coffees.
We checked in.
It was divine.
And we got through, you know,customs and all that kind of
stuff.
And you just don't know what'sgoing to happen depending on the
country that you're in.
We were fortunate enough to havea credit card that would give us
(13:40):
access to a lounge.
So we went in and we justchilled out there.
And he was like, why?
Why all of this?
And I was like, this is why Ineed to sit here now and relax.
like it's done the things theheavy lifting I want to do the
big jobs first so that it's notweighing down on me so yeah I
get to the airport a full threehours before an international
(14:03):
flight and if it's a domesticflight I'm usually at the
airport with an hour and a halfto go because I want to have
about an hour in the loungebeforehand again just to chill
out and allow myself time I gotcaught in traffic just the other
day when I was flyingdomestically and so that chewed
into my time, which didn't makeme feel good in the car.
But I just need to be on time.
(14:25):
I don't want to be havinganxiety about being late.
I don't want to have anxietyabout missing a flight.
I've only missed two flights inmy life, a domestic and an
international flight.
Kills me, kills me to this daythat I've missed those two
flights.
And I just can't have thatagain.
So when you're neurodivergent,anxiety can be something that
(14:45):
you were just living with andyou don't realize that you are
high functioning in that areaand that other people don't
think like that or start rollingthose scenarios.
And it's just about trying toalleviate as much stress as
possible.
So it's getting there early.
It's packing the night before.
Packing shelves, the best thingsever.
Again, my husband couldn'tunderstand why I was making
(15:06):
these investments in packingshelves, but he's 100% on board.
Travel toiletries so that I'vegot my skincare.
I've got skincare that I take onthe plane as well.
So as we know, we can have allthat moisture suck down on our
skin when we're flying.
So if I'm doing a long haulflight, I actually take,
actually I'd take eye patches ondomestic flights as well, but
(15:27):
I'll take my face mask and myeye patches.
And you know, when they say, youknow, that we're about to start
our descent, give or take what,about 40 minutes if you do
international.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that is where I get rolling.
That's where the face mask comesout.
That's where the toner comesout.
I'm landing with the best facethat you could see.
I don't fly with makeup oneither, but the Those are just
(15:49):
things that make me feel betterwhile I'm flying.
I've just got to feel clean andready to go and have my
toothbrush and some sanitarywipes and be clean and
organized.
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
How's that different to somebody just being kind of
organized as well?
I mean, I've got my littleroutines and stuff like that and
things that I do.
And yes, I have put those, youknow, the under eye patches.
Yeah, I've done those in flight.
I don't think that I've done afull face mask, but a on a day
flight in economy and I had tolike where everyone had fallen
(16:22):
asleep woke up I had my daughterwith me and she woke up like
screech you know the fullAnthony Hopkins look going on
right beside her scared thepants off me but I'm back to the
seriousness of it with somebodywho's neurodivergent I mean how
what if it doesn't go rightwhat's the ramifications
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
well it's not a good one that's for sure um I guess
what makes it different is thatthere's an order that all of
that has to take place and it'sthe same.
It is like clockwork.
I also travel with earplugs aswell.
So once I start to become reallyoverstimulated, the earplugs
have to go in and my husbandknows that as well.
And yeah, I've got to distractmyself.
(17:07):
I've also got the Calm app,which was probably one of the
best investments that I evermade.
A friend of mine actually saidto me, this is a couple of years
ago, I was traveling aroundAustralia, just doing all the
comedy festivals.
And I was really struggling tosleep on flights.
I was just really anxious atthat time and I couldn't calm
down.
Normally I can sleep on flights,but I couldn't.
And he just said to me, we triedlistening to sleep stories and
(17:29):
that changed my life.
So I bought the Calm app.
There's a bunch of sleep storiesthat I have.
I don't listen to any new oneswhen I need them.
If I'm on a plane, it's one thatI'm already familiar with that I
love and I'll usually be asleepor calm and rested within 10
minutes just to help me selfsoothe basically.
And so if something does gowrong, And I don't know, it's a
(17:51):
flight delay or my luggagehasn't turned up.
That's happened a couple oftimes.
I've got, you know, air tags inmy luggage, which is super handy
to know because sometimes theyhaven't known when my luggage is
and I've been able to tell themwhere my luggage is.
So when those sorts of thingshappen, car map is on.
I start listening to, if it'snot sleep stories, it's
(18:12):
something else.
Try and have a moment, meditate,do mindfulness.
I have to do things to try andre Otherwise, I become an awful,
agitated person.
SPEAKER_00 (18:26):
Right.
Okay.
So you've mentioned a couple ofthings and I'm just going to
pull them back out because I didwant to talk to you about sleep.
We have talked about sleep.
I think being five foot threehelps me with the whole sleep
thing because, you know, ifyou're a six foot seven person
trying to cram yourself and Iwas literally, I was on an
AirAsia flight.
I was writing a review for itthis morning and there was a guy
(18:49):
beside me who was about six footand he really broad shoulders.
I mean, so I don't have thoseproblems of cramming myself into
a little puddle, but let's talkabout how you sleep successfully
on flights because I thinkyou've got loads in there.
You've mentioned the Calm app.
Is that, and I'll put these inthe show notes as well, but also
what's a sleep story?
SPEAKER_01 (19:11):
Sleep stories are just beautiful stories that have
been recorded by lots ofdifferent people.
There's so many differentcelebrities that have done it
over the years and you can findthem on YouTube as well.
You don't need to have the Calmapp, but if I'm just opening my
Calm app right now and if I goto sleep and then I'll go to
sleep stories there's a wholebunch of people or actually one
(19:34):
lady I love Tabitha Brown Iadore her I don't know if you
know her she's a wonderfulcooking influencer online and
she's just got a gorgeous voiceand it's just soothing you know
it's just a gorgeous soothingvoice my favorite sleep story
that I listen to quite oftenthis is my I have tried
everything else and nothing isworking this is the sleep story
(19:55):
that puts me to sleep everytime.
It's called Blue Gold and thevoiceover for it is Stephen Fry.
SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
Right.
Okay.
I'm with you on this one now.
So if you're sat on, you've gotheadphones or do
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
you use earpods?
Yeah, I use headphones.
Yeah.
I've just found one from ScottyPippin.
Hey, is that your jam?
You can listen to a sleep storyfrom Scotty Pippin.
I get it.
He's got the voice for a sleepstory.
So, you know, they talk closerto the microphone.
They really pull you in.
They try and make you feel safeand secure so that you can
sleep.
They talk like that.
SPEAKER_00 (20:31):
It's a bedtime story.
Okay.
Right.
It is.
It's a bedtime story for adultsand it's the best.
Okay.
I'm with you now.
So headphones or earpods?
SPEAKER_01 (20:44):
I'm an earbuds kind of gal.
I'm old school.
Plug in earbuds.
That's me.
SPEAKER_00 (20:51):
Right.
Okay.
And are you a sleep mask person,a non-sleep mask?
Because I've got to say, for me,if you're going to sleep, you
need to do sensory deprivation.
SPEAKER_01 (21:01):
Yes, I am just really good at sleeping now.
So I don't need a sleep mask.
I've got a large head.
So sometimes they just simplydon't fit on my head.
Thank you to the airlines thathave gifted them to me.
In the toiletry packs, theydon't often fit this head of
mine.
But I can just, you know, whenyou adjust the headrest on the
plane, like even just economy,you're sitting up straight, I
(21:23):
can sleep Melbourne to Sydney.
I can sleep Melbourne toAdelaide.
I can sleep Melbourne toLaunceston.
Okay.
Bye.
can sleep.
If I've got time and I'm out, Ihave flown domestically eight,
10 times this month already.
I've slept on just about everysingle plane and missed the food
and coffee service every singletime.
SPEAKER_00 (21:45):
I don't think you're missing much with the coffee
service myself.
But anyway, that is animpressive, that is a really
impressive track record.
But interestingly, I mean,missing the food, missing the
coffee is one thing, missing thefood is another one.
But that brings me into the nextquestion because You also travel
with dietries, don't you?
I do.
(22:05):
How does that work?
SPEAKER_01 (22:07):
Yeah, so gluten-free.
Tell us your dietries,gluten-free.
Yeah, gluten-free.
I have a shellfish allergy and Idon't have pork.
So those are my dietries.
I often just go for a vegetarianmeal when I'm traveling.
And, for instance, if I'mflying, I fly with Virgin a lot.
I recently flew with Qantas, butI just have my aligned
(22:31):
preference, with Velocity.
When I go into the Melbournelounge, they've got gluten-free
food.
They'll make me a gluten-freetoasty.
Just go line up and ask themvery nicely and you'll have a
lovely little gluten-freetoasty, which they make behind
the counter away from everybodyelse.
So if you're celiac, that'sactually really fantastic.
For me, I have an intolerance,so cross-contamination, I'm
fine.
But I'm really impressed by thesnacks and the lengths that
(22:54):
Virgin go to in their lounge forthat.
So yeah, I'll just go get myselfa little gluten-free toasty.
That's probably why I'm able tosleep on the flight because I've
already eaten and doneeverything thing of the lounge.
And then if I've got a thousandthings that I need to do, I
write that out on a notepad,empty my brain, and then I get
onto the flight and I'm good togo.
In terms of international, look,it can vary.
Sometimes you can fly an airlineand they've got a great stir fry
(23:16):
and you can have that and that'sokay.
And then there are other timeswhere there isn't necessarily a
meal available, very few and farbetween, but it does happen.
It does happen.
But if I'm just going for, say,a vegetarian gluten-free meal, I
think that that is way morecommon these days.
SPEAKER_00 (23:35):
Yeah, I think the pork thing is interesting
because I noticed I've been, youknow, I've lived on and off in
the Middle East and then comingback to Australia and you'd find
Qantas, like those choices, youknow, you don't think, you
wouldn't think about it, butthey've just got, you know, pork
and pork on it, you know, you'vegot a pork sausage and then
you've got some bacon on theside and you'd be like, yeah,
look at that, I can have fourtypes of pork now, yum.
(23:56):
So that has kind of struck me,you know, coming from a very
non-pork, society back into areintroduction to something
where ham is a vegetable,basically.
Do you travel with snacks inyour bag as well?
What do you throw in there?
SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
I normally have gluten-free bars of some
description, just as a safetyprecaution.
If it's a long haul, if it'sshort, it's fine.
If it's anything under sixhours, I'm going to be okay.
I'm not going to be malnourishedon the other end.
But if the flight's longer thanthat, then yeah, I'll normally
have a couple of snacks.
And I think it was when myhusband and I were coming back
from Canada and then I had todeclare the ones that I hadn't
(24:37):
eaten because the food wasgreat.
When I was flying back, it wasperfect and suited my dietary
requirements.
My husband's like, can you justput it in the bin?
I don't want to line up in thedeclaration.
So I just get rid of it.
So I just binned it, walkedaway, let it go.
But yeah, I have to fly withsnacks.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think anyone who's everflown with children has always
got like a nose bag that they'reemptying out at the other end of
half eaten snacks from theirkids and stuff.
Been pinged by the dogs too manytimes that I can't count.
In your role, you've been in thepublic eye for many years and
part of that is you're anambassador for a number of
(25:14):
organisations that deal withhealth conditions.
Those health conditions, I toldyou, she brings the drama, but
those health conditions alsoimpact upon how you travel.
Tell us about thoseorganisations that you are an
ambassador for.
SPEAKER_01 (25:29):
I've been an ambassador with the Australian
Cervical Cancer Foundation since2011, I think, towards the end
of 2011 is when I jumped onboard with them.
And then for EndometriosisAustralia, I want to say that
was around 2015 that I became anambassador with them.
And I'm fit and healthy now andsuper thankful with the journey
(25:51):
that I went on when I hadcervical cancer.
I was diagnosed very young whenI was 22.
And it just opened me up to awhole world of different, you
you know, gynecological issuesthat people born with female
reproductive organs canexperience.
Then going down the diagnosisroute of endometriosis, that can
(26:12):
be a little problematic forsome.
Some people have it and theydon't even know that they've got
it until they're trying to havebabies.
And then you've got other peoplewho have it and are acutely
aware of it and it affects everysecond that they are awake.
And I guess I've experiencedboth ends of those spectrums.
I think I had a memory pop uptoday.
(26:33):
Actually, my last laparoscopywas three years ago today for a
clean out, as we call them, forsome excision surgery.
So you can experience lower backpain, abdominal pain,
endometriosis can grow whereverit wants.
It's most often found within thepelvis and in tricky little
spots called like the pouch ofDouglas, which is between your
bladder and your bowel.
(26:55):
And I think just about anybodycan experience bowel issues when
they're flying because it of thepockets that you get, the air
pressure, also the food that youmight be eating as well.
So try and combine that withsomebody who has growths and
lesions and cysts fromendometriosis.
It can be quite difficult.
(27:15):
So that's another thing that I'mvery wary of.
I pull back on food.
I can't get too excited when I'mflying.
You know, some people want toget on, they want to have the
shampoos and they want to havethe food.
And I remember the first timethat I flew business, I was
like, oh my gosh, this is goingto be so exciting.
And then I saw the food.
I was like, I can't, this is toomuch.
It's too heavy.
I'm going to struggle at theother end.
(27:37):
So I have to just be consciousof the amount that I'm eating,
what I'm eating and find thingsthat are basically easy to
digest for me while I'mtraveling to make that flight
and the day that I land a loteasier, particularly on a long
haul flight.
And you can even take thingslike hotties.
(28:00):
I love hotties.
They're Stick on heat patches.
Don't stick them directly ontoyour skin because they warm up
so much that you can getblisters.
But if you wear a camiunderneath and you can stick it
on top of the cami.
When I'm flying, sometimes Ihave them shoved down the back
of my high waist jeans.
You'd never even know.
You just get them from ChemistWarehouse in a pack and I love
them and I travel with hotties.
(28:21):
Actually, I learned the hardway.
When you're in America and maybein other countries, by the way,
I'd need to double check this.
There is a limit as to how manyyou can travel with.
And I entered America.
Anyway, they pulled my bagaside.
They said, you can't travel withall of this.
Like, this is ridiculous.
And I was like, oh, sorry.
And I had a medical letter frommy doctor for my medications and
(28:43):
it stipulated on the letter thatI had endometriosis.
And the woman who was goingthrough my bag, she looked at me
and she's like, all right, butnever again.
She's like, you definitely havebrought too many of these into
the country.
She's like, you know we sellthese here.
I was like, I panicked.
I didn't know if you did.
But of course they do it, like asneaky yes.
Of course.
Anyway, I travel with those andthey're fantastic because
(29:05):
sometimes my pelvis and my lowerback can get a little bit sore
and a little bit tight, morethan your average person.
So I've got to try and keep itwarm and keep it limber.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
right.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (29:17):
For me, I feel like I've been traveling in a
beautiful bubble.
I'm really learning.
I always learn a lot when I'mtalking to you as well.
So straight back at you.
Yeah.
Bringing nothing here.
I mean, yes, I I've changedbabies in toilets in airplanes.
(29:37):
Gosh.
And I'll tell you what, that isa steep learning curve.
You know, interestingly, I wastraveling through Istanbul last
year and it's got a new airport,gorgeous new airport.
One of the things I noticedthere, and I've been looking for
them since then in otherairports, and I think I saw the
other in Qatar as well, and theyare quiet rooms.
Oh.
(29:58):
Yeah.
So.
Oh, my God.
That one in Istanbul.
is actually it was written onthe front it was a low stimulus
room um for travelers with withdementia and for travelers that
suffer from you know suffered inin an overstimulated environment
and like in Qatar I spent eighthours in that airport and every
every announcement was done inthree languages and after three
(30:21):
hours that starts to feel oldbut coming at it from from your
point of view that would be likea an absolute nightmare for you
wouldn't it
SPEAKER_01 (30:30):
yeah Yeah, definitely can be.
And that's why those rooms areso fantastic.
And I'm even noticing sportingstadiums having those now.
There's a friend of mine whoruns a charity called Friend in
Me.
And one of the things that sheraises funds for is they're kind
of like transit vans, I guess.
And then she decks them out as aquiet space and they go to fates
(30:53):
so that children can go and havetime out.
They go to festivals and createthese beautiful spaces for
people and children to have thatchill out time and it's
incredible what it does thereare so many people like oh who
needs them well not the personwho's asking the question but
for so many other people youknow it's it's actually not that
hard to make travel accessibleand if it is by adding a room
(31:19):
like that to help peopleregulate their nervous system
and to cool their jets basicallyif they're overstimulated it is
such a fantastic addition andlike oh the airport in Doha
Seriously, one of the best.
It's so great.
And it's so spacious.
And you do have those placesjust to calm yourself before you
(31:39):
get on the plane.
You definitely don't want to begetting on the plane agitated.
That goes for anybody, whetheryou're neurodivergent or not.
You could have just had a reallytough time.
And I look at airports as one ofthe most magical places in the
world.
I love being in an airport.
There's a side that stresses meout, but I find them so
beautiful.
And there's gorgeous storieshappening in and out of
(32:01):
terminals and arrivals anddepartures, but there's also
harrowing ones as well.
And while you and I and so manyother people, we get to travel
because of a positive, somepeople are traveling because of
a negative.
And so if you put yourself intheir shoes for a moment and
then they've got this room andthis space just to center
themselves and gather themselvesbefore getting on that flight to
(32:23):
do whatever it is that they needto do, I
SPEAKER_00 (32:25):
think that that's
SPEAKER_01 (32:26):
beautiful.
SPEAKER_00 (32:27):
That's an amazing way to look at it.
Really Really, really wellcooked.
Thanks for that, Sarah-Marie.
I'm going to use this to steerto our last question, which is
the question we ask all ourguests, and I reckon you're
going to bring a good one to thetable.
What is your most bizarre travelexperience?
SPEAKER_01 (32:48):
Okay, this is the first one that sprung to mind.
We could probably call it a fewother things, but this was my
first foray into solo travel.
I made a decision that I wasgoing to pack up, leave, go work
overseas and backpack.
And between making that decisionand leaving was approximately
five weeks.
So no real time for my family toadjust to that.
(33:09):
I just took off.
Anyway, I was super pumped andexcited and had all the bravado
of somebody my age would.
Friends out of uni and wantingto go tackle the world and learn
and grow up as quickly aspossible, basically.
And I had to hop my way toAmerica.
So it was Melbourne to Auckland,first Auckland over to LA.
(33:33):
Anyway, I had my boarding pass.
I was traveling with a couple ofother people and I looked at my
boarding pass and I saw thatthere was a weird code on my
boarding pass that looked just alittle bit different to the code
that they had.
The other people had the samecode.
I did not have that code.
And And when I landed inAuckland, I was swiftly taken
away.
(33:54):
And I was taken into a room andI was moments away from being
stripped and searched due towhat I believe was mistaken
identity with someone that has avery similar name to me.
And it wasn't until I washysterical and then they checked
my birth date and then theyrealized that I was not involved
(34:16):
in any unbecoming activities.
And they eventually let me go,but I had to go through a full
interrogation and nearly missedmy connecting flight to America
and then I saw that code again Ithink I must have been in New
York when that happened and bythat stage I just got ready for
(34:38):
it like I braced and I thoughtokay I'm going to get taken away
here into a room and I did itwas by no means as terrifying as
what happened to me in Aucklandthat's nothing against people in
Auckland like they're doingtheir job my name came up as
something for whatever reasonand on that in entire trip it
did and it was a big trip um soI definitely don't hold anything
(34:59):
against them and I've been toAuckland airport numerous times
with many other carriers andeverybody is wonderful and
delightful and I can't wait togo there again but when you're
going through that alone and youknow this is 2006 for me so we
you know we weren't connected wedidn't have an iPhone are you
joking I probably had like aNokia 5210 I don't know what I
had but whatever it was itwasn't calling mum and dad you
(35:21):
know I didn't have a phone callto them I just just had to go
through the motions of beingtaken away from customs and
going into this random room andnearly being strip searched so i
mean that'll stay with you ilove a good strip
SPEAKER_00 (35:37):
search story i do and it stayed with you the whole
way through i wonder what theother person had actually done
SPEAKER_01 (35:42):
they just uh they just made traveling in 2006 very
difficult for me but i got thereand funnily enough when i got
into canada it didn't happenwhen i when i got to canada It
was just, yeah, New York and,yeah, Auckland were the two
locations where I got pulledaside.
I still have the boarding passwith the code, by the way.
(36:05):
And I now know because thesearticles have come out, like if
you have this code on yourboarding pass.
What's the code?
What's the code?
Oh, now I need to Google.
I feel like it's a, is it SSSX?
SPEAKER_00 (36:19):
Hang on.
That
SPEAKER_01 (36:19):
sounds
SPEAKER_00 (36:19):
dodgy in itself.
Okay.
So people, if you've got thiscode, chances are that you're
going to be...
Maybe not strip searched.
Oh, you might have a check onyou from AusPol or something
like that.
Sarah-Marie, it was awesome totalk to you today.
Thanks so much for sharing yourexperiences because they're not
ones that you hear every day.
It's not just a chat about whereyou went on your holidays.
(36:41):
Thanks so much for going deepinto that and for giving us some
resolutions as well.
And we're going to put thoseideas in the show notes as well.
So have a look in there andThanks again for coming on The
World Awaits.
SPEAKER_01 (36:51):
Thank you so much for having me.
And I'm all about sharing tipsand tricks.
I feel like that is the purposeto life.
If you can make something alittle bit easier for somebody
else, then absolutely.
And getting to speak with peoplelike yourself who've been in the
industry for such a long time, Ifeel so blessed.
So thank you.
Thanks again.
Gosh, it's so interestinghearing how Sarah-Marie manages
(37:13):
her anxiety while travelling andsome really good tips in there
too for people, you know, withany sort of anxiety issues
really.
And we will put all theinformation in the show notes.
And you can follow her onInstagram at Sarah-Marie Life.
UNKNOWN (37:30):
Music
SPEAKER_00 (37:42):
Our tip this week is for getting the best bang for
your buck when shoppingduty-free.
And a new study from Aussietravel brand Caddy Luggage
reveals that some of Australia'sbusiest airports are actually,
come on, let's be shockedpeople, charging more than
national retailers like BWS,Chemist Warehouse and Sephora
for popular duty-free items,sometimes more than$50 for one
(38:06):
single item.
SPEAKER_01 (38:08):
Yeah, and sadly, I am not surprised.
So I used to, decades agoprobably, used to buy all my
perfume duty free because it wasso cheap.
And then after prices juststarted going up and up and, you
know, in the last sort of five,10 years, I've just stopped
doing it because it's just somuch cheaper to get it at the
shopping malls.
SPEAKER_00 (38:28):
Yeah.
And because we're not the ABC,we can name names everywhere.
I think too, you know, it'staken a bit of the romance out
of buying perfume, hasn't it?
So the report backs yourexperiences, Kirsty, not that
this might be your go-toperfume, but as Estee Lauder's
beautiful Eau de Parfum is$30more expensive in Adelaide and
Cairns airports than at ChemistWarehouse.
SPEAKER_01 (38:50):
Yes, no, I'm an Yves Saint Laurent girl.
In case you want to buy me someperfume.
But yeah, mine is definitely atleast$30 cheaper at the chemist
than the airport.
And the report also found thatPenfold's Bin 8 wine is the same
price or more expensive at fiveof the seven airports when
compared to Dan Murphy's.
(39:11):
And also Clinique Lipstick, Ilove a bit of Clinique, is$10
more at Gold Coast Airport thanany of the other airports.
SPEAKER_00 (39:19):
Oh my goodness.
And most of the perfumes I likeare out of my own price range.
So I just wash myself in them atthe duty-free.
But for the best deal, thereport says, try Sydney Airport
for that same Estee Lauderfragrance, which sells for just
$112, which is a$57 savingcompared to the most expensive
airport that was in the list.
(39:42):
Perth Airport has the bestsingle bottle price for Johnny
Walker Black Label, which is aone litre, of course.
Always important to rememberwhen you're buying alcohol
duty-free, you get the one litreones, not those$750 50 mil,
like, little testers that theysell at the BWS.
So at Perth, it was that JohnnyWalker was$75, which is a decent
(40:05):
saving over BWS's$82.
And the real value comes inagain at Sydney Airport where
bundle deals make it one of therare duty-free wins.
Two bottles of Johnny Walker, soyou've got to love it,
obviously.
Two bottles for$119, which youwould be coughing up$164 at BWS.
And if you want to buy three,it's a you 77 bucks.
(40:28):
So there you go.
Whiskey lovers.
Personally, I do.
You've really got to love it.
I do what I call the gindex,which is when I check out how
much the Tanqueray is.
I take it as a measure allaround the world.
I'm like, today the gindex is$37in Muscat.
There you
SPEAKER_01 (40:48):
go.
I was going to say, don't eversay that the World Awakes
podcast doesn't bring you thebest deals.
And if you're listening onplayback, I'm sure that the
relativity will be the same.
So Clinique lipstick, do youlove a bit of lippy?
And you, my friend, aresynonymous with the red lippy.
Totally.
Absolutely.
(41:08):
So Clinique's cult, Clinique'scult favorite, almost lipstick,
is identical in price at GoldCoast Airport and Sephora, both
charging$48.
But that's a$10 markup comparedto nearly every other airport
where the same product is just$38.
So if you're flying out of GoldCoast, you're paying$10 more for
the same lipstick.
SPEAKER_00 (41:29):
Oh, sacrilege.
Right.
Actually, I wear a MAC one,which is what all of the Virgin
Australia girls wear as well.
SPEAKER_01 (41:37):
Oh, yes.
And didn't you ask them aboutthat when we were at the tennis?
SPEAKER_00 (41:42):
Oh, the Qatar girls.
I always talk lipstick withthem.
I love talking lipstick with airhostess.
So, because I've always got, youknow, their lips stay on.
They do.
In a 14-hour flight.
So, I always ask them and I'vegot to say, look, secret.
They always look gorgeous.
The secret is, Kosti, I'm goingto share it with you, lip paint.
(42:02):
Lip paint.
So you whack a lip paint onunderneath, you put the color
over the top, and then a sealerif you need it, and you don't
need to touch up until you touchdown.
So let me see.
What else did we find out fromthat report?
Oh, look, here we go.
We've got some more bargainscoming in here.
One of the few products whereDuty Free actually delivers is
(42:23):
Grey Goose.
The one liter was consistentlycheaper than BWS, which at at
$105.
And if you are in airports, youwill pick it up for$86 in Perth
and$89 in Melbourne or Brisbane.
The catch is it wasn't availableonline at the time of research
at Sydney or the Gold Coast.
So we're kind of limiting youroptions if you're flying out
(42:43):
from those hubs.
But why don't you make it alwaysdrop us a line and tell us your
great duty-free wins.
I would love to hear that.
SPEAKER_01 (42:51):
Yes, I would too.
So the key takeout from all ofthis, sadly, the days of cheap
duty-free are over, my friends.
Do your homework and pricethings up before you go so you
know if you're being ripped off.
Next week, I'm going to take youto sunny Queensland to talk all
things Noosa.
You can expect whale watching,biking, hiking, and I'll explain
exactly why a weekend in thispopular Sunshine Coast resort
(43:14):
area should be on your travelto-do list.
SPEAKER_00 (43:17):
And we'd love it if you joined us on socials.
You'll find us at the WorldAwaits podcast on Instagram,
Facebook, and on LinkedIn.
So feel free to drop us a lineat hello at the World Awaits And
if you are enjoying thisepisode, give us a rating or a
review.
And don't forget, we still havegot a giveaway of Ultimate Dive
Sites, which is by our guestTodd Stineos from a couple of
(43:39):
weeks ago.
So if you need to know where todive around the world, that is a
book for you.
Jump on the Instagram and putyour name in to win.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
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