World Travellers: Carrie Riseley Travel Author

The latest in my World Travellers series is Carrie Riseley, who is a long term traveller and writer. Her books are available online here http://carriestravelbooks.weebly.com so now it is time for her interview!

I am a travel author. I’m in my 30s and have been travelling since I was 18. I’ve always kept a travel journal, and one day I decided to start publishing them. Well, I say “one day” – like so many things, it was a COVID project! I had it in the back of my mind for ages, and the COVID lockdowns meant that for the first time, rather than always looking forward to and planning my next trip, instead I looked back at my previous trips and started editing my journals into books. I’ve published 3 travel memoirs so far in my “Come On A Journey With Me” series.

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

I could give you the list of all 47 countries, but you might get bored!

15 countries in Asia, including living in Japan twice.

30 countries in Europe, including living in the UK.

Tunisia in northern Africa, the USA, and a fair bit around my home country of Australia.

And the distant islands of Iceland, Hawaii and New Zealand.

At home in Hobart, Tasmania.

Thank you so much for asking for a top 3 rather than just, “What’s your favourite?” People often ask that and I say, “I’ll give you a list …”

Now, to narrow the list down to the top 3… Hmm…

Barcelona, Olkhon Island in Siberia, and Sucha Bela Gorge in Slovakia (you can climb waterfalls!)

Getting bogged in the snow in the middle of a Mongolian steppe. Yeah I know, that doesn’t sound like it would fit into a “best” category. It was the best because we were rescued by a nomad on a tractor and then taken to his ger (like a yurt), where he and his wife made us dinner.

Having taxi drivers refuse to take me and my friend in Beijing. Taxi drivers are unable to charge the “foreigners tax” (to rip you off) because they’re bound by the meter. So unless we were going somewhere far away like the airport, they refused to take us because they thought they wouldn’t make enough money. One slowed down, then sped up again and drove away when he saw we were foreigners. One let us in but then kicked us straight out again once he found out where we wanted to go. One took us part of the way and then kicked us out at a traffic light because he couldn’t be bothered turning onto the road that led to our accommodation. We refused to pay him!

There have been a few of those! One was getting lost late at night in Naples – which wasn’t funny, it was scary – and being helped by some security guards and a priest. It was funny because they spoke no English, so we didn’t know what was happening as they eagerly pored over our guidebook and map and tried to find out where our booked accommodation was. One security guard, whilst trying to explain where they worked and where we were, pretended to have a pregnant belly. It turned out they were the security guards of a maternity hospital! Then a man in a black jacket came out of the hospital and stood waiting for us to follow him. The security guard pretended to have a dog collar. He was trying to tell us that the man was a priest who would walk us to our accommodation….

Having heated words with some people who had stolen our campsite in Hawaii and put up several tents, a gazebo and floodlights. I was annoyed that they’d done that and while I was expressing my annoyance, a large man among them threatened us and we got scared. I was with my pregnant friend. She tripped while we were moving our tent and her pregnant belly hit a large rock. There followed a scary night with no sleep as she kept checking to see if she was bleeding and I kept saying, “I’ll drive you down the mountain to a hospital!” Luckily she and the baby were ok.

I usually live frugally enough when I’m at home to not need to work while travelling, but I did work as a barista in England and an English teacher in Japan. The most random job I’ve had ever (back home) was looking after a bead stand in a variety store!

By having a fairly simple lifestyle. I feel lucky that I’m not interested in clothes, shoes, handbags, electronics or fine foods. So I don’t need to spend money on them!

1. Make sure you know where accommodation is located, so that you don’t accidentally book somewhere that’s miles away from either your transport or the things you want to see and do

2. Make sure you know approximately how long it takes to get between the places you want to visit. That doesn’t mean how far apart they are in kilometres, because transport and traffic are very different in different parts of the world. In Cambodia it might take you an hour to travel 30km in a tuk tuk or on a slow bus. In Tasmania there might not even be a bus and you won’t be able to get there at all without a hire car.

3. Pack things like spare medication, gaffer tape, a spoon, a sewing kit, laundry detergent… I have even taken a spare camera – and used it! Think about things that would cause a big headache if they got either broken or lost on your travels, and prevent that headache if you can. Or tasks that will just be more difficult or expensive if you have to go and buy supplies first, like laundry detergent.

In May I am going to England for a little while. It’s one of my favourite countries to visit, and I have friends there who are like family. It will be great to see them again. Having stopovers in Singapore too – I understand their airport is like a theme park!

Carrie grew up in Tasmania, Australia but spent her youth living in Melbourne, Japan and England. She has travelled to 47 countries to date, and kept a travel journal for every single one.

Carrie started doing this when, just before her first travelling experience at age 18, family members gave her an empty notebook to use as a travel journal. Carrie found she loved writing about what she was seeing and experiencing so much that she filled the notebook in only 3 weeks. She bought more notebooks, and just kept going.

So far, Carrie has published three books:

All Aboard! A journey on the Trans-Mongolian Railway and through eastern Europe (2021)

Japan Unexpected (2022)

Smiles and Spices: journeys and encounters in east Asia (2023)

Because Carrie’s books were written in the moment as she was travelling – or, in the case of her second book “Japan Unexpected”, while she was living in and fully experiencing the culture of Japan – you’ll feel like you were there too. You’ll marvel as she marvelled, wonder as she wondered, and learn as she learned.

my website: carriestravelbooks.weebly.com

my socials:

“Carrie’s Travel Books” on    Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter

“Carrie Riseley” on    GoodReads, BookBub, Books2Read and LinkedIn

Thanks to Carrie for being the latest in my series of World Travellers! If you travel the world and run a travel blog or are a travel writer, please get in touch, you can be featured , either e-mail jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net or head to my contacts page and get connected! You can also subscribe to Don’t Stop Living by filling in the form below! Safe travels!