The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust
Where does your wanderlust lead you?
To Melbourne’s cafes or the vast deserts of the Empty Quarter, a New Zealand vineyard or the pavements of New York… what’s your neighbourhood?
Join travel journalists and editors Kirstie Bedford and Belinda Jackson for inspiring stories and inside information from across the world.
Website https://theworldawaits.au
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The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust
EP 114 From Rome to Nairobi, connecting through classical music; US visitors love Australia and do you need domestic travel insurance?
“Opera and classical music shouldn’t be just for the elite,” says Australian-born soprano Breana Stillman. The opera singer leads a double life; based in Rome and singing throughout Europe, she’s also on a mission to bring classical music and opera to disadvantaged youth in central Africa, using art as a therapy.
Breana spends several months a year in Kenya with the charity she founded, OperAffinity, working and performing with impoverished children to develop their artistic abilities, and to create cultural connection through music.
Follow Breana's journey and for more on OperAffinity and its festival in Todi, Italy, https://www.breanasoprano.com/, https://www.operaffinity.com/
Also, while Americans are travelling to Australian in record numbers, Aussies are choosing Asia over the US for their international holidays, according to the latest Travel Trends Report from the Australian Travel Industry Association, https://atia.travel/
And finally, Southern Cross Travel Insurance makes the case for taking out travel insurance for domestic travel, https://www.scti.com.au/
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
Welcome to the World Awakes. Travel tales to inspire your wanderlust. Welcome back to the World Awakes. How are you all? How's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, Kirsty, I am still brushing the red dirt from my hair after an amazing trip in Central Australia. I'm so in love with the landscape. The region is full of wildflowers, Uluru, Katajuda, and they are just as inspirational as ever. And I am now an expert at erecting rooftop tents. Bonus. I can't wait to tell you. I'm not going to tell you anymore. I'm going to tell you all about it in a week or so, but you can see some fabulous photos from me and my friend and photographer Jude Van Dalen because we traveled together through this iconic Australian destination with our older teens. So that's what I've been up to, Kirsty. What about you?
SPEAKER_00:I can't wait to see Jude's photos because she's such a beautiful photographer. And so I just I'm dying to see those. Well, as this goes to air, I would have just landed in Tahiti. So you can follow me on Insta at Kirsty Wrights, W-R-I-T-S. And um, I'm sure we'll also pop a few photos up on the World Awaits Institute. So yeah, but just jumping straight in this week, and we are chatting about the Australian Travel Industry Association's latest travel trends report. So ACIA is actually, they're the peat body for um everyone in the travel industry. So travel businesses, and they have released really regular travel trends reports from really extensive data. So it's really and it's really interesting. We thought this one was particularly interesting.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so this one shows that for the months of July, there was a significant surge in US travelers coming here to Australia and a rise of nearly 20%, while Australian visitors in the opposite direction dropped by nearly 3% in July. And that reflects other data that we've been seeing across the industry as well. Yeah, so this one showed for the months of June and July, there was a significant surge in US travelers coming here by more than 19%. While Australian visitors to the US dropped by nearly 3% in July, and that reflects other data we've been seeing across the industry too. So the report shows that while Americans are coming here in record numbers, we are choosing Asia over the US.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and the ACIA CEO Dean Long says the continued popularity of Asia is led by places like Japan. I mean, we've been talking about this for ages, about obviously the boom in Japan, China and also Vietnam. So it shows a distinct, he says it shows a distinct preference for diverse and culturally rich travel that offer really good value too, because obviously they're um from a dollar perspective, it's much, it's much better to go there than it is to go to the US. Well, the jump in Americans coming here, he said, shows Australia's got really good appeal as a holiday destination, and we all know that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I know that was a bit of a no-brainer. We're fabulous. So for the year ending July 2025, international visitors to Australia increased by 6%. Um, and that meant we had something like 8.5 million visitors. And then Aussie's going overseas also boomed, with more than 12 million of us traveling during the year, up from uh just over 11 million last year. And interestingly, one airline route it highlighted as seeing key strong growth was Perth to Sydney, which had a significant increase of more than 11% in seat capacity. Well, routes like the Gold Coast to Melbourne was down and also Adelaide to Sydney declined too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and they said that that surge in Aussies going overseas was to places across Asia, like we said before, with Japan up almost 27%, China and Vietnam up around 25%, and Thailand was pretty strong too. I wonder, you know, a lot of that was to do with the set jetting and the white lotus effect, because oh my gosh, then that's been proven. And through uh mine hotels who own Anatara properties where those um were film locations for white lotus have all have released really significant increases and and travelers purely for set jetting reasons. But Indonesia still remains the number one destination, and they had more than 1.7 million travelers.
SPEAKER_01:No, I can't go past a Bali breakaway, can you? That's just phenomenal how it is booming. Um, the record also found that airlines benefiting from all of this travel are Jet Star and Cafe Pacific, which was recorded the strongest gains year on year. Qantas held steady, although the other major carriers, including Air New Zealand, Emirates, Qatar Virgin, and Malaysian, all had slight declines. And I guess that is just reflective of where people are going.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god, that sounds like a dream. But um, yes, what made you want to interview her and what's her travel angle bell?
SPEAKER_01:Well, she was actually recommended to me by our Rome expert Maria Pasquale, who's been on the show a couple of times. And Maria knows a good story when she hears it, because Brianna is on this mission to democratize classical music and specifically opera, and to use it to create cultural connections with children from different backgrounds. So she spends at least a couple of months every year in Central Africa singing and bringing music to children. So I'm going to chat to her about this double life, which is all connected by music. So take a listen. Rihanna, welcome to the world awaits. It's so great to have you on.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.
SPEAKER_01:Now, um, by here, I want to define where you are actually at the moment. Are you in Rome or are you in the world's most livable city, which apparently is a medieval hilltop town called Toddy? So where are you?
SPEAKER_02:So right now I'm in Rome. I've just spent two weeks in Toddy, just finished a big project there. Um, but yeah, I'm based in Rome and I'm lucky enough to call Toddy my second home, which is, like you said, this fairy tale medieval town on top of a hill that is full of Australians.
SPEAKER_01:That's so bizarre. What um well, I know we're gonna we're going to talk about you and and what you do and all of that sort of thing. But for okay, Toddy, I want to know why is this tiny little town, I mean, the population is is minuscule. Why is that so um full of Australians?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I know just from my own personal story that uh my parents have had a house there for 18 years, and they found Toddy because there was an article in a newspaper in Melbourne where I'm originally from that said Toddy, the most livable city in the world. And so kind of put Toddy on the Mac, I guess, in Australia. Um, the same thing happened in America as well. So there's quite a few Americans, but I have to say we have a beautiful Australian community, and you know, I've I organise a lot of events and they're all so supportive. And we have the Australian ambassador come up a lot, both for the Holy See and the main embassy in Italy. And it's just, yeah, it's a wonderful place, really.
SPEAKER_01:Well, um, and so now um tell us your relationship with Toddy and what makes it so wonderful. What is this project you've been working on there?
SPEAKER_02:So I am actually an Australian opera singer, and I moved away from Australia right after I finished my university degree. I moved to London, but I always had, I'd always been connected to Toddy. My parents, when they bought the house, I go over and spend a week there a year with them or two weeks, and it really was where my love of opera really developed because you know, we don't have such a history of opera in Australia. And so when I'd been told that I had this operatic potential, I kind of thought, what is that? Because I don't come from a musical family either. But because of Toddy, I was just, you know, it it became this passion of mine because it's so beautiful there. There's so much history. We have an opera house that is a jewel. There's 500 seats, it's like a mini-less scala. And yeah, I just fell in love with the culture, with Italy, with everything about it. And so I felt like I really owed Toddy and its community a lot for my journey and my career. So a few years ago, I'd uh established this organization called Opera Affinity. And at first I established it in the UK because I was based there for many years. And now we also have an organization, an association in Umbria, in Italy, which is where Toddy is in that region. And I try to make opera and classical music more accessible, bring it to the community, bring it into the streets. We do flash mobs, we have the highest level of artistry going on in all these amazing locations, piazzas. There's a beautiful little theatre, and then we do things in the bigger theatre, and basically we just have the whole town alive with classical music and opera.
SPEAKER_01:Just it sounds just incredible. I mean, how I've got your relationship with how you you found Toddy, but then let's just backtrack a bit. You're from Melbourne. You studied, um, you studied opera here in Australia, and then and then you just stretched your wings and and with that connection in Toddy, this is you've got this this beautiful bass there. Tell us a bit about your day-to-day life. I mean, Toddy is halfway between almost sort of roughly halfway between Florence and Rome, really, isn't it? And Rome is your actual home. I mean, if you're going to sing opera, I cannot think of a better city to be located. I couldn't agree more.
SPEAKER_02:It is magic. And everyone that I uh, because there are actually a lot of Australians here too, but it really holds a special place in everybody's heart that lives here. You know, it's it's just it's full of wonder and everything about it. You know, you can be having a bad day with Italian bureaucracy, because that's one of the maybe less so positive things about Italy. But you go out for a walk and you turn to your right, and the Colosseum's here, and the Roman Forum is there, and there's just, it is just, it's, and the sunsets and the food and the people and the weather. And I I just I have to pinch myself sometimes. And and I say to my friends that have been here for a long time, like Maria Pasquale, who we have as a mutual friend, do you ever, do you ever lose that wonder of the city? And no, you don't, because it is it is an incredible place to live.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, you are so uh I don't know. I'm feeling it, you know. Melbourne is talking about sprinter, like we've got a little spring flush going on, but apparently it's really hot in Rome at the moment, and everybody's just having that still that beautiful continual summer. Um, as well as as Toddy, population 17,000, can I say, and and it has very famous people actually living there. I think that um Jane Turner, I think he's the creator of Happen Kidney's Day series, isn't she?
SPEAKER_02:Well, she's I think they have a place in Cortona, which is just a little bit north up, but there are lots of Australians that live in Toddy that really, you know, it's bring this wonderful Australian flair, and we have great, a great community, great dinners, great events. So there is definitely some very, very wonderful Australians that live there.
SPEAKER_01:If I if I was to visit um during the time, I mean, Opera Affinity is your project that you've been working on there. Um, in it's just finished its second year now. Um the big question is, is it happening next year? It is.
SPEAKER_02:So we literally just packed up the theatre yesterday morning and I drove back down to home because I was missing it so much. And um, we're already in talks with other cities close by. I think not only will it happen in Toddy, but we're looking at doing things in Venice in beautiful little towns in the surrounding areas around Umbria. So I'm pretty excited. It was so successful this year. The concerts were wonderful. Some of the community came. We had, I think, eight concerts in one week, and some of the community came to every single concert. So it was just so well received. I was over the moon. I had an incredible team. We have some amazing sponsors. There's a young American gentleman who's bought a really large convent just outside of Toddy. And so we're thinking about building an amphitheater there and, you know, really, I don't know, Italy has this kind of this it makes you dream, it makes you inspire to do, especially us foreigners, because we can't believe we're lucky enough to be able to call it home. And so I think we really we have big dreams for how we can expand, what we can do, how we can make opera more accessible for everybody and give everybody that comes to visit that dream of what you expect in Italy: great food, beautiful music, opera, and great wine.
SPEAKER_01:What a perfect combination. And I love the idea that you're talking about accessibility because, you know, I think um it's seen as such a such a highbrow art form, particularly in Australia, you know, um, and inaccessible and difficult to to appreciate. And yet you're talking about, I mean, flashmogs in the street singing opera. I mean, that's that's phenomenal. And and having it not necessarily, yes, there are opera houses and some of the grand houses in in Europe are to be found in Italy, but you're talking about that democratization of opera, really, aren't you? And that's what makes it so exciting.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. And I love seeing people's faces or the feedback that I've got even in the last 24 hours from all these older gentlemen that, you know, love footy and don't really like that opera scene, or thought that they didn't. And they've written me messages and said, Brianna, I'm so far from the crowd that usually goes to the opera, but I have to say that you've won me over. And it's it makes me so happy because I think it does have that kind of stereotype that it's only for these, you know, it's only highbrow and it's not. It can make people really excited. And so all my concerts that I do are just over an hour long. And they're all the you know, the jewels of the opera repertoire, and we really try and bring it back to the streets and try and get young people involved and excited about it. And I think that's my the goal of why I started my organization in the first place. So it's I'm very happy.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I mean, this the organization sounds amazing. I kind of like the fact that I don't have to like opera, I don't have to commit to a sort of ringing cycle nine hour, you know, nine hour sittings at a time. Um, tell us a bit about your organization, and um, this brings us to the second half of this conversation, where it has taken you.
SPEAKER_02:So actually, it was founded. Well, it started from an idea that I had. My dad had moved to Kenya. My brother had married a Kenyan woman, and my dad had gone over to meet the family, fallen in love with the country and all its people, and moved there. And I was working at an opera house in Germany at the time in Kassel, and I wanted to visit my dad, but I don't have that personality that's allowed to switch off that easily. And so I thought rather than just go and have a holiday, he told me so many things about how incredible the people were and how hard the life is there for some of them. And I'd work when I was working in Germany, I saw we had they had to do so much with youth, so much with young people in opera. And I kind of had this inspiration that maybe I could go over and do some music with, you know, in these marginalized areas. So I'd mentioned it to a few of the orchestra, and before I know it, we had a whole group of us that were heading over to Kenya. I developed these workshops that introduced opera and classical music in a really accessible, fun way. And I met this wonderful Irish nun called Sister Mary Colleen, who's educated over 900,000 kids since she first moved to the slum areas in Nairobi. And we worked with 6,000 kids on the first trip. We had them up conducting us and, you know, working with classical music, learning choruses. They prepared their traditional music, and my life just changed. And it's really where Opera Affinity was born because I saw that music has this incredible power to unite people with different cultures, religions, and it's really a vehicle of, you know, it inspires them. We've now brought over Kenyans from these areas to sing with me at the Vatican. We just had two Kenyan singers come over for the festival, and it was incredible. They actually performed one of their folk songs on stage at the opera house with a local Tudin Tuderta uh guitarist and an Italian pianist. And so, you know, we had this cross-cultural mix in the most beautiful opera house, I think, in Umbria. And it was just so well received. And that's what music does. It brings us together. We're able to tell a story and have a universal language. So that's where Opera Finity was born, and now it's just expanded, and it's really an exciting, exciting process that I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing where it takes me.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, amazing. I mean, that I I guess you'd sort of answer the question that that had been um in my mind since we first started talking about this interview, which was um, you know, Kenya has such a rich musical tradition, and you've got the traditions of Italy, um, how they came together. So, I mean, that is just such an exciting um melding of the two of the two cultures and the two musical traditions. And I think um you're probably I I guess as you say, you're probably that that ilk that never turn never switches off. You're always working in the background and and finding some incredible talent. So while you're doing that, you are traveling all through Kenya as well, aren't you?
SPEAKER_02:I am, yes. And I'm falling more and more in love with the country, just like I have been with Italy every time I visit a new place. So I, yeah, I've traveled. I first started in Nairobi, and then my dad was up north in a place called Isiolo, and we did a lot of work there. It was it's very remote, and so we were able to go into these communities that had never heard music like that before and work in welfare centres, which was quite heavy the first time, but the children responded so well to the musical workshops that it was really it was an incredible experience.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, since then Yeah, sorry, you you were sorry, you were actually bringing singing opera to those children. Is that right? Yeah, yeah, we were.
SPEAKER_02:And it was the first time they were hearing it. And I think that I'm almost addicted to seeing their little faces the first time that they, you know, because I'm quite petite and you know opera singers can be really loud. And so seeing them, their faces light up when they hear that sound and the shock and the joy and the surprise that they're able to do. And then also when I walk away hearing them try to imitate me, it's just it's it's gorgeous. And so I, you know, I'm quite yeah, it's a wonderful experience. And then hearing their music, going into these remote areas, seeing the, you know, the scenery, the national parks, the beaches that that Kenya has. It's so rich with its culture and its landscapes. It's it's a beautiful place.
SPEAKER_01:It's funny because we tend to think of it as a safari destination, and that uh and that is the reason you go there. Um, but I mean, tell us a little more about those. It's either safari or, you know, the news on you know, on the travel side, and then the news side is always, you know, world's biggest slums and stuff like that. So it's yeah, it either has, you know, this fantasy and then or you know, a really grim titles reality. So, I mean, what are your experiences? If you were to recommend somebody you've got to go to Kenya, where would you be sending me?
SPEAKER_02:So I was the same as you. And when uh my dad had moved there, and then he bought this beach house, I thought there's no beaches in Kenya. And I was so wrong, and I'm glad that I was wrong because it's some of the most incredible beaches that I've ever seen. My dad bought a house in Malindi, but I've done a lot of travel up and down the coast, Khalifi and Watamu, and the beaches are just wonderful. They're those crystal blue waters and the white sands, and I think my favorite part about Kenya, and every single person says this, is the people. They're intelligent and kind and hardworking and so happy. So putting that together with the Masaimara National Park and then these incredible white sand, blue water beaches, you just have this destination that's just in an incredible place. And I urge everybody to go and check it out. And this I just was there recently and went to the Lake District for the first time. So we went up to Lake Naivasha and it was so beautiful. You just you're just cruising on the along Lake Naivasha, and there's hippos everywhere around you and beautiful bird life and islands full of free roaming animals. And so it is it is pretty, it's an incredible place.
SPEAKER_01:That's amazing because the south is is where traditionally the tourism has gone, isn't it? Into the south and then a little over to Mombasa as well. Um, but you're going up, you're going up north. Is it is it easy, is it easy to travel through those areas?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I don't uh we usually just hire uh drivers and they drive us up and take us everywhere. Everything is is quite affordable. So, you know, it's very easy. And I find I have never had any issues with with anywhere that I've gone. My brother is based up at Mount Kenya, um, so in Nukuru. So it's so beautiful there as well. It's just, yeah, it's amazing, all of it. Sorry, Nanuki, not Nakuru.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah. This was a theme. Is this with the sea of pink flamingos everywhere?
SPEAKER_02:Is that the sort of Nakuru? Which is also incredible. So then we've got another place to add to the list. But Nanuki is at the foot of Mount Kenya, so you it's you've got the background of this incredible mountain with the ice cap on top that some very adventurous people climb, but there is just so much to see. The food scene's amazing. It's it's a beautiful place. What sort of food would you be eating there? It's certainly every time I go back, there are more amazing restaurants opening up. It's it's kind of like it reminds me of Melbourne in the multiculturalism. So there's just it's a melting pot of everything. But they have wonderful, you know, traditional African food, but then they have Italian restaurants, of course, and just anything you could imagine they have. And the restaurants are wonderful. And yeah, especially in even in these little places, it's just full of local restaurants and fresh produce. So yeah, you I won't starve.
SPEAKER_01:I won't starve. I think two things. I wouldn't starve and probably wouldn't need a child in if I'm coming from Rome. But if you had to recommend uh a traditional Kenyan dish for me, what would you suggest from the menu?
SPEAKER_02:They have wonderful, these wonderful, I don't actually know what the name is, but it's wonderful meat dishes with their um local bread, and you actually eat with your hands and scoop it up, which was a bit daunting at the beginning, but it was it is so delicious. So I highly recommend all of the, you know, the local dishes are incredible.
SPEAKER_01:So back to Opera Affinity and its work in Kenya and in and in Italy and other parts of Europe as well, because you're really spreading your wings. What are your plans for the future and can people get involved in it? Or, you know, can they can they plan their travel around the festival in any way?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. I think we just finished two days ago and we're already working as a team to look at the next events, the next projects. We're really trying to bring in all that work that I do. We're expanding and looking at going to Tanzania and Uganda next and trying to find young and nurture young talent, give them opportunities to have sponsorships around Europe and shine a light, give them an international platform. So there's lots you can do. You can visit our website and just and all of our social medias and just watch for updates because we're continuing to expand and grow and put on more events and hopefully work in more parts of Italy, because I think Italy is such a jewel and it's such a great backdrop to then use it as this place where you know you can bring in people from all over the world and really use music as a way to bring us all together.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. And um the the festival for next year, if I was to book travel, when should I be planning to visit Torre?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I have to say September is my favorite month in in Italy because it's not too hot and it's you know these balmy nights. And so I we are hoping to keep it. It's been this is the second edition this year, and both times were in September. So I would say September is is the month.
SPEAKER_01:And where would you stay nearby? I mean, that convent sounds fantastic. Whoever buys a convent, um, I really need to meet people at Shop for Italian convents. But what sort of accommodation is in this gorgeous medieval hilltop town?
SPEAKER_02:So, because of the festival, we've done lots of research, and there is just there's bed and breakfasts, agriturismos, there are beautiful hotels. Fendi has a hotel nearby. I think there's a Sixth Census that's about to open. So I Umbria is incredible because it's still kind of very rustic and untouched, and you really get a sense of what Italy was like back then. It's medieval town on top of medieval town that just is it's it's like a dream. And I think that's what all the Australians say. They couldn't have imagined up a more beautiful town. So I think there's a lot more opening, but there are already beautiful hotels in the centre, in the surroundings, and then just in the region of Umbria itself. So there are no, you know, they will have no problem finding something incredible to stay in.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. So September for next year for the next opera affinity. That sounds like a great plan. I am going to ask you the final question, which we ask all our guests about your most bizarre caval experience.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. So I had a good think of this, and and the one that stands out the most is that I was working with a wonderful group of friends on one of my workshops in Kenya, and we were absolutely exhausted afterwards. And usually after we finish, we'll go to my parents' beach house in Malindi. So for some reason, I was walking ahead of the girls, and I had my ticket, and I asked someone, is this the plane to Malindi? And they said no, and ushered me forward to another plane. And I got on, sat in my seat, they checked my ticket, and I popped my passport wallet, because I actually have a British and Australian passport in the front, put down my bag and finally took a breath and relaxed and sat back. And then there was an announcement over the plane. If anyone isn't going to Elderett, please get off the plane now. And I nearly had an absolute heart attack and put up my hand and said, Me, me, I'm not going. I'm not going, I'm going to Malindi. And they ushered me off the plane. And thank goodness the other plane hadn't left yet. Um, and they've just put me into any seat. Um, off I went to Malindi and relaxed, got, you know, relaxed and had a few days, was on the beach. And then um the day before I was leaving, my mum said, Oh, can you give me your passport so that I can check you in? And I started looking for my passport. And I think half an hour went by, and then I suddenly just looked up at the heavens and said, No. And then I realized that I'd left my two passports in the front pocket of the plane that was going to some place that I'd never even heard of before. So it's a very long story of how everything happened, that I got them back. So it was a happy ending. But um, yeah, it was it was quite traumatic, I have to say. And I always check no matter even if I, you know, have a stressful moment like that, I take a second to breathe and check that I always have my sword on my wallet back in my handbag.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, that is my worst nightmare, also being on the plane that's going somewhere else because you you just outsource that to somebody to tell you where you're supposed to be. That is terrifying, losing not one of those great cars.
SPEAKER_02:I know, but they're so relaxed and so, which I love on one hand, but then yes, it can be a bit stressful because they're so easygoing and happy all the time. And yeah, that that wasn't a happy moment for me.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, Brianna, it's so good to talk to you. Um, thank you for dialing in from Rome today. I really appreciate your time, especially as you literally just taking your first breaths after what sounds like an incredibly successful um uh opera festival for you in this in this beautiful part of Umbria. So we're going to put all those links in the show notes for the socials where people can follow you, where they can see the work that you're doing in Italy, in other parts of Europe, and in Kenya as well. And we can watch your progress as this fantastic uh connector through music brings um cultural connection because cultural connection brings understanding. And I think really the world needs some of that at the moment, don't they?
SPEAKER_02:I think so too. That's so wonderfully said, and it's been such a joy talking to you. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:I love hearing how Brianna uses music to create connection across continents. So beautiful. And if you'd like to learn more about Brianna, the Opera Finity Charity and the festival in Toddy Essentially, visit her website BriannaSoprano.com. Our tip this week is about how to save hundreds or thousands of dollars when you travel, and who doesn't want to do that? Um, so some Cross Travel Insurance's most recent future of travel report found that 76% of Aussies claimed that travel insurance is a high priority, but only 41% had the same sentiment when it came to booking domestic. And I get that, guess that makes sense because so many people don't book uh insurance for domestic travel.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. So Jess Strange from Southern Cross Travel Insurance said there's a lot of commentary out there that domestic travel insurance doesn't stack up. And many of us believe that we don't need insurance when we're traveling locally because we're covered under Medicare. However, um, many travelers don't take into account the amount of money that they may lose having to cancel a trick due to, say, an unexpected medical situation.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and they've got a good example. So they had one case where a family had to, of four, had to cancel their trip because of a bad case of gastro, and they were able to claim back more than$28,000 worth of expensive. Geez. And that included a trip on the Indo-Pacific Railway, a cruise at Margaret Rover, and a visit to Rotten's. Belle's laughing her head off because of the Gastro family. That's but you know what? They only got this back because they'd taken out domestic travel insurance. So it proves the proves the reason. And if you've got an entire family with gastro, you do not want to be going on a railway or a cruise.
SPEAKER_01:I just I just I'm only laughing because I'm thinking, oh my gosh, how bad was that gastro? Could you imagine? Yeah, as you say, could you imagine being in those tiny little toilets in the train and you're like chik-chik chick-chik-chik-chick. Although, having said that, as a backpacker in my in my not so distant youth, I've dealt that plenty of times, but I wasn't claiming back on my travel insurance.
SPEAKER_00:Nothing worse than being sick. Oh my god, with gastro or just being sick anywhere when you're traveling. It's just there's nothing worse. I mean, you know, it's bad enough having seasickness on a on a cruise. That's happened to me before, but yes.
SPEAKER_01:I know. Well, I mean, they're on they're on a railway, they're on a cruise, they're um on an island. Yeah, that's not where you want to have when you want to have your um live your gastro days out. Sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm just laughing a lot because, you know, it's not a broken leg, right? So Southern Cross, there's given the high cost of uh domestic flights and the accommodation in Australia, and particularly, I mean, they were all very high-end. They were they were big ticket items. The average cost of domestic claims can sometimes exceed the average claim cost for international trips. And the moral moral of the story, they say, is it's just not worth taking the risk to lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars out of pocket when you're traveling domestically.
SPEAKER_00:Next week, I'm chatting to founder and managing director of Take Off Go, Ivona Shinyaska, who is an expert in African safaris and she's visited Africa close to 40 times. We discuss why Africa is such a deeply emotional experience, the best places to go to ensure you're doing right by the wildlife, and how you can choose the right safari for you.
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