The Life Unhurried Podcast

When Jessica Mullins and Bijmin Swart set off on an epic 3000km horseback adventure through the heart of New Zealand, they weren’t expecting the world to go into lockdown. The couple – horse riding guides who met while working in The Man From Snowy River country in Australia – started their ‘Rewild Project‘ by breaking in three Kaimanawa stallions before setting off into the wilds of New Zealand’s South Island in October 2019.

From afar, it seems the world really is Nina Karnikowski‘s oyster. A travel writer for some of Australia's largest media titles and , she’s collected stamps in her passport from over 60 countries, transporting readers to India, Africa, Antarctica and beyond.

On the eve of her first book launch – Make a Living Living (Laurence King Publishing) fellow travel writer Celeste Mitchell visits Nina at home in the Byron Hinterland to chat about not only her overseas adventures, but how she's been able to carve out her own Life Unhurried – helping to bring inspiration to those who want to walk their own paths, and live more sustainably.

The rise and rise of glamping over recent years has proven that even the weariest of campers want to spend time away from their houses and immerse themselves in open places that rejuvenate and invigorate.

So to cater for just this, constructing a bell tent on top of secret hill high up a dirt track and away from the traffic lights proved to be a great idea for David Wilkinson and Teagan Marshall.

With a tiny budget and the determination to create accommodation with a small footprint, we talk to the inspiring couple about how they overcame extreme life challenges and gracefully got on with their dreams.

Sitting in a shipping container on the edge of a cliff with a bullet proof glass floor might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when Dave and Mani Penman conjured up this dream accommodation, they didn’t intend it to be a stock standard hotel.

Relocating from the Bondi hustle around 5 years ago, James and Stella Hudson found the perfect location for their industrial pavilion meets Joshua Tree style luxury accommodation, Blackbird.

When the going gets tough, the tough brush aside the misfortune and create something new. In the case of Faraway Domes, graziers Jaime and Belinda Munsie and their family have poured their heart and souls into creating a magical escape.

Rat from The Wind in the Willows may have said “there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”, but at this floating tiny home on the Murray River in South Australia you don’t need to cast off the bowlines or pop on a captain’s hat.

You have all the ambience, all the views, of a stay on a houseboat without having to navigate your way down river.

Moored permanently in a small harbour at Murray Bridge in the Adelaide Hills, The Cube Murray River takes everything you think you know about shipping container conversions and tiny homes and floats it – underneath the dappled light of the willows that drape themselves over the river bank.

When work is unbearable, commitments become overwhelming and families seem to be at the brink of breakdown, many of us dream of running away. Hitting the road with a few essentials and the potential of spending quality time with ourselves and our loved ones sounds just like what the doctor ordered.

But what are the realities of #vanlife and how easy is it just to walk away from commitments? We talk to artist and mum of two, Karina Sharpe, who just embarked on that very journey – for four months, with family in tow – around Australia.

Could a holiday inspire you to change your entire career direction and start a new business? Even kick-start a revolution?

For Tasi Travels founder, Jess Abraham, it was the simple frustration of not being able to suitable clothes to take on a trip to the little-known Atauro Island in Timor-Leste that triggered a complete 180 in her life.

We talk to the owners of the popular Nightfall Camp in the Gold Coast Hinterland, to find out what brought them here and why people come to them for R&R.