18 stages. 19 countries. Over 75,000 kilometres — all without flying.
What began as an idea became a journey across continents, oceans, and landscapes.
This is the path we followed and not always as planned.
STAGE 1
Leaving Home
🚗 Dirranbandi → Gold Coast
Every journey has a beginning, and ours started at home in South West Queensland. Before we could cross oceans, we first had to make our way to the coast — saying goodbye to family before our big adventure.
STAGE 2
Crossing Australia
🚗 / 🚆 Gold Coast → Tamworth → Hay → Adelaide → Fremantle
Before leaving Australia, we crossed it — travelling through regional New South Wales and South Australia, catching up with friends along the way before boarding the Indian Pacific for the final stretch across the Nullarbor to Western Australia.
STAGE 3
The Indian Pacific
🚆 Adelaide → Perth
Swapping road for rail, we boarded the Indian Pacific for one of Australia’s most iconic train journeys, crossing the Nullarbor and experiencing the vastness of the country in a completely different way.
STAGE 4
First Cruise: Western Australia to South East Asia
🚢 Fremantle → Indonesia → Thailand → Malaysia → Singapore
From Fremantle, we boarded our first cruise and officially left Australia by sea, stopping in Bali, Phuket, Penang and Kuala Lumpur before arriving in Singapore.
STAGE 5
Singapore Stay
🏨 Singapore
After weeks of movement, Singapore became our first place to pause — two weeks of exploring, slowing down, and settling into a different rhythm.
story coming soon…
STAGE 6
Cruise to America
🚢 Singapore → Vietnam → Manila → Guam → Hawaii → Long Beach (California)
Continuing without flying, we crossed the ocean once again — this time towards the United States, with several stops along the way.
STAGE 7
USA Road Trip
🚗 Long Beach (California) → Memphis (via Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Dallas & Nashville)
From Los Angeles to New York, this part of the journey became a classic American road trip, mixed with train travel and unforgettable stops along the way.
STAGE 8
Across America by Rail
🚆 Memphis → Chicago → New York
After weeks on the road, and snow getting heavier, we swapped the car for trains — travelling from Memphis to Chicago, then on to New York.
STAGE 9
Atlantic Crossing (Queen Mary 2)
🚢 New York → Southampton
From New York, we boarded the Queen Mary 2 to cross the Atlantic — a completely different way to travel between continents. After months of moving from place to place, this part of the journey allowed us to slow down and simply enjoy the experience of being at sea, unpacking in our own room for a few weeks.
STAGE 10
Following Family Footsteps in England
🚗 Southampton → London (via Devon, Cornwall, The Cotswolds and Diddly Squat Farm)
Arriving in England we wondered about how we would feel— travelling from Southampton to London and stopping along the way to visit places connected to our family history. We also visited cemeteries and churches, capturing stories and images for our Resting Place Connections® website — adding another layer of meaning to the journey.
STAGE 11
England to The Netherlands
🚆London → Amsterdam (via Brussels)
From London, we continued our journey by train, travelling through Europe and on to Amsterdam. It was a smooth transition between countries, and another reminder of just how connected everything feels when you’re travelling without flying, although the train did travel at almost 300kph, whoosh!
STAGE 12
Rhine River Cruise
🚢 Amsterdam → Basil (Switzerland) (via Netherlands, Germany, and France)
A river cruise through Europe led us to Switzerland — our destination for Christmas and a highlight of the journey. The Christmas markets on this cruise were a huge part of the planned experience.
STAGE 13
The Main Event: Christmas in Montreux
🚆 Basel → Montreux (Switzerland)
After months of travelling without flying — across Australia, through Asia, America and Europe — we finally reached Montreux. Staying here over Christmas was always the goal, and arriving felt like more than just reaching a destination. It felt like the moment the whole journey had been leading towards. Seeing the lake and mountains for the first time made every mile of the journey feel worth it, and our accommodation didn’t disappoint.
STAGE 14
New Year in Edinburgh
🚆 Montreux → Paris → London → Edinburgh
Leaving Montreux after Christmas, we continued our journey north by train, stopping briefly in Paris before travelling through London and on to Edinburgh. Spending New Year — Hogmanay — in Edinburgh was another highlight of the trip, and a completely different kind of experience to our New Years in Australia.
STAGE 15
Scotland
🚗 Edinburgh → Falkirk → Stirling→ Doune Castle→Glasgow→ Ayr
We spent a few days in Scotland chasing places we’d only ever seen on documentaries and TV series back home. Standing in front of the Falkirk Wheel and the The Kelpies felt surreal, and visiting Doune Castle was a real highlight — especially knowing it had been used in Outlander, Game of Thrones, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Travelling south we stayed in Ayr, enjoying the chance to connect with the area where Russell’s mum’s family, the Lawries, once had farmland which was truly special.
STAGE 16
UK Road Trip
🚗 Edinburgh → Blackpool → Southampton
After New Year in Edinburgh, we set off by car to explore more of Scotland before heading south along the east coast of England. Along the way, we caught up with friends we had met earlier on our travels — one of those unexpected connections that become part of the journey.
Taking our time, stopping as we went, we eventually made our way back to Southampton, ready to board our final cruise home to Australia.
STAGE 17
The Journey Home (Queen Anne)
🚢 Southampton → Sydney (via New York, Miami, Panama Canal, Mexico, San Francisco, Hawaii & New Zealand)
From Southampton, we began the trip home — travelling 49 days by sea. The voyage took us across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal, before continuing on to North America, Hawaii and New Zealand.
After months of travelling without flying, arriving back in Sydney marked the nearing end of an unforgettable journey — one that had taken us the long way round the world, we believe the only way to do it.
STAGE 18
The Final Leg Home
🚆 🚗 Sydney → Gold Coast → Dirranbandi
Although arriving back in Sydney marked the end of our journey around the world, it wasn’t quite the end of our trip. Because we don’t fly, there was still one final leg to go.
We made our way north to the Gold Coast to spend a delayed Christmas with our family, before eventually heading home to Dirranbandi — bringing our long journey to a close right where it began.