Hi, I’m Zoë Dawes; welcome to my quirky world…
This is a place to share a love of travel and life’s more quirky aspects. As well as my own musings on a wide variety of topics, guest writers contribute their own thoughts on an aspect of travel that appeals to them and hopefully many others …
QUIRKY Travel is about seeing life from a different angle, looking at things from all sides, finding the unusual, the interesting, the fascinating. It’s about quality combined with reality, it’s about being curious about everything and wanting to know more…
Meeting new people, discovering fascinating cultures, eating strange foods and seeing curious customs, have fuelled my fascination with the breadth and depth of experiences that travel gifts to us. Born in the seaside town of Southport, NW UK, I have lived and worked all over the world.
Having originally trained and worked as an English teacher, I gave it all up to live in Greece, exploring the Mamma Mia life. Then I moved to the Far East, having great adventures whilst living in Hong Kong and Singapore. During those years I journeyed to many different countries, including Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, Nepal, America, Thailand, Borneo, the Philippines and Malaysia. More recently I have visited Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, travelled around Spain and had a truly memorable trip to Australia to learn about Aboriginal Food and Culture and spend time a Uluru.
I living on the Cumbria-Lancashire border, one of the most diverse and lovely parts of the world where I share my passion for living with my family and friends throughout the UK and beyond.
Travel Writing, Blogging & Social Media
I write regularly for a variety of on-line travel websites including the Visit Britain Super Blog, Laterooms and Home & Away with guest post clients including Wandering Educators, Articles have been published in the Guardian, Psychologies Magazine, the Cunarder and many others. In my travels I look for different ways of seeing familiar places and searching out unusual, curious and inspiring. In 2011 I won Britain’s Best Travel Blogger 2011 which meant a huge amount to me as it was based on a piece of creative writing about a place I know and love – the Eden Valley in Cumbria.
Coaching, Workshops & Seminars
Passionate about sharing best practice in all aspects of travel writing, I give 1-1 coaching in Writing, Blogging and Social Media. Throughout the year I also run workshops and seminars. Contact me for more information.
Speaking & Media
I give talks and radio chats, run workshops and write on a wide range of travel topics including
- The Quirky Traveller Story
- Quirky Cumbria
- A Taste of Greece with the Real Mamma Mia
- South East Asian Pot Pourri
- Social Media Travel Magic
- Quirky Travel Writing
- The Joy of Blogging
My latest venture is a series of videos ‘Wandering with The Quirky Traveller’. ‘Walks Around Britain’ have filmed our first outing – a delightful walk from Grasmere to Rydal in Wordsworth’s Footsteps.
This quote by Marcel Proust probably best sums up my philosophy on life AND travel …
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
