About The Quirky Traveller

Hi, I’m Zoë Dawes; welcome to my quirky world … 

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

The Quirky Traveller Blog is a place to discover diverse articles on interesting places to see and unusual things to do in the UK and abroad. There’s a dash of history, art and literature for the culture vulture to enjoy plus a flavour of the local and exotic in food and gastronomy around the globe.

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 learn more about life.

Meeting new people, discovering fascinating cultures, eating unusual foods and seeing quirky customs have fuelled my fascination with the breadth and depth of experiences that travel gifts 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.

As a travel writer, more recently I’ve visited Rwanda, Germany, St Kitts, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Ecuador, Canada, Sweden, Iceland, travelled around Spain and had a truly memorable trip to Australia to learn about Aboriginal Food and Culture and uplifting Uluru. Last year I finally fulfilled a life-long dream to visit India and see the Taj Mahal 🙂

Rowing boats on Grasmere in the Lake District

I now live on the Cumbria-Lancashire border, one of the most diverse and lovely parts of the world where I share my passion for life with my family and friends throughout the UK and beyond.

Travelator Media

Travelator Media

I’m a founder member of Travelator Media, an alliance of established online multimedia travel publishers with a large social media following who target the UK quality traveller. Our audience is the 40+ UK-based traveller with an above average annual household income. They are quality travellers seeking premium travel experiences.  

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, Lake District and Lancashire Life Magazine, The Cunarder and many others.  In my travels I look for different ways of seeing familiar places and searching out the unusual, curious and inspiring.

Awards

* Britain’s Best Travel Blogger 2011 for an article about Long Meg stone circle in the Eden Valley, Cumbria.

*  Cision Top 10 UK Travel Blogs  2014

*  Caribbean Tourism Organization Journalism Award for Best Blog Feature 2014

*  DFDS Best Culture and History Blogger  2015

Workshops, Talks & Seminars

Enthusiastic about sharing best practice in all aspects of travel writing, I give 1-1 coaching, workshops and seminars in Writing, Blogging, Social Media and Digital Communication. I’m also a business and leadership coach – more info on my coaching website www.zoedawes.com.

Speaking & Media

I give talks on my travels around the world, including at the Telegraph Travel Show and Sunday Times Destinations Travel Show. I also do radio chats, podcasts and write on a wide range of travel topics including:

• The Quirky Traveller Story
• A Food Odysset around the World
• A Taste of Greece with the Real Mamma Mia
• South East Asian Pot Pourri
• Social Media Travel Magic
• Quirky Travel Writing

The Quirky Traveller Video Channel

Subscribe to The Quirky Traveller Video Channel and keep up to date with my travels there including ‘Arctic Norway with Hurtigruten’

Do get in touch for more info:

t: 01524 735715 e: [email protected]