Where do stories come from?
The ribbon of wet tar stretches to the horizon and vanishes into a distant mountain range. The constant thumping of my travelling companion’s engine reminds me that I’m not alone on this journey. Emu, my KLR650, doesn’t care about the cold, wet or the depressing shadow of fog lingering just off the road. To be honest, I think he really enjoys the weather and would, if he could, be singing a travel song. Probably something like “We’re all going on a winter’s holiday, winter’s holiday, just you and me”-a version of the famous song by Cliff Richard.
While ordinarily I would feel cold and miserable, today I’m riding, and riding makes me feel alive at any time. Especially as I’m rugged up in five layers of clothing, including full wet-weather gear. I start to sing along to the thumping sound of Emu’s exhaust: “We’re all going on a winter’s holiday, winter’s holiday, just Emu and me”.
The Journey to being a writer
I’m riding home after over two months in New South Wales researching my new book “What the road teaches”. As the highway appears and vanishes at the same time under Emu’s wheels, I reflect on my journey to becoming a writer. It’s a long one and something I’ve talked about in my new book. It’s also something I’ll be discussing during the panel conversation at the Whitsunday Writers Festival in September.
I’ve wanted to be a writer all my life, but to be honest, it didn’t really kick off until I decided to play with a blog site and write stories about travelling and the local history I discovered on my journeys. I then progressed to writing reviews of motorcycle and adventure equipment, before setting off on my first long distance adventure.
Is it the journey or the destination that makes a story?
I remember having a robust discussion with one of my readers. What is an adventure? Is it the destination we seek, or is it the journey to the destination that makes the adventure? This is at the heart of my writing and how I get ideas for my books and stories. It usually starts with a question like “I wonder what the view looks like from the top of the hill?” The adventure is what happens to us along the way. And for me, it’s from the adventure that the story develops.
True travellers know this. You can go to the Great Barrier Reef and see great coral, but you can go almost anywhere on the tropical coast and see great coral. But getting there creates the essence of a story. You take the boat, meet international tourists, perhaps swim with sharks—and suddenly you have a story.
Where to from here?
My goal is to travel Australia and build a body of work that uncovers the forgotten stories and overlooked history of our country. It’s called the Australian Adventure Motorcycle Series, and while the books feature motorcycle riding, it’s really the small towns, the resilient people and the lessons from the road that help me weave an interesting narrative and colour into my stories. Let’s face it, if all I did was ride the tar-sealed roads, it wouldn’t be very interesting, would it?
Where can I find more information?
I’ll be at the Whitsunday Writers Festival on Sunday, 13 September at the Whitsunday Marine Club, taking part in a panel discussion about where writers get their ideas. I’ll also have copies of Gun Fights, Ghosts and Goannas and Red Dust and Rainforests available for signing.
For more information go to the speaker page at https://www.whitsundayswriters.com/2026-programme-speakers/ To check out other stories, visit my website https://digitalswaggie.com.au/
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