For me Australia is where it all started. At the age of 20 (12 years ago) I travelled to Australia as a backpacker. It was my first long journey and I arrived at a wet T-shirt contest on the first night. I thought: oh no, that’s not going to happen. I might not have a millionaires budget, but I’m gonna find the more special places down under. And that’s how I travelled for seven months through Australia, in search for cool spots. It may sound as a far-away destination but it definitely is an influencer in the world of hotspots. We’re now all doing the hanging plant thing, but have you seen The Commons in Sydney already? Open for years now (I wrote about it in 2010) and I’m sure they are already thinking about doing something else. Look at the coffee culture: Toby’s Estate opened their doors in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Parisian owner of Holybelly was a photographer when he arrived in Melbourne and got influenced by the coffee virus Down Under and he opened a cafe in Paris to bring a bit of Melbourne to France. And why is Federal Cafe in Barcelona such a success? Because the owners come from Australia and they decided to bring the open windows, coffee culture and delicious pies to Sant Antoni. That’s the reason I have to see Sydney (and after that Melbourne) and visit all those new spots that opened after my last visit and share my experiences with you! I hope you’re just as excited as I am.

12 years ago Cathay Pacific was the airline to bring me to Australia and now they are gonna bring me there again! Travelling in their brand new Premium Economy Class (follow me tomorrow on Twitter to read all about my experience) to Hong Kong first. That’s the perfect stop-over destination so I can visit Yardbird again and stay at the fantastic Hotel ICON and after that I’m off to Sydney to stay at the superb QT Sydney.

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