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The Traveller’s Sacrifice
I just missed another friend’s wedding. A friend I have known since the age of 10. She sent me the invite months ago. Absolutely no pressure if you’re not, but do you think you’ll be in Australia in June? We have booked the date and I would love you to be there. When she asked,…
An Ode to Arrivals
"And where are you off to, young man?" "Santiago," I replied. My questioner -- a silver-goateed, balding man of about 60 -- sighed. "Ah, Chile!" he exclaimed, resting his hands atop his belly. "I was there once upon a time..." And that's how it began: 10 years’ worth of stories to pass the time as we sat…
When Itchy Feet Turn Cold
Uncomfortably curled up between two armrests, I hear the pilot announce that in just under seven hours, I’ll be landing back home. The weight of a month’s worth of travel weighs on my shoulders and eyelids, forcing me into a much-needed but interrupted sleep. Each time my eyes flutter open, I’m a few minutes closer…
Leave Us The Fuck Alone
A mere four days after I set off on an adventure to the other side of the world alone, a woman was killed in her own town. In my town, actually, metres from her home, a few hundred from mine. Before my trip, people kept telling me that I was brave for embarking on a…
Palestine’s Other Oppressor
Pre-dawn raids are commonplace in this part of the world. Doors are battered down in the wee hours of the morning and stun grenades are lobbed inside, with authorities rushing in – torches blinding those in their path – to snatch an unwitting victim from their slumber. They are handcuffed, blindfolded and thrown in the…
Checkpoint 300: The World’s Worst Commute
“Qahua, qahua, qahua!” shouts Amin Jebreen, whose coffee cart, bellowing steam in the frigid morning air, is doing a roaring trade despite the fact that it’s 2:30am. Amin’s stall is one of many selling bread, biscuits, cigarettes and falafel, all under the watchful gaze of guard towers that rise above the border wall separating the…

Astray is a storytelling project centred on travel, place, culture and identity.

We’re run by a team of writers who mostly live, work and play in nipaluna / Hobart. With reverence, we acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal people as the traditional and ongoing custodians of trouwunna / lutruwita / Tasmania: land that was stolen and never ceded. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.