I have a habit of getting into cars with strange men. And despite what your mother may have told you about such activities, I’ve had a good run. I’ve lived to tell the tale of Venetian musos, Nepali gurus, Indian politicians and Spanish royalists, all prepared to give a reckless Kiwi lass a lift in…
I sit in the back seat of an old Mercedes-Benz that smells like cheap tobacco and think about what I should say to the mystery man behind the wheel. Squished next to me and buried under our backpacks are Noam and Ziv, two Israeli girls I met in a hostel in Sarandë. Our driver and…
I watch my mum’s mouth drop open in disgust. “Oh my god.”
We’re dining at a fancy restaurant and I’m dolled up to the nines, hair and makeup immaculate, black stilettos clicking underneath the table. Waiting for our meals, I raise my arms in a lazy stretch when I catch my mother’s eye.
Her look…
Content warning: themes of sexual assault
In the winter of New Delhi, the birds of prey drew imaginary circles below the smog; they wouldn’t be seeing blue for a long time. The buildings that surrounded my hotel were hungover, power lines strewn over their stocky bodies like streamers at the end of a party. The…
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…
You were the first real relationship I ever had. You were fun, a talker, full of ideas. I sometimes wish we had spent more time together when we had the chance. It was while you were around I had my first kiss, graduated high school, went to formal and first tried alcohol. I shared my…
I recently booked a return flight to South America. I’m flying in and out of Peru, but the country I am most anticipating is Colombia - and no, not for the reasons you’re assuming. I want to trek through the Amazon jungle in the same country as I can lie on a sugary-white Caribbean beach.…
“Just relax. Spread your legs further.”
Above me, fluorescent lights flickered, an epileptic nightmare. I felt sick. The smell of disinfectant clouded my thoughts and I could feel a lump forming in the back of my throat. I was lying on my back. Tears made tracks sideways across my temples as I bled into the…