On public speaking, travel plans, food, food and more food

I honestly can’t believe it’s the end of May already. Even the weather only now seems to be coming to terms with it – this week’s been chilly in Sydney. Friends back home would laugh, shrug off their T-shirts and be glowing red in 5 minutes, but to my thinned out blood, 13°C is cold!

Thankfully there’s been plenty going on over the past week to keep our minds off the turn in good weather. Let the list begin!

• Mrs R had a speaking gig at a blogger meet-up.
• We attended the awards evening for this year’s Rising Social Star (congratulations to all the winners by the way).
• Tickets for the next Little Blog Big workshop went on sale – Mrs Romance is very excited. Get your ticket here.
• Our friend Kate from Secret Bloggers’ Business was in town.
• Vivid Sydney 2016 started – if you want our top tips of what to do, click here.
• We’ve got our last bits of travel planning done for our trip to Thailand tomorrow (gulp!).
• And – as part of Vivid – I had my first speaking gig.

Like I said, it’s been a distracting week.

Plus it was International Burger Day over the weekend. Very important to include that!

So here’s our latest Instagram Diary and travel recap. Hope you enjoy!

We’ve been looking forward to trying out Loch Brewery and Distillery’s new gin – The Weaver – ever since our bottle arrived, and bloody hell was it worth waiting for. This stuff, which is distilled by husband-and-wife team Craig and Mel Davies in Loch, Victoria, is 50% but goes down like water. It’s so smooth.

It’s also packed with flavour and texture. If you’re going to explore a new Aussie gin this winter, you’ve got to get your hands on a bottle of this. It’s absolutely superb. Check out Loch’s website or buy from their lovely distributor, Nip of Courage.

So today’s my big day. I’m speaking in front of about 120 people – about being an influencer. In the past I thought the only thing I could influence was another round at the pub, but it seems I have more to offer after all!

This panel-based talk, hosted by the lovely Lorraine Murphy of The Remarkables Group fame, is all about what it means to take your online influence to the next level.

And here we go!

In celebration of not making a complete tit out of myself – and the fact that it’s International Burger Day tomorrow – Mrs Romance has taken me out for a pub lunch. What a lovely lady. Her slow-roasted suckling pig burger looks amazing, doesn’t it? That’s my blurry pie in the background.

In light of it being International Burger Day, by the way, we’ve shared our secret burger recipe on the blog. Check it out.

Amidst cries for a better look at my pie, here’s a more in-focus shot of it. It’s a slow-cooked lamb shoulder and rosemary pie. Absolutely spectacular. This is at the Welcome Hotel in Rozelle. Get round there for excellent Aussie beer on tap and a pub grub menu to drool for!

This evening we’re getting a bit of practice in. My mate Julian has taken us to Hawker – one of the more authentic Malaysian diners in Sydney. Jules and his brother both like it here, and as we’re heading for their manor – the mean streets of Kuala Lumpur – tomorrow, we thought we’d better get to know more than just laksa.

If you’re into your Malaysian food, you should probably check this place out. Hawker’s got some amazing things to chow down on! It’s owned by the same guys who opened Mamak, so it’s bound to be popular.

So much travel coming up. Our work trip to Malaysia and Thailand is – of course – our priority at the moment. We are flying tomorrow after all! But we’ve also got a trip to the States in the pipeline and Mrs Romance has just started sales for our next Little Blog Big workshop. This one’s going to be in Perth!

Check out what’s going on in this – our latest session – and get your ticket quick. They’re already selling!

This week’s travel recap

Each week we go back in time over some of our favourite travel destinations using never-before-seen photos of our travels. Here’s where we’ve been looking back on this week.

It’s sometimes the cheesiest photos you end up loving the most. I believe the saying is: “when in Pisa, do as the tourists do.” I think I got that right.

What I didn’t get right – not for ages – was this shot. You notice how there’s no one really near us? That’s because of the domestic we were having! Good times!

Mrs Romance loves a sunrise photo. And from this shot I can see what she’s getting at. Still, my bed is so much more comfortable when I’m in it. Especially when the sun’s still not up. If the sun gets a lie in, why shouldn’t I?

This was in the Cook Islands – definitely one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been and would love to go back again.

This was one of those travel moments that has stuck with us – and probably will stay there – forever. Our visit to Capri on our last-but-one day in Italy was so amazing Mrs Romance was still saying we should have stayed there even after we’d landed back in Australia… in fact she still says it now!

If you want to find out what all the longing’s about, check out our post on Capri here.

This is Blue Hole 2 on Tanna Island, Vanuatu. After a 100-metre scramble over rocks and dead coral, this enormous football field sized hole in the reef opens down into the depths. Absolutely incredible. And right in front of our hotel.

Tanna Island is full of surprises. See what else we found on this wild little volcanic island.

The sand at Whitehaven Beach on the Whitsunday Islands is just ridiculous. Even in the middle of summer, the high silica content of the sand means it’s still cool on your feet. This is excellent news as you want to spend as long as possible just staring around at the incredible beauty of this place.

Burano, a little island town northeast of the main city of Venice, has to be the most colourful place in Italy. Each of the houses is painted a different colour instead of having street numbers. Perhaps because of all the colour here – and the fact is kind of away from the main tourist trail – Burano is much friendlier and more fun than a lot of Venice.

Here’s more on what Burano’s all about.

We’re always on the lookout for rooftop bars. If there’s a way to get higher up, Mrs Romance will find it and head straight for it! This little diamond of a bar is in the Grand Hotel de la Minerve in Rome. The views out over the city and Piazza Venezi make an afternoon Aperol spritz even more enjoyable.

Well, that’s all from this week’s edition of our Instagram Diary. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Our next one will have a much more tropical feel to it, I’m pretty sure!

How was your week and weekend? Was May a good month for you? Tell us in the comments!

Images by Mr and Mrs Romance via Instagram: @MrAndMrsRomance, @HairRomance, @Christina.Butcher – Mrs R’s Insta account and @AngryBastard of course!