About me
Me in a nutshell
Hey, I'm Kim and I love to run, eat and travel my way around the world. I grew up in Melbourne, Australia before moving over to Fremantle (on the other side of the country) in 2012. At the end of 2015 my husband, Danny, was offered a job in Bangkok, so we packed up our lives and headed for Thailand. Since then we have followed Danny's career to Saigon, Vietnam, and then to Hong Kong, where we are now based. And we couldn't be happier!
I have been running for almost 10 years and have completed several ultramarathons. I particularly love the camaraderie and sense of achievement it brings. It is a fine balance trying to progress my career, keep up with training but also make room for travel. If only there was more time in my day/week/life...
I am a bit of an adrenaline-junkie. I have been sky diving, bungee jumping, rock climbing, paragliding, parasailing, canyoning, volcano hiking, bobsleighing and more. I have jumped off cliffs into waterfalls and been on a human catapult. I have experienced more ziplines, water slides and roller coasters than I can count. I wouldn't say I go out looking for new thrills but if something comes along, I'm usually up for it.
Things I love
Running
Chili peppers
Exploring new places
Peanut butter
Mountains
Beaches
Free stuff
Thick cut fries
Hiking
Sunsets
Things I hatE
Coffee
Waiting
Being cold
Shopping
Animal cruelty
Beer
Photos of myself
The colour pink
Make up
High heels
Run
Danny and I completed our first fun run back in 2008, a 5.5 km event at the popular Melbourne Marathon. We signed up just for something different to try, neither of us being runners or ever running that far before. To our surprise we ran the whole way (extremely slowly) and immediately fell in love with running. Since then we have slowly upped the distances and participated in a wide range of events, including road runs, trail runs, triathlons, duathlons, stair climbs and obstacle races. Running is now one of my greatest passions and I am always on the lookout for the next big challenge.
One of our greatest highlights was completing our first marathon, the City to Surf in Perth, Australia. We trained hard and both finished with respectable times. We were on a huge high for days afterwards! But once I had ticked the marathon off the bucket list, I needed to find a new goal. Travel plans got in the way for a while, but just over a year later I tackled an ultramarathon, a 50 km trail race in Victoria, Australia. It wasn't only my first ultra, but also my first win in a race. From there the races only increased in length, all the way up to 100 km.
For a more in depth look at my running history, check out my Running Bio.
Eat
Food and eating healthy was never something I focused on until I met Danny. As a chef, Danny taught me more about food than I ever knew there was to learn. While I grew up eating the standard meat and three veg dinners, once I left home the vegetables left my plate. Danny started slowly reintroducing me to these foods, and showed me what incredible flavours, textures and combinations existed in the world. Now I am a completely different person - I like trying new foods and appreciate a well-cooked dish. Plus I will go out of my way to ensure I get vegetables in every meal!
I slowly started turning off meat back in 2008, after reading a report about the links between processed meats and cancer. Ham, bacon, prosciutto, salami - it was not an option anymore. Over the years I read, watched and heard more and more about all types of meat and dairy and their deleterious health effects (not to mention the impact on the animals themselves). Eventually I turned vegetarian and then finally vegan. It wasn't as dramatic or tough as I thought it would be, and I believe it has boosted my physical and mental well-being.
To read more about my transition from omnivore to herbivore, take a look at my Food Philosophy.
Photo: Jaja Ferrer
World
As a kid my parents often took my sister and me out on family holidays, and we explored much of Victoria (my home state) that way. I never caught the travel bug that my friends got, instead going straight from high school to university and then full time work. It wasn't until I met Danny that the idea of overseas travel started penetrating my thoughts. So at the end of 2010, Danny and I both packed in our jobs and set out for the trip of a lifetime: a month backpacking around South East Asia, followed by 11 months campervaning through Europe. It. Was. Amazing. I never realised how unworldly I was until I experienced the culture and landscapes of almost 50 different countries across that year. It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip.
Until 2015. We had itchy feet, wanting to see more of the world than what we saw in 2011. Originally we planned to take leave from our jobs for just one month, to visit Mexico and Cuba. But we persuaded ourselves that we were traveling such a long way, we may as well see more of the region. So once again, we said goodbye to our fixed income, found someone to rent out our house and headed off into the world, this time for six months. Our priority was Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, with stopovers in the US on the way in and out. Our plans definitely raised some eyebrows - most of our family and friends didn't even know where Central America was (the US? Brazil?) We had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be just as incredible as our first trip.
We have many, many more plans to travel, but unfortunately time and money play a large factor in our dreams. No doubt there will be plenty of additions to our escapades in the coming years.
Head on over to the World section of this site for all of our travelling adventures.
