About

Hi I'm Steven. I'm currently 33 years old. This is a blog dedicated to my travels/adventures and escapades as well as local hiking trails and life experiences.

I am based in the Illawarra, NSW, Australia. (Dharawal Country).

I'm an adventurer, cinephile, thrill seeker, gamer, amateur genealogist, and escape room enthusiast with a passion for traveling, history, mythology, folklore, nature and food.

I was diagnosed with Leukemia in August 2020, at the age of 28, and am currently in remission.

I have been writing this blog since 2015, but I have some "nostalgia posts" that happened prior to starting my blog.

I identify as a Naturalistic Pantheist with Celtic Polytheism inclinations.

"It is the unknown that we thirst for. Curiosity that drives us... to learn. Not to hear, or to be told. But to see and feel, to experience." --Steven Hudson

Steventure Logo by Stuart Karindjias

Art by Stuart Karindjias

Don't know what blog posts to read? Here are 10 recommendations! (Added 22/6/2024)

1. Trip to Bali (Written 2012, posted 2015)

This was my first ever blog post. I originally had another blog where I would post short stories and other forms of creative writing. I never liked writing anything that was non-fiction and always struggled with it, as I found it stifled my creative freedom. However with this event fresh in my mind I wrote this post and published it on my other site. I had some positive feedback from friends and family in regards to it, and had a spike of viewership from random people. I decided to create a dedicated website to do my travel writing, creating 'A Steventure' in 2013. However without funds to be travelling all the time, I did not write anymore. 

2. Kiama Coastal Disaster (Written May 5 2015, posted August 2015)

The second post I ever wrote, once more written and originally posted on a different blog site (this one was a Dream Journal). This was my first ever 'hiking' blog, but rather than being a hiking guide it was more the tale of disaster that occurred when I was younger and in the company of very foolish friends in our youths. 3 months later I posted both this and my trip to Bali on the blog site I had created back in 2013: 'A Steventure', where I eventually dropped the 'A'. Shortly after this I wrote my first blog post for this website, a hiking story/guide of 'Sublime Point'. I was so disappointed and underwhelmed at my own writing and that post, that after 3 posts published in 2015, I did not write and publish again until 2017. (When I eventually created a Facebook Page for my blog I didn't even share the Sublime Point post)

3. Cruise to Fiji and New Caledonia (Occurred March 2017, posted September 2017)

While with those first two posts I was young and single, by the time 2017 came around I was in a relationship and engaged! (We would eventually marry and I would return to Bali for our Honeymoon). However going on this cruise trip, I had such an interesting experience and so many funny stories that I kept telling people, so eventually I felt that I wanted to write it down. Thus I did, creating my first blog post in years, and writing in a style that I was happy with, as I thought it showed my unique voice and perspective on things. After this post I have maintained this blog ever since.

4. Euro-Trip (Occurred October 2015, posted June 2019)

Between my terrible Sublime Point post and my cruise to Fiji, I began dating the girl that I would get engaged to, and later marry. In this time we organised a trip to the UK and Europe and travelled overseas for about 2 months. This was a life altering trip not just in terms of building confidence in terms of travel alone, but also in the way it shaped my life from that point onwards. During this trip I was kicked out of home, and ended up homeless, before beginning to live with my Wife and her family before we finally moved out. This was a time of intense upheaval and rather than a stress-free holiday it was filled with non-stop troubles and drama that I eventually documented (4 years later) and wrote down while I was not hiking as often, after my Dad's rock climbing accident. 

5. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (Diagnosed August 24 2020, posted September 2020)

I sometime say that there are two halves to my blog. Precancer, and post-cancer (I had written 25 posts before diagnosis), with everything in my life changing after my diagnosis. Maybe the first blog I wrote that was not travel or hiking related, but more the adventure of my life, which included being diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 28, having 4 rounds of chemotherapy and a Stem Cell Transplant. Everything after this was affected, given the damage and toll on my body (including lung damage). This event changed a lot of the way I view things in life, especially appreciating how short it is and how quick life can change, as well as leaving me with some post traumatic stress.

6. Gerringong Falls - Reaching the Bottom (Attempt 1 - 19/10/18, Attempt 2 - 23/2/19)

While a pretty good and detailed blog I only add it to this list because after sharing it the views went through the roof, and it quickly became my most viewed blog post, and currently remains there as of 22/6/24. While I'm never truly aware of how many people genuinely read my blogs, or quickly look through for a guide, or just click into the page, at the time I write this it is the only post to reach 5k people, and while I'm sure if I wanted to spend money on advertising like some other blogs I could get many more (but I would only do that if I thought I could ever find a way to make money from what I do).

7. Trip to Iceland (Occurred September 2023, posted November 2023)

The first overseas holiday taken since 2018 (which was another cruise). So the first major holiday to be written with 7 years of continuous writing under my belt. A well detailed and very long post that I personally think is filled with interesting sights, locations and stories, and one that's worth checking out if you can handle it's length! Features a prologue and epilogue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

8. Mount Jellore (Posted June 2020)

Trying to get to the top of Mount Jellore took 3 attempts due to lack of knowledge and unpreparedness, but also took a interlude in-between attempts due to the world altering pandemic of Covid-19. Shortly after my Dad's rock climbing incident and while he was recovering I had begun hiking with my friend Tristan and this was my third walk with him (and it took 3 attempt to!) Thinking back on it by the time of our third attempt I had started feeling a little off, which was probably due to the cancer spreading throughout my body. None-the-less a fun blog post that includes some of the 'shit-talking' and that I began to include more frequently in blog posts, and probably began with the Forty Foot Falls and Belmore Falls walks.

9. Incident on Windang Island (Occurred 8 March 2019, Posted April 2019)

While already mentioned in some of my post recommendations above, this post was the beginning of the end to my walks with my Dad, (only doing 3 with him since). Due to the severity of his injuries, then covid, then my cancer diagnosis, then an eventual semi-falling out, this event had such a huge impact on my life moving forward as well, semi-curbing some of my more risky behaviours (though I sometimes get caught up and still act like a cocky asshole).

10. The Castle (Attempt 1 - July 2019, Attempt 2 - September 2017)

While if I were to re-read this old blog, I would look at the writing, the lack of information, and the relatively short size compared to later posts, this post hold a special place in my heart, because this walk holds a special place in my heart. By the time I added these 10 blog post read recommendations this walk is to date the favourite walk I have ever done, and my goal is to do a walk that one day tops it. Highly recommended!

Short listed:
Carrington Falls to Missingham Steps (2018) (Second most viewed blog)
Bong Bong Pass (2018) (Third most viewed blog)
The Coast Track - Otford to Bundeena (2018-2019) 
Jingga Trail and Minerva Pool (2021)
Trip to Brisbane (2024)
Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk (2023) (A walk featuring Australian history and family history)
Kelly's Falls (2021)
Brokers Nose (2017)
Hoddles Track - Saddleback Mountain (2023)

Have a read yourself and let me know if you have any favourites!
Or any you think you would recommend instead!

I hope you'll have a look through the rest of my blog posts, which are often self-referential, so my personal recommendation is in chronological order! Happy to have engagement, so feel free to comment on posts you like, or comment with different stylistic choice I may use that you enjoy, or just let me know which posts you enjoy.

Thanks for reading! You can stay updated by following my blog on here, or by liking the Facebook page: Steventure Facebook (I don't spam the crap out of you on this page, I literally just link to new blog posts).

However, if you're not a reader and just want to see some pretty pictures, feel free to follow me over on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vensohowlie/