Monique van Tulder’s relationship with The Whitsundays began from the back seat of her parent’s car. The main road ran through Shingley Beach so it wasn’t until you crested the hill, Airlie Beach came into view. It was 1987, and love at first sight. She now spends most of the year at her Shute Harbour home.
Decades of professional experience – lifestyle and travel writer, clinical nutritionist, cookbook author, airline and hotel management – did nothing to prepare her for the shock of finding herself slumped in mid-life.
Authentically sharing her story of reinvigoration in Eat Pray Runaway and Return adventure, Monique was surprised by the cascade of support. Rather than seeing her as utterly self-indulgent, women began following and cheering on. What she thought might make a nice travelogue piece became a guidebook for other ‘second-act women’.
She writes for national magazines and her website which was launched from her kitchen table in 2009 as a lifestyle blog, now an award-winning resource for slow and curious travellers with insider tips from chic locals.
‘A Grown Ups Gap Year’ 365 Days of Why Not (how to run away, seek joy in mid-life and other handy hints) will be launched at the Festival.