Beach Book Club: Places We Swim
Australia has no shortage of beautiful swimming locations. From stretched out coastlines to refreshing rivers and creeks, we’re absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to our pick of swimming spots. Places We Swim, a popular travel guide created by Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon, captures this idea beautifully. As part of this month’s Beach Book Club, Caroline shares with us the inspiration behind her travels, her favourite places to swim, and what it is about Places We Swim that she thinks resonates with people.
Bay of Fires, Tasmania. Image by Places We Swim.
In a few short sentences, tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a writer/editor/content producer and work with my partner Dillon as Places We Swim. Dillon is a writer, photographer and videographer. We are a couple (have just had a baby, Leo) and together we produce guides to swimming and the outdoors – both in books and online. We live in Sydney, Australia.
Who or what inspires you in your life and your work?
Being outside is where we get a lot of our inspiration from. Particularly living in a city, we are always looking to find those parts of nature where you have some space. We live in Sydney, which is a great city for that. We also do a lot of travel, road trips and weekends away, both locally and overseas (when we can). When we get outside, that’s when we find new ideas and inspiration for books.
What is your Life Mantra?
We don’t have a mantra as such, but living in Australia there is so much space, great quality air and access to nature. We often say that we don’t pay for parking or drinking water. But we understand the second one is a privileged position/a luxury that not everyone has access to.
Bay of Fires, Tasmania. Image by Places We Swim.
Can you share with us how Places We Swim initially came to be?
A few years ago we were planning some travelling and as a writer and photographer, we want a way to document our travels and connect with people along the way. We wanted a sense of purpose while travelling. Swimming couldn’t have been a better subject for this.
With a popular Instagram account and now two books under your belt, what is it about Places We Swim that you think resonates with people?
Three things.
One is that swimming and bushwalking are two really universal activities and it’s not about being super sporty or doing epic, distances, it’s about finding really beautiful places. We think that really appeals to a lot of people. It’s certainly that way we think about our own travels. We want to go to beautiful places and share those with friends.
The second thing is that we always try to provide some useful information about places re recommend (not just great images). This is both online (on our Instagram posts) and in our books, things like how to get there, nearby restaurants and cafes, and other local things to do.
Lastly, we really try not to make it about ourselves. We want it to be about the places. When we take photos we try to capture places with the community in them, not us (though sometimes that can be hard).
As we’ve grown, this approach has allowed us to reshare other people’s journeys. Which is great because we simply can’t go everywhere, particularly this year. But this approach has meant that we can still share swims all over Australia.
Dalhousie Springs, South Australia. Image by Places We Swim.
In a time when travel has become restricted, Places We Swim not only provides us with a virtual escape, but also highlights local spots that Australians can explore. What are your top 3 swimming spots in Australia?
Dalhousie Springs, South Australia - A giant 38-degree hot spring in the middle of the desert that takes days of driving to get to. It provides weary travellers with a relaxing place to unwind at the end of the day.
Bay of Fires, Tasmania - We often say the east coast of Tasmania has some of the most beautiful beaches in Australia. The water is icy cold, but so crystal clear. We love coming to the Bay of Fires to camp and explore.
Redleaf Pool, Sydney - Redleaf is a harbour pool in Sydney with a real sense of discovery. It’s not a secret spot, but it feels private when you are there. It’s amazing that we have (free) public spaces like this in the city.
What international swimming spots are you looking forward to visiting when international borders reopen?
We will definitely be doing a trip back to the US to visit family (Dillon is American) so returning to some of our favourite places. Hot springs in New Mexico, where Dillon grew up. Lakes and rivers in the Sierra Nevada in California, and also the coast. We’d love to take some time and discover some new places.
Redleaf Pool, Sydney. Image by Places We Swim.
Name the must have items that we would find in your beach bag (or swimming kit).
Book or e-reader with a good on it.
Hat – wide brim
Sunblock – ideally something natural that is reef/river friendly.
Snacks – always bring more than you think you need for those hangry moments out exploring. Apples travel well, don’t always get eaten, but can go again the next day. Nuts. Tinned fish.
Light weight windbreaker
Sunglasses
Camera
What can we expect next from Places We Swim and what are you excited about in the future?
At the end of 2020 we released our latest book, Places We Swim Sydney – a city guide for water loving people, and we are really excited about seeing that gather momentum in 2021. It seems like it has really connected with people around the country. With every project we feel like we are getting closer and closer to what we hoped Places We Swim would be. We’d love to do more guides. We’d like to update and add more spots to our first book about Australia. And it’s probably time to take this concept overseas…What would you like to see?
Find guide books and prints from Places We Swim at www.placesweswim.com