3 July

Another twist on travel. Lucky Starr famously 'borrowed' Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere Man" in 1962, and it became an anthem for the 'Big Lap' of Oz folk. Today we have Macca with a similar vibe in 'Australia All Over'. It's really interesting to try to understand why people want to accumulate places they've been, like kids collect trading cards. It means something important, I don't know the full answer but often people who have a passion for it also have a very jingoistic sense of place. It's probably a relic of empire, each person becomes a little Captain Cook, accumulating more and more places in their travels. And the passion for it is growing, with the Big Lap or journeys into the Australian heartland now the trendy thing. It's the mirror image of an age of fear, where migrants and foreigners are feared - at the same time the 'homeland' becomes a deep, patriotic thing.