EJ Bauer

I was born in Queensland, Australia and lived my first twelve years in the country. My family moved to Brisbane before I started high school and I graduated from university with a degree in speech pathology. I accepted a position at large regional hospital in New South Wales and I still live in the area over 40 years later. I am happily married, a mother of two, grandmother of five and devoted assistant to one very bossy tortoiseshell cat named Lucy. My career in speech pathology eventually morphed into the totally unrelated field of retail management in a university science centre and planetarium. Travel has always been a focus and yes – there was always a bucket list. I had many things I intended to do “someday” but that was always in my hazy future. I never expected it would be brought into stark relief until I was diagnosed with cancer. Following my treatment, a travel timetable began to take shape. Guam was first, followed quickly by European and North American adventures. My illness nudged another long-held interest to the fore and I began chronicling my trips with extensive photography, promising myself I would also write about my exploits – someday. With much nudging and encouragement from friends and family, I discovered that I was able to write about my travels using my fairly extensive photo catalog as a timeline. An early 7,000 word essay about driving through France was accepted by my publisher Ant Press with the proviso that it would be extended to 80,000 words. My first book “From Moulin Rouge to Gaudi’s City”, the first of my Someday Travels, is the result.