I’m often asked what makes me travel as much as I do. I’m sure it’s not difficult for many of you to understand, but there are some that feel leaving one’s shores is only ever for a rare, special vacation.

I am definitely compelled to get out there as much as I can. The obvious attraction of seeing far off lands, experiencing different cultures and jumping into the constantly new are all prime reasons. But during this period where the world has been closed temporarily, leaving me to limit my ventures to home turf, I’ve been thinking about and missing things that that are not so obvious. And these things are quite magical.

When I travel overseas, I crave to experience as many differences as possible. I don’t want what I can get at home in Australia. As lovely as the countries are, particularly through their natural beauty, New Zealand, the USA and the United Kingdom don’t excite me as destinations.

It’s the vastly different cultures, languages, fascinating histories and exotic cuisine that thrill me to the core. When I travel, I need to feel the unknown. I want to experience the new, on every trip, one way or another.

But there is something that always gets to me. It hits me every time I travel. It happens, to certain degrees, in every country I visit. And it is often quite understated. But it wouldn’t be the same without it.

I’m talking about that first moment when you step off the plane and leave the airport compound and venture out into the open air. You have arrived in another country. That’s the first moment where the feeling takes over. That’s when all of your senses are on high alert. This is the moment when it all kicks in.

Apart from the expected, for example, the shock of the humidity in Asian countries and the completely different light and landscape, what I love so much, is the scent. All over the world, there are so many places that have their own, distinct aromas.

In most parts of Hong Kong, there is an unusual scent that seems to transition somewhere between the old world and the new. In such a megapolis, once down at street level, in its narrow alleys wedged between modern skyscrapers, old Hong Kong has a smell all its own. At first overpowering, it soon integrates itself as part of the experience of the city. The smell of humanity. Of generations. An unusual mix, it’s a smell where the incessant humidity of the city plays an integral part.

In the south of France when the cold gusty mistral blows down from the north, there is a unique fragrance carried through the air that is never forgotten. It is a mix of herbs, spice, flowers and pine. The signature scent when one thinks of southern France. The aromas permeate every part of French life here. It is found throughout the beautiful hill towns of Provence, and all the way further south.

When I was in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, where some of my favourite Rhone wines are made, the scent is at its strongest, even appearing in the wines themselves and in the glorious dishes unique to the region. It is a scent that I crave and the desire of returning to southern France to experience its magic again remains very strong.

The gorgeous teardrop isle of Sri Lanka has the singularly beautiful scent of Cinnamon everywhere. Black Pepper is also prevalent, adding a whole other dimension. Then there are the Curry Leaves, so important to the island and integral to every magnificent curry cooked there. It is a scent like no other. Every time I smell a curry leaf in my kitchen at home, I am transported instantly back to Sri Lanka, a country I would gladly spend a vast majority of my time in.

In the beautiful Japanese alps in Nagano Prefecture, the numerous hiking trails, some having been used as trade paths for millennia, lead the walker through aromas unique to the country. Japanese Hinoki Cypress trees are prevalent, highly fragrant with beautiful red-coloured bark. They have a scent all of their own, woody, herbaceous and lemony. The smell of aged hinoki as the main building material of the country’s ancient shrines, is truly intoxicating.

The scent of Japan’s numerous Onsens is another. The sleek, blue mineral-rich waters have a strong smell of sulphur, and after the initial take back from it, it becomes synonymous with this ritual and even quite pleasing on the nose. Bathing too, in a well-weathered Hinoki wooden tub brings both of these aromas together for an instant, uplifting sense of calm. In fact, an aged Hinoki tub is one of the essentials for me whenever I stay in central Japan.

The two main Vietnamese hubs, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have completely different scents. Both clogged with motor scooter traffic, the smell of the fumes is inescapable, but the cities would seem unusual without it. In Hanoi, when wandering around peaceful Hoan Kiem Lake, in the most beautiful part of the city, there is a lovely scent emanating from the green gardens and the lake, especially during the mists of dawn. Coupled with the wafting, unmistakable aromas of slow cooked beef broth and unique herbs that make up the national dish, Pho, as so many enjoy it as the perfect start to the day.

In fact, it’s food that forms such an integral part of a places particular scent. Street food vendors around the world, plying their trade in the open air, know that the more highly scented the ingredients, the more they will nab another customer, unable to resist their offerings.

Street food experiences can capture the soul of a city, as it did for me last year In Palermo, Sicily. Wandering through the city and into its atmospheric food markets was a snapshot of every day life here. The wide, pedestrianised Via Vittorio Emanuele was a revelation. Street food in all its shapes and forms line both sides of the street, and the glorious smell of Arancini, filled with black pork or bechamel and ham, Torta Rustica, ricotta, tomato, spinach and corn stuffed soft buns, and Panzerotti, little fried calzones with gooey mozzarella, tomatoes and anchovies, all fight for airspace and intoxicate the nostrils. Best to give in and just taste everything.

All day and night, strolling down Via Vittorio Emanuele offers up the headiest scents of Italy. On my last night in Palermo, long past midnight, so many of the city’s happy citizens were packed into every food outlet and eating out in the streets. The smells of endless cooking strong in the air, and one of my best memories of many in this fine, vibrant city.

All of the scents, all unique, all evocative and completely of their place. These add another layer of wonder to my trips. Coming home to Australia, what hits me first, is our unparalleled blue skies. There are none quite like them on earth. What is the smell of Australia? Not sure, but it is fresh, clean, and entirely of its own. I wouldn’t have it any other way.