About Marina

Marina hails from Australia, has worked her way through the media industry in Sydney, Toronto, and across the US, and writes about travel on her eponymous blog. Her earliest travel memories stem back to when she was a kid of single digit age, eating oversize portions of coconut ice cream in the South Pacific Islands sans guilt. Today, you’ll find Tokyo, India, and East London at the top of her ever changing travel wishlist. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, but calls Sydney home.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did… so throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~Mark Twain

All images on this site unless otherwise stated are © of Marina Chetner

Celebrating 2013 at Yamashiro Restaurant, Hollywood Hills, LA

Celebrating 2013 at Yamashiro Restaurant, Hollywood Hills, LA

*You may also like to visit her yoga dedicated site: http://www.bikramyogamusings.com

124 thoughts on “About Marina”

      • I love Australia, but I do love to travel to other places. Buying a place in Italy is the best thing we have ever done. I absolutely New York, but apart from walking across the Brookly Bridge I have not been to Brooklyn, next time.

      • I love Australia too though I also love the feeling of traveling to other places. Next time you are in NY, travel over the Williamsburg Bridge (L train) and you’ll discover the upcoming enclave of Williamsburg. You’ll love it!

  4. Hola!

    Nos conocemos del fotoblog shutterchance.
    Aquí tienes mi correo para Lo que quieras. Por Su puesto puedes usar mi foto , esa o la que quieras….

    Mi correo es guadalcazar72@hotmail.com

    Me gusta mucho tú blog, las fotos son geniales y me gusta mucho como escribes aunque mi inglés no sea muy bueno.

    Un saludo.

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    • I’ll need to check out your photos of Parc Guell. Brooklyn is a really great place to photograph, especially around Williamsburg, Greenpoint, even Brighton Beach and Coney Island. Hopefully you’ll be back soon!

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  14. Mark Twain. Would have loved to have met him but fear I still would have come away with regrets about what I didn’t get around to asking him! So many wise observations. If you live life with the Twain “Tude you can’t go far wrong, in my humble opinion :-)

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  15. Thank you for stopping by Marina! Glad you liked my ‘Upside Down’ post (:
    Keep it up with your posts! Love the inspirational quotes in your posts alongside your travel experiences.

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    • Hi Nicky! I am going to receive my first DSLR soon and I can’t wait. Your Upside Down shot is inspiration :) The inspirational quotes and images are so uplifting. They definitely are good for an Upside Down moment. Thank you!

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    • Hello! Thanks for stopping by mine too :) I am from Sydney so can give you some must sees there. I haven’t been to NZ though may be able to help with Cairns. I’ll post on your site soon. How exciting. You’re going to need sunscreen, a hat and beach gear – I know that much!!!

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  21. Nice to see you had the opportunity to visit Parc Guell, Barcelona. I hope they no longer have the buskers set up at different locations in the park. Was shocked when they implemented them – was like gilding the lily. I used to love to sit and listen to the birds and people watch. There nothing that compares to the magic that Parc Guell is.

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    • Hi Peter! Parc Guell is amazing and yes, there was a guitarist sitting under one of the arches (I didn’t include his photo in my recent post: “Parc Guell: Gaudi’s Whimsical Wonderland” http://wp.me/p1YdU5-9d ) though he didn’t detract from the beauty of the park. I think I was more awed by the construct of the pillars! It really was like a “Choose your Own Adventure” novel :)

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  22. great site, and I love the Mark Twain quote….spent almost four years in Sydney…before coming to Belgrade….travel certainly does broaden the mind and enrich our lives….keep up the good work……

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  24. Hello to a fellow traveler! : )

    I LOVE that quote !! I have it on my blog and website! : ) It’s a wonderful saying to live by!

    Congrats on being FP’ed : )

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    • Hi! Great to meet you too! The quote is so great – I saw it on a greeting card about 10 years ago, in a bookstore in Sydney – W.H.Smith. I’ve stuck with it since :) That said, Mark Twain has a few other gold quotes. Thank you for the note :)

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    • :) Taken from the car whilst raining. It goes with the new post on Inspiration(Rain)… I can’t find a way to connect individual posts to individual header images. Seems the one appears across all posts. Any ideas of how I can isolate each header to each post? :)

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  27. I was reading your posts on tripadvisor about Cannes and the links provided brought me to this wonderful blog. Your photos in Cannes gave me an extra motivation to go there tomorrow (I’m currently on vacation – based in Nice now). Anyway, just for curiosity I looked at your photos (Xmas in NYC, Williamsburg, etc) and they were amazing. Finally, I couldn’t agree more with the Mark Twain’s quote. Every place I visit makes me feel alive. So, I’ve just bookmarked your blog and hope to see more photos!!!!

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    • Ricardo! Thanks so much for your comment :) I am so glad that you are going to Cannes – I am envious as I’d like to be there tomorrow too! I am looking forward to sharing more posts with you in the blogosphere. Travel is inspiring and I love that it makes you feel alive! I look forward to hearing about your experience in Cannes! Drop me a note! PS You can subscribe to to blog from the home page if it is easier!

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      • Hey, I just did my day trip to Cannes. I just loved it. Even though it’s winter with no film festival, the city is still buzzing with quite a lot of people walking La Croisette. And the sun also helped to make things easier. Btw, when I was walking La Suquet, I couldn’t stop thinking about one of your pics (vespas and laundry). That make me laugh because I passed by at least 3 different spots with the same elements… Anyway, thanks for the tip and I am looking forward for more photos and hope you can make more amazing trips to Europe.

      • This makes me SO happy Ricardo! I am just so glad that you loved Cannes and related part of the experience to my blog. I hope to share more from Europe and around the world with you. Maybe you will be inspired to go to NY from my current post! it’s alot of fun during the Xmas season. I hope you have wonderful travels coming up! Thanks again for stopping by to let me know about Cannes. I think you have made my day!

  28. Just a final comment before you get bored: NY is my favorite city!!!! I’ve been there about 6 or 7 times and I never get tired of it. I will definitely go back there for more, probably in May. So, your last topic not only is an inspiration, but it almost made me cry because I’m not there… I guess it’s like what they say: the grass always looks greener on the other side of the Atlantic. Thanks!!!!

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  29. Thank you for your beautiful blog … I have nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award but am having problems getting it to you as mine runs on steam !!!
    However Congratulations and I hope to post it to you soon
    Love
    David

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  32. Hi, This is a great blog. I love your photographs. They inspire me to keep working on my own photography. I’ve recently moved to Cornwall in the UK and would love to capture the essence of the county in the way you manage to capture the essence of the places you visit. I would like to use one of your images, ‘Empty gallery niches’ taken at The Guggenheim as a background image on a website that I am currently building to show my own photos. I wondered if this would be OK. Thank you.

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    • Thanks Adrian, I appreciate your comment. I just recently received my camera (Thanksgiving 2011~) so I am grateful that you commented on my photos. Please feel free to use my photo. What is your photo website?

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  33. Thank you. I haven’t uploaded my site yet and have just got my camera this Christmas. I will let you know when my site is live. Thank you again.

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    • That’s so great – which camera did you get? My camera has definitely changed my daily schedule ever since I received it. I would love to see your photos when you start. It is a learning curve using shutter speed and aperture for me ;)

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  34. It’s a Nikon D7000 kit lens 18-105. I’m very excited about exploring exposure and aperture too but glad I have the scene and semi-auto modes to fall back on. Like you say, a learning curve. Learing the camera and then learning how to balance the myriad of options open to you before you press the shutter.. and then there’s composition to think about of course. It’s all a bit daunting but having miles of dramatic coastline and moorland to explore, through the lens, it’s an exciting journey ahead.

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    • Super cool! You’re going to love that camera and lens! I have the Nikon D5000 with a 18-55 lens. One piece of advice I received was to never use Auto and it was great because it forced me to learn shutter speed and aperture. I would start with 100 bad photos and 3 good ones (!) but it really is all about going out there and enjoying! I haven’t even attempted Photoshop/Lightbox though I am sure they would be beneficial in correcting some of those shots. Also, another tip I received was the never use the LCD screen. I am not there just yet….! Enjoy and please keep me posted of your website!

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  35. Hi Marina, My webiste went live today at http://www.space1eleven.co.uk. None of the pictures on the site were taken with my new camera but were taken with my old trusty pocket digital. I’ve created the space which will now expand as I start to build a portfolio with the new camera. I have taken your advice by the way and set the camera to manual. Like you say, you learn by your mistakes and the beauty of digital is it allows you to make lots of them ’til you find that perfect shot. Thank you again for your contribution to the site and for your words of encouragement. I look forward to seeing many more of your photos on the blog. :-)

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  36. Hi Marina,

    Hope you’re having a good week so far. I just wanted to drop a note to say how much I’m loving your photos and anecdotes on this blog — you’re a gifted photographer and writer. I especially like your photos of street art…I never really looked at that as art before reading your blog, and you capture it well. I just nominated you for the Kreativ Blogger Award in my post this morning. Make it a great day!

    Mel

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    • Thanks so much for your note Mel, and for the award. I just commented on your page. You are so kind to say that about my blog and I appreciate the recognition. You’ve made it a great day for me!

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    • Rebecca! Thank you for giving me some Sunday sunshine – that’s so nice of you and I appreciate my award :) I just commented on your page about your award nominations – congratulations on receiving them all. You deserve it!

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  43. Marina, made the link because you had come across Learning from Dogs and ‘liked’ a Post. Like you, I find the way that blogging links like-minded souls across the oceans to be wonderful and inspiring. I’m a Brit living in Arizona with my British wife (although we first met in Mexico!). Paul

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    • Hi Paul! It’s great to connect with you. I’m still baffled by that post on your blog – I couldn’t find the cat! You’ve had quite the traveled life ~ will you be in your homeland for the Olympics?

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  48. Hi Marina,
    I love your pictures of street art. I also like taking street art, though it is a bit tough to find when you don’t know the area. I traveled all over the world and have stumbled upon several nice areas of street art. My favorite would be Berlin. Have you visited Berlin? If you haven’t I have a post of the Berlin Wall East side Gallery I didn’t post as many pictures as you do in your posts, but enough to let the readers get a feel of the area. The only thing I don’t like about street art is that many times it is in a bad area where there are a lot of useless tagging. Kids that just spray their names all over or write things unnecessarily, which takes away from a paintings around them. Anyway great blog you have here, keep up the good work and safe travels :) If you have time check out my travel blog

    Royce

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    • Thanks so much Royce, for connecting and commenting. I would love to go to Berlin; I have never been there and will check out your street art post for sure. I have found street art in creative/artistic/gentrified neighbourhoods, and some of the art is amazing; its testament to artists creating for the love of their work. I agree with you about unnecessary tagging.. it seems to come with the territory and I guess artists know how temporal their work can be… yet they keep on creating. I am not a fan of useless tagging on monuments and historical landmarks. Thank you again; look forward to reading your blog :)

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  50. Beautiful blog and lovely pictures! Very interesting and educative. Wish you best of fun for your travel and yoga! Kind regards!

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  51. I’m from a small island called St. Martin, studying Hospitality and Tourism Management in Canada. Going to Australia has been on my bucket list for a while! I had never heard this quote by Mark Twain’s, I love it! One of my favourity quotes is “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu I love your blog and all your pictures!

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    • Hi!! What a small world. I studied a B.Commerce (Hospitality Mgt and Marketing) in Sydney, and then I worked in Toronto! Where do you hope to work after the degree? Maybe in Australia? It’s lovely to meet someone from St Martin. I love the tropics. That is a great Lao Tzu quote – I also like it alot. Thanks for sharing it. I am glad you found my blog – I hope to share more experiences with you, and would love to hear about yours!

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      • I applied to go abroad to Australia actually but it’s very competitive here and I wasn’t selected. But I did get into Paris, Mexico and Shanghai so I ended up choosing Shanghai to experience a new culture and language! After I graduate I hope to take a year off to travel and then I’m not sure. Working in Australia would definitely be an amazing experience, near the Gold Coast maybe haha! I’d love for you to have a look at my blog and I’m glad I came across yours :)

      • Shanghai? That’s amazing! Good on you! Yes, keep trying to apply to Australia – Gold Coast is so beautiful. I love it around there. I’m definitely going to look at your blog. i hope you will document Shanghai on there. Glad to have met!

  53. Hey Marina, because I truly love reading your blog and checking out your inspiring pictures, I’ve nominated you for the Lovely Blog Award. Check out my blog for more information!

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  54. Pingback: Twig – Not so Easily Contained in Brooklyn « This Sydney Life

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