Why I’m Tweeting This Week From @WeAreADL

All this week, I’m tweeting from Adelaide “Rotation Curation” account, @WeAreADL. I’m hoping it will be a fun experience.

What Is Rotation Curation?

Rotation Curation came into prominence thanks to the @Sweden account, where every week a different Swede would post their views and experiences, with the composite creating a rich and varied impression of life in Sweden.

Pretty soon the concept caught on, with many countries and cities spawning their own rotation curation accounts, with varied degrees of success.

They can be a mixed bag. I’ve followed @WeAreADL for a while now and it is usually good.  I’ve enjoyed watching some friends take turns on @hellofrmsg, Singapore’s version, but I’ve also had to block the account at times, when the resident curator seemed hell-bent on courting controversy for controversy’s sake.

Why Adelaide?

I didn’t grow up in Adelaide. I grew up in Sydney and while I adored that city in my youth, I fell out of love with Sydney once I entered adulthood.

After I left Australia in 1999, my parents settled in Adelaide and pretty soon I was visiting them on a regular basis. I really feel Adelaide still had a lot of what I had enjoyed about living in Australia combined with a much more pleasant and satisfying vibe than Sydney (here’s something I wrote about Adelaide in 2013 and another piece from 2012).

On top of that, Adelaide was a great change of pace from the crowded, frantic cities I had called home since becoming an expat; London, Delhi, Hong Kong, Singapore and now Tokyo.

I could go for long walks or bike rides, or nestle down to writing with almost no distractions. Once I realised a lot of my best thinking (and photography) was happening during the visits, I slowly increased the amount of time I spent each year in this city, along the way building up a rich portfolio of landscape images taken on Adelaide’s beaches.

Why Do The Adelaide Rotation Curation?

If I was a really strategic type, a personal branding obsessed freak, I’d probably play this opportunity purely for my ends. Of course, I’m not that guy.

I love Adelaide and I really want to understand the city better. Doing a Rotation Curation will introduce me to a lot of people and give me a little insight into their likes and lives.

Also, I really want to share what Adelaide has going for it with my friends across the world and especially, across Asia. I hope doing the week will pull a little more interest towards this very cool (and often under-rated) city.

And, of course, I think it will be fun.