About Me

My Background

I’m a corporate worker by day and travel nut by weekends, public holidays, annual leave and career breaks.

I grew up in small town New Zealand and can’t say I ever dreamed about travel or working abroad. I assumed I’d go to uni, get a decent job, and maybe settle in one of NZ’s bigger cities. The extent of my travel goals was to have an occasional beach break in Australia or the South Pacific and maybe take a once in a lifetime trip to Europe or the US. Oh how wrong was I… (41 countries and counting)!

After moving down south for university and spending a small stint in our capital Wellington for my first ‘proper’ job, I left New Zealand in early 2007 and haven’t looked back. Following 8 years in Australia, I relocated to Singapore in 2015, and then Canada in 2019.

While I still call New Zealand home, I’ve since fallen in love with the expat life and travelling and find that the more you travel, the more you need to travel – it really does become a way of life, and you constantly discover new places and get itchy feet pretty quickly!

My Travel Style

I’m not a traditional backpacker and never have been. My travel style (like me) can seem like a bunch of contradictions. If I had to describe my travel style, I’d say I like independent travel (no packaged tours here mate!), prefer to pay for a bit of comfort and convenience, love some style and luxe, but also seek out authentic and local experiences and love hunting out a bargain.

I’d far rather spend my pennies on an incredible experience like a tented safari camp in Africa, a luxe overwater bungalow in the Maldives or a guided hike through the desert than stay in a fancy city hotel. While I have splashed out on all of these experiences, I don’t always spend a lot on accommodation. I like small places with either a touch of luxe or some local flavor, and usually stay at boutique hotels, B&Bs, homestays or on occasion a hostel (private room of course!).

I’m not the biggest fan of transportation, and planes and boats in particular scare me. If it’s simply a matter of getting from A to B, I usually opt for comfort and convenience over budget and will take a plane instead of a long overland bus or train.

If transport is the journey rather than the destination, then I’m local all the way. I usually explore new locations by foot, bike or whatever the preferred local mode of transport is (tuk-tuks and cyclos are my favorite!) and love scenic train trips. I’ve also been known to suffer through bangkas and other terrifying boats all in the name of exploring remote islands. (As an aside, I’m confused when people ask why I’m scared of transportation. Clearly I just don’t want to die or be severely maimed.)

While we’re talking of contradictions, I also love drinking champagne at rooftop bars as well as chugging beer at Asian hawker centers, and swanky restaurants as well as local street food. Variety is the spice of life after all!

I’m also not adventurous in the traditional sense – you’ll never find me skydiving, bungee jumping (how un-kiwi of me!) or white water rafting. I’ve always considered myself a bit of a scaredy cat, but travel has shown me that’s not totally true. I am perfectly comfortable navigating my way around the world, exploring new and exotic destinations, testing out local foods and biking and hiking my way through national parks and local villages. And if that’s not adventurous then I don’t know what is. In a word, how does travel make me feel? Liberated.

I usually travel with my husband but if he can’t join me, then that doesn’t stop me. I’ve travelled solo on a number of occasions, including to places in Indonesia, Cambodia, South Africa and Brazil. So don’t let your lack of a travel buddy hold you back! Travelling solo may seem scary, but once you get used to it you’ll find that it’s particularly liberating and it’s pretty easy to make friends along the way. (Or if you’re somewhat anti-social like me, then you can get some valuable alone time!).

My Blog Inspiration

I started this site as I’m constantly getting asked for travel advice and tips and find myself providing the same information time and time again. Don’t get me wrong, I could talk about travel till the cows come home (some kiwi slang for ya!) but wanted to put this info out there for others to use, inspire others to travel and to give me a travel outlet between trips.