Queenstown to Milford Sound Scenic Flight: The Most Beautiful Half-Day Trip in New Zealand

Taking a scenic flight from Queenstown to Milford Sound was our biggest splurge in New Zealand, but we didn’t regret it for a minute. Milford Sound is one of the highlights of the country with waterfalls and soaring peaks in a glacier-carved valley. Accommodation is limited at this remote fjord in the southwest of the South Island, so most people...

May 2020

22 Best Things to Do in Nelson, New Zealand

The top of New Zealand’s South Island doesn’t attract the attention of further south, especially with international visitors. This is a shame as there’s so much to explore including beaches, mountains, lakes, native bush, wineries, craft breweries, berry farms, art galleries and more. You can hike, mountain bike, kayak, shop, and sample delicious local...

Apr 2020

Visiting the Magical Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand

While Hobbiton is currently closed until at least June 2020, here’s some inspiration for the future. You can visit plenty of locations where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand, but none of them transports you to Middle Earth like Hobbiton does. On the Hobbiton Movie Set you’ll find the lush rolling hills of The Shire where you...

Apr 2020

Learning to Sail in the Bay of Islands (While the World Falls Apart)

We’d been looking forward to sailing in the Bay of Islands since we arrived in New Zealand five months ago. In fact, we first discovered this was one of the best places to learn to sail a yacht on our first trip to the country 12 years ago. We’d earned our Competent Crew certificates while living aboard a yacht in Malaysia, but that was six years ago...

Apr 2020

Nomadic Life During a Pandemic: Lockdown in New Zealand (Updated)

I originally published this post on 10 April and updated it on 5 May 2020 with our latest thoughts and experiences during lockdown in New Zealand. If you’ve already read the original post, use the contents to skip ahead to the update.  The last month has certainly been a rollercoaster of emotions for us, as I’m sure it has been for all of you. I can’t...

Apr 2020

How to Buy Travel Insurance After Departure

Can I buy travel insurance after departure? Yes, you can but only with a few insurance companies.  Finding travel insurance when you’re already travelling is challenging. As digital nomads, we started out with a one year long term travel insurance policy, like many round the world travellers, but unlike them, after a year we carried on travelling....

Mar 2020

3 Ways to Explore Abel Tasman National Park on a Day Trip

Abel Tasman National Park may be New Zealand’s smallest National Park, but it’s one of the most stunning. It’s a popular destination for hiking, kayaking, and sailing. The golden sand beaches and crystal clear turquoise water feel almost tropical, and the native bush is rich with lush vegetation and birdsong. Fur seals are often seen, and if you get...

Mar 2020

Highlights of Year 10 as Digital Nomads

It’s our 10 year nomadiversary! We can’t quite believe we’ve made it to a whole decade travelling the world full-time and running our own business along the way. We feel so blessed to still be living this lifestyle—the freedom to travel wherever we want, to work on projects we love, and to be together 24/7 is incredible. We’ve certainly had challenging...

Mar 2020

Allbirds Review: Why Allbirds Wool Runners Are My New Favourite Travel Shoes

I don’t like wearing shoes. Where possible, I go barefoot or wear the minimal footwear possible—usually sandals or ballet flats. But Allbirds are the least shoe-like shoes I’ve ever worn. They are soft and snuggly, more like slippers than running shoes, but they look good enough for city exploring. Allbirds is a New Zealand company and what makes...

Feb 2020

A Detailed Guide to Walking the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand

Walking the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand is one of the best things we’ve ever done. We are not hardcore hikers, but we’ve come to find multi-day hikes wonderfully relaxing—as long as we can stay in comfortable accommodation and have our bags transferred. This coastal track isn’t too challenging (although there are hills...

Feb 2020