If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand’s South Island and thinking, “I just want to see cool New Zealand wildlife without completely winging it,” this quick guide is for you (and be sure to save the Google Map below to help you plan your trip!). New Zealand should be a renowned wildlife destination, but […]

If seeing penguins in the wild is on your bucket list, New Zealand is one of the best places in the world to do it! When I was researching where to see penguins in New Zealand for my South Island wildlife road trip — 6 weeks total, 2 of which I spent in a campervan so […]

If you’re wondering what to pack for New Zealand in summer, let me start by saying this: I am so jealous. New Zealand is my favorite country and no matter how many times I visit, I’m always dying to go back! New Zealand summers are sunny, breezy, and not miserably hot, which makes it an […]

If you’ve been furiously Googling “Tasman Glacier heli hike Reddit” trying to find a thorough, first-person Tasman glacier heli hike review, you’re in the right place! I did a glacier heli hike in February and am spilling all the info you need to figure out if heli hiking in New Zealand is worth your precious […]

If you’re visiting New Zealand and are a dolphin lover (and seriously—who isn’t?) you may have heard that you can swim with the world’s smallest dolphin species off the South Island! But before you start furiously searching Reddit for, “swimming with dolphins in Akaroa, New Zealand? What’s the best time to see dolphins in Akaroa? […]

When my boyfriend and I started our road trip through New Zealand’s South Island in a 22-foot camper van, everyone — from the grizzled barista in a Wanaka café to the Swiss couple spending a year working at a local winery — told me Milford Sound was a must-see destination. I felt a tangle of […]

When I was planning a two-month trip to New Zealand, I knew that many of my loose plans would involve zigzagging around the South Island looking for wildlife: fur seals on the coast, dolphins in the bays, and maybe even the elusive kiwi (the bird, not the fruit — though I sought out plenty of […]

I went skiing in Niseko having skied only once or twice in my life, and with basically zero planning. It’s how I ended up on the bunny slope with weaving trains of six-year-olds (who were already more graceful than me), accidentally sent myself down a red “challenge” course I had no business being on, and […]