About Me

Hello and welcome to Travel with Smudge!

I started this site to share with the world a few of my favourite things; travel, food, photography and unsurprisingly, more travel. I want to inspire others to travel, document my own adventures in a way that will be beneficial to others and use this as a way to challenge myself.  Travelling is one of the things that makes me happiest, and when I’m not travelling I love to think and write about it.

Growing up, I was lucky that my family travelled lots. I’m fortunate that I saw a decent part of New Zealand throughout my childhood as well as various trips overseas. I was especially lucky to grow up in the beauty that is Hawke’s Bay (read my first published article here – naturally it’s on the Bay), and after finishing high school I ventured down to Otago University to pursue a double degree in Law and Science (Pharmacology). Unfortunately I was a poor student at the time and didn’t get to experience the South Island the way I feel like I should have, although I tried to never say no to any opportunity that did arise. My bucket list for seeing the South Island continues to grow, as it is such a beautiful part of the world.

In 2014 I headed over to Milan, Italy, for a semester abroad. This provided a terrific base for, and excuse to, travel around Europe, which was an opportunity I certainly made the most of. I stayed there for the better part of the year but it still didn’t feel like long enough. I’m not sure I would ever feel like it was long enough. I wasn’t due to start at my job until the start of 2015 so when I returned home to New Zealand and I realized that my desire to travel had been fueled rather than quenched, I was shortly on my way to South East Asia.

I was forced to return from South East Asia after a few months to start what would be my first full-time job only two days later, and although I loved my job, I was suddenly jolted into a return of routine; something which I wasn’t sure I was ready for. I did appreciate an income though, and after a few months I was excited about planning my next adventure; the itch had been itched, and now I had a reliable income to fund it.

I got admitted to the Bar in December 2015, and the day after I flew out to Hawaii, USA. I spent six weeks travelling around Canada, America and Mexico – it was definitely a whirl wind trip, but it satisfied my desire for a short time. It’s a hard thing that, balancing full-time work and the desire to travel the world! That old saying rings true – when you have time, you don’t have money; and once you have the money, you no longer have the time.

Wellington became my home for the next five or so years and while I will always maintain it is one of the coolest cities in the world, come 2019 I was definitely ready for the next thing. 2019 was a HUGE year of travel. My partner and I resigned from our jobs in May, packed our bags and are heading off on the journey of a life time. We had a whirlwind four months in Europe, a month back in New Zealand and Australia and two months in South America before finding ourselves in Canada a week before Christmas. We spent the next two years living in both the West End (right near Stanley Park and English Bay) and East Vancouver and had jobs at law firms in the city. Hand on heart, I think the West End is one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods in the world and I feel so lucky I got to live there.

Fast forward through the pandemic (where I think despite the lockdowns, I was lucky to be living in Canada where so much of what we wanted to do was outdoors and subsequently not really off limits) to the end of 2021 when my partner and I shifted back to NZ. After an incredible summer of NZ travel, friends and family we settled in Auckland with our darling dog Wrigley to see what life in the big smoke has to offer.

Enjoy my blog, hopefully you find it interesting and/or inspiring; if you have any comments or feedback please  get in touch. I can also be found on Instagram: @travelwithsmudge.

To me, travel blogging means I get to live, and relive the dream.

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