About Me

Welcome to Sam’s Playground – a travel blog

Blog Dedication

Look around for musings on travel, my photography and unique tips from my actual experiences travelling in Thailand, Europe, North America and New Zealand.

Background of what is on this blog:
I started my journey with one of my best friends from university and we travelled for a month in beautiful Thailand. Next it was Europe, where I tried to experience as much as I could in just under three months, it was a busy few months but well worth it. After Europe I flew to the West coast of the United States, stopping for a few days at Iceland which was amazing. I travelled down the West coast of the United States and then flew to the East coast and made my way up until I reached Canada. I spent around one month travelling around the East coast of Canada before making the mammoth drive across country with a couple of Australians to reach the West coast. I did a ski season in Banff and recently completed a camper van road trip with my girlfriend Renee which took us from Banff, to Vancouver, into the United States through the San Juan islands and right across – zig zagging between national parks and points of natural beauty which we tried to photograph as best we could.

My Past:
I’m from New Zealand, but left with my family when I was five to sail around the world on our 40 foot Roberts Spray (yacht). We took things slowly. First New Caledonia, then Australia, Chagos, Madagascar, South Africa, St Helena, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Martinique >>>. St Martin, British Virgin Islands, Columbia, San Blas Islands, Panama Canal, Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, and back to New Zealand. It took us about eight years, so there is more to the story than the places. But the bottom line is I had a unique childhood, and it no doubt planted a seed for further travel which has since sprouted (2010) and seems to be growing healthily.