Abigail Hannah kayaking in Milford Sound

Ko Abigail ahau

New Zealand travel creator and host of Aotearoa Adventures

Hey there, I'm Abigail. I lived in 6 cities and visited 14 countries before the age of ten. I should have known that the little girl who kept a travel journal (yes, the type with ticket stubs, boarding passes and notes from each day) would end up here.

Abigail Hannah working on a laptop beside a lake

In short

I make things that help you explore Aotearoa

I'm a travel creator based in Auckland, when I'm there. Most weeks that means some mix of these:

Aotearoa Adventures
The New Zealand travel podcast. 200 episodes, 199+ guests and 140k+ listens since 2022, with a new one every Friday. Real people, real trips, and the tips they wish they'd known.
The NZ road trip map
110 of my favourite spots on an offline map, built from seven years of going back to the same places on purpose.
Brand partnerships
Content and campaigns with travel and outdoor brands I'd use anyway, including Tourism New Zealand, Kathmandu, Cotopaxi, Allbirds, Dometic, RealNZ and Fujifilm.

Abigail Hannah sea kayaking below the peaks of Milford Sound

Long story long

From spreadsheets to a green van

I moved back to Auckland at 18 after growing up in India, and it was a rough landing. A couple of years at uni were a real struggle with my mental health, and the way back was not a straight line. Alongside a lot of therapy, what helped most was time outside. A camera gave me a reason to go and find the light. A podcast, a few years later, gave me a reason to keep going back out and asking people about their adventures. Both still do.

Three years ago I was a full-time urban planner. Two-hundred-page reports, council meetings, the rush-hour commute. I sent my first brand pitch at 1,200 followers, phoned a friend the whole time because I had no idea what to say, and slammed the laptop shut the second I hit send. They said yes. That one yes opened my eyes to the possibilities of the creator world.

Then came a Thursday sunrise on a snowy South Island mountain, kea circling, and one thought: I need to be on more mountains on more Thursday mornings. I quit the following Tuesday with nothing close to a safety net, just enough delulu confidence to back myself.

Since then we've built our dream van, paddled 500km down the East Coast from Cape Rēinga on the Slow Paddle with my husband Isaac, walked 85km solo on the Old Ghost Road, and put out a new episode every Friday for four years.

You don't have to stay stuck on the path you're on. That's the whole point of this website.

Abigail Hannah sitting at the end of a jetty on a lake

If you love adventure, road trips and the outdoors, you're in the right place

I'm one for slower travel, and I'll bet you are too

I love pretty things, I love the outdoors, I love experiencing things which make me feel alive. I am happiest when we're on a road trip, with nowhere to be and nothing to do. I love to sit with the van door open watching the waves crash on the sand. I love to have dinner beside the mountains, as the moon lights up the sky.

I love falling asleep to the sound of rain as it falls on the van roof. I love waking up to the golden sunlight on my face.

I walk, I swim, I sit, I see, I smell, I listen, I breathe.
Because it makes me feel alive.

Because life is worth living.

Let me be part of your journey

I want you to experience Aotearoa the way I do

I don't care about ticking off countries like a to-do list, I believe that adventure can be had wherever you live.

We find ourselves returning to the same places in Aotearoa over and over again, and this means I have only the best advice for your trip.

Want to know all the places I've been?

Get the NZ map

Abigail Hannah in the snow at Aoraki Mount Cook

Where you'll find me now

Somewhere between small-town New Zealand, a house sit, a van trip, or the other side of the world

Everywhere and anywhere, to be honest. Isaac and I haven't had a fixed address for two and a half years, and most of this website gets built from a lifestyle block in South Auckland, a campsite picnic table, or an airport lounge.

Here's a recap of our lives recently

As seen in...

Wilderness MagazineNZ HeraldSlow JournalAdventure MagazineStuffKiwi Yarns