Pack Ya Bags Travel

06/06/2026

When a traveller has already done the easy Pacific and asks ‘where’s still genuinely unfound?’ — the Solomons is our first answer. This is off-grid in the real sense: Western Province and the world’s largest saltwater lagoon, a handful of small lodges, WWII wrecks and reef walls thick with fish, and almost no one else on the water.

It’s also one of three islands Pack Ya Bags plans more often than most — Tonga’s humpback window and PNG’s Kimbe and Milne Bay reefs sit on the same shortlist, both with published brochures on the site.

DM us, [email protected], or ask your travel agent for a Pack Ya Bags Solomons, Tonga or PNG itinerary. Brochures at packyabags.com/brochures.

04/06/2026

The quieter side of the Pacific.

Outrigger canoes drifting past old wrecks. Reef so clear it looks unreal. Kids racing into the water before the rope swing even stops moving. A carver, a beach dance, a sunset that takes its time. Just a slice of Solomon Islands, from when we last visited.

DM us or [email protected]. Ask your travel agent about Pack Ya Bags tours.

03/06/2026

Fiji is the Pacific’s default, and we’re glad to plan one — but where Pack Ya Bags really earns its keep is the islands fewer agents know well. The Solomon Islands for genuine off-grid diving and remote lodges. Tonga for the July–October humpback-swim window and a quieter, traditional island the rest of the year. Papua New Guinea for cultural depth and some of the world’s richest reefs around Kimbe Bay and Milne Bay.

We have published Solomons and PNG brochures up on the site, built from our own visits and the lodges we keep coming back to. If you’ve already done Fiji and you’re after the quieter Pacific — we’re a good first call.

Reply, DM us, or [email protected].

30/05/2026

If a cherry blossom trip is on someone's 2027 list, the time to act on it is now.

The bloom lands in a narrow window (roughly late March to early April in the Tokyo–Kyoto corridor), every traveller wants the same fortnight, and the ryokans and best-placed hotels are reserved six to nine months out. Booking early doesn't lock anyone into a rigid plan — dates and rooms can be held now and the itinerary customised later.

Reserve now, customise later — DM us or [email protected] or ask your travel agent about Pack Ya Bags Japan holidays.

27/05/2026

Japan is one of the loveliest first trips we plan for couples — and it doesn’t need to be a sprint.

A ten-night itinerary for two might thread a few nights in Tokyo, a slow night in a hot-spring ryokan with a kaiseki dinner, the temples and lanes of Kyoto, and a finish in Osaka — paced so there’s time to actually sit in it.

Autumn 2026 booking window is closing fast, and Cherry Blossom 2027 is already the one to lock in now. The best ryokans for both go early.

DM us or [email protected], or ask your travel agent for a Pack Ya Bags Japan itinerary.

23/05/2026

A nine-day walking itinerary through the Itria Valley and Matera is one of the active Italy trips we plan for AU and NZ travellers. Slow pace, masseria-to-masseria, gentle gradients, and a food and wine programme that does most of the storytelling.

Roughly: arrive in Bari, transfer to the Itria Valley for four nights of walking between the trulli villages — Alberobello, Locorotondo, Cisternino — then a transfer south for two nights in Matera among the sassi. Daily walks of eight to fifteen kilometres on country lanes and olive-grove tracks; the bookends absorb the long flights.

Best windows for AU and NZ travellers: late August into September for warm, harvest-season feel, or April through early June for cooler, greener walking.

Ask your travel agent for a Pack Ya Bags Puglia walking itinerary, or DM us if you'd like a starting point.

20/05/2026

An active holiday in Puglia doesn't have to mean hard kilometres and early starts. The trips AU and NZ travellers ask us for most are the slow ones — easy hours on the bike along the Salento coast, unhurried walks through trulli country, and somewhere good to land each night.

The shape is simple and it flexes to suit you. String together gentle coastal cycling on mostly flat, traffic-free lanes with walking days between the whitewashed hill towns — Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ostuni — and down into the sassi of Matera. Keep the distances short and the gradients kind, and let the food, the sea and the long lunches do most of the storytelling. Bags moved ahead, an itinerary planned around your pace, and bookend nights either side that quietly absorb the long flights over.

It travels well in either direction of the calendar — late summer into autumn for warm, harvest-season light, or spring for cooler, greener riding and walking. The better small masserie on these itineraries fill early, so if you're thinking next year, now's the time to start the conversation.

See our Puglia walking and cycling itineraries at packyabags.com (link below), or DM us / email us at [email protected] for a starting point.

https://packyabags.com/our-destinations/southern-mediterranean-europe/italy/

16/05/2026

The moments that anchor a safari aren't always the ones the brochure puts on the cover. Eight quiet moments from safari — lion, rhino, zebra, hippo, and a sundowner to finish. If Africa's on your list, we'll help you plan it. [email protected] or DM us.

15/05/2026

Planning tip for an East African safari — the three pieces of admin that cost the most when they get left late.

Visas: Kenya uses an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) system and Tanzania uses an eVisa system for AU and NZ passport holders. Processing can slow down during peak periods, so allow at least two weeks. Botswana is visa-free for standard tourist visits.

Yellow fever: a yellow fever certificate is generally only required if you arrive from, or transit through, a country with yellow fever transmission risk. The most common AU and NZ routing — direct from home — usually does not trigger the requirement, but longer transits through certain African countries can. Confirm with a travel medicine clinic four to six weeks before departure.

Malaria: many safari areas in Kenya, Tanzania and northern Botswana are malaria-risk zones. Prophylaxis is common, and the right option depends on the route, trip length, season and personal medical considerations.

Your travel agent will already have most of this covered; if not, DM us or [email protected]. We’re on standby.

13/05/2026