Category: Reviews

Review: Tiritiri Matangi Island Nature Reserve from Auckland, New Zealand

by A Purple Life, posted in Hobbies, Reviews, Travel, Travel Reviews

When I first visited Auckland, New Zealand in November 2023, a few people recommended that I check out Tiritiri Matangi Island Nature Reserve after learning about my love of birds. Unfortunately we were only in Auckland for a few short days and didn’t have the time to do a whole-day adventure on this nearby island.

However, when I returned to Auckland in February 2025, I was ready to see some birds! On my relatively short list to “Must Dos” for my almost 6 week trip, this was near the top of the list. And after I went , it is now my #1 recommendation for a nature-based day trip near Auckland if you’re a bird lover. So let’s dive in and see why this very affordable trek made my jaw drop.

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The Best Budget Earbuds: Soundcore Space A40

by A Purple Life, posted in Hobbies, Reviews, Spending, Travel

Last year I was on the search for the best over-ear headphones I could find. After a lot of research, polling y’all, and testing, I found them!

Well now it’s time to expand that search to earbuds, which up to this point I thought would never be for me. So let’s see what changed 🙂 .

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Review: Bioluminescence Kayak Tour Near Auckland, New Zealand

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Travel, Travel Reviews

One of my dreams has always been to see bioluminescence. I saw it in Seattle once and also very briefly during my trip to the Great Barrier Reef in 2023, but I’ve never had a full experience with it.

After visiting Australia in 2023 I went to New Zealand and stayed in Auckland for a few nights. While there I discovered that they have tours to kayak at night to see this bioluminescence. However, it was historically windy while I was there and all the tours were cancelled. Continue reading “Review: Bioluminescence Kayak Tour Near Auckland, New Zealand” →

My Packing List As A 5 Year, Full-Time Nomad

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Reviews, Spending, Travel

It’s finally here! Y’all have been asking me for literal years to write a post detailing my nomad packing list. I put it off because y’all requested, at minimum pictures and ideally video, and that sounded like a lot of work 😉 . But I finally found the motivation so it’s happening! Here is everything I pack to travel the world. Continue reading “My Packing List As A 5 Year, Full-Time Nomad” →

Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand for $37

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Travel, Travel Hacking, Travel Reviews

This is the second part of a very long post about my experience flying 17 hours in Singapore Air Economy Class. In case you missed it, here’s the first part:

So let’s get back into it! When I left off, I had just finished a 7 hour layover in Singapore.

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Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Tokyo, Japan to Singapore for $37

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Travel, Travel Hacking, Travel Reviews

Surprise surprise – I’ve written a lot on this blog about Singapore Air Business Class, First Class and their First Class Suites, but until now I had never sampled their Economy Class product. That all changed this year 🙂 . So let’s dive into if Economy on this airline lives up to the rest of its plane classes.

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“Is It Worth It?” Green Class Tickets On The Shinkansen Bullet Train

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Travel, Travel Reviews

So my Partner loves trains 🙂 . I try to incorporate them into our travel plans as much as I can because he loves them so much.

That has led to some fun adventures, such as taking a sleeper train up the west coast of the US (even though it’s much slower and more expensive 😉 ) and taking trains around Europe this past fall. I also found individual sleeper cars in trains to be a good alternate pandemic travel solution.

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