— Introduction

SPEAKER_03 0:00

So, um, yeah, Samoa's amazing. What I find about all the South Pacific Islands, a lot of them are very similar, depending on the size of them. If you think of French Polynesia, so Tahiti is probably the biggest one out of the group of islands. I think Hawaii is separate. It's sort of its own entity. But Samoa was really similar to Cook Islands in the respect that they both are quite untouched. I don't think there's a lot of big tourist infrastructure yet there, which I really like because it felt like I was going somewhere that not a lot of people have been to. And it's not like, you know, as an Aussi going to Bali. There's Aussies everywhere. That's not what happened in Samoa. We've got quite a big Samoan population in Australia. So it just felt really like sort of being at home, but also not being at home. And it was like a little community, really.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

So not really small, but not really big, so sort of in between.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Paula, and this is season two. On season one, I talk to expats about their favourite holiday destination. On season two, I'll be doing things very differently. I'll be chatting to expats about where they currently live, why they chose that destination, all those secret hidden gems that

— Meet Linda King and The Smart Travelista

SPEAKER_01 1:28

only locals know, you know, like favourite restaurants, best neighbourhoods, things that tourists don't. Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast. My name's Paula, and today I have a really, really interesting guest. So Linda I met last year in in Ireland, actually, and she has so much, you know, expert advice on so many different countries. So I got her on today to talk about a place I've never been, although I should have because I've got a lot of friends from Samoa. But yeah, let's chat about Samoa and let's talk to Linda and let's find out a little bit about her. So who are you? Where are you from? And

— Why Samoa? And Linda's South Pacific island quest

SPEAKER_01 2:08

how what is the Smart Travelista? Sure.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

So thanks for having me on, caller, and it's great to catch up again. So I'm Linda King from Melbourne, Australia. I'm not actually in Melbourne at the moment, traveling around. I'm the founder of the Smart Travelista and my background is in travel and money management. So the Smart Travelista mission is to see more of the world for less. So it's about minimising travel spending, which I think some sometimes people struggle with. And so the aim is to help others travel in quality without paying a lot of money.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah. And I think we all need that, right? So let's get started in and talk about why Samoa. Let's find out a little

— What makes Samoa different from other Pacific islands

SPEAKER_01 3:00

bit more about Samoa.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Samoa's not usually on the usual usual tourist list. Usually people will travel to either Vanuatu or Numea. I'm into traveling to places that aren't into over tourism. And also I'm on a quest to see all the South Pacific Islands.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Oh, I didn't know that. And so tell me how many have you seen so far? Or how many have you got to go? So I have about three left.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Wow. So I'm going to Palau at the end of the year. Yeah. I've got Solomon Islands and Chonga.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Okay. Wow. Okay. So I'm going to have to get you on another time and talk about some of the other Pacific heart. Because do you know what? It's embarrassing as an Aussie. I've only been to like three. I know. I think because I know they're going to be there forever, it's kind of why I haven't really. But yeah. So let's get started. So you've spoken you so we're going to talk about Samoa. Why are we going to talk about Samoa? Why is it a little bit different? And there's two Samoas, right? There is American Samoa and then there's Samoa.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yeah. But we're going to talk about Samoa? Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

So yeah, Samoa is amazing. What I find about all the South Pacific Islands, a lot of them are very similar, depending on the size of them. So if you think of French Polynesia, so Tahiti is probably the biggest one out of the group of islands. I think Hawaii is separate. That's a sort of its own entity. But Samoa was really similar to Cook Islands

— How big is Samoa?

SPEAKER_03 4:43

in the respect that they both are quite untouched. I don't think there's a lot of big tourist infrastructure yet there, which I really like because it felt like I was going somewhere that not a lot of people have been to.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

And it's not like, you know, as an Aussi going to Bali. There's Aussies everywhere. That's not what happens in Samoa. Yeah. We've got a quite a big Samoan population in Australia. So it just felt really like sort of being at home, but also not being at home. And it was like a little community, really. So not really small,

— First impressions on arrival

SPEAKER_03 5:23

but not really big. So sort of in between.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

I mean, how big is the island itself? You know, are you talking about you can drive around it in a day, in a month, or a week? How b how big is it?

SPEAKER_03 5:34

So if you think about Cook Islands, Rara Chonga, you could probably do that there. Samoa is a little bit bigger. I didn't drive around, I went on tours while I'm a but you can do a day tour and see the whole of you know, the all the tourist attractions

— How to get to Samoa

SPEAKER_03 5:52

in one day. Okay, wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Okay. So your first impression was what when you first arrived? It was a lot larger than I expected. Ah.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

So I expected it to be more like Cook Islands. Sort of the size of Cook Islands. But I knew the people were gonna be friendly and warm because as you know, as we both experienced, Samoans are are very much like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

So it really exceeded my expectations. Okay. And I mean Samoa itself, is it hard to get to?

SPEAKER_03 6:29

So Samoa you've got to go via via Fiji. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

And it's about a two hour um flight from there. Okay. So and I'm gonna be embarrassed here, embarrassing myself here with my g my lack of geo geographical intellect. But Samoa and America's Samoa, is it near each other? Next to each other? Part of each other?

SPEAKER_03 6:55

They're very close by.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Okay. And one is owned by America, right? And the other one is

— Top things to see and do

SPEAKER_01 7:01

owned by them their own self. Samoa's part of the Commonwealth, though, isn't it? I believe so, yeah. Yeah, because I see I remember seeing them in the Commonwealth games and their flag is we've got the Union Jack on it, hasn't it? Am I yeah or am I imagining I embarrass myself that I am so close yet I have no idea. So your fur first impression is is it's actually a lot bigger than you thought. And so, okay, so let's get let's dive into what are some of the standout experiences that you had and you know what do you recommend?

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Yeah, because there's so many places to see that. There's a place called Lil Lo I'm gonna get these pronunciations wrong. Lolo Manor Beach. It has the most stunning views, and you can stay in a farleigh, which is a smaller version of an overwater bungalow on the beach. I didn't do that, but I met a lady that was with her son and they were staying on in one of the farleys. So she so she took me in there, which was quite good.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

And imagine the water would be like it what is it like a jade green or something? Turquoise jade green. Very warm. Oh, that's surprising.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Yeah. So that's probably one of the chop places that people go to. There's also a place called Tusowa Ocean Trench. So this is like a watering hole or a swimming hole. And what it is, it's guarded by a cave. And then you've got the out like the beach sea. And so the water comes through via the cave into this, they call it a trench. And people go down a little on a long ladder and then swim in it.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Yeah, and there's another waterfall called Papa Papa Ital Falls. And it's a really magnificent waterfall, and it's quite large. You can't get to it. You usually see it from a distance from a like a lookout. Yeah. And then there's another one called Toggy Toggy Gia Waterfalls, which is a smaller one. And you can actually go in there and swim in it.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

So the waterfall will come down and then drop on you.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Oh nice.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Yeah. And probably the the other one that I would say is a Puila uh cave pool. So this is a really interesting place. It's a local swimming spot. And you can get you can be do a lot of interactions with the locals. Oh nice. So they're in there and

— How long to stay

SPEAKER_03 9:44

they come up to you. And one little girl said to me, Do you are you enjoying the Samoan culture? And I said, Absolutely.

unknown 9:55

It's cute.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

And so is English their first language? Yes. And and obviously the Samoan language as well. I guess I imagine they have dialects there. Yeah, maybe not. Yeah. Yeah. And what is there anything is there any anything else that you suggest?

SPEAKER_03 10:21

I would say they they're the main ones. Okay. But it depends on whether you're going on a tour or whether you've got a car. So there is other other places to go to.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

But you'd need a car to get there.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And I I know that a lot of people that I know that have been to Samoa, they've been on like cruises. But going there just like because you flew there, right? So you spent a few days. How long would you suggest to stay? So I was there for five days.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

So you could definitely see a lot in five days. I did. I did a bit of relaxing by the pool

— Best time to visit and the weather

SPEAKER_03 10:57

as well. But yeah, probably five days, you you could pretty much see everything. There's other places. There's a place called the Robert Louis Stevenson House. Okay. So apparently he lived there. But he had like quite an influential part of the Samoan culture. I didn't go there, but we drove by it. But yeah, there's so many places there, and it's just such a relaxing place. The weather is just lovely. Like it was about 26, 27 degrees when I was there.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Is it like that all through the the year?

SPEAKER_03 11:32

Does it get cold there at all? No, I think it's pretty much like most South Pacific Islands. It's quite temperate. If you think I I don't know, Paula, whether you've ever been to Honolulu, it's pretty much 26-27 all year round. I think it's similar to that. Obviously they have their wet seasons. I wasn't there then, but yeah, it was just really beautiful weather, not cold and not too hot, just sort of in between.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

What would be the me best season to go then? What month do you think would you recommend? So I went there in June

— Swimming, snorkelling and the ocean

SPEAKER_01 12:08

and it was quite lovely.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Okay. But yeah, I don't know offhand sort of the best seasons, but I went in June and it was just lovely. Like there was n not a lot of rain. And it was just quite warm. And you could swim in the ocean.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yeah, and it was warm.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah. Okay. Because it's their winter, I guess. They're their version of winter. And so did you did you swim in the ocean? Is I guess there's other stuff you can do like snorkel and and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Yeah, I did swim and it was just like a w warm bath. I didn't go in the trench. Yeah but I asked someone about it

— Samoan culture and the fa'asamoa way of life

SPEAKER_03 12:45

and she said it's was just like a sitting in a warm sauna. Not not a sauna, but sort of like a warm bath.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Nice. Nice. And if it's not too hot outside, it's actually I like a warmer weather. I'm a chicken. So for me, like the the water in Australia is so cold. Yeah, for me is so much warmer, it's so much nicer. So I tend to go in the water a little bit more. So how did that shape your experiences as a visitor? Was it calming and cool like what was it like?

SPEAKER_03 13:16

Yeah, so I knew that the Samoans, the church was a real important part of their life. And I think that sort of guides them in how they interact with others. So what I've found in some of the some of the smaller Pacific up South Pacific Islands, there's no crime and it's very, very safe. Oh nice. So like on Cook Island, they've got their doors open. They've got the car doors uh open and there's not a lot of crime there. I felt the same same sort of ex sort of expectation there, and that was met. So that you know they driving along just to leave their door doors open, their windows, and but I I th I think the church has got a really big important part of their culture.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

They I is it like the other Pacific Islands where they tend to sit around and play the guitar and they've all got good voices and they're laid back, or is that just movies? Am I watching too many movies?

SPEAKER_03 14:55

I did see a little bit of that. Yeah. But they're more getting on with their life.

unknown 15:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

So they're, you know, going to work, going to the bank. Actually, going to the bank was quite an interesting activity. Yeah. They have rows upon rows upon rows in the in the waiting area. And they call out your number. And it's just rows of people. So they do like foreign exchange there, people are getting their other money out, and they just all congregate around, which is quite different choice for you. But but it was interesting because I was listening to conversations and watching them and it was and they're very friendly.

— Currency, tipping and money tips

SPEAKER_03 15:38

And they're like, Who who are you and where are you from?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Do you so is it a tipping culture and and should you have a local currency on you? Or do they use credit cards? What what is what is it like there?

SPEAKER_03 15:54

So if you're in the markets, it's really cash mainly. Um a lot of the stores will take credit cards. There's no tipping in Samoa. And what I would say is if people are coming, uh I mean, I know your listeners are from everywhere, but for as an Australian, you can go to Samoa and actually get a better exchange rate there than you would be able to get it in Australia. So I don't know whether you've noticed in Asia or So Paula, that you can take your Australian dollars and get better exchange rate. Similar sort of thing in say Cook Islands, Samoa, and some of those other islands. So it's very similar to Asia in that respect. If you were to go to America or Europe, it's totally different.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Okay. Yeah. I got stung last week in America. They took 50 US dollars off me. But yeah, that's stupid me. I don't know why I did it, but anyway. Moving forward. So where did you stay in Samoa and what would you recommend on different budgets? Did you is it a main I don't know Muffin about Samoa. I should know more about it, but yeah, where exactly did you stay and where do you recommend?

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Yeah, so I stayed in the Sheridan Samoa Aggie Gray Hotel Bunk and Bungalows, which was a

— Where to stay: accommodation for every budget

SPEAKER_03 17:08

bit more of a mid-pricey hotel, but it was very central and it was really good to walk around and visit different things. So if I talk about from the lowest to the more expensive, sort of your lowest price, Aussie dollar-wise, would be about $73, which is pretty cheap. That's cheap, yeah. Yeah. And you'd be staying at somewhere like the White House Hotel, so that's per per night. If you were going up to the next level, which would be budget, you'd be talking probably Samoan Outrigger Hotel, which is about $147. Still affordable. Still affordable, so probably double the really, really cheap. Then if you're going to mid-range, which I consider the Sheridan sort of in, there's also like a lava hotel up here, which is about $260. Sort of around what I paid. If you want to splash out and be real expensive, and I hope I pronounce this right. Tour Messina Island Resort, and you're looking at, say, $390 a night.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

That's still cheap for luxury, you know, like coming from the US, that's like you're what you're paying in Nashville for like a standard hotel room. So it's pretty affordable. Are they is that would that be like on the like the bungalows over the water? So the bungalows are are are really cheap actually.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Are they? Yeah, so I I've been to Bora Bora and they're like a thousand to two and a half thousand a night. You're only looking at about a hundred and say, hundred, hundred and fifty? Wow. Per night if you go to the Farlays.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 18:47

So so you're talking ten tim ten times if you go to Bora Bora. Is it expensive to get to Samoa? Not really. No. If you I went with Fiji and Air Airlines out of Melbourne. Yeah. And it wasn't that expensive. I actually used points to get there, so it was very cheap for me.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

Um but the the flights are not that expensive. And the cost of living is really good there. Like I was getting almost two dollars for one Australian dollar. And and the cost of living there is quite cheap in comparison to a you know, other places, say like Tahiti or Bora Bora.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Yeah, so that's interesting. And you've uh you've obviously been to Fiji. How do you compare it in price to Fiji? I think Fiji is more expensive.

— Getting around: transport and walkability

SPEAKER_03 19:39

Yeah, exactly. Still not like French Polynesia, but I would say it's cheaper than Fiji. I think the thing about Fiji and Samoa with Samoa the travel infrastructure is not as established as Fiji. Okay. So I think if it's more established, they're getting more tourists and they're going to charge more money. Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

So is it a walkable city? Like is it can you Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

When you start getting up into the you know, the highland and a around other parts of the island, it starts getting quite hilly.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

If you're in the central CBD, you're staying close to there, it's very, very flat. And you've got the water right there, so it you know you can check out the the the the beach while you're having a bit of a walk.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

And is it I mean, this is gonna be a stupid question, but public transport? There is public transport, would you catch it?

SPEAKER_00 20:36

So what I try and do is is walk everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

I'm like, so there's a local bus that you can catch.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

But I didn't use it. Yeah.

unknown 20:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Did you okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

And so you s you travel solo. How did it feel as a solo destination, especially for women for a woman?

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Very safe.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

Yeah. Very, very safe. I would say most of the Pacific Islands are really quite safe. Um, I'd say don't be crazy and go down dark alleys or anything like that, of course we wouldn't do in our own place anyway. Yeah. But yeah, so safe.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Is it a is it a solo female destination? Some like I just went to Nashville and that is definitely not a solo female destination. I think I was the only solo female in the whole area. Is it a solo female destination or is it more of a family or couples or groups?

SPEAKER_03 21:41

So it's I I think it's more of a family and couples. Um but I don't let that stop me. If I want to go there, I go.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I'm just thinking for people that are listening, whether or not they want to, you know, if if they want to go on their own or whether or not they save it for their families. And so how do you how did you get around uh so you did you did tell me how you got to Samoa

— Is it safe for solo female travellers?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

and you told me how what it looks like when you got there. So what what is the one thing you wish you'd known before you went, and where can listeners follow your content? Let me start that again because that's two questions. Give me one second. What's one thing you wish you'd known before you went?

SPEAKER_03 22:24

They have a really bad mosquito.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

I think it might have been the time of the year.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

My legs got bitten. I looked like just red welts everywhere. I had you know, the insect, you know, the repellinon. But they were really lethal mosquitoes.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Oh really? They do you get dengue do they get dengue there?

SPEAKER_03 22:47

No.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

They do. Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Touch wood, I didn't catch it.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Not this time at least. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Oh no. Oh no. That's for another story. That's for another podcast episode. So that's good to know. So I mean, that's well then in the hotel rooms, especially

— The one thing Linda wishes she'd known (mosquitoes!)

SPEAKER_01 23:07

if you're staying in in more budget, I'm wondering whether or not there's aircon or mosquito nets and stuff. Because I know that I got attacked, I absolutely attacked in an eco-friendly, what do you call it? Treehouse in Thailand where I honestly got absolutely annihilated. My whole back was covered in them. Um because I took the mosquito net off because it was so hot because there's no air con because it's an echo eco-friend-friendly place. So I'm wondering if the budget place might just have the same problem then.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Yeah, I found that the d like I was in a hotel, they called it like bungalows.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

And I there was like a little gap in the door underneath, and I think they were coming in via there.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

And I have the sort of blood I suppose that they just absolutely love. Me too. And so yeah, it uh that it was like every day there was more mosquito bites and more and more and more.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

And then when I got back to Australia, I was like, thank God I can get into the cool now and recover from these welps that are on both my legs. And your other question, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

You the listeners can follow me on my blog. So I've got a Smart Travelista blog. Yeah. Also the website www.the SmartTravelista with TrueThees.com.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

I'm on social media. But yeah, if they're interested in finding out, especially if they're interested in any South Pacific Islands, um my blog would be a really good place to start. Samoa, I'm I'm about to publish some Samoa blog, so they'll be up shortly.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

So I'll I'll put all those those links in the show notes so that people can contact you. Because you've written books too, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:58

So yeah, I've written 14 books, two book series. Wow. So the first book series is the Smart Travelista Guides. Yep. So I draw on a lot of my travel expertise and experience having worked in the travel industry. And it's just about saving money. So it's, you know, how to fly for free and use your airline miles of how you go about doing that. How to book online, how to use chat Chat GPT to do your travel planning and a few other topics like that. Yeah. And the other book series is Annex from Abroad. Yes. And these about the stories where things things do not go overright. Like getting bitten alive by lethal mosquitoes and all the rest of us. Um and my recent big book is Hot Mess.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Can you tell us about a hot mess?

— Linda's books and where to find her

SPEAKER_01 26:00

And when can we find it? Um you can find it on Amazon. Yep. What can I say about Hot Mess?

SPEAKER_03 26:07

It is a really hot mess. And I'm in a lot of hot mess situations.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Sound like me. Well, have you got anything else you'd like to let the listeners know before we go?

SPEAKER_03 26:22

I was just gonna say if the listeners want to sign up to my weekly newsletter, they can actually get a smart travelista guy for free. Okay. Um and if you're a traveler, go and see the world. There are so many countries and so much to see. I don't even think we could see it all in a lifetime. I'm gonna try. But it there's just so much to experience. And if you don't travel, in my opinion, you're not really experiencing life because it's such a wonderful experience. You meet wonderful people, you get educated, you learn about other cultures. It actually makes you a better global citizen, in my opinion. You're more tolerant and you know builds resilience as well, especially when things go wrong.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

I totally agree. I'm 100% agree with you there. So yeah, thank you so much for coming on. You know what? If I hadn't travelled all the way to Ireland, I wouldn't have met you. So yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

Crazy. And so glad I did, you and among all the other lovely people that were were there. So yeah, it was a great, it was a great conference.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

It was a great conference, and I do have someone coming

— Wrap up

SPEAKER_01 27:37

on to talk all about Donnie Gall. So that's going to be really exciting as well. So thank you again for coming on, and thank you everyone for listening to the Truly Expat Travel podcast. Don't forget you can like and review. Reviewing is really important for those who to get us into the algorithm so that you can other people can listen to the podcast and and I can keep going. But anyway, until next time, thank you again and I'll see you later. Bye. Thank you for joining me on the Truly Expat Travel Podcast. If you liked this episode and you found it valuable, then why don't you go ahead and like and subscribe so that you don't miss an episode moving forward? I've got some amazing guests and some fantastic destinations coming up. But if this is the episode and this is the destination that you really want to go to, then I suggest you head over to trulyxpatravel.com where you'll find travel guides and deep dive into this sort of destination. If that's not what you want and you can't find an episode that is a destination you want to travel to, then head over and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, because I'm pretty sure you'll find something there. In the meantime, safe travels and I'll see you next week.