Discover, Rest & Explore

Founded by Sammy Joe, Senior Explorer, Bespoke Travel Collections draws on over 16 years of travel experience. Sammy began her career working at wakeboarding, diving, and surfing lodges, as well as safari lodges across Africa. From the beginning, travel was never just about visiting places. It was about exploration, curiosity, and connection.

"I have always had a deep passion to explore and understand the world. New cultures, landscapes, food, and people continue to inspire me.

Over the years I have worn many hats. I am a qualified chef, yoga teacher, marketer, and photographer. While these may seem like very different paths, each one has played an important role in preparing me for this next step. Cooking brings people together around a shared table. Yoga creates space to slow down and reconnect with ourselves. Marketing and photography allow me to share stories and capture the beauty of the places we experience. Together, these skills naturally led me to creating and hosting retreats for people from all over the world. The inspiration behind these retreats also comes from my own personal journey. I spent eight years navigating a difficult immigration process which often dictated what job I needed to do, how many hours I had to work, and where I was able to live. It was a challenging period that shaped the way I see freedom, work, and the importance of creating space in life for the things that truly matter."
 

She shares more about this experience through her blog and social media, but during that time she also recognised how easily life can become structured around responsibility. After working in travel and later moving into a corporate role, she saw how much of everyday life is spent simply keeping up with commitments and paying the bills. Many people work incredibly hard yet rarely give themselves the opportunity to step away, explore, and reconnect with their creativity or passions.

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These journeys were created for people who feel that same pull. People who work hard, who are curious about the world, and who sometimes need space away from routine to reconnect with themselves and others.

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Through these retreats, Sammy aims to create experiences where guests can connect with like-minded people, have meaningful conversations, unlock creativity, and rediscover passions that may have been sitting quietly in the background. For some it may inspire a bigger life change. For others it may simply offer a chance to step away for a short time, reset, and return home feeling refreshed and inspired.

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And for those who are simply drawn to the destinations and the experience itself, these journeys are equally open. Each retreat brings together people from around the world, and the connections formed along the way often become just as meaningful as the places visited.