Ahoy there!!
I’m Bree Daigneault and I’ve got a passion for the ocean, travel and, unironically, planning. Thankfully I’ve been able to intertwine all three. I’m constantly scheming up new places to visit, waters to swim in and calculating the most efficient way to do it.
I think it all started with the 2006 movie Aquamarine. If you haven’t seen it, the premise is about female friendships, mostly with a mermaid, but if you watch it enough times (like I did at the age of eight) you’ll catch the background details of the movie. Marine biology. Australia. AUSTRALIA. Far away and mystical Australia. I didn’t know if it was even possible for me but I dreamed of going there.
In middle school I expanded my travel dreams beyond the land down under. I remember putting up a big poster on the back of my wall with different travel destinations, both domestic and abroad. I finally got my big break at planning a trip when I was 14 and sneakily emailed my grandfather’s travel agent asking about planning a family trip to Chile. My grandpa was born in Santiago and visited Chile every few years… I was set on getting to tag along. This was as much as I was involved in the travel plans, however, because my parents learned of my email thankfully, took over turning them into reality. We spent 2 weeks in Chile and I was amazed the whole time.
My next big travel break happened in college, where everyone encourages you to study abroad and you’re given a beautiful framework to expand upon: school. I knew it was time to make my eight year old dreams a reality. I would study in Perth, Australia. Spring of my junior year, 2020, how perfect! It was in Perth that I first wore a mask, waited in line for toilet paper and eventually got the boot from the country when the US issued a high level travel warning. As brave as I felt traveling solo to Western Australia (I did a direct exchange with the university and knew nobody going there) I wasn’t ready to be there indefinitely with no work visa or support system.
Since then I’ve yet to make it back to Australia but I have been fortunate enough to go to several counties (Holland, Sweden, New Zealand, Panama) in between the seasonal work I’ve been doing since graduating college in 2021. Somewhere along the line I learned about the working holiday visa that people under 30 can get to work and live in New Zealand. My dreams of living in Australia shifted to it’s more rainforest covered neighbor. After saying I was going to do it for over a year (telling people about my plans always kicks me into high gear!), saving up, applying for the visa and finally buying the tickets, I packed my bags at the end of 2024, destined for New Zealand. Now almost halfway through 2025 I am living in Nelson, NZ with my partner (did I mention he loved my vision of living abroad and couldn’t wait to join in the adventure?), working a job and traveling around the country.
I’ve got my sights set on seeing as much of New Zealand as possible during this one year visa and you can bet the travels won’t stop there.
I’ve created Breeze Around The World not only because it’s a fantastic play on my name, but to share my travel itineraries, stories and mishaps! I hope you find my articles helpful when planning your next trip. The hardest part is booking those tickets, if this is the encouragement you need… do it!