@ratpack_travel
Hey, I'm Sammy

Owner and Operator

Age: 32

Where's home?

You can never EVER forget where your from – In my case Manchester, UK. BUTtttttttt for now and for the foreseeable future my Home is Byron Bay Babbbbbbbbby.

Where's home?

English & je parle petit pe francis (only after a few Bevies – DEL BOi Style ahahah)

Time spent in Australia and NZ:

Since Nov 2011!

A little about me:

The standard end of Uni – I don’t know what to DO with my life story resulted in me shopping around for flights and hitting the Open Road with Big Ryan (my college buddy & absolute Banter Man)… what was a few month adventures has become a lifestyle that I didn’t think even existed.

I get just as much a Buzz Creating Epic adventures for travellers than I do going on them myself. I’m still partial to a good old roadie and cruise in the van from Byron on surf trips – in search of waves, sunsets and open beaches!

Why is Aussie / NZ so special...

To start with Aussie Land is MASSIVE – not many peeps have been around the full circuit (and I myself wasn’t at all planning on) but the Roadie can become addictive and it certainly did for me!

I hit the road and travelled 25,913 Km’s the diversity between the tropical beach towns on the East Coast to the West Coast which feels like the end of the world got me hooked straight away. The people I met along the way – live by the chilled & relaxed lifestyle that takes you a while to get used to – but now have become totally accustomed too.

Rambling on so much I almost forgot about the little sibling AKA NZ – I planned to go there for 2 months well I ended up staying 2 years. Everything is accessible and not too far away – get ya self out of Auckland and there is literally not a person in site! There are too many moments to mention but Free Camping for a week with my Bruv-Ski {AKA Jakey Boi} next to a snow capped mountain, clear blue ocean and dolphins has to be up there. NZ has it ALL.

Favourite spot in Australia/NZ:

BYRON BAY Babbbbbbbbby (to live and stay for an extended time) however – if it’s just a visit then Uluru is MAJESTICAL {had to use the spell checker on that one}. Not gona lie after the 6 full days it took me to drive to the centre of Oz and see the red centre – I almost shed a tear.

NZ – Raglan is the ONE… perfect & laid back vibes it’s just UNREAL alsooooo – Big up Tim & Suz – they’ve made ‘Raglan BackPackers’ their own. In 6 and a bit years of travelling you can imagine how many hostels I’ve stayed at. This one is in a league of its own. The town itself is amazing but the hostel makes it.

Backpacker tips:

Put down the phone – chat to the person next to you – don’t take every moment for granted and be as open as possible – you just don’t know what the next person will bring into your life – Special Mention to Mollie Bylett – The Blog on how we met is COMING!

Funny travel story/or best moment in Australia:

Location NZ: A rainy night in a camp kitchen kick started a game of Rock Paper Scissors – the winner got the last Biscuit. The game after that we ran out of choccy biccies so we proceeded to bet on who would cut one anothers hair with a dodgy pair of clippers >>> safe to say I lost!

Type of traveller:

Chilled out & cruising along. Happy go Lucky. More Happy than Lucky ; )

Our Top Picks
  • Fraser Island

    K’Gari (Fraser Island)

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  • Whitsundays

    The Whitsundays, Airlie Beach

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  • Great Barrier Reef

    Great Barrier Reef

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Not the tour you're looking for?
OUR TEAM

Meet the Ratpackers

  • Sammy

    British

    Owner and Operator

    You can never EVER forget where your from – In my case Manchester, UK. But for now and for...

    Read more
  • Jules

    German

    Travel Guru

    Home is where my passport is… My roots lie in East Germany but I’ve spent most of my life on the...

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  • Tyla

    Aussie

    Travel Guru

    Originally born in Zimbabwe, I moved to The Land of Oz when I was super young...

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  • Mikey

    British

    Travel Guru

    I spent my time at home being king of the BBQ at Nandos flipping chicken before I decided that...

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  • Holly

    British

    Social Media & Marketing

    About 2 years ago now, I headed off to Australia on my gap yahhh (really not a fan of that term...

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  • Reuben

    British

    Travel Guru

    I first came to Oz on a 1-year working holiday and have settled here in Byron Bay... ...

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  • Mike

    British

    Travel Guru

    I'm Mike (not to be mistaken for Mikey), like Mikey though I'm also from Manchester in the UK......

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Meet the team
CUSTOMER REVIEWS

From our RatPackers

5.0

500+ Google & Facebook reviews

5.0

500+ Google & Facebook reviews

Anita Howard
17 March 2023

I booked my campervan to travel in NZ via RatPack Travel, who managed to find me the perfect van at relatively short notice and with a discount! It was a real help to have someone do the searching and mediate with the company, once they had dates and information from me. Thanks for the prompt and friendly service!

Charlie Coe
16 March 2023

Great service! Jenner was so much help and gave us lots of options to suit our journey. Very attentive and made it an easy process.

Emily Hirsch
16 March 2023

This was the best customer service I ever experienced! I highly recommend you if you are looking for a Van or Camper to leave your email address so somebody of their team can get in touch with you. They compare for you all camper hire company’s and you can choose with one suits you the best. I literally talk to this awesome lady from Holland (as I’m only available after 8pm MEL time, so the arrange for me a call with somebody from the EU team for free) and she got our dream van for the most incredible price few minutes after we talked! And not even one day later I got my booking confirmation from the camper company. Their service is free of charge as they earn commission of your booking but this doesn’t cost you a cent. I did my own research before but the deals they give me was way better than I could find by my own. I highly recommend to get in touch with this team and let them find your Van. They literally saved us our fuel cost for a 3 weeks travel from Cairns to Sydney. Yes- that’s almost $1000 they saved us! Go and get your van! You won’t regret it.

Melissa workman
16 March 2023

So far, so so good. I should have started with RatPack to begin with and saved all that time searching for a camper and feeling like I was getting nowhere. Jenna was incredibly helpful -doing all the hard yards and getting us the best deal. Very prompt service. Thanks for making it so easy !

Alice Gould
16 March 2023

Very friendly service with Tammy. Super attentive and keen to help us. Got us a discount and one of the last available options.

Caleb Boyer
15 March 2023

Ratpack was super helpful! They were extremely responsive and helped us get an amazing deal on two 3-person camper vans. Highly recommend giving them a shot!

Katie O'Shea
14 March 2023

Really straight forward helpful and friendly people!

Nicole Rodriguez
13 March 2023

Mike helped us with finding the best van for us for our 3 week trip and was very knowledgeable. With some quick phone calls he gave us the best quotes and walked us through the process in detail. Everything was made clear and we booked our trip in just an hour! I would highly recommend their service.

Jaden Dankevy
13 March 2023

Great experience with the RatPack travel team! Really went out of their way to help us book our Van’s for two different trips! They have great rapport with the various Van companies, were able to help us book the last available Van for our time in WA and were able to get us some discounts as well. Zan and Mikey were both so easy going, made it feel like we were chatting with friends who genuinely cared about our travels haha, awesome guys! Definitely recommend the RatPack service, will save you time and money fellow travellers!

Rosie Paton
13 March 2023

Mike was amazing - helped me find a van and gave me quotes, a full breakdown, etc super quickly no stress! Just what I needed. Can't wait to start my trip. Thanks dude!

aaron coogan
12 March 2023

Booked a 3 week trip with MIKEY! Customer service was on point. No Buls**t straight to the point. Saved us a further % on the original price of the campervan and sent me a map of the east coast with highlighted areas he highly recommended to stop at. looking forward to our trip! 🇮🇪 🇦🇺

Amy Shaw
10 March 2023

Highly recommend this company! Mike was incredibly helpful; he gave us lots of useful info and managed to get an excellent deal on a camper for our trip. The whole process was quick and easy. Thank you! Alison and Amy x

Ruth Clark
10 March 2023

Mikey was amazing at helping us plan our 3 week schedule for the east coast. He went over and above to make sure that we were able to fit everything in that we wanted to in the time we have. His knowledge has been a great asset for us making an itinerary. Can't recommend enough!

Marina
9 March 2023

If you want to book a camper for your trip, you should only do so with Ratpack. The team is incredibly fast and provides great service. No annoying comparison of providers, since Ratpack takes over. They are looking for the best deal and can offer great discounts. they respond individually to your wishes and give you additional tips for the trip. Since there is also an EU team, you could make calls at individual times of the day - simply excellent all around - thanks for everything

malcolm weaver
8 March 2023

Absolutely delighted with the service provided by RatPack Travel. In particular, the excellent guidance and support offered by Jules! We explained our plans and she found a suitable solution to meet our needs. Very grateful and suggest other travellers use this facility. Thank you 😊

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