One Day I'll Roadtrip New Zealand
A road trip film capturing the scale, freedom and natural beauty of New Zealand through drones, landscapes and movement.
01Approach
Creative direction
One Day I'll Roadtrip New Zealand is a personal travel film created from a road trip across New Zealand, capturing the scale, beauty, and freedom of moving through one of the most cinematic landscapes in the world.
The film was built around the feeling of dreaming about a place before you ever get there, then finally experiencing it for yourself. From Milford Sound to Roys Peak, snow-capped mountains, open fields, empty beaches, and winding roads, the piece became less of a recap and more of a visual invitation to go.
02Process
Behind the scenes
New Zealand's landscapes naturally lent themselves to drone work, but the strongest moments came from reacting quickly to the conditions in front of me. On the drive to Milford Sound, we woke before dawn and watched the sky turn shades of pink and purple as the morning opened up around us. I quickly sent the drone up, framed the car against the landscape, and captured one of the strongest shots of the film.
That same approach carried through the rest of the project. I filmed my friend and I running through frozen fields in the early morning, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, moving along beaches in the south as the sunset burned purple and blue, and standing on mountain ridges against some of the most surreal backdrops I had ever seen. The film was shaped by those moments of scale, cold, movement, and awe.
03Impact
Result & response
The film reached 1.6 million views and 256K likes on TikTok, alongside 435K views and 50K likes on Instagram. It became one of my most successful travel pieces, reaching audiences far beyond my own following and even receiving a comment from McDonald's New Zealand.
More importantly, the response showed me how powerful travel filmmaking can be. People filled the comments with their own memories, dreams, and plans, some reminiscing about New Zealand and others saying the video made them want to go for the first time. Seeing people connect with the film in that way made me realise that content can do more than capture a place. It can move people, inspire action, and make a destination feel possible.
