Why I’ve Dreamed of Going to Samoa for Years

Samoa had been on my mind for years, right alongside American Samoa, as part of a much bigger pull toward the Pacific. So by the time I sat down to prepare for this voyage, Samoa did not feel like some extra stop I might add on if time allowed. It felt essential. In many ways, it had always been part of the dream.

At the time of writing this, I was about two months away from beginning my long-awaited voyage across the Pacific, with wheels down first in American Samoa. But just to the west was Samoa, and from the beginning I knew the journey could not stop at one side of the Samoan islands. The deeper I looked into them, the more I felt that if I was going to make my way into this part of Polynesia, I wanted to do it with intention. I wanted to understand not only the place itself, but how Samoa and American Samoa relate to one another through culture, history, difference, and shared roots.

As I continued planning, making connections, and preparing for what was still the early shape of a much greater Pacific voyage, a few reasons kept rising to the surface for why I could not wait to go.

women of samoa dancing in a field with samoan flag in backgroud

Samoa Had Been Part of the Dream for a Long Time

Like American Samoa, Samoa had lived in my imagination for years.

Ever since I was a teenager and began looking at the world with more curiosity, the Samoan islands stood out to me in a deeper way. At first it was probably just a feeling, the sense that this part of the Pacific carried something powerful, rooted, and distinct. But over time that early fascination grew into something more meaningful. The more I traveled, the more I learned from people across Oceania, and the more I came to understand that island cultures hold entire worlds within them, the more I knew Samoa was somewhere I wanted to experience for real.

This was not just about finally going somewhere beautiful. It was about arriving in a place that had been part of my mental map for years and finally seeing what had only lived in imagination up to that point.

Credit: David Kirkland

samoan fale and meeting place for cheifs and elders

I Wanted to Experience Samoa Through Its People and Culture

It is no surprise coming from me that one of the biggest reasons I wanted to go to Samoa was to immerse directly through the people.

That is always the deeper pull for me. As beautiful as a place may be, I am never satisfied only taking in landscapes and checking off sights. What stays with me most is always the human side of a place, the way people move, speak, gather, carry tradition, relate to one another, and hold onto ways of life that are easy for outsiders to overlook.

Palm trees and crystal clear waters in Samoa islands

Samoa felt especially important in that way. The more I learned before arrival, the more I could already sense that there were nuances to Samoa that could never be understood through surface impressions alone. There are ways of communicating, frameworks of respect, cultural expectations, and everyday rhythms that shape the place from within. That is the kind of thing I always want to get closer to, not in a rushed or extractive way, but through presence, humility, observation, and real connection.

Of course, the islands themselves stirred my excitement too. Upolu, Savaiʻi, the villages, the coastlines, the buses, the movement between places, all of that carried its own energy. But even then, what most excited me was not simply the act of exploring Samoa. It was the chance to experience the islands through the life that gives them meaning.

Credit: Samoapocketguide

I Wanted to Better Understand Samoa and American Samoa Together

One of the biggest reasons Samoa mattered so much to me was because I never really saw it as separate from American Samoa.

Not in the political sense, because of course they are distinct entities, but in the deeper cultural and historical sense. From the beginning, I felt that if I was going to spend time in American Samoa, I also wanted to understand Samoa more fully. I wanted to see how the two related, where they differed, what they shared, and how each carried its own identity while still belonging to a wider Samoan story.

That curiosity was a major part of the pull.

kava ceremony in traditional samoan attire and tradition

The more I connected with Samoans from both sides, the more I started to understand that the differences and similarities between Samoa and American Samoa could not be reduced to simple summaries. You can read things, hear explanations, and get a general idea, but there is nothing like being there and taking in the details for yourself. I wanted to witness that through my own eyes, not as an outsider trying to define it, but as someone willing to pay attention.

That is what made Samoa feel so important in this journey. You cannot fully appreciate one without at least being open to the other. For me, the voyage into American Samoa naturally led into Samoa, and Samoa helped complete the picture in a way that no amount of reading from afar ever could.

Samoa Felt Like Part of a Much Bigger Pacific Chapter

At the time, this Samoa leg was also part of a wider Pacific route that was already beginning to take shape in my mind. The voyage was starting in Hawaiʻi, moving down to the Samoan islands, and continuing onward through Polynesia, Micronesia, and eventually further into Melanesia. I did not know exactly how the whole path would unfold, but I knew Samoa was not some random addition. It was part of the bigger chapter.

That is also why this post matters to me now. Looking back, it was not only about anticipation. It was about intention. Samoa represented a continuation of the kind of travel I had already been moving toward, one centered less on tourism and more on cultural immersion, relationship, and trying to understand people on their own terms. It was part of an interconnected web across Oceania that I could already feel forming, even before I had lived all that would come from it.

waterfalls in samoa surrounded my lush green mountain landscape

So yes, I was excited for the beaches, the mountains, the buses, the motion, and the simple innocence of everyday travel. But beneath all of that was something much stronger. I was excited because Samoa felt like a place that could teach me something, deepen me, and widen the Pacific story I was already stepping into.