Who is Samantha Darling?

Samantha Darling has risen from the ashes of a toxic and abuse-filled life to dedicate herself to living a life out of the ordinary. She spends her days helping humans realize their fullest potential and leaving the darkness of their past behind.

A pioneer in modern SOLO traveling, she lives a lifestyle others dream of, bravely exploring the world and tasting all of life’s unique flavors! Samantha Darling is a passionate, dynamic, wise, brave, and powerful healer with a voice that soothes souls. She is known for her sunshine-like energy and Samantha always leaves everyone in her wake inspired for more!

Today, Samantha travels the world offering her healing retreats everywhere she goes, blending her purpose with her passion!

An expert at helping people release grief, she is passionate about empowering humanity through self-knowledge at her one-day workshops and private healing retreats.. Transforming her life from a too-busy business owner living in chaos to a relaxed and successful healer, guide, and storyteller, Samantha now offers personalized mentoring featuring her Insightful wisdom, Human Design, astrology, and proven effective shamanic techniques.

Samantha’s incredible stories of personal exploration involved a solo journey that started in 2017 around the world, to rid herself of everything that did not resonate with her soul while healing herself from the inside out. She studied with teachers, shamans, and healers all over the world, uncovering her own Personal Legend and a life worth watching.

She is a renowned restaurateur and international hospitality consultant. Samantha attended 200HR Yoga Teacher Training with Mark Whitwell in 2017 and is a Certified Huna Hawaiian Shamanic Practitioner.

How I Became Me

After a year of working on myself in the LA recovery community, I knew I needed to take this opportunity to create a new life and do something completely out of the box! So I followed in the footsteps of Anthony Bourdain. A budding writer, a seasoned restaurateur with a passion for all culinary experiences, I remembered these words and I went for it.

Welcome to my world. As a cook tastes and smells are my memories, and now I’m in search of new ones. So I’m leaving New York City in hopes of having a few epiphanies around the world and I’m willing to go to some lengths to do that. I’m looking for an extreme of emotions and experiences. I’ll try anything, I’ll risk everything, I’ve got nothing to lose.

I write, I eat, I travel and I am hungry for more…..Anthony Bourdain

I went all in and said yes to everything. I found a piece of my soul in every location.
I explored to restore.

-Samantha Darling

I started off following in the footsteps of those before me, but getting off the beaten path and going my own way, was the medicine my soul needed!

Food and exploring the flavors of the world brought me out of my comfort zone and forged connections. Learning and trying new things kept me going back for more.

I went seeking love. The love of self, the love of a man, the love of the land, the love I had never had. More of it, all of it, some of it. A satisfaction that couldn’t be quenched by beer, food, shopping, or sex. The naturalistic medicines of the world were the libations that soothed my aching soul.

The nourishment I sought was from the malnourished inner child I held, she wanted real nourishment.
When did I find it?
When I was on my own path, alone.

A traveler on a hero’s journey.

Often called the most interesting woman they’ve ever met, this is Samantha Darling.

Places I’ve been

  • Thailand
  • Indonesia*
  • Japan
  • Malaysia
  • South Korea
  • Singapore
  • Australia
  • Fiji
  • Cambodia
  • Vietnam
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • France
  • United Kingdom*
  • Netherlands
  • Croatia*
  • Cypress
  • Belize
  • Mexico*
  • Costa Rica*
  • America*
  • Kaua’i*
  • Dominican Republic
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Bahamas
  • Florida*
  • Alabama*
  • Georgia*
  • Tennessee*
  • South Carolina*
  • North Carolina
  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • Maine
  • Illinois
  • Wisconsin
  • New Hampshire
  • Connecticut
  • Vermont
  • Washington DC
  • Maryland
  • Louisiana*
  • Mississippi
  • Arizona
  • California*
  • Utah

*=lived in

Life Highlights

  • Self-made Samantha comes from a lower middle-class family, she worked sometimes 3 jobs at once to pay her way through college.
  • Samantha was in the Miss Teen Florida pageant in 1993
  • Samantha graduated from Auburn University in 1998
  • Samantha was VP of finance of her sorority Tri Delta and held student government leadership positions at Auburn
  • Samantha opened her first restaurant at the young age of 27.
  • Samantha led her restaurant in sales, out of 200 stores, consistently in the top 5 over 15 years
  • Samantha opened a boutique beauty salon following her passion for the art of hair and entrepreneurship
  • Samantha opened her second restaurant, now operating her pizza and craft beer empire with 100 employees
  • Samantha competed in the World Championship of Pizza in Parma, Italy as a member of the US Pizza Team
  • Samantha was a powerhouse in raising money and awareness for breast cancer research through a series of events raising over 100K for Susan G Komen and Vanderbilt University research programs
  • Samantha is a passionate event planner whose events are stunning, fun, and over the top with thoughtful details
  • Samantha’s journey to self-started with a year of treatment in Malibu to stop her years of overconsumption (alcohol, cocaine and pharmaceuticals)
  • Samantha has been traveling the world SOLO full time since 2017: This is how the brand “We Explore To Restore” began!
  • Samantha owned & operated a fully booked boutique B&B in Bali
  • Samantha opened a yoga retreat center in Bali with an Australian client, blending local staff with international desires
  • Samantha had Breast Implant Illness, a removal of implants that went badly, a reconstructive surgery, and a hard and long battle with health and since has become a professional wellness advocate 
  • Samantha has published two books, one a memoir called The Sunset on Malibu and one a self-help guide, Ladder To Lightness, that her successful work is based on
  • In 2023, Samantha had a stint of homelessness where she lived in her truck on the streets of New Orleans. She chose to not go back to the easy money of the toxic restaurant business she came from and was a leader in, instead choosing her dharma of healing others, using her event planning skills to create thoughtful retreats, which led to financial and emotional stability beyond her dreams.

Wanna Work together?

LET’S DO IT!