As a member of the Neilson Family Band, Tami grew up performing across North America with her parents and brothers, travelling the continent in a 12-metre motorhome.
"Travelling is my default mode. It's strange for me to be in one place for a long time," she says.
Her solo career has seen her tour all over the globe; last year she did 65 shows in 10 countries. But with each trip, Tami concedes she mostly only sees the insides of airports, hotel rooms and venues.
"Between sound checks or loading, you try to sneak out and see what's around you," she says. "You grab the moments you can."
A life of travel and touring means Tami has found some of the best gadgets to help her on the road.
"When you spend as much time travelling in planes and tour vans and in airports as I do, you try to find every possible way to make it a little easier."
Trtl Pillow
The Trtl (pronounced turtle) pillow might have just reinvented sleeping on a plane.
"This is my absolutely-cannot-travel-without," says Tami. The Trtl is a polar fleece scarf with Velcro on the end and a soft brace inside that holds your head in one place.
"You wrap it around, you've got this cosy little scarf and it holds your neck up so you don't have to have your head bobbing," she explains. "And then I always put it over my face so that keeps all the germs on the plane out."
Sounds like a win-win for everyone.
Noise-cancelling headphones
It's hard enough trying to hear all the lines of a movie through poor-quality headphones that barely cover your ears, let alone when there's a constant rumble of an engine in the background to contend with.
Enter every flyer's best friend - noise-cancelling headphones. Tami says on a long-haul flight, earbuds can start to hurt after a while, so she prefers the cushioning of headphones.
They also provide another useful purpose for the mother of two.
"I use these at home during school holidays," she quips.
Marco Polo
Tami says one of the biggest challenges of touring is missing her husband and children.
To help fight the homesickness, her family uses a video messaging app called Marco Polo, which allows users to store videos within the app for family and friends to view.
"Anywhere I am, I take videos - inside cathedrals, or I'll be at sound checks and say 'Oh look, this is where mummy is singing tonight', and I show them my hotel room, and when the time zone is right we try to FaceTime."
Listen to the Trip Notes podcast in the player above to hear more about Neilson's travel lifestyle, her childhood adventures in an RV, as well as her hot tips for exploring Nashville.
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You can also go to nzherald.co.nz/tripnotes to watch video from the podcast, and catch up on any episodes you may have missed.
