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Travel Tools
Plan Your Trip
Trip planning is usually the first step in a traveller’s next big adventure, it’s a very exciting phase, yet can also be overwhelming.
After seven years of travel, I’ve become quite meticulous and detailed in all my travel planning. Whilst this is a sensible way of ensuring my trip goes exactly how I want it to, I can tell you that in all my travel experiences, my trips never go EXACTLY how I planned them.
But don’t worry – I’ve accepted that travel always brings the unexpected, and spontaneous events do happen.
More often than not, these unexpected events are positive things that changed my trip for the better – for example, discovering an off-beat path that leads to untouched, hidden beauty. Or befriending locals who not only take you to the best restaurants that aren’t frequented by tourists, they also help you secure tickets for an island-hopping boat tour that cost $20 instead $80.
One of the most important things to understand about travel: expect the unexpected.
My aim is to help you plan for the most epic trips of your life. I do this by ensuring you have everything you need for your travels, making the entire planning trip planning process as easy as possible.
1. Flights
As always when planning a new trip, I start with flights. You’ll be surprised to find ridiculously cheap fares from the search tools listed below. I am always discovering and booking cheap flights around Europe at less than £30 return, and even long-haul return flights to Southeast Asia at £400 or less.
Here are the best flight search tools that I use:
Skyscanner – an easy to use site, the Explore tool is great if you’re flexible. I usually check on Skyscanner first before going over to Momondo to find cheaper fares.
Kiwi.com – an excellent website with a great map interface tool, ideal if you’re flexible on dates and for comparing different destinations.
Momondo – another excellent flight search tool, Momondo offers some of the cheapest deals of them all. I check this site to see if any the deals on Skyscanner or Kiwi can be beaten.
2. Travel Insurance
The first thing I do after booking my flights, is buy travel insurance.
A question many travellers ask is: “Do I really need travel insurance?”
After a few travel accidents that happened to me in the past six years (including getting electrocuted in a Mexican hostel, having my arm literally blow up like Popeye’s due to a mosquito infection, and more), I now NEVER leave home without it.
So to answer your question: Yes – you really do need travel insurance.
Without insurance, whats the worst that could happen to you?
Well, you could suffer appendicitis and require emergency surgery. You could easily have your bag or camera stolen (this happened to me). A family relative could fall seriously ill or pass away, and you wouldn’t be able to afford the urgent flight back home.
For my travel cover I always use World Nomads. They are one of, if not, the BEST insurance providers out there.
World Nomads Travel insurance: simple & flexible
You can buy and claim online, even after you’ve left home. Travel insurance from WorldNomads.com is available to people from over 130 countries. It’s designed for adventurous travellers with cover for overseas medical, evacuation, baggage and a range of adventure sports and activities.
3. Places To Stay
Now that I have my flights and insurance covered, its time to start looking at accommodation options.
I usually go to Booking first, for hotels and the for the cheapest deals. You can filter the results for the best ratings, distance from the main spots (ie: the beach, the city centre), and price range, and there’s plenty of really good options to choose from.
However, if I’m staying someplace a little longer, Airbnb is my preferred choice. Listings range from studios to apartments, guesthouses to homes, castles to villas. It gives you the freedom to live like a local, for a more authentic travel experience.
Here’s a list of the top accommodation sites on the web:
Booking.com – perfect for budget accommodation and free cancellation listings
Airbnb – for authentic travel experiences
HostelWorld – an excellent site for backpackers and travellers on a shoestring budget
Couchsurfing – FREE places to stay – usually on a sofa. For the die-hard budget traveller.
Tip: At the earliest chance, check out the free cancellation listings on Booking – and book any that you really like, immediately. This way, you reserve your room before it disappears, and you can cancel free of charge at the last minute.
4. Travel Guides
For great deals on tour packages, day trips, sightseeing tours, events and activities, Get Your Guide and Viator are the two best tools on the web.
I usually open both sites and see whats on offer. I then compare prices and book the best deal. What I like about both of these is that they give you the flexibility to cancel up to 24 hours before and receive a full refund, not bad.
Travelling in Asia? Have a look on Voyagin – Asia’s largest travel activities booking platform.
Download your FREE Travel Planner PDF Guide here
I’ve put together a comprehensive 16-page travel guide that includes cheatsheets, checklists, an itinerary planner, travel advice, budget planner, and more, for you to download and use for free.
5. Travel Gear
The gear you take with you on your trip – be it a short weekend city break or a backpacking two-month adventure around Southeast Asia, is one of the most important aspects of your travel planning.
In all my years of travelling around the world, I’ve learned two important things: #1: Downsize and be minimal – don’t pack unnecessary stuff. And #2: invest in top quality gear – this will not only prevent your gear from breaking mid-trip, it will save you a lot of money in the long term!
Below I’ve compiled several sections of travel gear to suit the type of trip you are embarking on. For ALL trips, you’re gonna need to have your Carry on essentials covered. For this, I have covered everything you’ll ever need, in one post here:
Packing Guide: Ultimate Carry On Essentials 2022
And if you’re looking to buy unique travel-themed gifts for friends, family and special ones – whether it’s for Christmas, birthdays, Valentines or any occasion, head over to the following post:
Unique Travel Gift Ideas (2022 Edition)
Top Carry On Essentials
Essential Clothing & Attire
Luggage
Gadgets & Electronics
The Best Travel Cameras
Sustainable Travel Gear
6. Discount & Error Fares Alert Tools:
Sometimes airlines make mistakes on their fares, leading to massively discounted flights.
There are a number of reasons why this happens – technical glitches, currency conversion faults, and human error. If you’re well-informed and in-the-know on the latest airline error fares, you’ll be saving a lot of dosh on your tickets.
Jack’s Flight Club
This is my favourite tool for getting alerts on knockdown fare prices. One of the easiest and most convenient ways of getting the latest flight price alerts from your nearest airports each week, is Jack’s Flight Club. You can receive email alerts for notifications, and you’ll get discounted fares sent each week.
Secret Flying and AirFare Watchdog are two excellent tools for stalking those mistake and discount fares as they consolidate slashed ticket prices into one place.
7. Money Tools:
Below is a list of some of the best finance tools for travellers that I use and can recommend:
- Revolut – my favourite, the first travel app I started using and have loved it ever since.
- Starling Bank – an excellent banking app with lots of cool features
- Monzo – another great app, its new and has a really cool design. I signed up for Monzo quite recently.
Check out this article in Finder.com (dated 12 September 2019) that compares the three biggest travel banking apps, to help you decide which one to choose.
8. Travel Books & Guides:
9. The Best Travel Apps:
Below is a collection of the best travel mobile apps and websites, that my partner and I (and many of our travel buddies) use. I recommend you include these apps on your device to be well-prepared for your travels. The good thing about all of these apps is, apart from being reliable, great and easy to use, they are FREE to download and use.
Note: All the apps below are compatible with Apple iOS devices. Most of them are also available on Google Play.
Essential Travel Apps: The Big Four
These are the apps that EVERY traveller needs – whether its for a weekend city break or a gap year trip. You’ll probably already have some of these on your device, if not, get these downloaded before your next trip.
Google Maps – a no brainer this one. Can even be used offline (as long as you set up the directions on a wifi connection first)
Travel Planning Apps & Sites:
Below are a few apps I use for planning my trips – each of these are unique and have their own cool features.
Transport & Journey Apps:
These apps are really useful for navigating around foreign cities and finding the best routes and their prices.
Ride-hailing Apps
Using ride-hail apps to get around is cheaper than taxis in many countries. Depending on the country I visit, I open one of the apps below and compare the cost of a fare with a regular taxi or even public transport. If it’s cheaper – I just book my ride on the app.
Top Tip: As soon as you land in a new country and approach the arrivals, check the cost of a ride from the airport to city (or your hotel) on one of the above apps. Don’t be fooled by the taxi drivers at the airport – they will charge extortionate fees and tell you that rideshare apps include hidden toll fees – this is NOT true!
Bike & Scooter Rental Apps
Sometimes you’ll find yourself in an eco-friendly city where everyone gets around on a bicycle or electric scooter. The following apps are great for finding and renting a bike or scooter on the street.
10. Other Useful Resources:
Car Rental
Discover Car Hire is a useful a car rental comparison site that lets you search and compare the best deals worldwide.
Auto Europe is a leader in international car rental services spanning over 180 countries globally, providing the widest range of the most reputable car suppliers.
Flight Fare Compensation
AirHelp – the world leader in flight delay compensation, AirHelp helps customers understand their rights and receive up to €600 in compensation, on a delayed or cancelled flight, just by simply providing their flight details.
Compensair works under EU and Turkish legislation, providing support in helping customers receive up to €600 in compensation. A quick 2-minute application process, and the company handles all the paperwork.
11. Setting up your own Blog?
Are you thinking about setting up your own travel blog site? Here’s some some of the best tips and tools that I use for my travel blog. Just follow the step-by-step below and you can easily and quickly get your new blog up and running in no time using these tools:
#Step 1: Check Your Domain Name
The first step is to check your domain name is available. Use the widget on the right to check your web domain/URL name is available – and if it is, be sure to purchase it.
#Step 2: Sign up with Bluehost (and get 60% off)
Bluehost is an excellent shared server/host for new blog sites, with packages are cheap as $3.95 a month. I’m still with them myself after 2 years, for this travel blog. Click on this link and get an awesome 60% off hosting.
#Step 3: Use the Best Theme Builder
Forget all those WP Themes – I’ve tried and tested a few myself. If you want flexibility and unlimited options on the layout and design of your page, look no further than Elementor – arguably the best theme builder out there. My travel site uses Elementor, and I have never looked back since I first discovered it.
