After nine 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.
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.
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 Kiwi 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.
The first thing I do after booking my flights, is buy travel insurance.
After a few travel accidents that happened to me in the past 9 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.
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.
I always recommend two companies for travel insurance, they are:
Pricing starts from just $40USD per month (which works out less than $500USD a year), this is excellent value for money. Basic policies cover your medical expenses and travel emergencies meaning you can travel for complete peace of mind at minimal cost.
If you’re planning to rent a car on your travels, you can use your driver license (if you’re from the US, UK, EU, or have an international license). It can also be used as a valid ID, so you can leave your passport at your hotel/vacation rental.
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, Vrbo 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.
Booking.com – perfect for budget accommodation and free cancellation listings
Vrbo – for authentic travel experiences, Vrbo is the world’s leading marketplace for vacation rentals on a budget
Hotels – a world leader in accommodation with excellent deals
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.
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.
Need some help planning your next adventure? Enter your email below and I’ll send you my FREE 20-page Travel Planner Guide. It includes packing and travel checklists, itinerary, useful phrases in different languages, and more! I’ll also send my best travel tips straight to your inbox!
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: Packing Guide: Ultimate Carry On Essentials 2023
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 Unique Travel Gift Ideas (2023 Edition)
Ricoh GR III – my personal favourite, this is the ultimate compact, light, travel and street camera for the mid-range photographer – above beginner level, but not an expert photographer. Buy on Amazon
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.
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 receive email alerts for notifications, and you’ll get discounted fares sent each week.
Check out this article in Finder.com (dated 12 Sept 2019) that compares the three biggest travel banking apps, to help you decide which one to choose.
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.
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)
Below are a few apps I use for planning my trips – each of these are unique and have their own cool features.
These apps are really useful for navigating around foreign cities and finding the best routes and their prices.
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!
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.
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:
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. For a detailed guide, head over to How to Find a Name for your Blog
The next step once you’ve found an available name using the widget above, is to purchase and register your domain ASAP on Namecheap – they are very affordable and have excellent customer service when you encounter any tech issues. (Make sure you register your domain before someone else does!)
Bluehost is the best shared server/host for new blog sites, with packages as cheap as $3.95 a month. I was with them myself for 3 years with this travel blog, before moving to a more premium host as my blog expanded. Click on this link and get an awesome 60% off hosting.
Forget all those WP Themes – I’ve tried and tested a few myself, and found them to be a waste of time. 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.
Now you’re going to need a logo for your site and possibly marketing designs like Pinterest pins and infographics. I design all my creative stuff using Canva – it’s very simple and easy and doesn’t require any design skills to use. The Free version is a good place to start, but Canva Pro takes it to the next level.
Need some help planning your next adventure? Enter your email below and I’ll send you my FREE 20-page Travel Planner Guide. It includes packing and travel checklists, itinerary, planner, useful phrases in different languages, and more! I’ll also send my best travel tips straight to your inbox!
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