Travel Tips
Below, you’ll find answers to some commonly asked questions to help prepare you for travelling based on my experiences. For more exclusive tips and updates, be sure to sign up for my newsletter!
If you find a place on Airbnb or VRBO that says it is hosted by something other than a person’s name, it is most likely a vacation rental property. Google that company’s website and book directly through the vacation rental website and you will save money. For example, an Airbnb might say something like “Hosted by Vacasa Colorado”. Google “Vacasa Colorado” and book directly through their website.
My number one tip is to get up early. I know if you’re on vacation, sleeping in is a huge perk, but we always try to get to major tourist spots, like popular lookouts, as early as we can to avoid the crowds. And if you’re looking for those perfect pictures without being rushed, getting up early is the only way to do it.
You can also travel during the shoulder season (off-season). This usually means not so great weather, and a risk of certain things being closed or unavailable during that season. But not only will you avoid large crowds, you’ll also save money because flights and accommodations will be cheaper. Find out when the shoulder season is simply by googling “desired destination shoulder season”
Google flights is the best way to compare flight times and price. One thing to note is that it does NOT show Southwest Airlines and several large Asian airlines including Air China, China Eastern, Thai Airways, and Philippine Airlines.
I used to use sites like Expedia, which helps if you end up needing to book one airline to your destination and a separate one back, but I’ve found that Google Flights is the best way to compare most airlines and find the cheapest options
Sign up for flight alerts from companies that send out deals they find. My favorites are Thrifty Traveler, Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights), & Pomelo Travel. You can pay to have a membership with some of these to get better/early flight deals or just get their basic updates.
If you have flexibility with your travel dates, play around with the departure/arrival dates. My recent flight to Tahiti ended up being $500 cheaper because I was able to move our departure date back one day.
I’ve also booked flights that are refundable and monitored them to see if the prices go down. If they do, I’ll book the flight again and then cancel my original flight where I get the money back. WARNING: If you booked a flight that gives you flight credit back, then you would have to cancel the original booking first to then use the credit. This could be risky if for some reason that flight fills up in the in between or if your credit doesn’t go onto your account and then you have to deal with calling customer service. This has happened to me with Delta a few times and I’ve waited hours on hold to get it resolved and was still able to get the flights I needed, so if you don’t want to deal with some potential hassle, then skip this option.
For the best rates, exchange money at a bank or reputable exchange bureau. Airport exchange rates are known to be higher because they have higher overhead costs so then they have to charge higher fees or offer bad exchange rates compared to other places. If you want to have cash on you as soon as you enter a new country, exchange the lowest amount you can at the airport until you can find a bank or exchange bureau to exchange the rest.
Download offline maps to use when you are out of cell phone service, or if you choose not to pay for service in a different country. Open the Google maps app on your phone and look for the area you need directions for. There’s a “Download offline map” option, click that, and then you have access to the selected area, even when you don’t have service. You do need to download the offline map when you are connected to good internet though! We use this feature for tons of hikes and road trips where we know we aren’t close to cell phone towers that will give us service.
Download Google Translate to deal with language barriers. Google translate allows you to speak a sentence into your phone, or whatever device you are using, then choose the language you want it to translate into, and it will type out the sentence and you can hit the microphone button and play it as well. We used this all over Thailand!
Packing cubes are key to packing everything you need and then some. I only brought a backpack to Thailand for 10 days and managed to fit everything I needed in it because of packing cubes. Regardless of if you are backpacking or have the space in your luggage, packing cubes will help keep everything organized. These are the packing cubes I use.
To make a long flight enjoyable, I would suggest packing:
- Dramamine
- Wearing Compressions socks
- Drinking lots of water
- Standing up and stretching every few hours if you aren’t sleeping (and not disturbing others sleeping)
- Noise canceling headphones
- A Sleeping mask (most long flights provide these but I still pack mine just in case)
- Earplugs
- Your toothbrush/toothpaste to brush teeth towards the end of the flight
- Neck Pillow
It is one of the small ways to save money traveling. It’s very cost-effective and almost every airport has a water fountain to fill them up for free. Buying water bottles at airports or in tourist areas are going to be at least 3 times the cost of a water bottle back home. With some exceptions like Thailand, where you should ONLY drink bottled water due to water quality problems and a risk of it making you sick.
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