Travel Resources
Trip Planning Made Easy
Planning your next vacation or adventure can feel like an overwhelming task. Skip the hair-pulling experience and use the resources below to make booking your next trip a breeze.
I’ve struggled over the years to find the best travel platforms for flights, hotels, tours and transportation, and through trial and error and years of non-stop travel, I can truly say I’ve whittled it down to the best in the biz.
I’m not going to say I don’t get a little extra compensation when you book through one of these platforms (no extra charge to you!), but these are the resources I personally use and can recommend.
Now, let’s get planning!
Hotels + Accommodation
Alright, you’ve chosen your next dream destination, now let’s take a look at accommodation. Whether you are an avid hostel-goer, like the finer things in life, or just want to have an all-inclusive experience, you will find your perfect home-away-from-home using the resources below.
- Booking.com
Booking.com is the top hotel booking site in the world. I book about 85% of my stays on booking.com. It has a really deep database of hostels, hotels, apartments, and luxury resorts for every budget and traveller. - Plum Guide
Plum Guide offers mid-range to high-end apartment-style lodgings and vacation homes. It’s like Airbnb, but better. With the world’s most rigorous vetting process, Plum Guide only offers the top 3% of homes on the market.
Transportation
It’s always a good idea to have your car rental, bus, train or ferry figured out before hitting the ground. It can be a bit overwhelming and frustrating to find transportation last minute. Here are my go-to resources to get you from A to B.
- Discover Cars
Discover Cars works with local companies and large international companies in your destination to find you the cheapest price based on your needs. Plus, some providers even offer a free additional driver! The great thing about Discover Cars is you can add full coverage car rental insurance for only $7USD a day. Super affordable. - 12Go
A large database of bus, train and ferry tickets. You can even book cheap flights through 12Go and then also book an airport transfer to your hotel through the platform. All your transportation needs in one place. 12 Go is especially effective in Asia but has a plethora of options for you elsewhere around the world, too.
Tours + Attractions
It takes a lot of time and effort to research everything there is to do in a new destination. The resources below are designed to help you figure out the most popular things to do, and the best tours and attractions to suit your travel style.
What’s great about both Get Your Guide and Viator, is they use locally owned companies to populate the activities you see on their websites, so you can feel good about supporting the local economy.
- Get Your Guide
Get Your Guide has a very comprehensive and well-covered list of tours and attractions in most parts of the world. I found some great options when travelling to all the destinations I’ve explored. They offer anything from 1 hour quick tours, to half-day, full-day and even multi-day adventures. - Viator
Viator is the platform linked with TripAdvisor and offers very thorough coverage of the world when it comes to tours and attractions. Get a discount on entry tickets, hire a private guide, or take a small group tour of a nearby place of interest.
Flights
Airfare can cost a pretty penny and take a big chunk out of your travel budget if you don’t research it properly. I always look on Skyscanner or Google Flights before booking my plane ticket so I make sure I get the best price and best route possible.
- Skyscanner
My go-to airfare research tool. Skyscanner is great at comparing flights from cheap airlines and high-end airlines alike, all in one place. It also does a great job to present you with the fastest, cheapest or best options for your route. Then it gives you options for 3rd party platforms where you can purchase your tickets. - Google Flights
I mean, who hasn’t heard of Google. So you can expect this massive corporation to put out a pretty useful tool for flight search. What’s great about Google Flights is it allows you to track a route option to see if the price goes down before purchasing.
Travel Insurance
Y’all, don’t leave home without travel insurance. I’ll say it again… PLEASE don’t leave home without travel insurance.
There are so many reasons why travel insurance is a must on your next holiday. Get your phone stolen? That’s what it’s for. Are stuck in a foreign hospital and need to fly home for medical treatment? That’s what it’s for. The list goes on.
So many times I’ve heard fellow travellers say that travel insurance is a waste of money. Ya, it’s definitely one of those things I hope you purchase and never have to use. But, there will come a day, undoubtedly, when travel insurance will be a lifesaver (figuratively or literally).
- Safety Wing
This is the travel insurance I personally use. Safety Wing is one of the most economical travel insurance on the market and is made for nomads by nomads. It’s great because you can sign up for Safety Wing even when you have already left the country. I have the recurring monthly plan and it’s only $40USD a month! - HeyMondo
HeyMondo has. a great multi-trip annual plan which means you don’t have to be nomadic to use it. Most people will fall into this category with a few trips away from home a year. I personally used it in Costa Rica because of its high medical coverage. - World Nomads
World Nomads offers the most comprehensive insurance plan, especially for adventurous travellers. But because the coverage is so good, it is also the most expensive. If you want to leave on your holiday and have the utmost peace of mind, World Nomads is for you.