Travel Resources

Jack and I have been travelling together for the past two years and although I was lucky to start backpacking when I was 18, it was Jack’s first time. Since leaving we’ve had a fantastic time travelling and we’ve learnt a lot.

We understand the importance of top travel resources and being able to plan a safe, affordable but fun journey. Between us, we have visited over 40 countries, most of it being while budget travelling and so we’ve picked up some good travel tips.

The resources below are trusted travel resources, most of which I have used myself and loved. For the others, I have done a lot of research to ensure they are what they say they are! We are affiliated with a number of companies which means if you make a booking through one of our links we might gt a small commission, usually 10%.

Insurance

First up, know that travel insurance is so important. You will need it for every trip you take, make sure you don’t skip this part. I know it can be expensive, especially if you’re going for a long time but make sure you are covered.

Here’s who we recommend:

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Activities & Tours

To make the most out of your holiday, you might want to book some tours. Excursions are always best booked in advance to avoid disappointment. These are our favourite companies.

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If You Want To Book A Flight

Below are some of our favourite search engines to book flights. Depending where you a re travelling to anf from, prices will vary. It’s good practice to search for flights on multiple platforms, however, my favourite search aggregator is Skyscanner.

• Skyscanner: My favourite flight searcher, I use Skyscanner a lot. It’s one of the best flight search engines on the internet as it searches flights from all over to give you some of the best deals.

• Kayak: Another great search engine for booking cheap flights. They also do car rental, hotels and plan your trips!

• Expedia: A great one for booking all your holiday needs. Holiday deals, trip ideas, hotels, flights, packages! We love finding great deals on Expedia.

• Google Flights: I like using this flight aggregator as I’m able to set up notifications to track fluctuations in flight prices, it’s also useful to see how much flights are as it shows estimated prices in the calendar mode.

Budget Airlines:

• Ryanair, Jet2 & EasyJet are the big three budget airlines in Europe. Personally, I prefer EasyJet. They don’t fly to as many places as Ryanair but I find the service to be better.

• Jetblue: JetBlue Airways is a major American low-cost airline.

• Air Asia, Lion Air & Vietjet Air will get you around Asia for cheap!

• Jetstar & Tiger Airways: Looking for cheap flights from Australia? Jetstar is their budget airline.

• Sky Airline, VeoGOL & Viva Air, these guys will get you around South America with some really great deals.

Search Engines For Accommodation

No matter where you go you’re always going to need somewhere to stay. With this in mind, there are numerous accommodation options. You could choose to stay in a hotel or a hostel, or even on a farm. The world is full of interesting accommodations, use these sites below to search for the perfect accommodation for you.

• Hostel World: This is our go-to booking platform for all our budget accommodations. They have a large selection of hostels, homestays and budget hotels to choose from with an easy-to-use platform.

• Air b&b & Vrbo: Both these companies are focused on short-term homestays and experiences. They are good if you want a more original holiday where you can interact with locals. They are good and provide a wide range of accommodations, we have used both platforms and liked them both. (I’m affiliated with Vrbo)

• Booking, Secret Escapes & Agoda: These are popular travel companies selling heavily discounted hotel stays and trips. We love to use Agoda and Booking. Rarely do we use Secret Escapes as they are a luxury brand, however, sometimes the event calls for it. (I’m affiliated with Booking and Agoda)

• Workaway: Workaway is a platform that allows members to arrange homestays and cultural exchange. Volunteers or “Workawayers”, are expected to contribute a pre-agreed amount of time per day in exchange for lodging and food, which is provided by their host. We haven’t used this platform yet but we plan to during our Europe Road Trip, read more on our About Us page.

• Trusted Housesitters & Couchsurfing: These two platforms are a hospitality exchange service by which users can request homestays or interact with other people who are interested in travel.

Transportation Resources

If you’re travelling and want to explore further than the immediate area then you might need some transportation to get you around. Depending on where you are it could be a car rental or a scooter rental. Or, maybe you’ll be using public transport, here are our suggestions to ensure you have a reliable and comfortable trip.

• Economy Bookings, Discover Cars & Rental Cars: If you’re thinking of a road trip your best option is to compare car rentals. I’ve used both of these companies and haven’t had any issues!

• Turo: more like renting a car from its owner, similar to how Airbnb works for accommodations but for vehicles.

• Trainline: is Europe’s leading train and coach app. They work with over 210 rail and coach companies to help their customers travel to thousands of destinations across 45 countries.

• 12GO & BookAway: Two fantastic companies to get around the world from point A to point B using buses and trains. It’s a trouble-free way to travel and guarantees high-quality service with an easy-to-use online platform.

• BikesBooking: Is an online booking service for motorcycles, scooters, quads, and bicycles all over the world. We’ve used them and they were great!

• Bikago: If you’re travelling to Indonesia (Bali) this is the best bike rental company on the Island

• Uber, Grab & GoJek: These are all taxi services which you can use from the app on your phone. They are great and especially good if you want to know what the exact cost of a trip is without having to negotiate. Uber is worldwide (mostly), Grab is generally used in Asia & Gojek is good for Indonesia.

• Big Bus Tours: Big Bus Tours is the world’s largest operator of open-top bus sightseeing tours. The service currently operates in 23 cities across the globe and incorporates all the top sights of each city and travellers can hop-on and hop-off at major landmarks to explore at their own pace. 

• Go City: Go City is the perfect option for travellers who plan on visiting multiple attractions and sights. The program offers tourists the opportunity to save up to 55% of the initial cost of entrance tickets to various museums, tours, and attractions

Useful Travel Apps

There are tons of travel apps out there but below is a list of those we find most helpful.

• iOverlander: iOverlander is a tool, which enables its users to submit, amend and find information and opinions about places that are essential for the act of Overlanding/ parking – Great for RVers.

• All trails: One of the best! AllTrails is a fitness and travel mobile app used for outdoor recreational activities. It’s commonly used for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing and snow sports. The app allows users to access a database of trail maps.

• Park4night: Very similar to iOverlander.

• Hotel Tonight: This app is great for finding really cheap, last-minute hotel rooms. Usually, the rooms that haven’t been booked will pop up which means you’ll get them for a super reduced rate.

• Airport Lounge: Want to use the airport lounges but not a member? We’re always flying budget with long layovers and so we use this app to find out if there are any free lounges we can use or how much it costs to use one for the stop.

• Trip It: This is a travel planner app, it allows you to make an itinerary to help you plan. It’s a great travel resource to keep things organised.

Best Travel Card

• Wise: I love Wise! Jack and I used this international account during our last backpacking trip and were super happy with it. It basically works by allowing you to open up an account in each country you visit, via the app. In doing this you can pay for things in the local currency without exchange rate fees or ATM withdrawal fees. The only fee you have to pay is the initial transfer over from your main account into your Wise account, which is really low and you can transfer via Apple Pay. So it’s super efficient, quick and easy to use.

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