What do you think of when you hear the word travel? Amazing experiences, fun, culture, relaxation? These are all a part of travel, but at some point, you had to sit down and do the booking, researching, planning and packing to get there. I’m a self-confessed travel nerd and I love everything about that process, and over time I have found the stuff I love to use, like websites, travel companies, travel gear, travel guides etc. Using the right travel resources can save you time, money and help you to plan a better trip. So after many trips and travelling two years full time, here are our absolute favourite travel resources…
Accommodation
We use Booking.com for booking a lot of our accommodation on our travels. They have a great selection of hotels and the website/app is really easy to use. Search for hotels here.
We love using Airbnb to have a more local stay. Stay in someone’s home (you can choose to have a room or the entire place to yourself) and get all the local tips from your host. A great way to mix things up a little, give you a chance to wash your clothes, go to the local supermarket and cook in a kitchen. You can get $50 AUD Airbnb credit by signing up here.
Travel Gear
We travel mostly carry-on only and for the last few years have used the Antler Juno Cabin Suitcase. Before we started travelling full time I took it on a few overseas trips, and since then it has done almost two years full time travel and it’s still going strong. Find it here.
Packing cubes really help you stay organised throughout your trip, and everything’s easy to find. We couldn’t imagine packing without them now. Find it here.
I sometimes buy travel size toiletries, but some of my products I just decant into travel size bottles. I use GoToobs to put my toiletries in and have found them by far the best in terms of being able to get all your product out of them. Find it here.
I use to always pack so many documents and fill up huge travel wallets that became more of a burden than a help. Now, I love my minimalist Bellroy travel wallet. It fits everything I need and it’s so easy to use and find everything. Find it here.
Read More: Our Bellroy Review: Everything You Need and Nothing You Don’t
Travel Photography
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with 12-40mm PRO lens
We absolutely love our Olympus camera, it has so many features that make it easy to use and we love the image quality. A mirrorless camera is perfect for travel as they are smaller and lighter than a DSLR without giving up the image quality. Find it here.
Read More: Best Camera For Travel Photography: Our Review Of Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II
If you want a great camera with a changeable lens but don’t need something like the Olympus OM-D EM-5, then the Olympus PEN E-PL8 is fantastic. A small light camera that can still produce excellent quality photos. We also use and have this camera and love it. Find it here.
We are a little obsessed with photography and video and that means the more space we need on our memory card. We actually travel with about 3 memory cards and also back them up to hard drives. Now we use the SanDisk 64 GB Extreme Pro. Find it here.
Although there are many compact travel tripods, they do vary in size quite a bit. We wanted the smallest folding length we could get without compromising on extended length. We ended up with a folding length of 30cm, yep, the length of a ruler! Find it here.
Getting There & Getting Around
We love using Trainline to book our Europe train tickets. It’s so easy to search and book train tickets, especially when compared to many of the individual countries’ train websites. That’s why when booking trains in Europe, Trainline is the first place I go.
Flights
We usually book our flights directly through the airline, so we sign up to the airlines email list to be notified of sales. Sometimes we do a search to compare different airlines on Skyscanner or Kayak. We always try to use the same airlines where possible, to help accrue flight miles.
I have to admit, if we can walk somewhere, that’s always our first choice. And if public transport is good, we usually love the little cultural experience that gives us too. But sometimes the convenience of using Uber when you travel can’t be ignored. If it’s raining, you’re not feeling great, if walking and public transport just aren’t convenient, then Uber is great. Sign up here to get $5 off your first ride.
Travel Insurance
For the past few years, we have been using Good2Go Travel Insurance. Travel Insurance is such an important part of travel. We truly believe you shouldn’t travel without it. After years of travel, always having travel insurance and never having to claim, last year we finally made our first… and second travel insurance claims. Two completely different things I could never have seen coming. Walking into a hotel safe in Bali and needing 5 stitches to my head, and a spider bite in Vietnam. Accessing medical care overseas is daunting enough, but having good travel insurance really gives you that peace of mind.
Read More: Should You Get Travel Insurance? Why We’re So Happy We Did.
Etc…
Earning Points For Travel
Frustratingly, I found it difficult to find info on credit cards that were beneficial for points if you were an Australian resident. Until I found Pointhacks.com.au. This website outlines all the latest deals to help you earn points faster.
Travel Money
We use a Citibank Plus Mastercard Debit Card if I want to withdraw cash overseas. It has no ATM fees (unless the local ATM imposes one) and no percentage of your transaction is taken by Citibank.
Wherever we can we use our credit card for purchases so we can accrue frequent flyer miles. Obviously, you will need to research to find the best credit card that meets your own needs.
Trello is a note-taking/list-making/organising tool that is online. We use Trello to help plan trips, writing lists of what restaurants we want to try, things to do etc. It’s really easy to use and it’s free.
When we are going to a new country, we always try and learn a bit of the language. Although we should use it more than we have, we’ve loved using Duolingo for their free online language courses.
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Please note: Some of the travel resources links mentioned above are affiliate links, all of the links are things we use and love. This means that if you purchase something through these links, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission. Parts of this page are in collaboration with Good2Go Travel Insurance, a company we use and love. All opinions are 100% Mandy and Chris.