Accomodations
I 100% believe in pre-booking. The earlier the better. To make sure you secure your dream
accommodation, and also for the best prices. Early bird gets the terrace suite!
Booking.com
I have been using
booking.com for over a decade now to book almost all my accommodations for almost all my trips. There are so many reasons I love it! Its map, guest reviews, filters, customer service, & incredible ease of use, are all amazing. Free cancellation is a must for me, when sometimes my dates or itinerary changes and I have to shift plans, so I’m happy for that option. The more you use the platform, the more you can level up and get extra *genius* discounts, like free breakfasts or bigger discounts.
Trip.com
Some properties, especially in Asia (and China specifically) only advertise on
trip.com, so I use this platform as an alternative to booking, when traveling to those specific regions. There are not only so many accommodation options, but you can also purchase train travel, tickets, and even experiences here.
VRBO
When booking a trip for a larger group or family,
VRBO is a great option. it specializes exclusively in whole-home vacation rentals, making it ideal for larger parties. When you book through VRBO, you get the entire house, cabin, or villa to your group. Which is helpful because it includes features like multiple rooms, full kitchens, laundry rooms, and even private outdoor yards or spaces.
Travel Insurance
This is a non-negotiable. On various travels throughout my years, I have missed connecting flights, had airlines lose my luggage, and had camera gear stolen. But even more importantly than this, is medical coverage. I’ve had friends get in scooter accidents and needed immediate surgery in foreign countries.
World Nomads
This has been my go-to travel insurance throughout my many years of travel. The great thing about it, is that alongside robust emergency medical and evacuation coverage, it also packages essential trip protection features like cancellation, delay, and gear coverage into its plans. It also offers adventure and extreme sports coverage, automatically protecting travelers across 250 to 340+ activities, that standard policies typically exclude. It covers so much!
Safety Wing
This highly flexible and affordable travel medical insurance is a great option for digital nomads, remote workers, and longer-term travelers. It operates on a convenient continuous monthly subscription model that allows you to buy or cancel coverage even after your trip has already started. Additionally, the plan provides global coverage across 180+ countries and includes limited home-country coverage for brief visits back.
Flights
When I need to travel somewhere, regardless of which airlines I have points with, I always search for flight comparisons, no matter what.
Skyscanner
I love using this travel tool because it is extremely effective. It finds and compares flights from hundreds of airlines and travel sites into one simple, easy-to-navigate platform. Its flexible search tools allow you to compare prices across entire months if you want. And the best feature is that you can set up automated price alerts, so that you can track fare drops easily and book your tickets at the absolute best time.
Car Rental
Most places we travel to (barring a few), we rent a car and explore the area on our own. I love the flexibility of having our own transport whenever we want.
Rentalcars.com
Rentalcars.com is a great way to book vehicles because it allows you to easily search, compare, and save money on deals from all the major top-tier rental brands. It also simplifies your travel planning by helping you find specialized options like low-fee oneway rentals (if you pick up the car in one city and drop it off in a different one (which we do often!)
Experiences & Excursions
While we love to explore many places on our own, when you are going to a place you are not familiar with, and possibly face foreign languages you also don’t know, it is super helpful to book an experience or guided tour in your own language. Both platforms below are online marketplaces that connect travelers with third-party tour operators, activities, and attraction tickets. We often search on both & compare prices.
Viator
Owned by Tripadvisor, and with a larger database, this is one of the two platforms we use interchangeably to book different tours & experiences on our trips. I have used it so many times to book drivers, food tours, cooking classes, boat trips, museum tours, you name it! It’s very easy to search for exactly what you are looking for, and very easy to book.
Get Your Guide
Another favorite booking platform, we have found some of our favorite experiences through
Get Your Guide. It is a bit more curated than Viator, and has an especially strong selection and brand recognition across Europe. It is also popular for its a cleaner, simpler mobile app interface and fast, streamlined booking. And the “Reserve Now & Pay Later” feature (often charging credit cards closer to the activity date), is also helpful.
Connectivity & E-sims
I used to just use my home mobile phone carrier’s international plan while traveling (approx $10-$12 a day), and spent hundreds of dollars on each trip! eSIMs are a game changer because they allow you to stay connected for a much cheaper price. Essential!! They also offer instant activation upon arrival: You can set up the profile over home Wi-Fi and have it automatically connect to a local network the moment you land.
Holafly
Holafly offers unlimited data! This is the core of their product, and it ensures you never have to worry about roaming charges or running out of internet while traveling. It also offers coverage of 1GB of global backup data for free. Perfect for any unexpected changes in plans and true peace of mind. Having unlimited data is worth its weight in gold for someone who needs connectivity around the clock.
Mega-eSim
While Holafly is great for unlimited data, Mega eSIM offers EXTREMELY affordable size-specific data mobile plans. You can still choose massive data volumes at transparent, permanent prices. And additionally, you get reliable network coverage and fast internet speeds. And their customer service is awesome.
Online Safety & VPNs
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is important for so many reasons. It encrypts your internet connection and location to keep your personal data and browsing history safe from hackers. This is also useful for searching for flight and hotel prices, so that your search history doesn’t result in prices getting jacked-up each time you go back to search that flight or property. Super helpful! Also, it is %1000 percent essential when traveling to a country like China, where the government blocks major Western platforms, including Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc, and news outlets too. A VPN routes your internet traffic through a server outside of China, letting you access these services.
Nord VPN
When I was researching my trip to China, I knew I needed a VPN, so that I could still use all the apps I needed. I chose
NordVPN, because it is considered one of the strongest VPN services due to its fast speeds, strict privacy protections, massive server network, and extra security features. They are very reliable and they have great subscription rates too.
Bougie Travel Perks
Because I travel A LOT, being comfortable while I travel has become a priority. Access to private airport lounges is often essential with longer layovers (think 3-6 hour layovers between flights where I couldn’t leave the airport).
Priority Pass
This membership allows travelers to access business lounges at airports in 600 cities in almost 150 countries, even if they are flying economy/coach. Most
Priority Pass Lounges include things like free beverages, snacks, and even full-on complimentary meals, free fastWIFI, comfortable seating, more private bathrooms, and some lounges even have showers! All for one annual membership fee. And some credit cards include a free membership to Priority Pass…
Capital One Venture X
‘What’s in your wallet?’ I’ll tell you what it is ALWAYS in my wallet, and what I use for almost all of my trip bookings. THIS credit card. I have been using
Capital One for the past 30+ years. The Venture X carries a heftier annual fee, but the things it includes MORE than covers it. You get a $300 travel credit every year, free Priority Pass membership each year, free Global Entry application, and at minimum 2x the points for every dollar spent (5x for hotels & rental cars, and 10x for hotels)!!! It also includes tons of other travel perks, including lots of upgrades & insurances— too many to name. Use my link to apply for one of your own:
https://i.capitalone.com/GmZ0IdRo3 and earn up to $75,000 bonus miles for signing up!
