All of these items listed here are products that I have personally used and recommend to others. Here we go!
Finding Cheap Flights
Skyscanner
My favorite thing about Skyscanner is that it has “everywhere” as a destination option. Perfect when you want to see where you can fly for cheap! You can also choose an entire country, i.e. fly to Italy. Skyscanner also lets you search within a full month if you have flexible dates.
Momondo
Momondo is a good backup for Skyscanner. Just make sure you click through and read all the fine print, because while they’ll occasionally find even better deals, sometimes they’ll link you to deals that don’t exist.
Kayak
Kayak used to be my favorite flight search engine, but they have removed several budget airlines from their search engine in the past year. You can still find deals on here, so I wouldn’t write them off completely.
WhichBudget
This great website tells you exactly which budget airlines fly between destinations.
The Points Guy
My favourite resource for navigating the world of earning free travel through points and miles and finding out current deals. The Points Guy tends to report deals before anyone else!
Finding Accommodation
I find that Agoda most often has the best rates for booking hotels. They have the best selection and almost always have the lowest rates in Asia in particular, but in recent years they’ve expanded well for the rest of the world.
Agoda
Booking.com
Booking.com is an easy, great search engine to use. Great selection of hotels, usually very low prices, and no fees.
Hotels.com
The best benefit of Hotels.com is that you earn a free stay for every 10 nights you book with them. The bad news is that it’s only for certain stays, and your free stays are awarded at the average rate of the 10 nights you booked. But a free night is nothing to sneeze at!
Yes, HostelWorld has hostels, but it also has guesthouses, B&Bs, and sometimes even simple boutique hotels! The selection of cheap accommodation is the best on the web.
HostelWorld
Couchsurfing
Far more than just free accommodation. Couchsurfing is a community of travelers dedicated to connecting and sharing. While you could stay for free around the world, I mostly use Couchsurfing to find local community events and meet people in different cities.
Overland Travel Resources
Seat61
This incredibly comprehensive guide is chock full of information on train and overland travel around the world. Want to know how to get around a certain country? Seat61 will tell you.
RailEurope
It can be tough to book trains on a million different foreign sites in Europe, but Rail Europe makes it simple to do everything from planning routes and checking times to buying tickets.
Virgin Trains
My favorite resource for booking trains in the UK. Unlike other train booking sites, they don’t charge you a booking fee.
Vacations To Go
Are you a cruiser? If so, don’t book without checking out Vacations To Go first. This private membership site displays rock-bottom cruise prices that you won’t find anywhere else.
Kayak Cars
I don’t rent cars often, but when I do, I use Kayak. I’ve found their rates to usually be the lowest.
Megabus, Bolt Bus, and Greyhound
One of the secrets of U.S. travel is that the buses are comfortable, usually have plugs and wifi, and are dirt cheap — you can get $1 fares on the Megabus and Bolt Bus if you book several weeks in advance! I once traveled San Francisco to Los Angeles for $1 on the Megabus.
Travel Insurance
World Nomads
I recommend World Nomads for almost all travelers. Their coverage is great and can be easily extended as many times as you’d like, reporting claims is simple, and the site is easy to navigate. As with all insurance, be sure to read the fine print and make sure it’s right for you.
Travel Gear
Pacsafe Portable Safe
This is the #1 product I recommend my readers buy. If there’s no safe in your lodging, put your belongings in here and lock it to the sturdiest thing in your room (pipes are best, but use whatever you have). Use it with a quality combination lock so you don’t have to worry about losing the key.
Osprey Sojourn 60L
This wheeled backpack is what I use for most long-term trips today. The Osprey Sojourn is built like a tank: it is so strong and sturdy, yet not too heavy. While it can technically be worn as a backpack, I prefer to use it as a rolling suitcase.
eBags Medium Packing Cubes and Flight 001 Spacepak
Packing cubes are amazing — they let you pack more efficiently, fit in more than you thought you could, and “unpack without unpacking.” The eBags ones are long and narrow and I use one for tops, one for bottoms, and one for underwear, bras, bathing suits, and socks. I use the flat Spacepak for dresses and larger items.
LowePro Fastpack 250
This is my day bag — it holds my technology and photography equipment, as well as my valuables, and never leaves my side while in transit. My favorite part is the laptop slot on the side, which makes airport security so much faster!
Safety Whistle
Ladies — and dudes — this is an important safety item. A loud whistle brings attention. If you’re trapped under something, if you’re lost or isolated, if you’re endangered, using your whistle will alert people to your location.
Rubber Doorstop
Another safety item. If you have a private room, you’ll have a lock, but just in case, shoving a doorstop beneath the door will make it difficult for people to enter your room. Just in case.
LUSH Solid Shampoo
Solid shampoo is fantastic — it takes up little space and won’t leak over your bag. It’s good to switch your shampoo from time to time, so I carry one Godiva shampoo (highly conditioning and flowery), one cinnamon shampoo (highly conditioning and spicy), and I keep them in two LUSH tins.
Abeo B.I.O.system Balboa Metatarsal Flip-Flops and Tevas Tirra Sandals
I need to wear supportive shoes due to arch issues in my right foot, and these are the two kinds of sandals that I can wear comfortably. I live in the Abeo flip-flops when in warm climates; the Tevas are very light and perfect for more athletic activities.
Travel Guides
Lonely Planet PDF Travel Guides
Lonely Planet makes my favorite travel guides. I no longer buy the books — instead, I buy their PDFs, save them to my Dropbox, then open them in iBooks on my iPhone. You can also buy single chapters from most guidebooks, which is convenient if you’re only visiting one city or region in a country.
Travel Photography
Nikon D5100 Camera and Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 Lens
I’ve been using this combination for my photography since April 2013. It’s a good combination for your first DSLR, and it’s worked for me so far, though I do plan to upgrade to a better model within the next year.
SanDisk 32 GB Memory Cards
SanDisk builds quality memory cards. I recommend getting at least two, just in case something happens to one of them.
All-in-One Memory Card Reader
Don’t even think of plugging your camera into your computer! This memory card reader will fit cards of all sizes and make an easy transfer to your computer.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Lightroom is my primary photo editing software, and now both Photoshop and Lightroom are available in a set for just $9.99 per month.
Technology and Digital Resources
Macbook Air
There’s a debate about whether a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro is better for digital nomads. For my personal needs — internet, building presentations on Keynote, word processing, Evernote, iTunes, editing photos on Lightroom — the Macbook Air gets the job done and has the bonus of being so incredibly lightweight.
Unlocked iPhone
My constant companion. I buy local SIM cards with data in most countries that I visit. After two and a half years, the battery is dying very quickly, so I hope to upgrade to the 6 when it comes out.
Kindle Paperwhite (wifi only)
If you don’t have a Paperwhite, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s so much better than the basic Kindle, with a nice weight, smooth material, and a touch screen. Best of all, it’s backlit, so you can read in the dark as easily as you can on the beach. Make sure you get a case, too — while I can’t find the one I have, this one is nice, cheap, and comes in several colors.
Getting a Kindle made me a voracious reader once again. I can’t tell you how happy that has made me.
MyCharge 6000 Peak Rechargeable Power Bank
Whenever I take this out, people always ask me about it. My MyCharge holds enough power to charge an iPhone four times and can charge an Apple device, USB cord, or micro device. I use it daily. Oh, and it talks! “Charging complete.” That always cracks people up.
MAXAH Universal Converter
This universal converter will have you covered for almost everywhere in the world. (Keep in mind that some countries with unusual plugs, like South Africa, are best off picked up upon your arrival in the country.)
Mini Power Strip
While I use the product linked above, you may prefer this different modelbecause it includes USB chargers. For the times when you return from a long time without power and need to charge everything you own in a hurry, from computer to phone to Kindle to multiple camera batteries, this lets you charge several devices from a single outlet.
Seagate Expansion 2TB External Hard Drive
External hard drives are a good thing to have, period, and they’re essential if you have a Macbook Air and lots of pictures. This is a quality hard drive for a good price.
SmugMug
Do not make the mistake of not backing up your photos! SmugMug allows you to store unlimited photos and HD video for $60 per year. There are also cheaper plans.
Dropbox
Hard drives can fail and laptops can be stolen. Keep important documents — in fact, ALL of your documents — backed up on Dropbox, including copies of your passport and credit cards.
Boingo
Boingo has wifi hotspots around the world and a variety of plans for you to access them. You’ll find Boingo hotspots in just about every major airport, and I found it absolutely essential in Japan and South Korea, as these countries are dominated by membership wifi networks (and Boingo is a partner). I’ve used Boingo everywhere from coffee shops in Germany to hotels in South Africa.
Skype
Everyone knows about using Skype for video calls home for free — but it’s also very useful for cheap calls anywhere in the world, whether it’s your bank at home or a hostel abroad. I top up $10.00 about twice a year.
Travel Blogging
How to Start a Travel Blog in Six Easy Steps
Looking to start a travel blog? Or any other kind of blog? This post will show you how to set up a self-hosted WordPress blog with screenshots to guide you.
BlueHost
The best choice for beginners — quality web hosting for a low price. Bluehost has an easy-to-use interface, one-click WordPress installation, very helpful (and easy-to-get-hold-of) customer service, and rates as low as $4.95 per month.
Aweber
An email list is, by far, the most important thing you can have and something you should start immediately. I started my email list on Mailchimp, but Aweber is far better and I wish I had started there from the beginning because I lost a lot of subscribers when I switched over.
RESOURCES FOR SOLO TRAVELERS
AllSinglesTravel.com offers tours and cruises for singles in different categories, including active trips, beaches and classic sightseeing.
SafeCheckIn.com is a service that allows solo travelers to register their trips in order to make sure they get back safely. For a monthly fee, you can enter specific information about when you should return from a particular trip or outing. If you don’t check in with the site at the designated time, SafeCheckIn.com will attempt to contact you; if you’re out of reach, the site will reach out to your emergency contacts and, if necessary, the local authorities.
SinglesTravelIntl.com guarantees to find you a roommate whenever you pay in full by the cut-off date. If it doesn’t, the company will pay the single supplement on its tours, cruises and weekend trips.
SoloTravelerBlog.com offers tips, resources and destination guides for solo travellers.
Women-Traveling.com is for solo female travelers who prefer to be with a group of like-minded women. The company offers tours, retreats and other getaways, complete with roommate matching.
