1. Organize as much as you can by yourself

The travel experience is always more authentic when you organize it yourself, and it usually comes out cheaper. An example of this are Safari tours. All agencies involved take a cut; from the Jeep to the lodge & guide, often meaning less value for money. I organized my last Safari in Tanzania: it definitely took some time, but I was able to find the lodges that offered a great experience for a reasonable price (hello Tarangire Simba Lodge!), the underrated parks, and reputable companies for Jeep hire and private guides. This did not only make it cheaper, but it gave us substantially more freedom to plan our safari how we wanted- choice of parks, unlimited game drives, and flexible schedules. If you have time, searching for your own accommodation, transport and guides is definitely worth it.

2. Read Travel Blogs

I’m not just saying this because I have a travel blog, but travel blogs are awesome! When researching destinations, blogs have helped me enormously with things to keep in mind for the trip and for spotting hidden opportunities. Whether these were activities that weren’t formally advertised, contacts for reputable taxi drivers, or hidden accommodation gems, travel blogs have been extremely useful for trip planning. Useful blogs can be independent blog posts, the typical ones with sight seeing ideas from larger websites, or even posts from travel agencies that you like.

3. Skyscanner Everywhere Search

When looking for travel inspiration & well-priced flights, one of my preferred methods is to choose “everywhere” as destination on Skyscanner’s search bar. Similarly, if you’re dying to go to a specific destination you can choose “any month” and the automatic search will show you the cheapest month for your trip. Also please browse for flights & hotels on incognito and if possible from different devices. It’s quite sneaky but these websites increase the price once they see that you’re interested.

4. Online discount codes

When booking services or buying travel products online, always search “discount code + the name of the website”. It doesn’t always work but around 70% of time I’m able to find a discount code for whatever I’m trying to purchase. These codes can range from first time buyer discount to seasonal promotions and are usually publicly available. Similarly, saving points with a specific company that you like will also offer you certain discounts.

5. Seat Guru

A good economy seat on a plane can have many different meanings depending on who you are. There are people that don’t like to sit near babies, galleries and toilets. Others prefer to have as much space as they can. By putting the aircraft type on Seat Guru’s website, you can see the recommended seats and what are the advantages & disadvantages. I have a hard time sleeping on planes, so personally I don’t like sitting near babies because it makes it worse for me. By checking Seat Guru I can see where the walls are located in the airplane and avoid these seats, considering that baby cribs almost always go on seats facing walls.

6. Airbnb Experiences

If you’d like to do an activity beyond sight seeing (perhaps related to your hobbies or the local culture) but you don’t like large/expensive agencies, Airbnb Experiences can be a more informal way to get some activities planned into your trip. My friends organized a surprise Paella cooking workshop in Barcelona for example, and it was amazing. It felt less touristy than other activities (e.g. Viator) and we got a detailed paella, sangría and crema catalana tutorial from a local.

7. Cooking the food of the place or learning a dance

If you’d like to get to know the culture of the country that you’re visiting but you find it hard to get to know the local community because of the short length of your trip, cooking & dance classes are a great way to learn and take something from the local culture with you. These courses usually take half a day and also offer the opportunity to visit the local markets and get to know the ingredients that go into the food you love. The recipes and dances are something that you could recreate at home or follow-up with additional lessons.

8. Beating Jet-Lag

This one has probably been said countless times, but what has helped me the most to beat jet lag in intercontinental flights is taking my own water bottle for the flight. Stewards only bring you water every couple of hours so if you wait for them to come around it will not be enough with the dry cabin air. In addition, the human body can’t fully absorb large amounts of water in one go, so it’s better to be taking sips from your 1l bottle throughout your 12 hr flight, than to get up when you’re thirsty and drink the little bottles from the gallery in one go (it also means less trips to the toilet, which we can agree are not the nicest on a plane). Once you land, the best is to postpone sleeping until it’s actually sleeping time, and try to get some sunlight during the day so your body clock can adapt to the new time zone quickly.

9. Other nice things to have on your flight

Having a pouch with a zipper for your passport and documents will make sure that everything is one place and nothing gets lost. Cabin air is very dry so it’s good to take a tube of moisturizer and lipbalm. Cozy socks are the best on long flights. Noise cancelling headphones make you feel like you’re not actually sitting next to a massive engine. Anti-bacterial gel can be very useful for wiping your tray and arm rests clean before you sit down for your flight. They’ve done tests and it turns out that they are way dirtier than you would expect!

10. Sim card

Buying a sim card for your phone (make sure it’s unblocked) will give you access to data 24/7 and make sure you can make phone calls in case there is a problem with one of your tours/hotels/agencies etc. It will also allow you to call a taxi whenever you need one and give you more independence while you travel. It will allow you to google opening hours/maps/random information about the things you want to do on your trip while on the go. But most importantly for me, I always feel safer with a data package because it can help solve a lot of problems. Lastly, it can help you stay connected to friends and family, especially those that are always worried about your whereabouts (*cough* *cough* mom). Some countries require you to formally register if you want to buy one of the chips, so always research first how long it will take, so you don’t waste precious travel time on this.

11. Wiki-travel

I love Lonely Planet guides. They are especially good for European city trips, since they have full books devoted to just one city. However, when you travel through multiple cities and larger countries, there aren’t always enough details on the Lonely Planet guides regarding activities, places to eat, and local tips. Wikitravel has been a great resource for me, especially when traveling through East & South Africa. It has a lot of details on specific towns, local organizations, and other information that you might not come across otherwise. It’s not always the most updated and it’s open source so there is always a margin for error, however it was been a great help for me on my travels.

12. Master Packing List

If you dread packing for trips and having to think about all the things you should not forget, having a master packing list can be very useful. I have one for weekend/small trips and one for larger trips. I detail what I pack in my carry on and check-in luggage and it saves me a lot of time as I just have edit some things on the list before each trip. A cross-body bag and a medium Longchamp bag are always in my packing list. The cross-body bag is great for going around the city, and the Longchamp can fit a lot, it’s waterproof, and you can fold it small when you’re not using it.

13. Best time for your bathroom stop at the airport

If you need to go to the bathroom after landing, it’s best to go after Immigration, while you wait for your suitcase to come out on the belt. If you go beforehand, you’ll have a longer line ahead of you and leave the airport later. Depending on the airport this might not make sense: some airports take so long to load the baggage belt that it might not make a difference if you had a long line at immigration or not.

14. Wine for turbulence

A particularly scary flight in Iran where I really thought the plane was crashing left me a little bit traumatized. While turbulence didn’t bother me so much before, I started getting very nervous with strong turbulence after the Iran experience. Therefore, I tried taking relaxing medications that I got from the doctor once. The medication did work a bit but I realized that the effect was very comparable to drinking glass of wine on the plane (of course this also depends on your size). This will not help you beat jet lag, but if you feel very scared you might want to give it a try.

15. Packing cubes/bags

If you like to keep your suitcase organized, packing cubes are a great way to achieve this. Some people don’t like them because they add a tiny bit of weight, but if you usually pack light and want something that keeps everything in place, I definitely recommend them!

16. Pre-arranging airport transport

For most European cities you don’t need to worry about pre-arranging a transfer from the airport. You can take a bus, taxi or uber and that’s it. However, many destinations are not like that and especially if you travel solo, it is best to have this figured out before you land. There are websites that organize shuttles for you, hotel transfers are always good although usually more expensive, and sometimes REGISTERED taxis can be a good option. Never take a random taxi in a country where you’re not 100% sure that it’s safe to do this. I’ve heard cases of people that were kidnapped, and while this is not very likely to happen at all, it’s best to be safe than risk a bad experience. Travel or destination-related Facebook groups are a good way to get information on this ahead of your travel, as well as a bunch of other tips from members.

17. Kindle

Yes, you love the feel of paper as you turn the pages of your book. You love to see the cover, and hold the book in your hands. I know it, real books are the best- but not for travel! A Kindle/E-reader will allow you to take tons of books with you that will last throughout your trip without weighing you down. You will also read more, not just because you can take more books with you, but also because the kindle is easier to take around and you will have a lot of choices according to the mood you’re in. You will feel less lazy to carry around the one or two books you brought.

Disclaimer: None of the products/websites/services I mention pay me in any way and this is not promotional material, just tips of things I’ve found useful while traveling.

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