We’ve been travelling the world for over six years now and have learned lots of tips, tricks and hacks along the way. Naturally, the longer you’re on the road, the a lot more travel ideas you come up with. There are lots of things to think about when planning and packing for a trip abroad, but here are 10 of our favourites.
1. travel in the Shoulder/Off-Season
This is the best way to save money on travel. height period = high costs.
When is the height season?
Also known as the high season, this is when destinations become overrun with tourists. Generally, around Christmas / new Year’s Eve and Easter are height times.
When it’s wintertime in the northern hemisphere you’ll find everyone heading south. Beaches in Asia, the Caribbean, central and South America become very busy. summertime in Europe and north america are busy as well.
When is the carry season?
Shoulder season is the time of year just before and just after the high/peak tourism season. Typically, these months are spring and autumn.
Beautiful autumn in upstate new York
When is the off-season?
This is the time of year that is normally considered the rain / hurricane season, wintertime, or when there are no holidays (locally or internationally).
When you’re planning your trip, absolutely consider the two non-peak times of the year. Hvorfor? because travel during these times is cheaper, quieter and typically a lot more enjoyable. You’ll find substantial discounts on accommodation, more affordable flights, and food at restaurants can cost less.
Example: In Split, Croatia in March, we stayed at a hotel for $38 / night. In the high season (summer months), the same room goes for $167.
Beautiful Split, Croatia
Another substantial bonus of the shoulder/off-season is that there are far less tourists around! You may find that you’re one of the only people gazing at the Pyramids of Giza, or having a excellent stretch of beach all to yourself.
We stay in Grenada (southern Caribbean) during the hurricane season – June to November. We have some rain, but the island is a lot more lush and stunning than the dry season. There are far a lot more sunny days than rainy ones, and we haven’t encountered a hurricane. There are hardly any tourists around, indicating we have the beaches and stunning sites to ourselves!
With weather being so unpredictable these days, is there really a “best time” to be anywhere?
At the far southern end of Grand Anse Beach, Grenada
2. Unlock Your Mobile Phone
Having a mobile phone with you when travelling is a must. These days, a lot of people bring their smart phones everywhere, and if you’re travelling overseas, make sure to unlock your phone before setting off, or risk paying high roaming fees.
You can purchase local SIM cards in destinations around the world, at a very low cost. When you arrive, just buy a SIM and top it up with minutes and data.
Some examples of the costs of SIM cards:
Italy: $23 for the SIM card, 2 GB of data and 100 minutes of talk time. It expires after 30 days.
Montenegro: $7 for the SIM card, including 1 GB of data, 11 cents / minute of talking. It’s $5.50 for 3 GB of data top-up.
Mexico: $17 for a SIM card and 3 GB of data.
You can learn a lot more about purchasing a SIM in Mexico in the post here.
The stunning scenery in Montenegro.
Adding minutes and data to your phones is simple. Typically, you can head into the phone company’s shop (of which there are normally many), or you can top up at grocery stores or comfort shops.
Buying local SIM cards as you go is a low-cost way to have coverage no matter where in the world you are. having a phone is important for emergency situations, if you’re lost, or for directions… not just for social media!
3. choose Your travel Partner
We travel as a couple and feel very fortunate to have each other as partners in life, service and travel! But, lots of other people explore the world by themselves – either by choice, or because they haven’t found a good travel companion, yet.
We know of lots of solo travellers, both male and female who absolutely love going at it alone, and we give them props!
However, lots of women are a bit a lot more uncertain of taking on the world themselves, and don’t have any pals at home who are interested in travel. We’ve recently heard of the Tourlina app which is created for female travellers only.
Tourlina is an app that puts women in touch with women, and helps them find the best travel companion for a day, a week, or longer. You’re able to chat to verified users, go over your travel interests and set up to meet up.We think this is a terrific idea, as some of the other sites and apps out there that connect travellers aren’t gender specific…and women typically end up being propositioned, rather than just finding a travel buddy!
Check out this short, fun video created by a user of the Tourlina app:
4. choose Your Luggage Wisely
We travel with backpacks, so we’ll focus on that type of luggage here.
Your backpack will be your best pal while on the road, so you’ll want to make sure it fits you properly. There’s nothing worse than lugging around a backpack that isn’t sitting correctly on your hips, is too high up on your back, or is too heavy.
Try to choose a backpack that doesn’t have metal support bars, as that only adds unnecessary weight. Go down to your local outdoor store and try on lots of different backpacks until you find the one that fits your body perfectly.
Nick trying on his backpack in an outdoor shop in Shanghai
When we were testing out packs in the stores, we even went so far as to bring some of our gear with us to stuff the bags full, and try them out before purchasing them!
There are a few styles of backpacks out there, but we recommend and use front panel loading / clamshell style packs.
Being able to fully open your backpack is something you will want, depend on us. There’s nothing worse than having a top-loader backpack and not being able to see anything that’s in the middle or the bottom.
You’ll have to dig through all of the unwanted items just to get at what it is you really need. If you choose a front panel loading or clamshell style of bag, you’ll be able to fully zip it open and see everything that’s inside. With the evolution in backpack design these days, lots of of the front panel loading bags have terrific support and can be taken on long treks.
These were our very first backpacks – MEC and Deuter
We’ve had a few different packs over the years. At first we went with MEC brand and Deuter – 60L and 70L. We then switched to ultra lightweight travel for our treks in central Asia. I carried the Osprey Kestrel 32, and Nick had the Osprey Farpoint 55.
We both currently travel with the Osprey Farpoint 55L backpacks and love them!
The point is, find a pack that you love, as it will be your life while you’re travelling.
Læs mere:
Backpack Review: Osprey Kestrel 32
Backpack Review: Osprey Farpoint 55
How to choose the best backpack for Travel
5. Bring a Mosquito Net
Depending on where in the world you are travelling, we suggest packing along your own mosquito net. If you’re travelling to Europe or North America, this won’t be necessary, but if you’re going to Africa or Asia or even the southern Americas, you may want to consider bringing your own net.
Many hotels/hostels/guesthouses don’t supply nets and if they do, they’re typically too small for the bed (meaning your head and feet will be touching the net all night), or they have holes in them.
Camping on islands in Mozambique
With diseases like malaria and dengue fever, you’ll want to make sure you’re protected at night. besides mosquito bites, a net will help keep out other creepy crawlies that you won’t want in your bed!
However, the main reason we recommend bringing your own net for tropical trips is for overnight beach excursions! This may not be for everyone, but it makes for a terrific adventure. All you have to do is hang your net from a tree and you can sleep on the beach without worrying about bugs. The breeze is pretty terrific too.
Definitely select a king-sized net and one with a zipper opening, rather than a fold-over closure.
Our home for the night under a mosquito net in the Philippines
6. pack Duct Tape / Gaffer Tape
This tape is absolutely a backpack essential. There are so lots of uses for it, but here are a few of the best:
You can fix broken shoes, sandals and straps on your backpack. use the tape to patch up holes in your backpack, mosquito net, or the screen window of your hotel to stop mosquitoes from getting in.
Duct tape is waterproof which makes it beneficial for plugging up the sink in your hotel to do laundry or for taking care of a rip in your waterproof rain gear.
See more: 25 amazing travel Hacks That You will always Use
Not only is duct tape beneficial for breaks eller til vandtætning, men det kan komme nyttigt, hvis du er i en medicinsk klemme. Du kan take brudte tæer og fingre sammen. Efter grundigt rengøring af et sår, skal du dække det med bånd, så det ikke bliver inficeret, før du kan komme til en læge. Hvis du har en grim blister, skal du lægge en bomuldskugle på det ømme og tape den på din hæl eller fod ved hjælp af duct tape.
For at pakke båndet foreslår vi at tage en kuglepen og pakke båndet omkring det. Dette sparer dig plads og vægt i din rygsæk.
Duct Tape er en livredder!
7. Pakker hurtigtørre genstande
Uanset hvilken del af verden du rejser til, er det vigtigt at have mindst et par ting i din taske, der hurtigt kan vaskes og tørres. Hvis du er ude af vandring, vandreture, camping eller bare ikke har vaskeri om et par uger, vil du være i stand til at vaske dit tøj og bære dem ASAP!
Vaskeri dag ude på den mongolske steppe – god ting, vi havde hurtigt tørt tøj
For mænd, undertøj, sokker og et par hurtige tørrende t-shirts ville være en god idé. For kvinder, sokker og et par hurtige tørring af T-shirts er alt hvad du har brug for. For både mænd og kvinder anbefaler vi stærkt at medbringe en hurtig-tør, mikrobiel, rejsehåndklæde.
Her er nogle foreslåede varer til køb:
MSR Personal Packtowel. De er bløde, ruller små op, og du kan vride dem ud for at være næsten helt tørre.
T-shirts. Tjek denne bjergehardtøj T-shirt til mænd.
For mænd fremstiller exofficio god kvalitet bokser-briefs. Klik her for at se.
Til kvinders t-shirts. Quechua, Marmot, Columbia og North Face er gode mærker. Klik her for at se en marmot-t-shirt.
Du vil også have nogle hurtigtørrende sokker, helt sikkert!
Nick iført en hurtig-tør T-shirt under rejsen
7. Ryd din cache
Dette er sandsynligvis den største idé / hack, vi har til dig.
Når du søger efter en flyvning online, bruger det websted “cookies” til at huske din søgning. Så hvis du har søgt efter en flyvning fra New York til Thailand, men tog en beslutning om ikke at booke den ideel da og der, næste gang du åbner din browser, vil den huske din søgning efter dig.
Dette kan lyde som en god ting (og det skal være), men det er det ikke.
Fordi webstedet ved, at du har været der før, ved det, at du sandsynligvis vil booke flyvningen, så det hæver priserne på flyvningerne den anden (eller tredje) gang, du tjekker stedet!
Det er slags svært at se på dette foto, men dette er en flyvning, som vi reserverede fra Costa Rica til Cuba. Første gang vi kiggede, var det $ 481. Næste gang vi gik tilbage til bogen, var det $ 606!
For at undgå dette problem og for at få den samme pris som første gang, du kontrollerede flyvningen, går inkognito inden booking (kommando + skift + n for Mac og Ctrl + Shift + N til pc) eller ryd din cache.
Clearing af cachen er forskellig for enhver browser, her er instruktioner til de mest almindelige:
Google Chrome
Internet Explorer
Firefox
Safari
8. Brug pakningskuber
Når du har lagt alt dit tøj, rejseudstyr, elektronik, toiletartikler og andre odds og ender, vil du sandsynligvis begynde at undre dig over, hvordan du passer til alt i din rygsæk!
For os er de mest vigtige ting, der skal have, når de rejser, mesh -pakningskuber.
Du ruller bare dit tøj (hvert enkelt stykke), sætter varerne inde og lynlåser derefter disse terninger lukket. Terningerne hjælper med at kondensere alle dine ting, hvilket gør det meget lettere for dig at sætte meget mere tøj eller andre ting i et så lille rum.
Disse rejsepakningskuber er en vigtig rejse!
Disse terninger