Whether you’re headed out on a weekend road trip or a year-long around the world adventure, you need to start the travel planning process somewhere. Below, find our favourite travel resources, planning tools, tips, travel hacks, and the best current discounts we can find.
These will simplify the process while saving both time and money.
We are presenting them with our newest and best deals upfront.
Disclosure: We earn from qualifying purchases through partnerships or affiliate programmes.
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Travel resources: flight options
When it comes time to find the best airfare options, we prefer to start with an airfare aggregator that presents us with all the flight options. Then we often book direct with the airline.
PRO TIP: Regardless of which flight aggregator you use, or even if you book direct, or best tip is to use an incognito window to search for airfare. It is speculated that many airlines use cookies to learn your searches, and fares slowly increase with subsequent searches to the same market. The incognito window stops this from happening.
Expedia
When it comes to flights, we always start with Expedia, as the page is so easy to use. Simply choose round-trip, one way, or multi-city, add your destinations, and fill in the dates. Filtering the search results is just as simple. It’s all really quick.
Google Flights
Easy to use with two basic options. Enter our starting and ending destinations and Google Flights will provide a list of airlines and prices. OR, start at the ‘explore tab’ (or enter only a starting destination) and get a map of destination possibilities along with their prices. Check Google Flights
Travel resources: accommodations
Booking.com
We nearly always start our accommodation search at Booking.com. They make online travel booking easy, offering a huge selection of accommodation options including hotels, aparthotels, bed and breakfasts, and more. Their services are free.
Don’t miss Booking.com’s Getaway 2022 Deals that save 15% or more on selected accommodations. (T&Cs below)
Trusted Housesitters
House sitting is an alternative accommodation option that many of our friends have used successfully. In its most basic form, you stay in someone’s home for an agreed-upon period of time while they are away in exchange for an agreed-upon activity. This often includes care for the pets and/or plants. It is a great way for animal lovers to save money while travelling. Check house sitting at Trusted Housesitters
Travel resources: activities and tours
Get discounts on New Zealand activities
We now have two go-to sites before we book any activities in New Zealand.
BookMe
If you are in New Zealand or Australia, BookMe is one link you want to know about. It provides discounts up to 70% on popular activities and fun things to do. We always check it before we go anywhere from a zoo or museum to a surfing lesson. Check activities at BookMe
Klook – exclusive 10% discount for our readers
Our newest partner, Klook has sweetened the pot for our readers with an exclusive additional 10% discount code on New Zealand activities, many of which are already discounted with this code: EXPLORENZ10 T&Cs below. Check activities at Klook
Worldwide activities, tours, and more
Free walking tours
We do much of our travel independently, although we love city walking tours, culinary tours, and cultural experience tours. Many cities have free walking tours (payment is expected through volunteer tipping). These can often be found by typing “city name” and “free walking tour” into google search.
Tours by Locals
With over 4,000 guides in 191 countries, Tours by Locals is our go-to when we want a private guide anywhere in the world. It’s our chance to get a unique and personalized experience at any destination from a local expert. We always read the reviews and often chat with the guide prior to booking. To date, we have been 100% happy with our guides. Remember, prices are usually for your group, rather than per person. Discover guides in your next destination
Viator
Viator, a TripAdvisor company, has a comprehensive list of cities and options, ranging from single attractions to week-long adventures (or even longer), they also have private tours, allowing you to hire a guide and make an itinerary. Check activities at Viator
PRO TIP: We also like Viator for cruise excursions as they offer a worry-free guarantee on many of their cruise port tours (always check for the excursion you select). This allows us to have a similar experience as offered by the cruise ship for substantially less money and with a smaller group.
Get Your Guide
Get Your Guide is a newer player in the market that already has earned a great reputation. They offer worldwide tours that are exciting and affordable, and they clearly identify the top customer rated options. Like Viator, they are easy to use and send your tour voucher via email after purchase. Check activities on Get Your Guide
Go Ask a Local
If you prefer to travel on your own with a custom travel plan, check out Go Ask a Local. They are “locals” in cities and countries around the world who are experts in helping to design your ideal trip to their destination. If New Zealand is your destination, you can read more about planning with an expert here.
Travel resources: ground transportation
Rentalcars.com
We have used RentalCars.com for nine out of ten of our last car rentals and were thrilled with every aspect. They are a rental car aggregator working with over 900 companies in 160 countries. It is super easy to use their online system to find the right car in the right place, at the right price. More importantly, their customer service is outstanding and English speaking. Compare prices at Rentalcars
Spaceship Rentals
If you are travelling in New Zealand or Australia and looking to rent a small campervan, we have heard only positive things about Spaceship Rentals. We frequently see them on the roads when we travel domestically. While it’s not our cup of tea, the advantage of a camper is that for one low price you have a vehicle, accommodation, and a place to prepare your food. Check for Spaceship discounts in New Zealand or in Australia.
Eurail
If you’re travelling through Europe via train, Eurail Pass is the way to go. Check for discounts on your Eurail pass
Travel resources: cruising
Cruise Direct
Cruise Direct is our starting point for finding and booking cruises. Often offering better deals than going directly through the cruise line, they make it easy to find the perfect cruising adventure. You can start with the link above and see the latest deals, or go directly to deals from your favourite cruise line:
Travel planning tips: packing
Our two favourite packing items:
Packing cubes
Packing cubes are the secret item that makes packing quick and organization easy. Once we tried them, we wondered how we ever travelled without them. See packing cubes
Osprey Porter 46 backpack
As much as possible, we travel with carry-on luggage only, and this backpack is our current top pick. The durable bag is lightweight with enough pockets for organization. See the Osprey Porter 46 backpack
Get our free travel light packing list
Download our free packing light checklist when you subscribe to our mailing list:
When things go wrong
Travel Insurance Master
We purchase insurance that covers medical and travel emergencies when we head overseas. We start with Travel Insurance Master, an aggregator that gives us a free and easy-to-read comparison of the inclusions of each policy. Get a quote with Travel Insurance Master
Read more:
- My Dengue Fever Experience in South America
- SCUBA Diving and Getting the Bends in Bonaire
- Interesting ER Visit to a Hospital in Samoa
Travel Photography Tips
Our Photography Gear
Olympus OMD EM5
I believe this is the best travel camera on the market today. Compact, lightweight, and weather-sealed, this micro 4/3 camera can go just about anywhere. It shoots great in low light even without a tripod, and can easily freeze most motion. Check price on Amazon or purchase OMD direct from Olympus
Olympus Tough TG6
This compact point-and-shoot can go anywhere and takes impressive underwater images. I grab it when I don’t want to worry about my gear. It fits in my pocket and is waterproof, dustproof, crushproof, shockproof, and freeze-proof. Check price on Amazon or purchase the TG6 direct from Olympus
Travel blogging resources
Key Search
This is the best keyword search tool I have found. Easy to use, quick, and complete, it is my starting point for everything I write online. If you are considering it, use this code for a 20% discount: KSDISC . Check out KeySearch
Tailwind
Tailwind is an easy to use auto-scheduler for both Pinterest and Instagram. It recommends optimal times for posting based on your account’s activity, suggests keywords for Instagram, and allows me to spread out my posts. Go to Tailwind
Adobe Lightroom
This advanced photo editing and storage tool is probably my favourite of all my resources. It allows me to make small, subtle enhancements to images or major changes, the choice is mine. Plus, it keeps my image library organised and allows me to quickly find an image amongst the 60,000 I have on file. Check out Adobe LIghtroom
Please share on social media, including Pinterest.
T&Cs on special deals above as noted:
Booking.com’s Getaway 2022 Deals
Minimum 15% saving available on new accommodation bookings at participating properties indicated by the “Getaway 2022” badge on the search results and room selection pages. Bookings must be made before 11:59 pm CET on 30/09/22 for stays with check-in from 04/04/22 and check-out on or before 30/09/22. Discount applies to the cost of room only (excluding any additional fees or taxes). If you make any changes to your booking you may lose your discount and be liable for the full amount. Discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion except Genius discounts. Room rates labelled “Partner Offer” are excluded from this promotion. This offer is provided by the participating property and subject to availability.
The 10% discount applies to New Zealand activities, attractions and experiences. Requirements include a minimum spend of $50 NZD. Transactions must originate in AU or NZ and must be booked through a link provided by Albom Adventures or Explore New Zealand Facebook group using this discount code: EXPLORENZ10.
