Resources

by Thomas Mathys
Skyscanner

Skyscanner

Skyscanner is one of the pages we use most to find flights. We love that you can make your searches quite flexible by just choosing “anywhere” for destinations. Or, if you already know what country you want to travel to, but don’t mind that much about where within the country, you can just pick the whole country as a destination.

Skyscanner compares millions of flights and you can even book your flight directly from their page. We often use this site to book our flight or see available flights and then check the webpage of the chosen airlines.

Google Flights

Google Flights is another great resource if you’re looking for flights. What makes it really special is, that you can track the costs of chosen flights. You will receive then price alerts and travel tips by email.

We also like how conveniently you can filter and sort the search results as well.

BOOKING ACCOMMODATION

Booking.com

Booking.com

This is our favourite resource to book hotels and apartments when we travel. Booking.com has more than 1 million accommodations and with all the filters and sorting tools it is super easy to find the one best suited for you. We use these filters extensively, to try to narrow down the number of hotels we have to browse through.

As a little “Pro Traveller” tip: Check out the written reviews to get a more accurate impression of it. For us, it is generally a good sign when the owner of the place is positively mentioned, especially with apartments.

AirBnB

Airbnb

Another great resource to find awesome accommodation is Airbnb. It’s especially good if you want more of a home away from home. You can also get some decent discounts if you stay for a week or even a whole month. We use it mainly to book apartment-style accommodations and have found some great places this way.

“Pro Traveler” tip: If you register with this invitation code, you’ll get USD 40 discount on your first trip.

Hostelworld

Hostelworld

If you stay mainly in hostels, then this is probably one of the best webpages out there to find the right accommodation. Hostelworld has more than 36’000 listed properties in over 170 countries. Many of them also offer private rooms.

TRANSPORTATION

12goasia

12Go Asia

This is the best resource we found online to easily find and book transportation in South East Asia. They expanded even further and now include transportation options in India and Malaysia as well. Especially for India, this is big news as it can be unbelievably difficult to book transport such as Indian trains online, without having an Indian passport or phone number.

Rome2Rio

Rome2Rio

Do you want to find out the best ways to get from point A to point B, anywhere in the world? Then you should definitely have a look at Rome2Rio. You can enter any two destinations and Rome2Rio will show you the ways to get there. And not only that, but it will also show you the timetables. There is also a smartphone app so you always have it with you as well.

Uber

Uber

If we learned one thing on our travels so far, then it is that taxi drivers often try to scam tourists. They will drive a longer route, rig the meter, refuse to use the meter, or change the price halfway to your destination. All this is why we love using Uber. Two of the best things about this driving service are that you know beforehand how much the ride is going to cost and you can pay cashless. It’s definitely the best alternative to taxis!

Grab

Grab

Grab is the Asian equivalent to Uber and it has saved us a lot of frustration. The chances of being scammed by taxi drivers in Asia are quite high, so we recommend you download the Grab app before you travel. Getting hassle-free from point A to B will make your Asian holidays even better. Like Uber, you can also pay cashless. The Grab App has even an alarm button you can press in case something bad would happen during the ride. The Grab central, which follows every registered ride via GPS, will then send help on your way.

If you decide to sign up, you can use the referral code Y834BNN6 to get a discount on your first ride.

The man in seat 61

The Man In Seat 61

If you ever plan to take a train, no matter where you are in the world, have a look at this awesome site. You can learn everything about trains, ticket bookings, how to choose which train class, what to expect of your seat, the food service, views from the journey, avoiding problems at the station and much more. We have been so thankful for this resource!

Flight Tracker

Flight Tracker

This is an iPhone app that can come in really handy. It tracks your saved flights and alerts you if any delays or cancellations appear. It can save you a lot of frustration. It also has airport and flight seat maps, and flight maps for hundreds of airlines.

Trainman

Trainman PNR Status Prediction

If you plan to travel in India with the train, then we recommend you to get this iPhone app. You can just enter your PNR (Passenger Name Record) number you received when you booked your seats, and the app will show you exactly where the train currently is. This is super useful as our experience was, that Indian trains can frequently be several hours late! It also has some other great functionalities like train and carriage information.

TRAVEL GEAR

Amazon

Amazon

We love Amazon (almost a bit too much)! You can get almost whatever you want on this webpage. Before we went on our big long-term travel journey we did several orders for travel gear on Amazon.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

World Nomads

World Nomads

You can buy and claim online, even after you’ve left home. Travel insurance from WorldNomads.com is available to people from 140 countries. It’s designed for adventurous travellers with cover for overseas medical, evacuation, baggage and a range of adventure sports and activities. Because you and all your travel gear matter!

RECOMMENDED TOUR OPERATORS

Urban Adventures

Urban Adventures

Their slogan “Best.Day.Ever.”, pretty much describes what they offer. We booked Urban Adventures for several food tours and were always absolutely happy with them. What we love most about their tours is, that they are guided by real locals who live in the chosen destination.

Viator

Viator

Viator is probably one of the best resources if you’re looking for specific tours. We think it is a great tool to find awesome activities wherever you are. And with more than 100’000 different offers, we bet there is also the right tour for you. No matter if you’re looking for Food Tours, Skip the Line tickets or even whole day experience tours in different cities, Viator offers something for everyone.

Get Your Guide

With this great company, you can book trips that will make your holidays unforgettable. They are a big name in the travel industry and offer a huge variety of different tours, especially in Europe.

PHOTO POST PRODUCTION

Lightroom

Lightroom

Even though we think that we take good pictures, we still use some editing software to make them a bit shinier and more spectacular. While you can’t photoshop anything in or out of your picture with Lightroom, it helps to give the picture a special touch. Especially if you took pictures of an amazing place with dull or cloudy conditions that don’t show it off. It is definitely a resource we don’t mind paying for.

PhotoBulk

PhotoBulk

This app for the Mac is one of the most useful photo tools Tom has got on his computer. With it, you can change easily the size and watermark your photos. It lets you work on hundreds of pictures at the same time and saves a lot of precious working hours.

Canva

Canva

Canva is one of the greatest web pages out there for everyone who wants to create something more with her/his photos. We use it mainly to create our Pinterest Pins, but it is also perfect to create infographics, postcards, business cards and so much more! The free version is very expansive already, so for most uses you don’t even have to get the paid version.

Camera +

Camera + 

If Tom wants to do some quick work on his photos on the iPhone, 90% of the time he uses the Camera+ app. It’s easy to use and allows a lot of manual changes in the photos.

FINANCES

Trail Wallet

Trail Wallet

This is hands down the best iPhone/iPad app for keeping an eye on your budget while travelling. It is super easy to use and makes tracking your travel expenses a child play. We’ve used it since we left for full-time and are more than happy with it! The best thing is that it allows you to program in different currencies, so you can keep track of your expenses no matter where you are. You can also export to Excel if you prefer having everything in your own spreadsheet.

XE Currency

XE Currency

The XE Currency App for the iPhone is a great resource for on the road. You can save up to 10 different currencies in your favourites and easily convert them amongst each other. With the paid version, you can even save 20 different currencies in your favourites. We often used this app for when we wanted to find out if a money changer has a good exchange rate. You can also use it offline, and will just update the most recent foreign exchange rates when you are next online.

KEEPING FIT ON THE ROAD

Runkeeper

Runkeeper

The awesome thing about running is, that you don’t need any equipment apart from running shoes. Because of this, it’s a perfect way to stay fit wherever you are. We love the Runkeeper iPhone App to keep track of our progress!

7 Minute Workout Challenge

7 Minute Workout Challenge

If it’s too hot outside or we don’t have much time on our hands, we love to do a short session of HIIT (high intensity interval training). This iPhone app gives you a burst of exercises which you can do in a short amount of time and barely any equipment. For a more intense workout, just increase the number of circuits.

Daily Yoga

Daily Yoga

Another great way to stay fit during travelling is to do Yoga. This iPhone app shows you perfectly how to do the individual poses and has a wide variety of work-outs.

Swork it

Sworkit

If you are looking for a lot of different exercises you can do on the road, then Sworkit might be just the right iPhone app for you. We love the diversity of this exercise resource!

KEEPING ENTERTAINED ON THE ROAD

Netflix

Netflix

While we normally don’t watch any TV on our shorter trips, we have to admit that Netflix comes in very handy when you’re on the road for a longer time. We love the feature that you can download movies and series to watch them offline. This makes long-haul flights so much more fun!

Overcast

Overcast

We love to listen to Podcasts, no matter whether we are on the road or at home. Unfortunately, the official Podcast app is not very good. We were quite happy when we found Overcast, as it gives you the possibility to create your own playlists and it is a lot less buggy.

Audible

Audible

Fans of audiobooks will love Audible! After you registered on the webpage, you can download Audible for your iPhone or Android phone and listen to great audiobooks. Audible has a huge choice of different audio books and with your monthly subscription, you can have one audiobook for free per month, no matter how much it would normally cost.