Travel Resources To Make Your Life Easier On The Road
Having the right resources has made our life easier on the road. We have learned a lot and made mistakes along the way. We've gathered resources to help make YOUR traveling easier. All links you see below are resources we personally use and endorse. If you are a company looking to get on this page, click the "Partner" link below. Some of these links might be affiliate sites that pay us when you click on them. Thanks for supporting us if you do.
Shopping Websites
Amazon
We use Amazon and are Prime Members, which we highly recommend! Not only do we love the ease of Amazon, we love the prices. They are competitive and with Free Shipping with Prime, it really can't be beat. We get a small kickback if you shop through this link. We hope if you are going to shop, you do so through this link so we can continue helping other change their perspective on life through travel.
REI
We have been using REI for years! The greatest thing about them, is their rewards program. When you buy something you get a percentage back that you can spend on something else online or in-store. We love their no hassle return policy and if you buy something here, and it breaks while traveling, just return it and get a new one or use the money for another purchase!
Leisure Pro
Scuba Diving your thing? It sure is for us! We have used Leisure Pro to get our gear. We find their prices to be the best at times for a myriad of products. They have no good customer service and return policies as well for certain items.
Hotel Booking Websites
Booking a hotel through a website or app has advantages. You can link a credit card and skip the risk of getting it cloned or compromised while on the road. We use these booking sites which all have the ability to pay before you stay. Just be aware that some places will give you a "lesser" room to cover the service fees from these sites. Many times we will book with these sites for a day or two, and if we like the hotel, we will strike up a deal with the hotel to pay the same to them (or less sometimes) then we paid through the original service.
Hotels.com
Hotels.com has been a staple for us for years! We find that especially in the US and Central America, It is particularly useful. We are Gold Status Members and have been for years. Buy 10 nights and get the 11th free (average nightly stay credit) We have used dozens of free nights. Their customer service is good too. There have been a few places we’ve stayed where the room wasn’t adequate or area of town so bad, we couldn’t stay. We let them know, and they have refunded us every time.
Agoda.com
Agoda is a good choice. We have mostly used this company in Asia. They seem to have the market share in Asia over Hotels.com. However, we found their pricing competitive and fair. We have used their customer service as well on a room where someone working at the hotel, walked into our room while we were in bed. Agoda was prompt and courteous in getting us booked somewhere else free of charge. A good site to use.
Booking.com
Booking.com is also a company we have used before to get things done. Sometimes their pricing can’t be beat. We found their website and little more difficult to navigate and signup, but overall a great website to find that cheap deal. Also, Booking.com doesn't charge your card until the day before your booking.
AirBNB.com
AirBnB has been something we used more when we needed a place for longer periods of time. We have been nursing in the US and found a great place in Southern California for 3 months. We have used them for other stays as well and feel they are a good choice in many places that are difficult to find hotels or resorts that fit your budget. You can find some real gems on this site all over the world.
HostelWorld.com
Hostel World is not just for hostels. They have some off the beaten path hotels and guesthouses that the bigger sites don’t have. We found a great place in Dharamsala, India off Hostel World for a great price! We have used them a few times and feel that they deserve to be up here with the other sites.
CouchSurfing.com
Couchsurfing.com is not a site we use often, however it’s a great way to connect with local people who live in the area you are traveling to. We have met thousands of people from all over the world who use this service and have had private tours of cities and gone to cultural events such as weddings that they would have never had the chance to do by booking anywhere else. A good choice if you are on a budget.
Flight Booking Websites
This is a list of commonly used websites we use to book flights around the world. Not all the "majors" are necessarily the best or cheapest. Airlines will contract and set certain prices with certain sites. We find that when shopping for airline fares, the difference can be in the hundreds of dollars.
Kayak.com
KAYAK uses a comparison tool to search many carriers (not all) and display the cheapest flights based on your search criteria. The handy thing about Kayak is their +3 -3 (flexible dates) search tool that allows you to see the flights in a grid to find what day is best to leave and come back. You can also search by specific airline if you are a member of an airline alliance, partnership program or rewards member sites in the industry. KAYAK is an airline, rental car, and hotel search engine. It compares all the carriers and sometimes you can book with Kayak, and at times it redirects you to the specific carrier’s site. We have found some discrepancies at times between what Kayak offers and the carrier offers on their website, especially American Airlines.
SkyScanner.com
Skyscanner is a great site and app that we have used when we don’t know where we want to go. There are times when we knew we wanted to go somewhere in a country but, wanted the cheapest flight. This website does this for you by only showing you the cheapest one way legs from one place to another. The website and app are slick and easy to use. We liked that it showed specific days of travel and what day in a whole month is cheapest for that flight. Sometimes with this site we could find one day that the flight was cut in half and book that one. Most bookings are directed to the carrier’s specific site, however we find this site very useful and fun when we don’t know where the next adventure is.
CheapOair.com
CheapOair also allows you to search flexible dates and times for a better chance of saving some money by flying specific days of the week. Airlines generally offer lower rates on specific days of the week and don’t publicize those days. This tool shows you the cheapest day. They also have a great “Handpicked Fares” section and “Under $199” Section that can narrow down your search for the cheapest flight. We have used CheapOair a few times and have saved money from any of the other booking sites.
CheapTickets.com
CheapTickets has a great feature that allows you to pick separate airlines in each leg. This can result in cheaper airfares and save you money. The site is easy to navigate and excellent filters to improve your search results. You can also use this site to search specific airlines only. We are members of airline partnerships such as Star Alliance with United. We found it easier to use our points for specific flights that were advertised cheaper by doing this.
Priceline.com
Priceline is the last option we use. The only reason we use it is when we have plenty of time to use their “Name Your Own Price®” tool. We have used it before for other services and have never had luck using it for airlines, however we know of people who save 30-50% off published airline prices by using this tool. The prices on Priceline are competitive you also have to opportunity with this site to compare with other sites, which is handy. Besides... with William Shatner as their spokesman, it's gotta be a great company!
MakeMyTrip.com
Make My Trip is worth mentioning, but only in India. With MakeMyTrip.com You can plan your flight, and other modes of transportation in India. We found this website useful for shorter local flights around India with local airlines that weren’t searched in the major sites. A very useful tool to find cheap flights around India.
Transportation Apps
This is a list of apps we use to travel the world. We find that apps can be extremely useful for finding your way around. These apps are only for Android as we don't use Iphone or Apple products. I am sure they are also available on the Itunes app store as well.
Uber App
If I could get all the money lost in overpriced and crooked taxi fares in the world, I might be a rich man. While traveling in foreign countries the taxi/ cab fares vary from driver to driver up to 1000 percent. In countries that support Uber, we use them. You never have to worry about what the cost will be and no money is exchanged with the driver which adds on safety. Many places in the world use Uber and we have found it a real money-saver to use them where it’s available.
Waze App
Waze is the world's largest community-based traffic and navigation app with over 6 million downloads and counting. Other drivers on the road share traffic information that’s useful for getting where you want to in the least amount of time. This has been especially useful when driving ourselves wherever we go. The data is much better in the US, Mexico and Central America, however also works in other big cities around the world. Want to know where those police are hiding? This app can save you money by slowing down in those trouble spots. We have logged hundreds of thousands of miles in a vehicle and have used this app to our advantage.
IRCTC App
Indian Railway PNR / IRCTC Is your go to app on the Indian Railway System. When you buy a ticket from IRCTC, you will get a unique 10 digit number called PNR number. This PNR Number is your Passenger Name Record number. The app also allows you to see train schedules in India and know if a train is delayed (very common). We found this app a valuable time saver and a great source of information for booking multiple legs all over the country. The Indian Rail System was overwhelming before finding this app. A must!