TRAVEL RESOURCE RECOMMENDATIONS
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Travel Booking Resources
Group Adventure tours
Small group adventure tours can be great if you prefer to travel with company or if you don’t have a lot of time to plan your trip and want a done-for-you solution so that you can get the most from your limited annual leave.
I have taken many small group adventure tours over the years including travelling with G Adventures 9 times! So I guess you could say they were a favourite of mine! That said, Intrepid Travel is a similar company and worth looking at too. I’ve travelled with Intrepid twice and wouldn’t hesitate to take another trip with them.
Both companies focus on small group, adventurous itineraries which have a positive impact on the lives of those in the countries they visit. Both have some great environmental initiatives and support very worthy charities.
If you are looking for something more niche such as a luxury safari tour then Tour Radar is a great place to look as they work with a huge variety of tour companies.
Intrepid travel
DAY TRIPS
Organised day trips can be a great way to see something beyond the beaten track, especially if you don’t have access to your own transport whilst travelling. With anything from beach horse treks and quad biking to tours of Roman ruins. My personal favourite company is Get Your Guide but Klook is a little more well known in Asia and Viator is most popular in the US.
ACCOMMODATION BOOKING SITES
Booking.com is my preferred tool for booking accommodation whenever I travel. Many hotels do not require upfront payment allowing for cancellations. You can also filter by facilities, location or price. It’s rare I find accommodation cheaper elsewhere!
VRBO is similar to Airbnb with self catered accommodation. Airbnb have made some unethical decisions lately so I prefer to support VRBO.
Hostelworld is great if you are a backpacker on a budget.
TRavel insurance
For adventure travel insurance, you can’t go far wrong with Nomads. They cover most adventure activities and also have cover for Covid cancellations and self-isolation costs.
Safety Wing is more suitable for those requiring long term travel insurance e.g. nomads
Booking Flights...
Skyscanner is my go-to tool for finding great flight deals. I like that you can search by airports and opt to have flexible dates or locations to find the best deals.
However, if you are looking for the crazy good flight deals, consider joining a flight newsletter membership such as Scott’s cheap flights (for those in the US) or Jack’s flight club (for those in the UK.)
They round up all the best flights including error flights where an airline put the decimal point in the wrong place!! Then they send them to you via email so you can snap them up before anyone else finds them! This can save you up to 90% on flights.
UK DAYTRIP memberships
Since buying my campervan, I am making good use of my National Trust membership saving money on car parks and visiting attractions such as castles, nature reserves, gardens and places of natural beauty.
The English Heritage membership caters mostly to museum sand castles so is great for history buffs.
Travel Photography Resources
Creating great Travel photos
Taking beautiful travel photos is not as simple as point and click. You need to understand composition and you will also probably want to edit your photos to give them that ‘something extra.’ Lightroom is my go-to photo editing tool. I like to create or use presets to give my images a cohesive feel and the great thing about Lightroom is that it comes with an app so you can use the same presets on the go.
If you are not skilled with Lightroom, you may prefer to purchase some travel presets to ‘cheat’ your way to gorgeous images! My friend Marta sells the most beautiful presets which also comes with editing tutorials and bonus special effects.
If you are looking to learn more about travel photography, a friend of mine runs an online course which is presented in a way which is clear and perfect for beginners. There’s also modules on editing your images.
LIGHTROOM & PHOTOSHOP
travel CAMERAS
Travel photography can get pretty pricey pretty quickly so before you go shopping, sit down and think about what you really need. You might not need a full frame mirrorless camera like my Sony A7iii if you are not a professional or serious photographer and a smaller more compact camera may be more suitable. Here are a few of my camera recommendations to suit a range of budgets…
Travel Photography Accessories
From lenses to camera bags to filters and comfy camera straps, there are a few bits of kit you’ll need to invest in. I recommend choosing a camera bag which disguises itself as a non camera bag to avoid being a target for theft. Or get a theft proof bag!
For lenses, you will need a go-to lens in the 24-70mm range. Beyond that, consider what type of photography you will enjoy. Wildlife photography? You’ll need a telephoto lens which reaches 300mm. Landscape photography? You’ll need a wide angle lens which drops to < 16mm to fit as much into the picture as possible. For portraits, you’ll need a camera with a wide aperture to get that lovely blurred background bokeh effect. Look for something around f2.8.
The Mia Bag
Variable Neutral density filter
SONY REMOTE CONTROL
Things to take backpacking
TRAVEL GEAR.
There are so many things you can get now designed to make your life a little easier when you travel. But the one thing I would urge you to spend your money on is a good backpack which is well balanced, fits properly and has enough pockets! Osprey are my favourite brand!
You may also want to consider a theft proof day bag. Packing cubes are also going to make your life a lot easier.
ANTI-THEFT BACKPACK
OSPREY 65L BACKPACK
beats ear buds
Hair and beauty finds for travellers
Travel hair & beauty finds...
If you are trying to travel light, you will need to find your ‘power products’ which can keep your skin and hair looking healthy on the road with minimal fuss.
If you have frizzy hair which misbehaves when you travel, I highly recommend a keratin treatment which will help smooth and relax your hair so no hair dryer or straighteners are required!
Make sure you use reef safe sunscreen that won’t damage coral or sea life and try to choose makeup with SPF included.
It’s a 10 is the miracle hair product I am loving right now. It’s the only hair product you will need on the road!
Try to use multi-use products to save space and choose makeup with staying power to resist humidity.
It's a 10
keratin treatment
boing concealer
clinique mascara
12 VOLT straighteners
Provocalips Lip gloss
Tools you will need for your travel blog
Travel blogging resources...
Want to start a travel blog? There are a few things you’ll need to get set up like hosting, a theme and a keyword research tool. I also have a 2nd blog Passive Income Superstars where I teach how to monetise your blog. You will find lots of resources and tips over there to get you started. In the meantime, here are a few essentials you will need.
Lyrical Host
OCEAN WP
Keysearch
Thirsty Affiliates
Tailwind
smarter queue
Convertkit
canva pro
elementor
amalinks pro
frase
lasso
POdia
Thrivecart
convertbox
Want to learn more about travel blogging?
I run a 2nd website teaching bloggers how to make a passive income and have various blog posts, freebies, courses, ebooks and templates you can use to help teach you how to earn a full-time income from travel blogging as I have. Here are some resources which may interest you…
