After loads of solo and group trips all around the globe for the past 10 years, we know travel searching can be SO time consuming.
That is why sharing good travel tools with fellow travelers is extremely important!
From finding cheap flights, safe hostels, off-the-beaten-path activities and friends to share it with, to creating a complete itinerary for a new destination…
Here are all the travel planning tools we use on a daily basis and why YOU should use them too.
How to find the best travel insurance?
First and foremost, travel insurance is THE most important thing when you’re traveling abroad. Just like at home, but even more so when you’re on an adventure, you MUST be insured at all times.
All kinds of situations can happen anywhere, but it’s even more the case when you’re unfamiliar with a country’s customs. When you travel abroad, your body may not be used to the climate or the food. Even if the environment is similar to your home country, you simply don’t know how the medical system works there.
✅ For stress-free travel, we recommend SafetyWing’s Nomad insurance. It offers worldwide coverage and a simple claims procedure, which can be tedious with other travel insurance companies.
How to find cheap flights?
Skyscanner – it is by far the best flight comparator on the web.
There are many options available on their website that make it super easy for travelers to find the best air travel deals. If you are looking for a flight to a specific city, you can do your research directly.
However, if you don’t know where to go in a country or in the world, you can choose the “explore anywhere” option. That is super useful to find very cheap flight tickets!
Last but not least, if you have flexible dates, you can choose to see the prices for every day of the month. Using this tool, you will easily find the cheapest days or even months.
Skiplagged – a great tool to find good deals for long flights. They are looking for great layovers in order for you to find the absolute best prices.
Easyjet – if you’re traveling within Europe’s borders, Easyjet is a great low cost airline company.
How to find the best accommodation around the world?
Booking – it’s no secret, Booking is THE most complete platform to find hotels online to anywhere in the world. I use it almost daily, even when I am not traveling, because a girl can dream, right? It’s an endless resource for hotels at good rates.
Airbnb – if you are not a fan of hotel and would rather sleep at a local’s place, or have their whole accommodation to yourself, Airbnb is a super great ressource.
Hostelworld – when traveling on a budget, hostels are your best bet. It’s a super affordable way to find accommodation almost anywhere for a good price. Hostelworld offers the most comprehensive hostel catalog.
Couchsurfing – the absolute best way to stay at a local’s place for free! People offer a couch or bed to travelers for free and it’s usually a good way to discover the city or town from a local’s point of view.
WWOOF – a new way of travel. You get free accommodation and food in an organic farm around the world in exchange for some hours of your time per day. You help at the farm and discover a new place for free at the same time!
Workaway – for only $40 USD per year, you can live anywhere in the world while working part-time for your host.
Trusted Housesitters – when people go on holiday, they usually need someone to care for their pets or plants. You can stay at their place for free just by taking care of their house.
How to find quality day tours?
Viator – it’s not always easy to find great activities to do somewhere, and get to the spot… Viator makes it super easy by offering the best tours of each place.
They usually include a pick off and drop off at your hotel, and sometimes a meal, in their tours. You can book online in advance any activity in the world and still have a local tour guide!
GetYourGuide – this platform also offers great tour opportunities at good deals. It is worldwide but has a big catalog for the United-States.
Ask us – we LOVE to dig deep into the web to find the best tours for you guys. Please let us know if you need help finding a tour or organizing your whole trip at soline@ontheroadiary.com.
How to go around abroad?
Discover Cars – the most flexible option to go around when travelling abroad is to rent a car. You will be able to drive anywhere, which is super useful when you want to see it all or go off the beaten paths.
However, you don’t always know local car companies. Discover Cars is a worldwide wide company that compares the local and international car rentals companies of any country to find the best deal.
Discover Cars also offers great and cheap insurances when you rent a car through them.
Flixbus – the most reliable bus network when traveling is Flixbus. It offers bus journeys almost everywhere in Europe, at affordable rates.
Rome2Rio – a good search engine when looking for transport options from one to another, anywhere in the world. We usually check it for internal trips, and then double-check with local offices.
How to choose the best travel insurance?
Chapka Insurance – when traveling abroad, it is important to be able to benefit from medical care while being financially covered.
Even in countries with good medical structures, you must get insurance in case you need to receive important care. Chapka offers great insurance deals, especially for backpackers and long term travelers.
How to pay abroad?
International Bank Card – what’s worse than having a non-working bank card when traveling? Revolut is a great debit card with no foreign transaction fees, good exchange rates and many available currencies.
Wise – the best platform for sending money internationally. They have a multi-currency system that eliminates international fees. You will only pay what you need to and nothing more.
What to pack when traveling?
Witzman Travel Backpack – a vintage brown backpack with super useful features: loads of outside and inside pockets and a large zip pocket you can fully open.
Carry-on Luggage – the airline-approved luggage you must have at all times.
Power Bank – if you don’t have a working phone abroad, you WILL be lost and stressed. Don’t do that to yourself and buy a big power bank to make sure you will have a charged phone at ANY time! This one is 26,800 MAH and should be able to charge your phone about 6 times.
International Adapter – why spend money on different adaptors that only works for the UK, USA or Europe, when you can buy one that works WORLDWIDE?
Tripod – a very practical purchase when you’re traveling alone, but also when you’re traveling with others! A tripod will allow you to include yourself in all your landscape photos without waiting for someone to pass by.
Luggage Portable Scale – always worried when it come to weighing your luggage at the airport counter? With a baggage portable scale, you can bring home souvenirs and know exactly how much your suitcase weighs before you arrive at the airport.
Self-cleaning Insulated Bottle (NSF Certified UV Water Purifier) – having water on you at all times is so precious when traveling, especially in countries where tap water is not drinkable.
How to stay connected when traveling?
Sim card – we cannot stress enough how important it is to buy a local sim card when traveling abroad.
Even if you have a good phone operator from your home country, it might not have the best coverage in natural areas of a foreign country. It’s important to have signal anywhere when you are traveling in an unknown place.
NordVPN – you may want to use a VPN in a foreign country. The two main reasons are to have a secure online connection and to be able to access content from your home country that is blocked abroad. NordVPN is one of the best VPN providers.
How to meet people when traveling alone?
Hostel and group activities – these two are your absolute best bets for meeting people when traveling on your own. It makes it incredibly easy, because people will talk to you and ask you about your trip right away when they see you alone.
Meetup – the best platform to find friends to do activities with. Whether it’s a drink, a hike in the mountains or a visit to a tourist site, you can join or suggest any activity and find fellow travelers to share it with!
Facebook groups – the best use of Facebook you can possibly do is look for a group of travelers in your destination and link up with them.
How to travel for free?
I went to Bali without paying for flight tickets, had accommodation for two months for free, used my love of writing to stay at luxurious villas without paying a cent… All that, without being an influencer. And you can too!
Here are all the proven ways I already used to travel for free: