Travel Resource Guide
TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS
There are hundreds, even thousands of travel related companies in the world today, finding the best can be a little daunting to say the least. As a result, we have created this travel recommendations page to easily list and show you guys what we personally use when travelling the world, and we know what will be valuable to you. We have planned, booked and used these items on countless trips, and would never recommend a product we do not believe in. This way you can quickly find great and trustworthy products and services all in one place. You can save thousands of dollars all from one page, as we have done the work for you!
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, but these are all products we highly recommend. We won’t put anything on this page that we haven’t verified and/or personally used.
SEARCHING FOR FLIGHTS
Skyscanner: Is an awesome website if you have lots of flexibility. You can search by country or even ‘anywhere’ (literally!). They compare millions of flights (including budget airlines which many other websites miss out) around the world to get you the best deal. Once you have found your deal through Skyscanner book directly with no extra fees.
Momondo: Another website we use when searching for flights. It’s a great website as it searches a lot of different online travel agencies. They can find airlines that offer the best deals and we love their calendar view, as it lets you see which days are cheapest to fly. Before we book any flights we always check through Momondo incase they have a better rate.
Expedia: Is one of the biggest online travel brands in the world, so we always check this site too before booking any flights. It is very reliable in terms of customer service, so if you’re looking for a well known, trustworthy brand Expedia is a great choice!
Kayak: Is almost always our first stop when we search for flights, as it has great filter options and a large search span. One of our favourite things about Kayak is their ‘predication graph’, which tells you whether you should buy now or wait, and 99% of the time it is really accurate!
Vayama: Is a great flight search engine if you are wanting international flights outside of the USA. If you’re looking at buying an international ticket, make sure to check Vayama before making any decisions, as on quite a few occasions we have found air fares on their site hundreds of (US) dollars cheaper than we’ve found elsewhere.
BOOKING ACCOMMODATION
Priceline.com: Is a little different to traditional booking sites. It is also one of our favourites, as it allows you to bid on hotels. This can save you a ton of money instead of booking it directly. In the past by using this website, we have managed to reduce the cost of our hotel by nearly 50% on the original price!
Agoda: Is undoubtably the best hotel booking site for Asia. Therefore if you’re looking to travel around Asia we cannot recommend Agoda enough! They have a wide range of hotels/hostels all the way up to top luxury retreats. When we travel around Asia we don’t use anyone else. Click here to find your perfect hotel!
Trivago: This is one our favourite website for hotels. It’s a metasearch engine that compares all the different booking platforms and sometimes also the hotel website itself. Most importantly though, Trivago has a fantastic interface, with everything being very neatly arranged, great, quick filter options and the possibility of searching a whole region (e.g. Oceania or Thailand) instead of having to go through all the different cities individually.
Airbnb: Is a great way to travel if you want to stay in homes or apartments instead of hotels and hostels. We’ve also given you £30 (AUD$50) off your first stay! This is an exclusive offer with us! You’ll get all the comforts of home, the chance to stay in a local, non-touristy part of where you are going, and pay a fraction of the cost of a hotel room – especially in large cities. Also, if you have a lot of people going travelling with you, you can split a house for a much cheaper price than it would be for everyone to get a hotel room.
Hostelworld: Is the top search provider for all things hostel related. With the largest inventory, best rates, and huge availability across all hostels around the world. You’ll find the most remote hostels through this site that you wouldn’t be able to get on similar sites. We use them for all our hostel bookings.
Cheaptickets.com: This is a little secret we had discover a few weeks ago, although they generally have the standard rates, there is almost always a code which you can use to get 16% of hotels. That is about as much of a general discount as you can get outside of big promotions which usually only last a few days. Have a look for the current code here!
Hotels.com: is very similar to Expedia, however they are slightly different, in a good way. They offer a loyalty program which you can receive1 free night after you have stayed 10 nights, which is a great option if you’re on holiday or staying in a few hotels whilst travelling! Hotels.com has over 20 million loyal customers including ourselves, so click here to join their loyalty program and start earning your free nights now!
BLOGGING RESOURCES
Bluehost: If you’re wanting to start you’re own WordPress blog/website for cheap, then choosing Bluehost is your best option, especially if you’re new or just starting out. We use Bluehost it’s excellent, with great customer service at your doorstep. It’s one of the top web hosting companies out there and you can start your own blog for as little as USD$3.95 a month! You’ll also receive a FREE domain and site builders and 24/7 customer service, if you use our link!
Instamazing Growth: Passion & Profits: This is our hand-crafted Instagram course! We spent over a year creating this course to perfection! We earned over $25,000 a yearjust through Instagram and we share our exact strategies and tips in this very informative online course! If you’re on Instagram and have had little success then you NEED this course!
Making sense of affiliate marketing: We purchased this program by Michelle of Making Sense of Cents, and WOW is it good?! Seriously, if you want to make money with affiliate marketing even while you sleep then this is the course for you. You will start off blogging the correct way. Michelle earns over $100,000 a MONTH, yes you heard that correctly! With this course she shows you the exact strategies how she managed it, and how you can do just that too! If you’re a blogger, then you NEED this course!
Blogging To Success Facebook Group: Join our new and free Facebook Group: Blogging to Success. We are a community that helps bloggers learn, grow and connect with others that “get it”. It doesn’t matter what niche, all are welcome! Even if you haven’t started a blog yet…welcome to the group!
Mailerlite: Building an email list is one of the most important things for a blogger. We use Mailerlite as our tool for building our subscriber list and sending weekly newsletters to them. Mailerlite uses beautiful user friendly designs, with so much flexibility compared to other providers like Mailchimp. It is also free until you have 1,000 subscribers (which is quite a lot!).
Canva: Always wondered how the top bloggers create beautiful Pinterest pins, or pictures on their website? Well Canva is the answer! You can create a variety of different types of content form Pinterest pins, blog titles, Facebook covers the list goes on. What’s more it is FREE to use, unless you want extra bonuses.
Envato Market: If you’re looking for hundreds of premium themes for your website, then Envato Market has it all. Nearly all the top travel bloggers have purchased they’re blog theme through this site, including ourselves. If you want to know what theme we use just shoot us an email!
TRAVEL PLANNING
Lonely Planet: are our guide books of choice. Before we visit a new country we always check out the Lonely Planet for tips on where to go within that country and any legal advice. One thing we must say is, don’t always stick to them, there are quite a few places they have missed out, so make sure to do some extra research too!
Trip Advisor: is great for viewing hotel/hostel review before you book that particular place. Many times we have very nearly booked accommodation, but when looking at the reviews generally they weren’t that great. Trip Advisor is great as you can read reviews and check for availability on that hotel, all in one website!
World Nomads: We have used them on many occasions when purchasing travel insurance. They are trusted and cover residents in over 150 countries worldwide whilst staying competitive, and great customer service. World Nomads are also recommended by Lonely Planet and National Geographic so you know they must be good. Note: PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT TRAVEL INSURANCE.
STA Travel: is a great website, especially for those in the UK and Australia. You can book flights (including round the world tickets at GREAT prices), tours, insurance, hotels and even work abroad through their website. It’s a great all in one site! STA Travel is also perfect for students and those under the age of 26 as on many occasions they offer hugely discounted rates compared to standard fares.
Intrepid Travel: is a great company if you are wanting to book a small group tour. They have very experienced guides and are environmentally conscious. Intrepid Travel are a great way to go if you are just starting off travelling as you’ll meet many great life long friends along the way.
TRANSPORTATION/CAR RENTALS
Uber: If you’re looking for a cheap taxi ride, then look no further than Uber. We love this company as it comes with a great app, and so far we’ve had nothing but good experiences with them. We also have a coupon for USD$20 off your first ride too! The Uber coupon code is ‘emmal7134ue‘ and you will get USD$20 off your first ride!
Rentalcars.com: is the worlds biggest car rental booking site. It is great for comparing different rental companies including the major brand like: Hertz, Europcar, Avis, Enterprise and much more. Therefore, where ever you are in the world you’ll be sure to find the best deal out there using Rentalcars.com!
GEAR/PHOTOGRAPHY
REI: if you’re from the USA this is without a doubt the best store to get all your gear and equipment from as they have free store pick up, with hundreds of stores nationwide. If you live outside the USA, don’t worry as they still ship worldwide but of course you cannot go in store to check sizing etc. Everything is high quality, they have major brands including Osprey, Deuter etc. The people who work at REI are pretty much experts, and they can help you find the best product for you. Shop REI here.
Cotswold Outdoor: if you’re from the UK, we would highly recommend Cotswold Outdoor, they are basically the UK equivalent of REI. We love to use them when in the UK because all of their products are high quality, they have many worldwide brands including Osprey and they ship all over the UK and even to Australia for cheap too!
Digital-Rev Store: We found this website through a friend, and since then we have bought our Sony A7Rii and Mavic Drone from it. The prices are substantially lower than anywhere else we have seen and their delivery is second to none. If you’re looking at buying a camera or similar seriously consider this site for a great deal!
Sony Alpha 7R II: We have just bought this beast of a camera, upgrading from our previous camera a Sony SLT A77. We cannot fault this camera, with 42MP, 4K video capabilities and amazing auto-focus, it’s without a doubt the best camera we have owned.
MacBook Pro 13-Inch Retina Display 2016: We do all out editing, blogging and social media on our MacBook Pro, and wouldn’t change it for the world. We find it easy to use, and it never breaks down. We love our Mac. Once you go Mac, you never go back!
Iphone 7: It probably clear to you that we are loyal Apple buyers! But the new iPhone 7 is out of this world! It’s functional, quick, the battery lasts a lifetime and it’s waterproof (we have yet to try this out, as we are a little scared!).
Lightroom: For photo editing, our favourite is without a doubt Lightroom, is may be a little expensive but it is 100% worth it if you want beautiful, crisp and edited pictures. Lightroom includes a comprehensive set of advanced tools for tone, contrast, colour, noise reduction, and much more. If you want to take your photography skills to the next level, we suggest purchasing this!
