The life of a full time travel blogger sound luxurious, doesn’t? A dream job of plucking away a new blog post on a laptop with wildlife chittering in the background or toes in the sand snapping away photos. It may sound all glamour, but travel bloggers deal with the same things the average traveller does. Planning the trip, booking flights and rooms, finding a lost passport, overcoming language barriers, coughing up airline fees, and of course the struggle to have the best possible experience within their budget.
That’s why I asked a group of travel bloggers to share their best nuggets of wisdom. These tips range from the practical to the profound and the tips they share are applicable for any traveller, worldwide.
Rethink Lodging
Sofia Mazzamauro, Coveted Places
“Book an apartment instead of a hotel and be sure to seek out the local cuisine. I always try my hardest to travel off the beaten path. I love experiencing the food, people, and city I’m in through the eyes of the locals.”
Pack Wisely
Liz Steefensen, Tongue In Chic
“Pack things you aren’t afraid to part with because you’ll definitely need more room for newer and better items.”
Save On Flights
Sharon Tseung, Me Want Travel
“Sometimes it’s cheaper to fly to certain countries within the same continent of where you’re going, and travel country to country within that continent. For example, RyanAir is a cheap airline that allows you to fly within Europe usually around $10-50 per trip. If you were flying to Europe, it may be beneficial to fly into a ‘cheaper’ airport like Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy and then RyanAir it to your destination.”
Choose Your Seat Wisely
Johnny Bordonaro, Mexico Trippa
“When travelling by bus, sit on the same side of the bus that you put your backpack under the bus. That way, with all the stops before yours, you can watch and make sure that no one steals your backpack, and it will still be there when you get off the bus.”
Avoid Language Barriers
Jenn Flo Taylor, Hungry Belly Travels
“Take a snapshot of the name and address of your hotel in the native language of the destination before you arrive/before you leave the hotel. That way you can approach anyone for directions without having to worry about language barriers, just show them the snapshot (which is in their native language) and they will be able to understand and help you.”
Make Use Of Your Layover
Katie Harrington, Knowing Katie
“Use those hours of waiting around at the airport to research your destination – read a guide book or research online. Don’t miss out on something awesome because you didn’t know it was there!”
Prepare For Emergencies
Patti Reddi, The Savvy Globetrotter
“Scan a copy or picture of your front passport page to your email so it is easier to replace if it is lost. Contact your bank to let them know you will be using your credit card or debit card abroad. Leave your itinerary with a family member or loved one.”
Must Have Items
Vincent Lambercy, The PAX Blog
Make A Friend Before You Leave
Sally Cochrane, Safe Travels By Sally
“Find a trusted friend in your travel agent to help plan your trip. They have access to a wide range of wholesalers to compare prices and availability to get you the best deal. They can also help with more complicated itineraries and use their knowledge, experience and industry contacts to your advantage. And when everything goes wrong and there is an earthquake on the opposite side of the globe, they will have your back, sit on hold to the airlines for hours and find a way to get you home safely.”
Choose The Right Time
Sharmistha Sahoo, That Girl’s Life Stories
“Travel off-season! Like they say, there’s no bad weather, only bad clothes! I have saved sometimes over 40% by travelling off-season and have had the best of experiences! I end up avoiding crowds and exploring more destinations with the same budget as I save on tickets and accomodation rates.”
Be Prepared For The Worst
Jane Dempster-Smith, To Travel Too
“Keep an old credit card that has expired. For men, place it in an old wallet with 10USD – n case of getting robbed, this can be handed over in place of your true wallet. Another tip for an expired credit card is that some hotels now use a credit card to open and close room safes- instead of using an active one, use the expired one, just in case you get compromised!”
Save On Meals
Eline Meertens, The Third Left
“One of the things i do regularly to save money: eating right from the supermarket! A lot of ‘bigger’ supermarkets have areas with hot food or a place to heat food! This is a cheap place for dinner and you can eat your food in front of the supermarket as a picnic.”
Carry Documentation
Buena Paz Montero, Bon-Bon Voyage
“While there is no standard age limit to fly; commonly airlines allow a 2 day old baby to board as long as they have clearance from a doctor while other airlines follow a 7 day rule. If you travel internationally, you need to get passports for the kids.”
Location, Location, Location!
Christian På Tur Lindgren, Unusual Traveler
“Even if it might cost a bit more to stay central, you will save time and money on transportation.”
Eat Up!
Smriti Bhargav Raghunandan, A Timeless Odyssey
“Food, according to us, is the most important factor. It is always vital to keep food & water with you at all times – ensure you carry something dry to avoid any mess. If you are on your way to a hill station, do have a bunch of candies in hand. Also, be sure to try out the local food!”
Consider A Hostel
Cathy Ries, The Trekking Cat
“Hostels come in many shapes and sizes. Some are clean and some have mold constantly growing in the showers. They can be closer to town or out in the boonies. To make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, check out the customer reviews on a hostel before booking it. The more reviews there are for a hostel, the better of an idea you can have on how the hostel really is.”
Bring Good Tunes
Vik Vek, I Am Vagabond
“Everything good in life should start with that good music (good is relative). iPad, iPod, iPhone or your dad’s CDs or Grandpa’s mixed tape.”
Expand Your Literary Horizons
Mery Poppins, Travel With Mery
“Love reading? Always carry a book with you, at least one! If you take a book with you, once you finish it, you might have the opportunity to exchange it with another one you haven’t read. In some hotels or B&B they have shelves where you leave a book and take a new one!”
Save On Flights
Wayne Dunlap, Plan Your Escape
“On the average, flying on these days offer the best airfare deals: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.”
Brenda
May 1, 2017 at 6:11 pmTo limit the clothing I take, I am washing out garments in the sink at home and timing how long it takes for each piece to dry. Amazing at the differences.
womenfashion
April 1, 2016 at 10:22 pmExcellent tips! I think that rethinking lodging is a great piece of advice. It’s important to be comfortable wherever you stay while you are on vacation.
RashmiChalukya
April 1, 2016 at 5:25 amWe could so relate with all of these tips Jenn.Looks like we gonna join the smart travellers squad soon. For us learning about the place we visiting and little homework on history and culture of the city attractions is most important. This would definitely make our visit more meaningful and fruitful.
Paula
March 21, 2016 at 3:26 amSo many great tips! I really like the idea of taking a photo of your hotel’s address before leaving for the day … I For travel, I always take a photo of my rental car’s license plate so I can have it handy if a hotel asks for it. It’s usually on the keys, but if it isn’t you don’t have to run back out to the parking lot.
Stacey
March 19, 2016 at 6:29 pmExcellent tips! Keeping important documentation on your body is very important.
Eileen
March 18, 2016 at 11:58 pmI love your travel tips. I love to utilize a long layover and get out and explore the area . Also love your idea of snapshot the hotel in original language to avoid any confusion
Toughcookiemommy
March 18, 2016 at 9:56 pmI think that rethinking lodging is a great piece of advice. It’s important to be comfortable wherever you stay while you are on vacation. In order to accomplish that, you should do some research in advance.
Cassie
March 18, 2016 at 10:38 amThese are such great tips! My wife and I are doing some traveling next week, so this will come in handy. 🙂
Cat
March 17, 2016 at 8:52 pmVery informative post! I’ve never traveled internationally, other than Canada, though I would love to. I will definitely put the tip about the cheapest days to fly to use! I’m going to see my bestie in North Dakota this fall and I was debating between Saturday and Sunday. So now I know to go on Saturday! 😀
Koninika
March 17, 2016 at 7:33 pmThat was so cute an informative post! It was not only educational but also fun to see the pictures connecting the different threads and all the essentials required for traveling! Very comprehensive list! Great post!!
gigi
March 17, 2016 at 3:35 pmWhat a great post! I especially love the suggestion of Jane Dempster-Smith for keeping an expired credit card and wallet! Never would have thought of that!
laura londergan
March 17, 2016 at 1:03 pmwhat a great list of tips. My fave would be to forego a hotel and opt for a lil apartment or condo if possible – that way it can save on money too if you can cook some of the meals yourself
Heather
March 17, 2016 at 12:11 pmWhat a great collection of tips! We don’t travel away too much, but love to take day trips to go hiking. My kids love it, and it is pretty cost effective 🙂
Terri
March 17, 2016 at 6:22 amThese are amazing tips. I love the idea of keeping an expired credit card in case you get mugged. That’s a genius idea I’m definitely following and passing along.
Siniciliya
March 17, 2016 at 5:26 amThese are some amazing tips from fellow travel bloggers! Love discovering new travel blogs, thank you for sharing
jill conyers
March 17, 2016 at 4:14 amGreat blogs! My favorite thing about travel blogs is the photos. Amazing and beautiful photos from far away places. Love it.
Brittany
March 17, 2016 at 2:31 amI love traveling. This post is full of great advice! All the pictures are beautiful.
Southern Soul
tiaras and tantrums
March 16, 2016 at 11:32 pmwow! you are ‘packed’ with some information here! My husband and I love to travel and miss it so much now that we have three kiddos!
Debra
March 16, 2016 at 11:07 pmI love the idea of staying in an apartment instead of hotel. I think it will let you see more of the local flare!
Becca
March 16, 2016 at 10:30 pmThis is full of great advice! I don’t travel much, but when I do, I try to stay as central as possible.
Maria
March 16, 2016 at 9:06 pmI love all of these tips. I travelled quite a bit last year and hoping to do the same this year. I always worry about carrying paperwork, cash and credit cards, and make sure to leave copies of insurance and passports accessible via email.
mcihele!
March 16, 2016 at 8:46 pmthis is an amazing list…. some of them are so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t think of them(good thing I found your post!!:)! I started to write them down but then I thought they all were so good so I had to print them out and put them in my travel file!
Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories
March 16, 2016 at 6:07 pmI so need these tips. I just booked tickets to travel to Spain this summer with the family. I’m nervous and excited so this definitely helps. I never thought to take an expired credit card. Pinned, thanks for sharing!
Ana De- Jesus
March 16, 2016 at 5:50 pmI actually follow some of the bloggers mentioned and they make some very valuable points to make. I didn’t know you could get flights on Ryan Air from 10-15 pounds.
Johnny
March 16, 2016 at 3:51 pmGreat tips Jenn. There’s a few in there that can help out loads that I always forget 🙂
Thanks for the mention too.
Heather lawrence
March 16, 2016 at 1:28 pmWe travel quite a bit too and we always make sure to pick up travel insurance.
Our last vacation our daughter had to go to the doctors because she got strep throat and it paid for itself.
So important to make sure your covered.
Michele
March 16, 2016 at 12:58 pmI absolutely love this. i’ve been dying to go on another trip I haven’t traveled in so long. This is seriously an amazing read.
Robin Masshole Mommy
March 16, 2016 at 5:49 amWe travel a lot, so I would agree with most of these. I ONLY sit in the aisle seat when I fly.
Patti
March 16, 2016 at 2:07 amGreat tips! Thanks for including my contribution.
Lucy
March 15, 2016 at 11:49 pmNumber 12 is such a good idea! My card just expired and I was about to chuck it out. Not any more!