Kayak

A resource for the spontaneous traveler. Don’t know where you want to go? Search flights to ‘everywhere’ to uncover cheap and random destinations.

Booking.com

I book about 90% of my hotels and hostels through Booking.com. Extensive and detailed filters with great maps and fair pricing. Huge selection.

Hostelworld

Occasionally returns better prices than Booking.com, but offers only hostels. Great site for solo travelers who don’t mind a little company.

Airbnb

Rent from real people and find one-of-a-kind properties. Great for long-term rentals, often with a big discount.

Couch Surfing

A budget travelers dream. Stay for FREE with like-minded folks from all walks of life. Don’t forget to offer up your couch when you get home.

Kayak

Great site to search for affordable rental cars across a wide variety of brands. A convenient option to find cars to rent from the airport.

Turo

Rent personal cars, trucks, and camper vans, often times at a far better price than at the airport. Think of Turo as an Airbnb for cars.

Getaround

Very similar to Turo, but also offers car rental by the hour. Great place to find a personal ride for day trips or short jaunts around town.

World Nomads

Thankfully, I’ve never needed to make a travel insurance claim. World Nomads offers fair prices and insures every single item in your travel bag.

Osprey Porter 46 Backpack

Great backpack for ‘carry-on only’ travelers. Comfortable and durable. Plenty of storage and many useful pockets. A very well-designed bag.

ExOfficio Sol Cool Camino Pants

Legs zip off into shorts. Lightweight and comfortable. Spacious pockets with zippers for security. Stylish (not dorky like many zip-offs) and versatile.

Chaco Z1 Classic Sandals

Extremely comfortable once broken in. Sturdy and durable for hiking and athletic activities. Allow your feet to breathe. Great for warm-weather destinations.

Sony Xtra Bass Headphones

Excellent sound quality. Great at blocking out external noise. Microphone for phone calls. Lightweight and fold up compact for travel.

Howard Leight Earplugs

Best earplugs I’ve used hands down. Extremely comfortable and effective. Don’t fall out in the middle of the night. An essential piece of travel gear.

Packing Cubes

Vital to staying organized on the road. Mesh allows for clean clothes to stay fresh. Keeps clean and dirty clothes separate. A must-have for travel packing.

Dr. Bronner’s Soap

Versatile soap with 18 different uses. Strong and effective, smells great. Healthy and sustainable ingredients. A little goes a very long way.

Click here to view my carry-on only travel packing list.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Best all-around travel credit card. Travel insurance included. Airport lounge access. Free global entry pass. Earns 3 points per dollar on travel.

Chase United Explorer

United miles often get you more than other airline rewards cards. Generous rewards program spanning multiple airlines. Two free checked bags.

Capital One Venture Rewards

Earn 2 points per dollar on every purchase. Earns 10 miles per dollar on Hotels.com. No foreign transaction fees. No annual fee for the first year.

Workaway

Has a vast database of jobs and volunteer opportunities in over 180 countries worldwide. Widely used and trusted.

HelpX

Much like Workaway, helpX provides users with an extensive database of work and volunteer opportunities in farms, hostels, boats, etc.

International TEFL Academy

Get your certification to teach English as a foreign language here. 1-2 month courses will qualify you to land teaching jobs worldwide.

WWOOF

Find volunteer opportunities worldwide to work on organic farms. Search through thousands of farms in countries far and wide.

TransitionsAbroad.com

Provides job and volunteer opportunities, expat resources, stories, recommendations, and more. They pay writers for meaningful content.

Maps.me

Rapidly growing network of offline maps. Known for their detailed hiking and trekking trail maps that are hard to find on any other maps. A must-have travel app.

Google Maps

Has more thorough and detailed city maps than Maps.me, but doesn’t map trails as well. Won’t allow you to download offline maps in countries that restrict Google.

WhatsApp

The go-to encrypted messaging app among travelers worldwide. Effortless text messaging, calling, and video chatting to anyone, anywhere.

Google Translate

Smooth and effortless translation for nearly any widely spoken language. Includes offline, voice, and photo translations. Another must-have travel app.

Unit Converter

Converts currency, temperature, weight, distance, speed, and everything in between. Most useful for travelers who are unfamiliar with the metric system.

Netflix

Watch shows and movies from a massive and well-known database in most countries worldwide. Use NordVPN to watch Netflix from restricted countries.