Before we started traveling often, I would spend hours searching the internet for the perfect travel tips and tricks to save us time, money, and frustration. Basically looking for a way to maximize our vacation days.
But over the past 5 years of traveling we’ve picked up a few things along the way. Some of these travel tips we didn’t realize were useful when we originally found them on the web, and others we have never seen anyone else do.
Ready to be mind-blown? Read on for 15 of our best travel tips & tricks – You can even download 5 bonus tips from our free travel resource library!
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Travel Tips
1) Pack some plastic baggies with you
We always take 3 or 4 plastic sandwich baggies on our trips – they are great for holding trash on road trips or dividing up toiletries when airport staff ask you to (for some annoying reason).
They are also especially handy for storing unusual souvenirs – like rocks from different parts of the world or sand from the desert or beach – you know..if you collect those sorts of things 😛
The best part is that they take up almost no room in your luggage and will come in handy when you least expect it.
2) Always pack a scarf
Scarves are great for so many things:
- Blanket on board the plan
- Beach towel
- Somewhere to sit when the ground is dirty
- Head wrap for the cold
- Pillow for the plane ride/car ride/train ride
- Wrapping up delicate souvenirs
- Handkerchief
- Something to prop up the camera
- Pop of color for travel photos
I have a pink scarf that I take on every trip with us and the best part is that I can wash it in any bathroom sink and hang it to try in the hotel room overnight. Good as new and ready to go.
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3) Reconsider souvenirs
When we first started traveling, we would buy something for all our family members wherever we went. After a while that grew old and our family members would only appreciate it for about 5 mins.
That didn’t seem to be worth the week and a half of lugging gifts around with us #sorrynotsorry.
Not to mention that it ate into our (limited) travel budget and took up space in our carry-ons. If you absolutely have to get gifts, see if the shop can ship them back home for you – you’d be surprised how many shops actually have this service.
4) Bring back something to share
I know, I know – this seems contradictory to what I just said.
But it’s not, I promise.
We gave up buying souvenirs for family members (unless it’s something incredibly special like babouches in Marrakesh)
Instead of getting everyone gifts we usually bring back something edible (or drinkable 😉 to share with family. This usually means buying sweets right before we head to the airport and carrying them on the plane with us, or bringing back wine in our check-in luggage (and yes, thats totally allowed!)
5) For goodness sake use packing cubes!
If you’ve read my other posts, you know I sware by these things.
I honestly can’t believe how many people have never heard of or choose not to use packing cubes.
You know how you pack everything all nice and snug in your luggage, and then after you take it out and use it, it just doesn’t go back in the same way?
Enter packing cubes.
And they’re especially useful if you’re looking for something in a hurry – like when they tell you your bag is 0.0003 grams over the bag limit and you need to move something to the other bag asap 😛
Julien gave me these ones for Christmas one year and I’ve never gone back.
6) Wine & dine - sometimes
On vacation you end up eating at a lot of restaurants, that’s just how it goes.
But eating out every day is expensive and I don’t really want to cook my own meals on vacation.
So we do something like this: one day we’ll have a nice sit-down lunch and then find a cheaper option for dinner (street food maybe?) But then the next day we’ll swap them and do a nicer dinner and a light lunch.
This was saves us $$ since restaurants usually charge less for lunch and the options are just as nice!
7) Travel light
Most people already know that they should pack light, but then end up taking 4 suitcases for a 1 week trip anyway.
Trust me, you don’t need that extra pair of high heels or another phone charger. Unless you’re going to a remote part of an uninhabited island, whatever you forget to pack (or decide you can’t live without) you can buy once you get there.
We always use lightweight carry-ons to start with, which really increases how much stuff we can actually pack. And if you need even more guidance, we’ve written an entire post about how to pack light. If even includes some things you would have never thought of.
8) Download a translator app
Even though we try to learn a few words in the native language before we go anywhere (like in this Italian Phrases to Know post) it’s impossible to become fluent in every language –obviously.
Since we always have wifi through our International T-Mobile plan, we use Google translate while we travel.
It’s free and they have a new feature where you can hover over a page with your camera and it will automatically translate the text for you!
9) Wear your heavy stuff
If you’re over on your bag allowance, consider wearing some of you clothes and then changing on the plane.
For example, I often wear jeans on top of my leggings and then just take them off when I’m on board.
This applies to anything you can wear, really. Time to get creative 😉
10) Use social media
I’m actually not talking about posting photos while you travel.
Instagram and Pinterest are amazing for finding beautiful locations around the globe, but they can also be useful once you’re there.
The key is to SAVE the posts into your collections on IG or PIN them to your boards on Pinterest.
You can even make an entire new collection/board for the place you’re going. Then when you get to your destination, you have an entire list of things to do – with pretty pictures 🙂
And if you don’t have wifi you can always screenshot them before you go!
These two are some of my absolute favorite travel apps for planning a trip!
Found this spot on Instagram!
11) Check your passport
I can’t stress this enough – actually look at your passport before you travel.
Check the expiration date AND make sure that it doesn’t expire for at least 6 months after your return date.
A bunch of countries won’t let you in if your passport’s expiration date is less than 6 months away. I know someone who got to the airport last week and couldn’t get on the plane because her passport was going to expire before her return date.
Talk about a waste of money!
12) Pack your passport (and anything else you need)
Did I really just write that?
Yup! Turns out it’s easier to forget things than you think.
An easy way to remember the important items is to always store your passport inside of your luggage. Or anything else that’s super important.
This has saved us so many times.
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13) Get there early
Anyone who knows me, knows I’m usually running late.
But when we travel we try to be on time for things, and it was usually good enough.
Until one time – we were taking a bus from Prague to Munich and thought we had it all figured out.
We knew exactly where the bus station was and what time we need to actually be on the bus. We got there just in the nick of time – to watch the bus drive away.
Turns out the train terminal was right next to the bus stop (as planned) but in order to actually get to the bus stop you had to go underground and back up to the street.
We ended up missing the bus we originally paid $40 for. Instead we ended up having to pay $200 from Prague to Nuremberg and then another $240 to get from Nuremberg to Munich.
I cried the whole way there. Moral of the story: always.get.there.early.
So if you only remember one of our recommended travel tips, this one should be it!
14) Pack multiple converters
If you’re traveling to a different country, there’s a good chance you’ll need an adapter/converter for your electronics.
We have 3 or 4 that we pack every time. This is because some don’t work everywhere – even when they’re supposed to.
Annnd we don’t have the time to constantly be switching the phones/laptop/etc to make sure everything is charged.
Do yourself a favor and pack a few. Download the 5 bonus tips from our free travel resource library for an extra hint about this 😉
15) Travel in the off-season
Every popular travel destination has a high season (that time of year where the hoards of tourists flock there.)
And while it can be tempting to travel there in the busy season since the weather is nicer, the kids are out of school, etc, it’s definitely worth while to wait it out.
First of all, the flight and hotel prices are always cheaper during the off-season. And secondly it’s less crowded.
Who wants to share their vacation with flocks of tourists anyway?
If you’re not sure when is the best time of year, do a quick Google search for (your destination) + off season and voila! Or just hop over to Skyscanner and search by the cheapest month.
These are some of our best travel tips! Most of them are things we’ve learned after years of travel and knew you would benefit from too!
But of course, we saved the very best for last…click here to get the 5 bonus tips we talked about from our free travel resource library!
Happy travels!
– Veronica
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Congratulations , it is a very interesting blog and very useful travel plan check list. I never thought about many of those tips you provides. I will consider then in my next tip.
Thanks Elizabeth! I’m so glad they were helpful!