Here are some of my favorite travel related sites and cool apps that can help you save money when booking your travel, find quality travel gear, and get some great information to help plan your trip.
If you use these referral links and codes, I may receive a small credit at no additional cost to you. Win win!
Sign up for Airbnb with my personal referral link to get $40 off your home booking and $15 to use toward an experience worth $50 or more.
Sign up using my personal invitation code h2fgo and your first ride is free (possibly up to $10)!
An interesting model similar to some other travel buddy sites, but they are in it for a profit so it's geared toward trip listings with a set price. You can join a trip, or become a trip leader and become a pseudo tour guide.
A branch of the Thorn Tree Forum to find travel partners.
A travel club designed and run for women
A free social network to find a travel partner
A fun listing by country/city of "hidden wonders". Definitely check here when planning your trips!
Guidebooks for the budget traveler. Good to use for schedules, general pricing, maps, and getting the lay of the land.
This is a tour site but I use it for the SE Asia weather maps to help determine the best areas to visit during certain months. Choose a country and month.
Discover some amazing places to visit.
Big brands sold on sale.
Always look around for people selling their used or new items at a huge discount.
Some used stuff, and some stores selling items at a great discount that were tried on or were returns.
The clearance side of REI! Sometimes you get out-of-this-world discounts.
Find vast selection, epic brands and teeny tiny prices. A good place to find outdoor and travel gear on sale.
An oldie but a goodie. Great site with lots of info on living abroad and even international real estate.
A global community of women, a place where sisters can connect to form friendships around the world during their travels or even share their homes for free as part of a cultural exchange.
Help an adopted animal get to its new home overseas by allowing them as your extra baggage.
Formerly the Global Greeter Network, stroll buddies are volunteers that love their city so much that they want to show their place to you; for free!
Search most airlines easily with the rate calendar.
I've found they have lower prices on some flights.
I haven't used this much yet but am very curious how it will compare to using Google Flights.
A membership based site bringing you the cheapest domestic and international flight deals delivered right to your inbox.
A resource for worldwide airfare mistakes
They specialize in hidden city fares / point-beyond ticketing where you book a ticket to a city that has a layover in your intended destination. Airlines are cracking down on this, but for now, it's a good resource!
It can be a bit awkward to search but I like the map to see where the best deals are by location. Great if you have no idea where you want to go next!
Bringing together au pairs & host families from all over the world.
Looking to volunteer as crew on a boat for cheaper passage? Here's a good place to start (in addition to yacht clubs and bulletin boards).
Find or be an international house / pet sitter. Free sitting in exchange for free accommodation.
Find or be an international house / pet sitter. Free sitting in exchange for free accommodation.
Become an international house sitter.
Freelancer job listings
Temporary hospitality jobs overseas
Travel the world and get free accommodation in exchange for work.
Previously known as Working On Organic Farms, this site is now for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
Costco carries this brand and so far it seems pretty good for the low price. They have Cool and Heat lines.
One of my favorites for extremely functional clothing.
Great last-for-a-lifetime gear. From backpacks to pack-it organizer cubes.
Best travel undies! ;) and other good clothing too.
Great quality shoes. I have had Merrell sandals and hiking boots and both have been super comfy.
Consistently good quality performance clothing.
Great hiking shoes and boots.
Cute yoga and travel clothing.
Pick through to find some cute clothes. The tencel is great in hot weather.
Unfortunately, I now have to NOT recommend this brand. Everything I have gotten from them has ripped or failed in some way.
Quality athletic clothing, some of which work great for travel.
Inexpensive effective clothing. Mostly for base layers but I also love their mesh hoodie! HeatTech and Airism lines are awesome.
Great variety of lodging from rooms to entire houses. Sometimes their prices are lower than the other sites for the same place! (includes discount code)
Growing with more and more hotels worldwide for every budget. Free cancellation and discounted prices.
Stay for free (for a few days) with locals all over the world or offer your extra sleeping space. They also have regular meetup events in a bunch of cities.
A free database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the globe. The more people that know about this site and keep it updated, the better for all of us to avoid those dreaded things!
Free home and friendship sharing for women only. Find local accommodations, local or traveler meetups, and even travel buddies.
A community of people sharing spots to park overnight in your van/camper/RV
Like full immersion couch surfing, Servas hosts in over 100 countries open their homes to travelers who usually stay for two days and share their everyday lives. Traveler membership fee approx $98 USD.
Considering sleeping in an airport? Lots of good airport-specific tips here.
Coach bus transportation in the US and Europe (used to be MegaBus), the price varies based on demand and can be as low as $1!
Get the app! It's like Uber or Grab but for motorbike taxis and fast becoming a delivery giant for food and other services all over SE Asia.
Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.
Get the app! This is like Uber but the SE Asia version. Currently in Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and growing!
Coach bus transportation in the US and Canada (now FlixBus in Europe), the price varies based on demand and can be as low as $1!
Discover how to get anywhere by searching plane, train, bus, car and ferry routes.
How to travel by train or ferry worldwide. Train times, fares, how to buy tickets, advice & information.
Logistics and cost for getting to and from airports all around the world.
Get the app! Becoming worldwide, it can be a great alternative to taxis. Use my code (h2fgo) when you sign up and we'll each get some free credit! (includes discount code)
Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.
OOPS, this map is (temporarily?) down. A map with airport and lounge WiFi passwords constantly updated by contributors. There's also an offline app you can purchase.
At least once in a lifetime you've asked what is under your feet, on the other side of the world. This map helps you find the antipodes (the other side of the world) of any place on Earth.
Anyone can send @AskTSA a tweet, direct message on Twitter, or send AskTSA a message on Facebook Messenger to ask travel questions including sending a photo of an item to see if it's allowed on a plane.
Map showing indigenous people for various territories
Passport Index curates, sorts and ranks the world's passports. Explore passport designs, browse by visa-free score, color, or country and discover how they rank.
Incredible! Center the circle over a green dot on the Google Earth map to immediately listen to that radio station.
SORRY, no longer there. I'm looking for a new good one! By far the coolest and most detailed visual retirement calculator I have found. You can keep tweaking it until it tells you you are ready to retire! ;)
Just the basics, but it can tell you if you're on the right track to retire given your current savings.
A new way of mapping locations. Every 3m square in the world is assigned a unique 3 word address that can be mapped with the major mapping apps.
My "go to" for currency conversion.
Airport food delivery to your gate! Some are even delivered by cute rolly robot.
7,000+ locations to store your luggage for $5.90 per day. This company seems to have more locations available than Radical Storage.
Helps with campsites, trails, and maybe even more importantly, public toilets! ;) Australia & New Zealand only.
Free language courses.
This maps all of the free nasoni water fountains for you to refill your bottle or just get a quick drink at the fountain.
Get the app! It's like Uber or Grab but for motorbike taxis and fast becoming a delivery giant for food and other services all over SE Asia.
Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.
Offline language translation including audio and realtime translation using your camera.
Get the app! This is like Uber but the SE Asia version. Currently in Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and growing!
Yet another local luggage storage option. About the same price as the others at $5.95/hr, but they also offer the option of an hourly rate of $.95.
Offline world maps - great when you don't have data or wifi.
Not quite Global Entry, but you can use this when entering the US to skip the kiosk line and take your mobile receipt to a special customs line.
Formerly BagBNB, this site has a network of businesses and individuals who will store your luggage around the world. A bit pricey at around $6/day.
A map of places you can refill your water. They're not all free though.
Get the app! Becoming worldwide, it can be a great alternative to taxis. Use my code (h2fgo) when you sign up and we'll each get some free credit! (includes discount code)
Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.
The worldwide standard for free internet-based texting and calling.
My favorite online currency converter now has apps for every platform!