Resources, Links, Apps

Discounts  |  Travel Buddies  |  Destination Research  |  Clothing/Gear Shopping  |  Community  |  Flights  |  Work  |  Clothing/Gear Brands  |  Accommodation  |  Ground Transportation  |  Fun & Informative  |  Essential Travel Apps
 

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.

Discounts

If you use these referral links and codes, I may receive a small credit at no additional cost to you. Win win!

$40 Off Airbnb

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.

First Ride Free with Uber

Sign up using my personal invitation code h2fgo and your first ride is free (possibly up to $10)!

Travel Buddies

Join My Trip

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.

Lonely Planet Travel Companions

A branch of the Thorn Tree Forum to find travel partners.

Thelma & Louise

A travel club designed and run for women

Travel Buddies

A free social network to find a travel partner

Destination Research

Atlas Obscura

A fun listing by country/city of "hidden wonders". Definitely check here when planning your trips!

Lonely Planet

Guidebooks for the budget traveler. Good to use for schedules, general pricing, maps, and getting the lay of the land.

Selective Asia

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.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Discover some amazing places to visit.

Clothing/Gear Shopping

Backcountry

Big brands sold on sale.

EBay, Craigslist, Poshmark

Always look around for people selling their used or new items at a huge discount.

GearTrade

Some used stuff, and some stores selling items at a great discount that were tried on or were returns.

REI Garage

The clearance side of REI! Sometimes you get out-of-this-world discounts.

Sierra Trading Post

Find vast selection, epic brands and teeny tiny prices. A good place to find outdoor and travel gear on sale.

Community

EscapeArtist.com

An oldie but a goodie. Great site with lots of info on living abroad and even international real estate.

Host a Sister

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.

Soi Dog

Help an adopted animal get to its new home overseas by allowing them as your extra baggage.

Stroll Buddy

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!

Flights

Google Flights

Search most airlines easily with the rate calendar.

Hipmunk

I've found they have lower prices on some flights.

ITA Matrix Airfare Search

I haven't used this much yet but am very curious how it will compare to using Google Flights.

Scott's Cheap Flights

A membership based site bringing you the cheapest domestic and international flight deals delivered right to your inbox.

Secret Flying

A resource for worldwide airfare mistakes

Skiplagged

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!

SkyScanner

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!

Work

Au Pair World

Bringing together au pairs & host families from all over the world.

Crewbay

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).

House Carers

Find or be an international house / pet sitter. Free sitting in exchange for free accommodation.

Mind My House

Find or be an international house / pet sitter. Free sitting in exchange for free accommodation.

Trusted House Sitters

Become an international house sitter.

Upwork

Freelancer job listings

Workaway

Temporary hospitality jobs overseas

WorldPackers

Travel the world and get free accommodation in exchange for work.

WWOOF

Previously known as Working On Organic Farms, this site is now for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

Clothing/Gear Brands

32 Degress

Costco carries this brand and so far it seems pretty good for the low price. They have Cool and Heat lines.

Columbia

One of my favorites for extremely functional clothing.

Eagle Creek

Great last-for-a-lifetime gear. From backpacks to pack-it organizer cubes.

ExOfficio

Best travel undies! ;) and other good clothing too.

Merrell

Great quality shoes. I have had Merrell sandals and hiking boots and both have been super comfy.

Mountain Hardwear

Consistently good quality performance clothing.

Oboz Footwear

Great hiking shoes and boots.

Prana

Cute yoga and travel clothing.

Royal Robbins

Pick through to find some cute clothes. The tencel is great in hot weather.

Sea to Summit

Unfortunately, I now have to NOT recommend this brand. Everything I have gotten from them has ripped or failed in some way.

Under Armour

Quality athletic clothing, some of which work great for travel.

Uniqlo

Inexpensive effective clothing. Mostly for base layers but I also love their mesh hoodie! HeatTech and Airism lines are awesome.

Accommodation

Airbnb

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)

Booking.com

Growing with more and more hotels worldwide for every budget. Free cancellation and discounted prices.

Couch Surfing

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.

Global Bed Bug Registry

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!

Host a Sister

Free home and friendship sharing for women only. Find local accommodations, local or traveler meetups, and even travel buddies.

Park4Night

A community of people sharing spots to park overnight in your van/camper/RV

Servas

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.

Sleeping In Airports

Considering sleeping in an airport? Lots of good airport-specific tips here.

Ground Transportation

FlixBus

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!

Go-Jek

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.

Google Maps

Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.

Grab

Get the app! This is like Uber but the SE Asia version. Currently in Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and growing!

MegaBus

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!

Rome2rio

Discover how to get anywhere by searching plane, train, bus, car and ferry routes.

The Man in Seat Sixty-One

How to travel by train or ferry worldwide. Train times, fares, how to buy tickets, advice & information.

To and From the Airport

Logistics and cost for getting to and from airports all around the world.

Uber

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)

Waze

Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.

Fun & Informative

Airport WiFi Passwords Around The World

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.

Antipodes Map

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.

AskTSA

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.

Native Land

Map showing indigenous people for various territories

Passport Index

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.

Radio Garden

Incredible! Center the circle over a green dot on the Google Earth map to immediately listen to that radio station.

Retirement Calculator

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! ;)

Retirement Calculator, Quick & Easy

Just the basics, but it can tell you if you're on the right track to retire given your current savings.

What 3 Words

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.

XE.com International Currency Converter

My "go to" for currency conversion.

Essential Travel Apps

At Your Gate

Airport food delivery to your gate! Some are even delivered by cute rolly robot.

Bounce Luggage Storage

7,000+ locations to store your luggage for $5.90 per day. This company seems to have more locations available than Radical Storage.

CamperMate (New Zealand)

Helps with campsites, trails, and maybe even more importantly, public toilets! ;) Australia & New Zealand only.

Duolingo

Free language courses.

Fountains in Italy (I Nasoni di Roma for Apple) (Italy)

This maps all of the free nasoni water fountains for you to refill your bottle or just get a quick drink at the fountain.

Go-Jek

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.

Google Maps

Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.

Google Translate

Offline language translation including audio and realtime translation using your camera.

Grab

Get the app! This is like Uber but the SE Asia version. Currently in Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and growing!

Luggage Hero

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.

MAPS.ME

Offline world maps - great when you don't have data or wifi.

Mobile Passport Control (United States)

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.

Radical Storage

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.

Refill My Bottle

A map of places you can refill your water. They're not all free though.

Uber

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)

Waze

Worldwide maps and directions. GPS works even without WiFi or data. Downloadable offline maps.

WhatsApp

The worldwide standard for free internet-based texting and calling.

XE Currency Converter & Exchange Rate Calculator

My favorite online currency converter now has apps for every platform!