Whether you are travelling for 1 week or 1 year, these ultimate tips are going to change your travel life! Here are my top five best travel hacks that I've learnt over the years...
1. Extension leads!
Multi country travelling? Take an extension lead. 10 days sunning yourself in Spain with the family? Take an extension lead. Why? Because you can then charge 4 or more items with only one adapter...I know. Why haven't you thought of this before? That's how I felt when I heard this tip from someone I was volunteering with. It's a game changer. Also, for multi country trips you can get great multi adapters from amazon that'll cover a lot of socket types and have built in USB slots.
2. Packing cubes and laundry bags
Save space, organise your clothes and keep your dirty clothes separate. Packing cubes, available on amazon, will stop you over packing and also encourage organisation within your luggage. Add some laundry bags to keep your washing in (and to carry to and from the wash room/laundry room etc) and your luggage life becomes next level. Packing cubes and laundry bags can be purchased together and come in a variety of funky patterns so you can fully express yourself! I purchased mine from here and got my laundry bags from Typo (they don't sell them anymore, but do have a great range of travel accessories!).
3. Never on a weekend...
Flights and hotels can be very expensive. My partner looked for flights to Thailand/Bali/Aus for our upcoming trip and found a quote for 1k. 2 minutes later and I had a quote for 400 quid.
The simplest things can help bring the price down for flights and hotels. The main one would be not flying out on or checking in on a weekend day. Saturday is the most expensive day for flights and hotels. I highly recommend using the 'my dates are flexible' button when searching for flights and hotels as this will show you a variety of options around the time you want to go. This will allow you to gauge the price range and the difference between say a Tuesday afternoon flight and a Saturday morning flight.
I know this is not always possible, but it really is worth planning well ahead to try and avoid the weekend price increase. Below is a list of websites and apps I regularly use to price compare, get the best deals and get cash back:
4. Never pay for bottled water
Especially at the airport! We all know airport prices are a tad extreme but where else can we go? Well, when it comes to water, Travel Bee is here to help you out! Liquids and airport security are a no go, but empty bottles? Not a problem! So...this hack splits into two:
Take an empty bottle with you through security and you can fill it up once in the airport. There are usually water fountains or bottle fill stations available.
OR
Take an empty filter bottle with you through security and you can fill it up anywhere, anytime from any water source. These are great not just for filtering tap water abroad but also for the long days exploring where you only have access to waterfalls or streams. These bottles will filter any water and make it safe to drink!
5. Multi currency cash passport card
Multi country travelling or long term travelling comes with the awkwardness of needing quite a lot of local currency. When I went to Gran Canaria, Indonesia and Australia I got a Multi Currency card from Tesco. It works like a normal debit card, you withdraw money using a pin or use it for day-to-day spending whilst abroad. You can load up to 7 different currencies onto the card making it the perfect option for country hopping and keeps your pockets light as you don't need a huge amount of local cash! I do, however, still recommend that you have a small amount of local currency which you keep separate from your cash card which is also separate from your bank card. If you lose your wallet you don't want all of your money options to be in there! Keep your bank card in your luggage or passport, keep the cash in your pockets and keep the cash card in your wallet.
(Using ATM's abroad can include a service charge)
So whether you are an experienced traveler, a newbie or someone struggling to sleep and deep in an internet hole, I hope these tips will come in handy for you!
Share your best travel tips, hacks and advice down below! I'd love to hear them.
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