JK: Lesson Learned from 2 years of full time travel: 2 of 3

Lessons Learned from 2 years of full-time travel: 2 of 3

April 2024

Using Your Credit Card     

• Before you leave make sure you are NOT near your credit limit!
• Hotels and car rentals will often put a HOLD for hundreds of $ on your card when you check in
• Bring more than one CC, AND you and your travel partner(s) should try to each carry different CC’s
• Whenever possible use it!
• We like to have the Bank’s Notification feature turned on:
• Will send an email or a text when there is a transaction
• Notification of a foreign charge
• Most major banks DO NOT need you to notify them in advance when you plan to travel
• Check to see if your Credit Card issuer is one of them
• ALWAYS pay in the local currency – do not let them use the “pay in $US” feature on some Credit Card Terminals!! It’s just a way to charge you a BAD exchange rate.

 

Travel Insurance

• Research what your Credit Card may provide, especially true for Premium Travel cards.
• Does it meet your needs?
• Depending on your needs you can get Travel Insurance Per trip or per Year
• Does it include Medical Coverage
• providers?
• What type of Insurance do you need?
• trip cancellation?
• delayed flights
• lost luggage
• medical coverage
• medical evacuation
• repatriation to home country?

Clothing

• just JK's Opinion
• Travel Pants = synthetic, knit, easy to wash
• I like merino wool for T-Shirts, socks,
• Shoes:
• leather shoes may not be the best choice
• you almost NEVER need true hiking boots or shoes, use runners
• Bring a Rain Jacket with a hood (a ball cap adds a nice extra way to shield your face)
• Or a small collapsible umbrella
• I don’t bring “formal” clothes
• LF travels with a little more elegance
• Laundry
• Think about the Length of your trip
• Bring some generic soap(Dr. Brommers works well, also dry soap sheets now)
• Hotel versus local laundry service
• Hotels are often expensive, $$ per item
• Local laundry services might be $1 per Kilo
• Look for laundromats

Luggage

• We love 4 wheel “spinner” style luggage
• Soft side versus plastic clamshell?
• make sure the clamshell is polycarbonate or ???
• Clamshells tend to be cheaper, but the ballistic nylon that a good soft side is made of can take a real beating
• Put Apple AirTags in each suitcase (remember: change the battery annually!)
• Guys: travel with a smallish “day pack” sized knapsack as part of your carry on gear
• Or Bring a small collapsible travel knapsack (folds up SMALL)

 

Electrical

• We like "Cube" style plug converters
• do NOT bring true power converters (aka transformers) they are too heavy
• Most electronics can use multi-voltages (computers, iPads, mobile phones, shavers,
• Power banks (aka rechargeable batteries)
• highly recommended: if you are out all day shooting photos and navigating with your mobile phone, it's a drag to have it suddenly die
• Airlines do NOT allow most battery products in checked baggage (they need to be with you in the cabin)
• Bring USB-A and USB-C power cables (on the source side)
• many rental cars and hotels still use USB-A style power plugs
• BUT - more new cars are supplied with only USB-C

First Aid Kit

• On most vacations you will have access to a local medical clinics 
• 1st Aid Kit 
• Assorted band aids
• Pain killers
• Anti-diarrhea
• Antiseptic ointment
• Throat lozenges
• Maybe:
• Sea sickness patch (scopoline)
• Bug bite itch releif
• Other medication: maybe ambien for sleeping? (jet lag)

Booking Transportation

• Flight Research Tools = Google Flights, Sky Scanner
• We prefer to book flights DIRECTLY with the airline
• no middle-man if there are problems
  
• This is not always possible: ie if you are using Airline Points to book a flight on a partner airline
• Smaller regional flights, ferries, busses and trains use web/app called Rome2Rio
• After Flights are booked: 
• Get the App for the Airlines you booked and load your flights into the App
• We check in online and download Boarding Passes to the Apple Wallet on our phones
• But: at the airport we will usually ask for Paper Boarding Passes (just in case your phone dies)

Booking Rental Cars

• Costco Travel gives great deals for North America
• Online websites help get multiple competitive quotes
• QEEQ (my current favorite)
• AutoSlash
• RentalCars.com
• Many, many others
• check the big rental agencies (Avis, Hertz, Enterprise) especially ones that you have established a loyalty program membership
• go ahead and Book EARLY to lock in a good rate (many months is best! you can always cancel), check again later to see if the price has gone down – rebook as necessary.
• look into ONE WAY rentals if your travel plans require it. It's often free or pretty cheap to drop off at a different location.
• renting from a "non-airport" location is often cheaper
• BUT: these offices often have reduced hours for picking up or dropping off your rental. 
• We never use the pre-pay price option far in advance. Prefer to pay “at the counter” with a credit card.
• We NEVER take the Rental Car company extra insurance. Our Premium Credit Card provides primary insurance (see Credit Card Section)
• We NEVER pay for a GPS system (Apple Car play will connect the Google Maps App on our iPhones to many new cars, with a cable or wirelessly)
• In many parts of the world:
• Manual transmission: usually cheaper if you know how to drive one
• Diesel cars: better mileage and therefore longer drives times before refueling
• it makes sense to rent a small car:
• narrow roads, tiny parking spaces, expensive gasoline
• Electric Cars: I personally avoid renting EV’s for all foreign travel because I just don’t know about the availability of charging stations in those countries.

Booking Hotels

• Check availability of hotels in your Hotel Loyalty programs
• We use: 
• Hotels.com, 
• Booking.com 
• there are many sites you can use
• also Contact the Hotel Directly to see if they will give you a better rate than the 3rd party websites
• Many hotels encourage you to book direct by offering a better deal
• Check the room price with an included Breakfast, this is often a good deal
• Suggestion: don’t only stay in big international chain hotels. Local 2 or 3 star hotels are often very good.

Booking Short Term Rentals (Airbnb, VRBO, etc)

• There are lots of horror stories online. Most are probably true, but we have NOT had any major problems.
• We try to use Airbnb when we plan to stay 3+ nights. We find the fees they charge often make a 1-2 night stay less attractive.
• ALWAYS look at the total cost of your stay
• The price per night can be misleading. There are usually cleaning fees or local taxes that need to be added in.
• Read the reviews!
• if there are negative reviews: did the person explain what the problem was and whether it was resolved?
  
• When searching for a place, Enter:
• Location, 
• Dates you want, 
• book “the whole place” (not just a room), 
• do you want a kitchen?, we always want a kitchen.
  
• we always want Wi-Fi
• Options to filter the results: 
• washer, 
• drier (often you can get a washer but no drier) 
• dishwasher, 
• free parking
• We prefer a period of time where you can cancel for free (with no penalty), this is not always possible – depends on the Host of that property and when you are booking. 
• We usually paid about 50% up front and 50% nearer the rental period – ALWAYS pay thru the Airbnb website and on a Credit Card.
• being super safe: when you book take screen shots of the photos the Host provided to help prevent any "bait and switch" tricks
• Always communicate with the Host via the company website or app so there is a “communication paper trail”
• You MIGHT be able to bypass Airbnb and get a better deal, but we like the theoretical protection provided by Airbnb or VRBO.
• sometimes the Host will suggest using WhatsApp for simple coordination items like:
• setting up a time to meet to let you into the place - that's fine
• after gaining entry to the apartment we PHOTOGRAPH anything that looks damaged or "marked up" just to be able to show we didn't cause the problem.
• if something isn't right - immediately contact the Host via the Short Term Rental Company's website.

Booking a Group Tour (aka a “Packaged Tour”)

• Think about your comfort level traveling un-aided in certain countries
• There are: 
• Large Group tours > 15 people, 
• Small group  tours < 15 people
• Private tours: just you and your friends or family 
• Review the typical Age Group & Activity level to see if the tour is suitable for you.
• Transportation: Some use big 40+ person Coaches, or small vans, or local public transportation
• Some provide a Local Tour “Manager” and supplement with Local Guides as you move from place to place
• You can book thru international Aggregators or directly with a LOCAL Tour Company
• Collette Travel
• G Adventures
• Audley Tours
• Kensington Travel
• National Geographic Tours & Tauck Tours (MUCH pricier, but provide 1st class services)

Photography

• Digital Cameras: Take a million phots and PURGE later
• We just use our mobile phones (iPhones)
• for us the small form factor is important
• General: take a quick photo of any ticket or reservation document you receive – you never know when you might need it.
• Upload digital photo files to the Cloud as a back-up
• Use Wi-Fi when you are in your Hotel
• Do NOT just leave the photos on your camera – a lost or damaged phone/camera means your photos are GONE!
• You can use Google Photos or Apple photos or several other Cloud Storage providers
• They offer facial recognition and mapping where your photos were taken
• If you plan to be "in the middle of nowhere" (no internet):
• look into bringing a USB Thumb Drive to copy photos
• other back up solutions 
• Be sensitive that some cultures DO NOT LIKE being photographed – especially without you asking for permission. Some people have learned to ask for money.
• Also, some police, governmental and military installations are very touchy about being photographed

Sharing Expenses

• Use a FREE App called Splitwise. It is excellent for managing shared expenses

Hiking Trails

• We use an App called AllTrails
• The Free version has trail maps for hikes all over the world
• You can filter for: length, elevation change, biking trails, walking trails, etc.
• Paid Version = allows you to downloaded offline maps, great if you are in a remote area with no cellular service. You can still have the satellite GPS signals track your progress on the trail map.
• It will keep a record of the trails you have hiked