Travel Tips after 4 Years on the Road (by JK)

Photo: April 15, 2022

(I receive no compensation from anyone for these opinions)

Linda and I have been travelling for 4 years now. Here is a summary of all the "little things" we've learned that might make your travel easier.

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

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

April 2024

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

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.

 

JK: Lessons Learned from 2 years of full time travel: 1 of 3

 Lessons Learned from 2 years of full-time travel: 1 of 3

April 2024

Join Loyalty Programs: do this now!!

• Sign up online in advance for the major Airline, Hotel, Rental car loyalty programs
• There is No COST, and might get you a discount
• Think about if there is a Hotel or Airline Credit card that might makes sense for you
• We avoid luggage fees with United Airlines by using their CC
• We get 2 free nights at Hyatt hotels each year by having their CC

Our Two Year Anniversary of Being Vagabonds

It is hard to believe that April 15th was our 2nd anniversary of being vagabonds and having no fixed address.

A very good question I keep thinking is, "Where does time go?"

When we left home we had no idea how long we'd be doing this, where we'd be going or how long we'd stay.

Now 2 years later, we still aren't sure where we're going or how much longer we'll be doing it.

But we have learned some new things and we're now trying out some new strategies.

JK: Pearls of Wisdom After One Year On the Road

One Year of wandering….

It's been ONE YEAR since Linda and I sold all our possessions and hit the road. We've been "houseless" travellers wandering around from country to country. It's been fun and more importantly we're still keen to continue this nomadic lifestyle. In case some of you wonder how we do it, here are a few things we use to help us on this journey......

One Year Anniversary

Today is our 1 year Anniversary as homeless grey nomads.

April 15th, 2022 marks the day we handed over the keys to our home of 19 years. 

Five days later we handed over the keys to our car.

One year later we have this to say:

We have no regrets. We love what we are doing!

Has it been perfect and blissful everyday?