Hey Steemians! I figured I'll follow up on my first post by sharing some travel tips and tricks I've learned through my adventures so far. So without further ado, here is my list!
1) Get the Charles Schwab Debit Card
Source: Travelbypoints
This picture largely speaks for itself, but if you are traveling for an extended period of time the Schwab card is definitely worth looking into getting! It has no ATM fees, no international transaction fees, no minimum account balance, and no account fees! What more could you possibly need? It has already saved me a lot of money after I made the switch.
2) Pack Light and Efficiently
Source: Handluggageonly
This may seem like common sense, but it is important to get it down to a science. My advice is to try your best to travel with only a single carry-on bag. As someone who was always a heavy packer, this was a tough pill to swallow at first but I've gradually gotten much better at it. One of the main advantages for me is that I never have to check bags, so I can get through airports and transfers much faster while reducing the chance of my luggage getting lost. Having only one bag is especially important because it makes you much more mobile if you need to take buses or taxis on your journey to get to the next destination. My two main tips for reducing bulk are to bring only one pair of shoes (preferably wearing them on your feet) and roll all your clothing so they fit snugly in your bag.
3) Use Airbnb and Hostelworld Over Traditional Hotels
Source: Valuewalk
I know most of you are deal-hunters and have probably already heard of both of these sites, but even if you have I believe I still have some helpful advice. When I am planning a trip, I aggressively filter through multiple Airbnb options and save them in the Trips section for easy access. I recommend spending 30 minutes to an hour scanning around a place you're thinking about visiting and narrowing it down to a list of 4-5 different options that work for you. It's important to note that cheaper isn't always better here, you may ultimately save more money by finding a location closer to a city center or finding a helpful host that can give you good recommendations. Hostelworld is a good website to check on top of this, especially if you are traveling alone. Hostels can be great opportunities to meet people and they are often fairly clean, have built-in bars, and can book local excursions for you at competitive rates.
4) Book Flights Through Skyscanner
Source: Droidhorizon
This website has saved me so much money on so many occasions. It scans a wide number of flight booking sites to give you extremely competitive flight prices. For the best deals, I recommend going to the whole month view to find the cheapest dates. After you find the cheapest flight, go directly to the airline's website and book through them directly; you will usually save an additional 10% or so from the quoted Skyscanner price.
5) Get a Universal Travel Adapter
Source: Alibaba
This is an absolute necessity to keep all your devices charged on the go. It is important to note the difference between an adapter and a converter though, an adapter merely changes the plug type while a converter also changes the voltage. While most modern phones and computers have converters built into their charging bricks, be careful with other devices like hair dryers or electric razors because you could potentially fry them by plugging them into a voltage that is too high for their manufacturer limitations.
I hope this list was helpful, if you enjoyed this post and would like to see more similar content be sure to upvote, resteem, and follow me!