Travel Tools

Previously Posted Travel Tips:

Travel Tips: Austin’s Packing List

Travel Tips: Exchanging Money

Airline/Airport Lounges

Destination Information:

• Before traveling to a new country, read information about your destinations posted on travel.state.gov This site will let you know of any entry requirements (visa, passport details, vaccinations, etc.) and alert you of any travel warnings.
• For Southeast Asia, Travelfish is a new wiki type online travel guide that describes transportation, lodging, general info, eating, and sites all from a very easy to navigate website.
• To get currency exchanged, I always use a local ATM when I arrive. For more information about how to use foreign ATMs and banks that waive ATM fees read Travel Tips: Exchanging Money

Packing:

• Packing depends mainly on the destination and personal preferences. click here for my list of extraordinary things to pack. Travel Tips: Austin’s Packing List

Transportation:

• Trains, I love Seat61.com  This website will tell you anything you need to know about any train service on the planet. I’ve used it to travel all over Europe and Asia by trains.

Airlines

• The best investment for anyone who travels by air at least once a month is some type of membership/access to an airport lounge. Read my guide Airport/Airline Lounges to find out the best ways to take advantage of airport lounges.
• To start my research I first go to Flight Connections this website allows you to select any airport in the world and will show you a map of where you can fly from there. I’ve noticed it is about 90 percent accurate, but it is a great first step to finding out who flies between the cities you’d like to fly. Also, you can see if there are any other airports close by that you may want to consider.

Lodging:

• Airbnb is still one of my favorite ways to find lodging around the world. Here you will find anything from an air mattress in someone’s flat, to a castle in Europe.
• Hotels.com is great for finding hotels all over the world. Their prices are usually the cheapest you can find online, it is easy to search and customize your preferences for what type of hotel you’d like. My favorite perk with hotels.com is that they tally your nights, after every ten nights booked on the site, they give you credit for a free night. The free night credit is the average price of your last ten stays.