10 Travel Tips From Experts Who’ve Been Everywhere

Travel can be exciting, challenging, and frustrating in equal measures. And whether you’re traveling locally or across the world, there’s always an opportunity to implement tips that will make the journey better. So we reached out to travel experts to get their top tips on how to make travel easier, safer, and more enjoyable.

Elina Osborne, Adventure Filmmaker

Have a fanny pack with all of your in-flight necessities. The little toiletries, your vitamins/medications, but most importantly, the biggest upgrade I’ve made to my flying life (especially as any international flight from New Zealand is 11 hours MINIMUM) involves noise-cancelling headphones with an airplane attachment piece (I’m currently on the WH-1000XM4 train). Watching in-flight movies with good quality sound is game-changing— then, when I want to sleep, I block out the world with my lo-fi sleep playlist, put on one of those padded eye masks, and I am simply gone to the world.

Chris Christensen, Founder of Amateur Traveler Podcast and Blog

I am a huge fan of packing lists. Create a list for what to pack. Every time you take a trip review what you missed because it wasn’t on your list and what you took that you never used. Make sections for your list. What do you bring for a road trip, plane trip, winter trip, beach trip. It will reduce a lot of stress from your travel over time.

Mike and Anne Howard, Founders of HoneyTrek.com and National Geographic Authors

Travelling to remote destinations is pure magic…food, photos, people, nature, wildlife, and so much more. However, it is not without its impact on locals and their environment. One bad habit that EVERY traveler can (and should) kick is the single-use water bottle. Anne and I have not consumed even one single-use water bottle since February 16th of 2012, and since that date, we have explored 86 countries across all 7 continents!!! Have we gotten sick from water? Not a single time. How do we do it? Simple: A wide-mouth Nalgene water bottle and a SteriPen. If you love the planet and the destinations you visit, our challenge to you is to not consume a single-use water bottle on your next trip.

William Tang, Founder of Going Awesome Places

A hard-earned tip I’ve learned is to never put your bag on the ground in any situation. During my early backpacking days, I made the mistake of placing my backpack on the ground to take a group photo.  After moving around a bit to get the right composition, I didn’t realize that the bag was now behind me.  There was a loud bang from one side which distracted me and when I looked back on the ground to grab my bag, it was gone. Since that day, that’s been one thing that’s stayed with me whenever I travel, especially in busy public areas.

Marek Bron, Founder of Indie Traveller

For my blog Indie Traveller I mostly do adventure travel in tropical countries, so I like to pack light and keep things very simple. My favorite item to take with me is actually my mini tablet, which is an older Samsung Galaxy Tab Lite that I once picked up for about $150. I bought it just for travelling and the fact that it’s very cheap makes me not worry too much about it getting lost or stolen. It’s paperback-sized, so it always fits easily on a tray table if I want to watch a movie on a bus, train, or plane. It’s also just 300 grams (or 0.66 lbs) so it’s a lot lighter than your typical electronic device, keeping more of my carry-on packing allowance for other stuff.

And because it’s Android, you can stick a big SD card in there (up to 1TB) to backup photos or bring media with you on a long journey. I usually load it with ebooks, some travel guide PDFs, TV shows, and use the Maps.me app for offline maps that I can check even if my phone is without battery. If I need to do any writing, I pair it with a small Bluetooth keyboard for a practical and light digital solution on the go. 

Esther and Jacob, Founders of LocalAdventurer.com

1. Don’t Overplan Your Day – Leave Room to Discover

When traveling to a new destination, it’s easy to pack in your day to maximize your trip. But oftentimes with travel, not everything will go according to plan, and it can be exhausting keeping a strict schedule. Instead, we prefer planning one big activity each day, and keeping a list of smaller items we’re interested in. This allows us to fill in the day as we see fit, and more importantly, discover spots along the way. We’ve found some of our favorite spots by talking to locals and asking where they frequent.

2. Adventures Don’t Have to Be Far Away

If you find yourself saying you never have time to go on a vacation or adventures, think about closer destinations you can explore on weekends or as easy day trips. We’re all about local adventures, whether that’s in your own city, state, or our greater backyard. Remember that there are always new places to discover close by too!

3. Try Something New

One of the best ways to remember your trip is with a new experience. Not only can it be exciting when you push yourself to try something new, but you may even discover a new passion. Through our travels, we’ve tried ice climbing, sandboarding, polar plunges, and more.

Becki Enright, Founder of Borders of Adventure

Pack light and utilise laundry services. Packing light isn’t about fitting as many items as possible into packing cubes and compression sacks, though the latter does help with bulky winter items. Instead, pack around half the amount of clothing you think you will need and make a list on your phone to help keep track of what you genuinely need. On the road for two weeks or more? Pack enough clothes to last five to seven days and factor in a weekly laundry load. Pack some detergent and a clothesline for lighter items that you can wash on the go wherever you have a sink.

John DiScala, Founder of JohnnyJet.com

Always be genuinely kind to everyone but when you’re traveling, especially to gate agents, flight attendants, and pilots. They work hard and are often underappreciated, and they can make or break your trip.

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