Resources

After traveling and living on 3 continents, you learn a few things. It’d be hard not to! This is a collection of resources that I’ve found and used during my time traveling and living in different countries. Here are some of my travel tips and resources.

Travel tips and resources

General tips
  • Always browse for flight tickets in “Private Browsing” mode on your browser. You can do this by clicking on the main menu and choose “New Private Window” in Firefox or “Private Browsing…” in Safari or “New Incognito Window” in Chrome. Many flight search engines can track your searches and give you a higher quote the next time you make the same search.
  • Pack your carry on thoughtfully. Know where you put all the things that need to come out at the security check and make sure they are easily accessible. If you can, start getting them out of your bag when there are 2 or 3 people in front of you so you can get everything on the conveyor belt in a flash!
Useful websites

Passport Index – Find out if you need a visa.
HealthMap – Track infectious disease outbreaks in real time!
BlaBlaCar – Ridesharing for road trips. Not available in all countries, but good for much of Europe.
Airbnb – Rent a room or an entire place. I much prefer this to hotels! Use this link and we’ll both get some travel credit 🙂

Personal finance things

General tips
  • Calibrate your budget. After you spend a day in a place and get a feel for how much food and activities cost, go back to your budget and see what changes you can make. Don’t fall into the habit of thinking “Oh well, I’ve already gone over, so there’s no use trying”!
  • Check whether the country you are visiting has the type of ATM (cash machine) that will hold onto your debit card, or if you just swipe it in once at the beginning. If you are used to the latter method, make sure you wait to get your debit card back in countries that have the other kind! Usually these machines will suck them back in after a few seconds, but you should still be aware.
Other useful things

Tipping guidelines
Info on expat contributions to IRA retirement funds