Needless to say, many of us are a bit on edge when it comes to the pandemic and travel. Travel can always prove to be a bit stressful, especially as security lines have grown longer and overtourism has taken hold of many of the world’s most popular destinations.
With the added restrictions and travel requirements enacted by nations around the world due to COVID, it’s now more important than ever to find ways to make travel as enjoyable as possible.
As the travel industry begins to hopefully get moving again this year, many of us are eager to start planning trips again. After many of us have been forced to remain locked down within our home states or countries the past year, a satisfying vacation is long overdue.
To ensure your first holiday post-COVID lockdown lives up to your expectations, I have outlined some of the top ways you make traveling more rewarding and successful. Whether it’s choosing the right destination, knowing when the best time to travel is, or who you should travel with, there are many things you can personally do to make your next vacation more fun.
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The future of paying for travel may not be with cash or credit cards, rather with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The tourism industry has embraced this new age way to pay, with travelers already being able to pay for flights, hotel rooms, tours, and more with their secure digital wallets.
There are many advantages to using this decentralized digital currency as a way to pay for travel and as more and more airlines, hotel brands, and other travel-related companies join in on the acceptance, using Bitcoin may quickly become the go-to form of payment for travelers.
The industry is at the forefront when it comes to accepting cryptocurrency and more and more travelers are purchasing Bitcoin to pay for their travel.
Here are just some of the current airlines and travel booking websites where you can use your Bitcoin to get traveling once again.
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Travel involves many moving parts, forcing you to plan carefully and make checklists to ensure everything comes together nicely.
But while you may be in the habit of using packing checklists to not forget the essentials, how much thought do you put into your physical and mental health when traveling?
Staying healthy while traveling should always be your top priority. Should you experience sickness, injury, or a mental illness setback during your holiday, things can quickly become far less enjoyable.
Whether you’re in your 20s or 80s, no-one is immune to falling ill while traveling. Prioritizing your health is not only important for your overall well-being, it can also substantially impact you financially if you happen to require overseas medical treatment.
To assist you in creating an effective travel health checklist, here are the top things to be concerned about when it comes to traveling and your health. You’ll find information relating to getting vaccinations, traveling with medications, and dealing with mental health issues while traveling.
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The rise of digital nomadism has only intensified in the Covid-era. Being able to work remotely online has allowed many people to escape local lockdowns and relocate to places where the virus is either non-existent or at least under control, rewarding them with the freedom to live more freely.
If you’re not familiar with the term, a digital nomad refers to an individual who chooses to work remotely while traveling. They have the ability to work from anywhere and make the most of their free time by experiencing different parts of their home country or other regions of the world.
Of course, there are many challenges that digital nomads face like finding accommodation and securing the appropriate travel permits or work visas if they are required. But one definite benefit that has come out of the pandemic is that employers are now more open to offering their employees the flexibility of working remotely.
So, if you’re ready to ditch the 9 to 5 routine and upgrade your office view to a tropical beach shaded in palms, check out these top things you need to know before adopting the digital nomad lifestyle.
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How much money have you forgotten about? Money that’s sitting in your drawers, leftover from overseas trips? Euros, Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Japanese Yen? Maybe you’ve got a couple of Australian gold coins with a kangaroo and emu engraved on them.
Almost every traveler I know returns home with a pocket full of foreign coins. And they either get lost in the washing machine, or go in a draw for ‘when I’ll visit again’. But have you ever visited again? Or have you been sitting on hundreds of dollars worth of coins and notes for years on end? (Though it doesn’t need to be hundreds, I’d love to exchange my currency even if it was only worth 10!)
Fortunately now, there’s a cool app where you can sell your coins to others looking to buy them! It’s called MoneyAtlas (here for iPhone / here on Android), and you can connect with other travelers to exchange your foreign currency, at a price you set! Skip the inflated exchange rates at the airport, and make a deal traveler to traveler!
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Some of our most cherished childhood memories are often family vacations. Travel is a great way to strengthen family bonds and open your kids’ eyes to new ideas and cultures. However, traveling with children can prove quite unpredictable and despite your best intentions can end up leaving everyone stressed if you don’t know effective ways to avoid it.
There’s no shortage of online advice out there focusing on the world’s best family-friendly destinations or money saving tips for families looking to travel on a budget, but there isn’t a lot of guidance on ways to make your family trips more enjoyable for everyone.
There is actually scientific research that has proven taking vacations together can bring families closer and make them happier. Vacations allow us to remove many of the distractions that plague our everyday lives, allowing parents and children the opportunity to communicate with each other and enjoy experiences together without all the normal stresses.
Of course a family vacation can also create conflict if not done properly. This is why it pays to understand some of the best ways you can experience a successful family trip together.
Here are some helpful tips on how you can create positive long-lasting travel memories for you and your family.
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Travel can be stressful at the best of times, but add in having experienced a global pandemic and anxiety can almost seem overwhelming.
While most things that cause us anxiety while traveling are highly unlikely to occur, events like this pandemic are a legitimate concern to take seriously. There’s no doubt we’ll face more virus’ in the future.
If you’re someone that regularly struggles with anxiety, traveling after an event such a pandemic can send terror through your entire body and prevent you from even considering making travel plans.
But thankfully, there are many ways you can learn to control your anxiety which will hopefully allow you travel with much less stress and discomfort.
The first step is recognizing you have anxiety and then seeking out ways to combat it. Getting help from a licensed anxiety therapist can help you recognize whether you are dealing with severe anxiety and can instruct you on how to avoid your triggers as well as offering up solutions on how to reduce your anxiety in order to lessen its impact on your travel.
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With fierce competition for the same jobs these days, it’s very easy to get swept up in the mindset of “I’ll travel later”, not wanting to leave a gap in your resume.
It’s long been thought that a large gap in your resume will mean being treated unfavorably by a prospective employer – especially if your explanation for the gap is “I was traveling the world”.
Though here’s some news – travel may actually boost your employability. As long as you can explain the benefits of your travel experience to a potential employer it could actually help your resume stand out, and improve your chances of being shortlisted for an interview.
But travel isn’t as novel as it used to be, so how can you properly market your time abroad to make your skills and experiences look good?
Screenshot of my actual personal resume, after traveling for 7 years, is at the end of the post.
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In recent years, rumors have begun to spread about the existence of a small Nordic island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean; an island defined by dramatic landscapes, with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, lava fields, and elves. Yes, elves.
Rumors of this magical place are spreading like wildfire, and travelers have started arriving from all over the land. Though there is a delicate balance in maintaining the untouched and wild feeling of Iceland’s unique landscapes while making them accessible to tourists. Lava fields, volcanoes and thundering waterfalls might look super tough, but in fact they are very vulnerable.
Before tourists started arriving in mass, most Icelandic attractions had no need for infrastructure like car parks or ranger stations. So it’s extremely important that we are aware of our impact as travelers. As such, we have composed a letter to all those who are Iceland bound.
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As we head into 2021, no doubt many of us will be eager to get traveling again. While we haven’t managed to control COVID yet, vaccines are being rolled out and I am optimistic international travel will be back on the cards in the coming year.
While we may soon get to travel once again, many of us have been hit hard financially by the pandemic, which is why I thought I would share some of my tips on how you can save money while traveling this year.
If you’re thinking of traveling this year, follow these tips to help reduce your travel costs from the moment you book your trip to the day you return.
There’s no denying travel can be expensive, but hopefully these tips will help you learn when to travel to get the best bang for your buck, how to save on travel insurance, score cheaper flights and accommodation, and keep costs down throughout your holiday.
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The internet has made traveling abroad not only manageable, but pretty easy in-fact. We’re now at the point where the phone in your pocket can translate words, give you directions, and recommend must-do activities.
I’d be hard pressed to name a traveler in the 21st century who doesn’t rely on some form of smartphone app. But of course, most of these apps are dependent on having a stable internet connection.
Without one, your phone camera might work, but that’s probably about it. But thankfully, staying connected isn’t all that difficult. Multiple options exist and these days, most won’t break the wallet. The following are the most convenient ways to keep an internet connection while you’re on international leave or vacay.
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We’re all familiar with backpacking, whether we ourselves embarked on a journey or knew a friend or family member who did. Backpacking is a great way to experience authentic travel by really embracing the local culture of a destination.
But what exactly is flashpacking?
Similar to backpacking but with more comfort and opportunities, flashpacking is becoming an increasingly more preferred way to travel.
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Every year, more and more people are trading in their 9 to 5 office job for a digital nomad lifestyle. Companies are becoming increasingly more flexible in allowing their employees to work from home, especially since the pandemic hit and they were sometimes forced to.
While it may seem like a dream working remotely from home or wherever you decide to set yourself up, there are a few things to consider before ditching the cubicle.
There are all kinds of careers these days which allow you to become a digital nomad. You can be a website developer, online yoga instructor, or e-commerce wizard selling products on Ebay, Amazon, and Etsy.
Being a digital nomad often means you get to set your own hours and work schedule. You can conduct business from the comfort of your couch or while enjoying a view of the beach. So long as you have a computer and an internet signal, you can begin to capitalize on modern technology and potentially earn a lot of money.
If you’re an independent thinker and think you have the drive and commitment to work for yourself from home or simply want to search for an online job offered by a company that allows you to work remotely, there are a number of tips that can help you get started and succeed.
If you’ve ever wanted to relocate to somewhere warm and tropical like Florida as I did, check out my top tips for becoming a digital nomad in Florida.
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Vacations are supposed to be about logging off, but most of us still end up traveling with our laptop.
Whether we need it for business, or checking on emails and loading travel pics to our social media feeds, our laptops can be a lifeline to our life back home, and a valuable tool when booking tours, tickets, looking up directions, and researching things to do in the area you’re visiting.
While most of us check and recheck to make sure we packed our laptop, we often don’t give nearly as much thought into keeping our laptop protected both physically and in terms of making certain our personal data that is stored on it remains secure.
From the moment your laptop leaves the safety of your home, you make it vulnerable to getting damaged or potentially stolen. Thankfully though, there are many ways you can reduce the chances of anything happening to your laptop and the data that’s stored on it.
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Most of us in 2020 saw our travel plans cancelled or severely disrupted. While we may have lost nearly an entire year of travel experiences, 2021 will hopefully be the year where the travel industry recovers.
We saw many of our most beloved travel destinations descend into lockdowns during 2020. Thankfully, some destinations have already begun to open back up to travel once again and with COVID-19 vaccines beginning to be developed and distributed around the world, hopefully more countries will be able to open back up to travellers soon.
Regulations and restrictions around COVID are constantly changing, making it crucial to stay on top of the latest travel and health information when planning travel in 2021.
No doubt most of us will be looking to make up for the travel opportunities we missed out on during the year of the pandemic, but as we look to travelling once again, many of us will be making safety one of our top priorities when planning our future travel.
As travel begins to rebound, find out what you need to think about before you begin travelling in 2021.
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Have you been using your current PC for longer than you can remember? Has your PC become noticeably slow?
I traveled with my first laptop for 7 years until its untimely death, and have traveled with my second since 2013 to this day! (Admittedly it’s on it’s last legs and held together with duct tape!)
It’s inevitable that, at one point or another, the time will come for us all to get a replacement. Buying a new computer can be a fun yet daunting task. You have to research, scroll through reviews, and potentially try out a few different models.
After doing all of that legwork, the last thing that you want is to get a virus. Especially as electronics can be difficult to replace or take into a shop when you’re on the other side of the world, in a completely different country.
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As travel around Australia begins to open up again and with Christmas just around the corner, you’re probably starting to plan your next adventure.
Whether you’re heading interstate to see family, or you’re planning an overseas trip in the future, there’s a lot you need to consider in the lead up – what to pack, how much money to take, and what to do when you get there.
If you vape, there’s an added stress of whether or not you can take your vape on the plane, or if you can even take it in the first place. The following tips will assist.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects of culture around the world, and the world of sport is no exception. Major sporting events have faced unprecedented restrictions, including postponements and, in some cases, full cancellations.
The most notable of all – the Tokyo Olympics.
Not since WWII has the world seen so much disruption to sporting events. Very few countries have managed to continue with sports with little or no disruption, and even those that have been able to proceed as normal have most likely gone against health advice in doing so.
Players’ salaries have been cut, and jobs have been lost thanks to restrictions on large gatherings in stadiums. Who would have thought we’d ever see the day when games were played in stadiums with no fans.
All this said, sport has begun to return for many countries and continues to push on. So let’s look at how some of the major sports around the world have been affected by the pandemic, and what we can expect going forward.
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In light of our changing world, having wanderlust is not as easy as it used to be. Social distancing and pandemics have created a need to carve out our own space, and international border restrictions are changing almost daily.
Not surprisingly, international plans have mostly been cancelled, but recent numbers suggest that travelers are still hitting the road; they’re heading into the great (local) outdoors in record-setting numbers.
Nature is the best way to ground, renew, and engage with your life in a way that helps through these troubling times. People are seeking solace and sanity by getting back to nature, and finding new ways to travel by re-discovering old standbys.
In terms of how the pandemic has affected travel, we’ve got data you’ll find interesting and all the details on how and why travelers are hitting the road now more than ever!
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There are many ways to make purchases while traveling abroad. You can convert your home currency into local cash, wire money, use a debit card or prepaid travel card, or look into traveler’s checks if you want to go old school (and can still find a company that issues them!).
Most travelers, however, will opt for the easiest and often most economical way to pay for things which is with credit cards.
While it’s always a good idea to have a variety of ways to access your cash while traveling, credit cards will most likely be your go-to when paying for food, transport, admission tickets, and souvenirs. If you plan on using a credit the next time you travel internationally, here are a few important things you should know.
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When done right, road trips can be an economical and much less stressful way to travel. It not only saves a great deal of money and time by not having to purchase and wait for flights, but it also allows couples and families the opportunity to really connect with one another.
Whether you’ve been planning a cross-country road trip for months or just spontaneously decided to drive up the coast for a weekend, there are some important things to consider when preparing for any road trip.
It starts with setting a budget and choosing a route before then thinking about what vehicle you’ll take and what you’ll need to pack. There are then of course precautions you need to take to ensure the safety of you and your fellow road trippers that will be traveling with you.
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Planning a vacation isn’t always easy. There are flights and hotels to book, itineraries to organize, and of course the fun of packing.
While many travelers put a lot of time and energy into planning and preparing for their vacations, they often leave thinking about travel insurance to the end or simply forgo purchasing it altogether.
Life often has a funny way of delivering us the unexpected, and because of this it is imperative that all travelers regardless of age, gender, race, or health consider investing in a travel policy to ensure financial protection should an unfortunate incident occur.
Having a travel insurance policy in place well before your trip can end up saving you thousands of dollars if you sadly need to cancel your trip for an unexpected and covered reason, need costly overseas medical care, or run into instances of lost or stolen bags and cancelled flights.
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There are many industries that face a tough task to bounce back in 2020 and beyond. One of those is the casino tourism industry.
Most casinos around the world have become an attraction in their own right, so much so that whole cities like Vegas and Macau have become known solely for their casino scene.
So it’s no surprise that casinos have become intricately tied to the tourism fabric, with many doubling as fully integrated resorts, restaurants, concert venues, and playing a vital role within local economies.
The casino industry will likely be one of the last to reopen after the pandemic, which will have a huge impact on the speed of being able to return to jobs, and how quickly tourism to the areas around them flourish.
So, what can this industry do to bounce back and get people on board both this year and beyond? We’ve thrown down some thoughts.
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As international travel restrictions begin to ease and we all look to go on a much needed holiday, it’s important to remember that many countries around the world require you to obtain a visa.
Each country has its own unique visa requirements, and whether or not you will need a visa will largely depend on where you are travelling and what nationality you are. A travel visa will allow you to pass through or remain in a country for a set amount of time and for a specific purpose.
The different visas available to travellers include those designed specifically for tourists, journalists, students, doctors, volunteers, and diplomats. Should you wish to work in a foreign country, you will need to make sure your visa allows you to do so.
Whether you need a transit visa or a longer tourist/migration visa, it’s vital to understand the visa process, as you’re not getting into a foreign country without one!
So, let’s take a look at where you can get your visa, when you should get your visa, and what you may need to successfully obtain your required visa.
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It’s true that the way we travel has changed as a direct result of the current pandemic, and will likely continue to change as we navigate the new world of travel post COVID-19.
While future travel is set to see increased safety precautions, social distancing, and face masks become the norm, just as the way we travel will evolve, so to have the destinations which are trending.
Mass tourism has been one of the biggest social and environmental issues of the 21st century, though this has seen a swift death, and where destinations like Venice, Barcelona, and Bali were once constantly at the top of the trending list, post pandemic we’re set to see new front runners.
With a swing towards destinations that can provide you with a bit of distance, we expect these 5 destinations to be topping the list of trending travel once borders reopen.
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