As I keep saying all the time, traveling is not as expensive as people think. Even though accommodation is usually the most expensive chunk of money you will spend out of your daily budget, it will turn out as expensive as you want it to be. There are so many options out there nowadays that you can easily sleep under 30$ a day very comfortably. I’ve been in these types of accommodation non-stop for over 10 years now, which helped me visit 95% of the world’s countries, so I know what I’m talking about. In this article, I rounded up all the tips and tricks out there for you to see the options available and understand you can use them too! I also share valuable tips on how to save money on the biggest websites and how to use them. In This Article…1 Hotel Rooms2 Private Apartments3 Guesthouses & Rooms in Shared Apartments4 Hostels and shared rooms5 Community Hosting6 Overnight Transport7 Sleeping in airports8 Camping9 Which are the […]
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How to Find the Best Insurance for Your Travels
Travel Insurance is an essential and important part of travel expenses, yet some people will just ignore it thinking “problems only happen to others”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Leaving on an international trip will require planning and traveling safely is crucial to keep a peace of mind in any event. I have always had travel insurance for pretty much 95% of all my 10+ years on the road, and do not regret it one minute! Most people are lost when dealing with insurance so I will clear things up in this article in details, covering essentially what you need to know to be prepared and see your options of insurance. In This Article…1 Why do I consider myself a good resource to talk about insurance?2 What exactly is travel insurance?3 Why exactly MUST you get yourself insurance?4 My Personal experience.5 How does the Excess (or Premium) work?6 What to Look For in a Good Travel insurance7 Adventure sports exceptions8 Important note about […]
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How to Choose the Best Gear and What to Pack for your Travels
Packing the perfect gear for traveling is such big subject with travelers that I had to bring up a post about my personal tips and tricks I learned while on the road all those years to reach all the countries in the world. The general consensus is that most people bring way too much than they really need… Most interrogations are always the same: What type of Luggage should you leave with? what size? Rolling suitcases vs backpack vs hybrid? Carry-on only or check-in luggage? What are the essential things to bring? In this article, I will go through all the options available in details to clear out any doubts you may have and get you ready for your next trip. In This Article…1 My Personal Evolution through the Years2 What types of luggage should you use?3 Size does matter – The 2 Dimension Rules.4 My Current Setup: Minimalism5 Should you bring a daypack?6 Traveling with expensive gear7 Toiletries8 Layering concept9 What Cloth do I bring?10 […]
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How to Choose Your Ideal Travel Destinations
You might have a travel list completely full of travel destinations and places to go, or you might be overwhelmed by the abundance of choice and struggle to make up your mind. In any case, there is a simple process I have developed over my 10+ years on the road to chose my next destinations. Some people frankly don’t plan enough and let themselves go with the flow, which is perfectly fine sometimes. But in my case, I spend a lot of time planning reading and I cannot recommend enough researching on candidate destinations and synchronizing with the best times to go to every part of the world. Doing your homework beforehand you will definitely thank yourself later by enjoying being at the right place at the right time! In This Article…1 How Much Time do you Have2 How Much Money do you Have3 Weather and Seasons Worldwide4 Local Events and Activities5 Planning for Each City6 What About your Next Trip?7 Share Pin to Pinterest […]
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How to Save Money For Your Travels
Questions about Saving Money to fund our travels is always a big one I get often. Actually, it can be divided into several topics such as how to fund a short trip, how to fund your life on the road for long-term travels or even how to fund sustainable traveling making money while you travel. I cover this in other articles but for now, I want to concentrate on how to save money to start traveling. This is always one of the first that comes to peoples mind and I am covering in this article all the necessary steps I could think of to help you get your finances straight and ready for your dream trip. One important thing to note is that you won’t need as much money as you think. Remember that traveling is about discovering new places and living new experiences, not about staying in every expensive 5-star resorts. Travelers like me have developed habits and strategies to travel on low budgets, […]
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How to Stop Dreaming, Get Set and Start Traveling!
We live in societies where television has converted the population in a massive audience to consume other people’s stories. Movies, TV Shows, Youtube channels and even internet consumption has created this effect of being a spectator. However, when it is about our own lives, we are the main actors and it is our own story that we are building every day. To my eyes, it is not an option to live life behind a screen through others people’s adventures. So consider this: If traveling really is a dream of yours, whatever might be stopping you at the moment, you must stop traveling through other’s stories and become the main actor of your own adventures, no matter what! What is stopping you from doing so right now could be obstacles that seem too hard to overcome for the time being, but the truth is I see very few obstacles that justify not traveling at all. Money is usually a big one for most people before they […]
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4 Months in South-East Asia; The Most Comfortable Lifestyle in the World
I stopped counting how many times I went to South-East Asia ever since I first came, back in 2007. It’s been love at first sight, a tropical land full of culture and traditions, encrusted with a mix of people all so kind and respectful. There’s definitely something for everybody, from the partygoers to the virgin beaches seekers. I truly love south-east Asia and it has become one of my favorite place to hang out as a digital nomad, especially for the comfort it offers. After a rough ride throughout 2017 to countries in the middle east such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as my extended travels throughout 14 of the most notoriously dangerous countries of Africa (such as South Sudan, Somalia and the Congo DRC), it was a relief to finally arrive in that part of the world. I arrived just on time for December 2017 to attend some conferences I wanted to take part in Bangkok related to my work. Thailand is one of […]
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My Secret to Stay in Shape while Travelling Long-term? Eat Enough Protein
It’s not a secret that long-term traveling takes a toll on our bodies. People leaving on a 1-week holiday won’t see a big difference eating unhealthy for a week because it’s not enough time for the body to suffer from a radical change of eating out. But for long-term travelers, what I have observed for more than 10 years on the road is that women will gain weight, while men slightly lose weight. Girls have been complaining how unfair this is, but my reasoning about all this is pretty simple: The loss of weight in men is due to loss of muscle which causes a decrease in weight, compensating for the gain in weight caused by extra fats gained as much as women. Those who know me for long enough know that I have been health-minded all my life. And being on the road for more than 10 years has had me testing different diets and strategies to keep in the best shape as possible, all […]
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7 Tricks I Used to Fly Cheaply to every Country in the World
“Ian, which website do you use to book flights”? “How long before flying should I book to get the best deals”? “How do you find cheap deals on those expensive African of South Pacific flights”? “Is it worth making 1 or 2 extra stops in order to pay less”? Those are the questions I most often get from travelers to improve their search for improving their skills in the art of flight deals research. I keep on saying it over and over: It’s getting easier to travel. Flights are now going almost everywhere in the world and they are getting cheaper every year. Just ask Australians who, just a few years back, would need to throw away around 2000 USD just to get to North America or Europe! Now they can get away with 500-700$ per flights! And with all these cheap airlines flooding the market, it’s getting even trickier to choose the good one. With over 1000 flights done (I never counted, but it’s definitely […]
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Rwanda For Digital Nomads – Why Kigali Might Become The Next Digital Nomad Hub of Africa
Anybody who has traveled around Africa knows the roads are Bumpy… Literally! Over the 44 Countries I have visited in Africa so far, I encountered some over-inflated economies making it impossible to find a decent place to sleep under 200$, some are left in ruins by wars and tribal conflicts, some have no interest in tourism at all, some have no intercity transport adapted for travellers other than shared taxis filled with 10 people crushed like sardines, others are enjoying some stability but as soon as you step out of the beaten track it is back to harsh traveling conditions. Malaria and diseases are the other issues that constraint travelers to always be on their guards on the continent. Fortunately, some African countries are getting their head out of the sand. South Africa being an exception (as it is up to European standards), East Africa is now growing at very interesting speeds! Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda are the clear winners in terms of development. […]
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