113 of my free Travel Tips!

by Martin J Cowling Leave A Comment

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Assembled here is my annual list of travel tips.

Am I missing a travel tip or are you looking for tips, advice or ideas? Any suggestions or requests welcomed.

 

Contents:

  1. Getting Ready
  2. Getting Best Deals
  3. Getting Booked
  4. Staying Happy – Accommodation Tips
  5. Getting Packed- Luggage Tips
  6. Getting Around the airport
  7. On Board
  8. Getting Around
  9. Staying friendly with others
  10. Staying Healthy
  11. Staying Safe
  12. . Staying Comfortable
  13. Getting it fixed!
  14. At Your Destination
  15.  Getting Money Right
  16.  Staying Solvent
  17. Travelling Green
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1.  Getting Ready

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  1. Stop Wishing and Do it- Life’s Bucket List
  2. Pre-plan your way
  3. Be Date Flexible
  4. Terrific Tripit I run my life around Tripit
  5. How far is it from?  Useful calculator tool to bookmark
  6. Airline route maps in one spot– something I find useful and interesting but did not grab popular attention this year!
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2. Getting Best Deals

  1. Getting cheap fares and deals fast-subscribe
  2. What the H*ll is this Code Sharing? 
  3. Getting my cheap fares
  4. Location Change gives cheap flights
  5. Track Your Fare
  6. Main Airline Fees
  7. Pin Trips
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3. Getting Booked

  1. What’s that code? The ultimate airport decoder lists
  2. Special Meals Decoded- Descriptions and Ticketing Codes– a continutaion of the last post, I delved into what the actual codes that appear on your booking meal space mean. This is one way of ensuring you sound like a travel pro, ask the right questions and get the meal you want!
  3. All about Flight Numbers & Airline Codes
  4. All about Visas
  5. Fixing the Tricky Visa issues
  6. The Man in Seat 61 – the best guide to riding trains across the globe -ever
  7. Where to credit air miles

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4. Staying Happy – Accommodation Tips

  1. Trip Advisor is my friend!
  2. Don’t choose hotels just on cost
  3. Travel Tip: Mystery Rooms
  4.  Priceline
  5.  Wimdu and AirBnB
  6. Don’t Overlook Youth Hostel Stays!
  7. Rethinking Hotel Clubs
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5. Getting Packed- Luggage Tips

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  1. Great Luggage App– compare luggage between airlines
  2. Travel Tip: Don’t Check in baggage
  3. Impressive Packing: 12 months (130 items) of necessities into a carry on– I think I do well with my luggage but in this video, I am beaten in a way that I cannot fully emulate! I am working on it.
  4. Photograph your luggage
  5. Seven Things not to pack
  6. Considering Carry On
  7. Carry On Inconsiderates
  8. Take No Toiletries
  9. How many Shoes do you travel with?
  10. Test your wardrobe pre trip
  11. Forgetting stuff
  12. Reducing Lost Luggage Problems
  13. The A to Z of what NOT to pack in your baggage  – thought the Samsung 7 was the only dangerous item on planes? See that expression on my face, that is me switching between amazement and fury as I watch check in staff or security remove bizarre or dangerous items from your luggage!
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6. Getting Around the airport

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  1. Navigating Airports – My favourite Apps
  2. Airport Life Travel app
  3. United’s Very handy US Airports App
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7. On Boardimg_5213

  1. Five things you must do while waiting for plane
  2. How to close an aircraft overhead compartment
  3. How I use plane safety briefings
  4. All about laptop travel
  5. Charge Electronics Constantly
  6. Travelling with Books
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8.Getting Around

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  1. All about Renting a Car
  2. Driving on the wrong side of the road -it may happen to you!
  3. App for food finding
  4. Car Rental Clubs
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9.  Staying friendly with others

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  1. Flying like a Fijian -tips for all airline passengers, I reckon  -this fun video from Fiji Airways should be shown to all passengers of all airlines at airport gates before people fly
  2. Travelling with Others (without tears)
  3. Treat People with Respect
  4. Don’t be an “introvert”
  5. Don’t be an A### hole
  6. Trusting People
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10. Staying Healthy

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  1. Stay Well En Route
  2. All about Feet and Travel
  3. Medical Tourism
  4. Don’t let the Bedbugs bite
  5. Eating Street Food
  6. Avoiding weight scale shock
  7. Getting Exercise- A walking guide to world airports
  8. Know your Emergency Response Numbers– this is one we all hope we never need but better to be pre warned. What is the emergency code for police in the next overseas country you are visiting? No it is NOT automatically 911 and no, your cell phone won’t automatically connect to the local emergency number. This is a feature that needs to come though. In the meantime, print this list
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11. Staying Safe

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  1. Lessons from “The Embassy” -seeing others get into trouble gives us some tip
  2. Don’t Be a Tourist Target!
  3. The Fake Wallet
  4. I do not carry my passport– a controversial one
  5. Yell “No“
  6. Left & right: 7 tips for Safe Road Crossing
  7. Protecting Data & Identity On the Road
  8. Flying with Electronics
  9. Back up Your Documents
  10. Don’t carry a Money Belt-another controversial one. I stick by my advice!
  11. Tips for Thailand during Royal Mourning – unexpected events can happen anytime. In the case of a major national tragedy, travellers need to be prepared to make adjustments to behaviours. These adjustments can build powerful connections and result in deeper understandings for visitors. The death of the long standing Thai monarch was such an example

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12. Staying Comfortable

  1. Get a decent seat
  2. Nervous Flyers Relaxation techniques
  3. Don’t do Jetlag
  4. Staying comfy in Long haul Economy
  5. Test your wardrobe pre trip
  6. Check your hotel clock
  7. Take a “Multi Plug”
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13. Getting it fixed!

  1. Don’t Stress
  2. Getting Stuck or Delayed
  3. Call Centre Bingo- tips for better outcomes
  4. All about Airline Special Meals-after flying for so many years, I was curious to try and understand what all of the meal options were and who offered them. vegetarian? Gluten Free? A fish lover? Then this guide is for you!
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14. At Your Destination

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  1. Travel Tip #Walk
  2. Learn Some History
  3. Walking Tours are the best
  4. What floor am I on?
  5. How to say I love you in 50 Languages
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 15. Getting Money Right

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  1. Get to Know your currency
  2. Know Your Tipping
  3. Travel insurance Rocks!
  4. How I am carrying money
  5. What to do with left over foreign coins? Some very helpful comments here
  6. Don’t be pound foolish
  7. Credit Card Compatibility Fails
  8. Giving money to beggars – some answers to a difficult question
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16. Staying Solvent

  1. Replacing the Concierge?
  2. Buy Attraction Tickets in Advance
  3. Don’t eat near a tourist site!
  4. All about #Bargaining /Haggling
  5. Shopping while traveling- 7 tips
  6. When to use City and Museum passes
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17. Travelling Green

  1. Tips for not spoiling places for others
  2. Avoiding damaging the sights/sites
  3. Greener Travel Tips
  4. We travellers must reduce trash this was a post that I thought would be fairly straight forward but some people took quite strong umbrage that they held any responsibility for preventing litter or cleaning up after themselves. I even got hate mail from a very “nice” troll. Seriously?! I am not shirking from my belief that we all have must reduce our environmental impact.

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