To help you plan your trip, I put together a list of travel resources which I use to book and plan my own adventures. These links are my go-to because they make my travels easier, cheaper, or help me leave a positive impact where I visit, so I highly recommend them. Some include affiliate links, discounts, or promo codes to help you save too. Full disclosure here.
Volunteer
Excellent, extensive database of free or low-cost volunteer opportunities around the world. Each organization is vetted by the publisher to ensure they are ethical and socially-responsible.
An amazing organization that helps get medical supplies to low-income countries by way of travellers who are already going there. They helped me pack an extra suitcase to deliver to a local clinic on my trip to Haiti.
A free resource for volunteer opportunities in NGOs and community projects around the world in exchange for accommodation and meals.
A meaningful way to contribute by using extra space in your suitcase to deliver needed supplies for community projects in the places you visit.
Wine to Water – an amazing organization helping to end the global water crisis. Wine to Water provides clean water filters and sanitation education to families in Nepal, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Dominican Republic.
English in Mind Institute – a non-profit school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Entirely led by Haitians, it teaches valuable English skills to adults to empower and improve opportunity. I absolutely loved my volunteer experience in Haiti.
IDDI – Non-profit organization helping to alleviate poverty and empower families in the Dominican Republic. One of my most rewarding experiences was helping to build a concrete floor for a family near Puerto Plata.
Courageous Kitchen – a grassroots initiative in Thailand that lifts vulnerable children and families out of extreme poverty, malnutrition, and lack of access to education and safe shelter.
Social Impact TOURS
Cuba – If you’re travelling to Cuba, I highly recommend the tours at Locally Sourced Cuba in and around Havana, Vinales, and the country. Tours are non-state run and guided by local Cubans so your money helps support them.
Colombia – The tours at Impulse Travel tours are locally-run with a mandate of supporting peace and preserving culture. Get 10% off any of their tours in Medellin, Bogota, Cartagena, the coffee region and more. Use the link or enter code CHASE10.
India – Reality Tours is a social enterprise offering city tours in various parts of India. Profits go to underprivileged communities to fund education programs through their NGO, Reality Gives.
Romania – Interesting Times Bureau tours in Bucharest are designed by artists, activists, and social entrepreneurs, primarily with the needs of the city in mind, and secondarily to the needs of the tourism market.
Czech Republic – Pragulic tours help reintegrate the homeless back into society. When you book a tour you’re helping to improve the lives of tour guides by providing jobs, opportunity, and socio-economic support.
Eating Europe – My absolute favourite food tours in Europe where you can learn about local cuisine, meet shop owners and support small businesses in places like Prague and Rome.
I Like Local – Platform for booking local tours in Asia and Africa while ensuring direct income for local people. 100% of the money asked by local guides is directly paid to them.
Urban Adventures – Small group city tours around the world with low impact. Their series of In-Focus tours support start-up projects, local NGOs and social enterprises that address community issues.
Get Your Guide – Extensive list of day trips, multi-day trips, and city tours for every budget, theme, or travel style.
Freetours.com – A list of free, budget or tip-based walking tours around the world run by local guides.
Travel For Free
Stay for free in exchange for all the puppy and kitty snuggles you can ask for. I love Trusted Housesitters because it has the most extensive list of assignments for house and pet sitting. Use my referral link to get 25% off when you sign up.
Smaller, less competitive platform for house and pet sitting assignments. We found our first house sit here.
A community for home swapping. We often exchange our apartment in Budapest with other home owners. We stay for free at someone else’s home while they stay at ours. You can also exchange using points. Use our link to get 100 Points when you sign up.
Tools
I use TransferWise to send and receive money in different currencies to avoid the high fees traditional banks charge.
Finally, just one global SIM card for staying connected in every country. No more switching SIM cards. They offer pay-as-you-go rates or unlimited data from $7.99/day.
Travel insurance plans that are actually flexible especially for nomads and backpackers in multiple countries. Assistance is 24hrs and you can buy, extend, and claim online.
I use the tools at Ratehub.ca to find and compare different finance options in Canada where I am from. I found my favourite foreign currency exchange credit card. There’s no transaction fees with my Visa Infinite Passport, just a straight exchange rate. Plus I get free lounge access at airports around the world.
Accommodations
Airbnb – My favourite way to travel independently and in a local way. We use Airbnb as guests and also hosts at our apartment in Budapest. You can use my referral link to get €28 off your first booking.
Generator Hostels – Stylish, designer boutique and luxury hostels in Europe where you can get luxury at a cheap price.
Hotels.com – Probably the best place to book accommodation in terms of inventory and variety. While I always start with Airbnb, this website is a great alternative, with no booking fees and sometimes you can cancel for free.
Getting Around
JetRadar – I use JetRadar search engine to find and compare flights including multiple airlines, and the smaller budget ones to plan the best route. I use this interchangeably with Skyscanner but lately I’ve found JetRadar prices to be better.
Rome2Rio – Multi-transport aggregator that shows you how to get from point A to point B worldwide using plane, train, or bus, from cheapest to most expensive, and shortest to longest route.
Omio – Similar to Rome2Rio, this platform is for mapping your route around Europe.
Hopper App – An app that predicts the best time to book flights and alerts you before prices are about to drop or climb.
City Maps2Go – The absolute best offline map, hands down. I use this free app for all my trips. I especially love that I can pin places I want to visit, return to later, or save for future. It’s like creating my own personal map.
More Recommended Resources:
Siteground – if you’re looking to start a travel blog I highly recommend SiteGround. I recently switched to their web hosting because they’re one of the most secure providers and I don’t have to worry about annoying tech glitches anymore.
