Welcome to our resources page! To help you guys plan for your own travels and/or digital nomad journey, below we have shared some of our preferred resources from booking accommodation to the various equipment we use to work online. Click on the links for more information.
Booking Accommodation
We book the majority of our accommodation around the world using Booking.com. It has one of the largest selection of accommodation options, a variety of ways of booking and no fees. Our favourite feature is the book now, pay later option, which allows you to reserve a room without paying in advance. Many properties even allow you to cancel on the day of arrival without having to pay cancellation fees. Together with the Booking.com App, this makes it easier to travel more freely!
If you want to live like a local then AirBnB is the accommodation booking site to use. On AirBnB you’ll find accommodation options that you won’t find on any other booking sites. From renting a room in someone’s house to your own private apartment, AirBnB has many options. We’ve used AirBnB to book apartments and houses in Australia, Brazil, Croatia, England and many more!
Free Accommodation!
Have you heard of Trusted Housesitters? If not, now you have thanks to us! We use Trusted Housesitters for free accommodation all over the world. It’s a website where house and pet owners seek people to look after their house, and sometimes pets, while they are away on vacation, work or whatever. All you need to do is sign up HERE for a small fee, and you’ll be able to apply to any housesit you wish. London, Australia, Thailand, New York…..they’re all there! From 1 night stays up to several months!
Booking Flights
To search for the cheapest flights online, we use Skyscanner. Skyscanner searches through most of the airlines around the world for the cheapest flights so you don’t have to. Skyscanner only takes a few seconds to display up to date flight results starting with the lowest price. There’s no easier way to search for flights to and from anywhere in the world.
Travel Insurance
We’d always recommend World Nomads travel insurance for any kind of traveller. Their prices are very competitive and they offer insurance to over 150 countries! You’ll find most experienced travellers recommending World Nomads to click on the image to get yourself a quote!
Guide Books
Over the entire 11 years of our travels, we’ve always used Lonely Planet guidebooks. For us, they are the best guidebook publishers because of their 40 years experience and easy to navigate pages. With over 500 books published, you can find one for wherever in the world you are going. Click the image and search for your next destination!
Luggage Allowances And Policies
Traveling can be fun, but it can also result in a lot of stress if you don’t have any idea about the luggage allowances and policies of airline companies. All of your upcoming trips will be cheaper and more memorable if you compare cabin bags allowances and policies first. Carry On Compared is a great website that allows you to identify the best bags to bring based on the airline you’ll travel with.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Virtual private networks are used by us for two reasons; to add security while we are using public wifi connections and to stream TV from our home channel’s catch-up sites. VPNs also allow you to use your Netflix or Amazon Prime accounts while in another country. Before making a choice it is recommended to read reviews of the Best VPNs, but we chose Tunnel Bear.
At any time, we can turn on Tunnel Bear instantly and use the internet from a server in our home country (UK) and 20 other countries including US, Canada, Australia & Japan. Tunnel Bear is for most purposes well reviewed, very cheap, easy to install/use and providing we have good wifi connection works every time. Click the image to see if your country is covered and get a free trial!
Photography
Camera: Sony A6000
We have been using the Sony A6000 Compact System Camera for two years and we are still loving the results. In our opinion, Sony produce the best mirrorless cameras on the market at an extremely affordable price. To get the same features and results using a DSLR, you’d have to pay almost twice the price of this camera. Check out the specs by clicking the image and buy one today! You won’t regret it.
Lenses
Tamron 18-200mm for Sony (E Mount)
The Tamron 18-200mm is a great all round zoom lens for the Sony A6000. At it’s widest 18mm you can take some fantastic landscape shots and it’s full 200mm zoom allows you to get close-ups of wildlife or people at a distance without being intrusive. This is our everyday carry around lens because it’s large range is suitable for almost all types of travel photography. This lens is also cheaper than it’s Sony equivalent. Check out the specs by clicking the image.
Sony 50mm Prime Lens (E Mount)
The Sony 50mm prime lens is a beautiful portrait photography lens. It’s a fixed focus lens so there are no zoom options but at 50mm we find this perfect for portraits and street photography without the need to get too close to the subject. The lens also creates some awesome looking background bokeh (blur). Check out the specs by clicking the image.
Photo Editing: Adobe Lightroom
We love using Adobe Lightroom to edit all our photos. Lightroom is perfect for those who might find Photoshop a little too complex to use. Lightroom has a simple interface but with many flexible settings which allow you to make all kinds of changes to your photos. Also available are downloadable presets (free and paid) which are great when you need to edit quickly. We purchased Abobe’s Photography Package which includes Light Room and Photoshop for around £8 per month. Click the image for further details and plans.
Remote Working Computer Gear
Laptop: Apple MacBook Air 13.3 Inch
We’ve always used Apple computer products. We’ve found them to be the most reliable and hardwearing laptops on the market. We often use our Apple laptops all day and every day for months and months without any problems. Our MacBook Air 13.3 Inch is also perfect for travel due to its very slim design and light weight. It’s a no brainer! Check out the specs by clicking the image.
Tablet: Samsung Galaxy 9.6 Inch
As much as we love Apple products, we couldn’t justify the cost when it came to buying a tablet. The next best thing is the Samsung Galaxy range. This is what Shelley uses for her work on the blog which mostly involves being on social media. The Samsung Galaxy tablets are perfect for that and other uses like watching films on long bus journeys ? Check out the specs by clicking the image.
External Hard Drives: Western Digital
We’ve been using Western Digital external hard drives for years and not once have any of them failed to work. Connect them to your computer by USB and use to store anything from photos to music. Check out the specs by clicking the image. Available in various storage sizes.