Travel Resources

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A complete list of travel resources to help you plan your next trip. These are all of my favorite products and sites that I use for each of our destinations. Visit my Amazon Storefront for one-stop shopping on all of these travel essentials.

Best Travel Websites & Companies For Vacation Planning

Best Deals On Hotels and Vacation Rentals:

Expedia.com

Booking.com

VRBO.com

Trivago (Compares rates from multiple sites)

Best Deals On Flights:

Expedia.com

Trip.com

Best Places to Book Tours & Experiences:

Viator

Get Your Guide

Trip Advisor

Best Deals on Rental Cars:

Both of the sites below compare prices from all of the major car rental companies to find the best deal:

Rentalcars.com

Discovercars.com

Best Travel Hacks

Radical Storage: If you have to check out of your accommodations in the morning but don’t have a flight out until the evening, Radical Storage will store your luggage for you so you can enjoy your day. Available in 500 cities, 70 countries and more than 5,000 storage locations. I’ve used them and it is a game changer!

Air Help: Helps passenger receive up to $600 in compensation for flight delays and cancellations.

Best City Tours:

Big Bus Tours: Open top bus tours available in 23 cities across the U.S.

Go City: Available in cities across the U.S. and world, Go City eliminates the need to purchase multiple tickets for attractions in one city. They combine all of your reservations into one pass.

Best Transportation Services

Welcome Pickups: Book airport transfers and sightseeing rides in the U.S. and worldwide.

Get Transfer: Book airport transfers, taxi rides and long-distance trips.

Bikesbooking.com: An online booking service for bicycles, motorcycles, scooters and quads all over the world. 50,000 vehicles are available for booking in more than 2,000 locations around the world

My Go-To Sites for Trip Planning:

TripAdvisor

Best Travel Products For Packing

The Top Rated 2 Piece Luggage Set- Samsonite Freeform

This 2 piece luggage set from Samsonite has over 8,000 five star reviews.

Thule Rooftop Cargo Carrier

This Thule rooftop cargo carrier is a must for anyone traveling as a family! We use ours for all of our road trips. We put beach chairs, luggage and our skis in it.

Apple AirTags

After my luggage was lost for 6 weeks on a flight home from Nashville, I have learned my lesson and will never travel without Apple AirTags in our luggage again. The AirTags connect to your phone via the Find My iPhone app, allowing your phone to track its location. I have one in my wallet, my passport and all of my luggage. Don’t travel without them!

Packing Cubes

As a family of five, we have to combine our suitcases to save space. Packing cubes have become a must-have travel item for us. Each one of us has a set in different colors. When we arrive at our accomodations, we unpack by handing out each person’s packing cubes. The cubes can go directly into dresser drawers or closets that we are sharing. It helps keep us organized and makes separating clean and dirty clothe easy for the return trips.

Compression Packing Cubes

These compression packing cubes have a special zipper system that compresses them flat when zipped. A huge space saver and great gift for travelers.

Passport Holder With AirTag Compartment

These passport holders come in multiple colors, for each person in your family. The best part is they have a compartment for an Apple AirTag so you can track the location of your passport. Losing your passport is a nightmare any time–but especially when traveling.

Carry On Luggage Backpack

These carry-on luggage backpacks are all the rage! They fit under the airplane seat and count as a personal item for most airlines. The best part is they can fit several days worth of clothes! It also has a USB port to charge your phone. With this carry on luggage backpack being a personal item for under the seat, you can still have a carry on suitcase for the overhead storage, essentially eliminating the need to check a bag!

Luggage Scale

This luggage scale gives you peace of mind that your suitcase is not over the weight limit. Remember to pack it in your luggage to weigh your bags on your return trip.

Travel Hanging Toiletry Bag

This top-rated toiletry bag fits so much! I love the hanging feature, perfect for hanging up on a towel bar in a hotel bathroom. It keeps your toiletries neatly organized and easily accessible as it hangs in the restroom.

Heatproof Hair Tool Organizer

This heatproof hair tool organizer not only keeps all of your hair tools neatly organized, but it allows you to pack a hot flat iron immediately!

Men’s Leather Hanging Toiletry Bag

This top-rated men’s leather hanging toiletry bag is stylish and functional, keeping all of your toiletries organized and easily accessible.

Lay Flat & Go Makeup Bag

I am obsessed with this travel make up bag. It lays flat, so you can easily see and access the contents. With one pull of the drawstring it folds up into a pouch for easy packing.

Travel Jewelry Organizer

This fold-flat jewelry organizer has compartments for necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

Sturdy Loop Luggage Tags

When I lost my luggage, it had a buckle-style luggage tag on it that came off of it. I now only use the loop-style luggage tags. This set is great, the tags are sturdy but bendable so they can’t snap and the loop style insures it won’t come loose.

Vacuum Bags For Packing

If you are an overpacker like me, these travel vacuum bags are a space-saving game changer! It comes with a small rechargeable vacuum pump which is easy to pack.

Voltage Converter & Adapter

If you are traveling abroad, you need one of these 2-in-1 voltage converter and outlet adapters. European countries have different voltage than the U.S. If you plug your devices into a European outlet without a voltage converter, it will fry your device. Don’t travel abroad without a voltage converter.

Best Travel Products For Photography

GoPro

GoPro Hero is another one of our must-have travel items. We use it on beach vacations and for snorkeling, and we use it in the winter for skiing. It takes great quality pictures!

Digital Point and Shoot with Great Zoom Lens

A compact point and shoot camera with a fantastic zoom lens is an amazing gift for travelers. Both of these cameras take video in addition to pictures. I have the Sony RX100 and was able to take some amazing close up videos of wildlife in Glacier National Park with the zoom lens! It is like having binoculars and a camera all in one! The Canon Point & Shoot also has a fantastic zoom lens.

Travel Video Foldable Drone

A drone takes high quality video and photos with an aerial view, taking vacation photos to the next level! (Literally!) For beginners looking for fun travel videos, the Holy Stone is a great drone for an affordable price. For professionals looking for the next level features the DJI Mini Drone is the top-rated drone.

Best Travel Products For Making Life Easier

Heated Jacket

I love my women’s heated Ororo jacket. It is one of my favorite items! I also have the women’s Ororo heated vest. These are perfect for keeping you warm on cold days. Click here for the men’s heated vest and the men’s heated jacket.

Phone Lanyard

This phone lanyard is hands down my favorite travel find. It keeps your phone accessible for photos and videos and keeps your hands free. Perfect for sight-seeing and hiking, I also love it for places I am worried about dropping my phone like chair lifts. I wear it cross-body and it is just perfect-a total game changer!

Quick Dry Water Sandals

These sandals are our go-to water shoes. They are perfect for rocky beaches and streams. The shoes dry quickly, and are sturdy enough to hike in. These are great for white water rafting, too.

Lightweight Sand Resistant Towels

Lightweight towels are fantastic for taking on any vacation. They fit easily in a backpack. We use them as beach towels, picnic blankets and even as a blanket on those cold airplanes. The Bay Laurel and the Sand Cloud brands are my favorite.

Collapsible Travel Cooler

When staying at a hotel or rental home, we always pack our Maelstrom collapsible travel cooler. This is great to pack lunches and drinks for the beach, or to keep drinks cold in the car. It folds flat so can be packed easily in a suitcase. This is one of our travel must-haves.

Venture Pal Lightweight Backpacks

I can’t say enough about these Venture Pal backpacks! We started out with two of them, the 35 L with the front pocket and the 40 L. We used those two on our Hawaii vacation, and we liked them so much we ended up buying three more for the kids for our trip to Glacier National Park. These are great because they are so lightweight, they are comfortable to wear on a hike or for all day sight seeing around a city. They fit a large amount of stuff with out feeling heavy. The 40 L has a waterproof pouch inside of it to put wet items. They also fold into a small zipper pouch for compact packing. I personally prefer the 35L with the smaller outside pockets.

Crossbody Travel Daypack

Great for sight seeing or day hikes. This crossbody backpack can be worn in front or back.

Travel Lighted Makeup Mirror

A compact make up mirror with 3 light settings that folds up to fit flat in your suitcase.

Full Face Snorkel Mask

These full face snorkel masks make breathing natural and comfortable, while also giving you a 180 degree view verses traditional masks. There is no mouthpiece so you can breathe through both your nose and mouth. The dry top system prevents water from entering at both the surface and while submerged.

Waterproof Phone Lanyard

This waterproof lanyard is great for rafting, paddle boarding, boating or if you don’t have a GoPro! This particular brand we love because the plastic does not make the pictures blurry.

Rain Coats

My daughter and I have these rain coats and we love them. They are lightweight yet warm and they are just great raincoats. Rain is never fun on a vacation, but these coats do the trick! My husband loves this Columbia rain coat.

Dual USB Charging Blocks

Dual USB charging blocks are perfect for charging multiple devices. Remember to pack extra charging cords to use in your rental car as well!

Best Travel Products For Airplane & Flights

AirPods Bluetooth Adaptor

An AirPods Bluetooth Adaptor allows you to connect your AirPods wirelessly to an old fashion headphones jack. This is great for using your AirPods to watch the tv on an airplane or even on a treadmill at the gym.

Sleep Mask

Fall asleep easily on the plane with this super comfortable sleep mask.

Airplane Phone Holder

Watch a movie on your phone hands-free on the airplane with this airplane phone holder that hooks onto the seat back.

Travel Pillow

FlyHugz is the best travel pillow on the market! This pillow goes all the way around your neck, providing support no matter which way your head falls.

Best Travel Products For Safety

RFID Blocking Wallet

This RFID blocking wallet prevents thieves from scanning your credit cards when in close proximity at popular tourist attractions and airports. This one also comes with a money clip attached.

Easy To Conceal RFID Blocking Hero Neck Wallet

This easy to conceal neck wallet fits under your coat or shirt protecting your passport and cards from any potential pick-pockets.

Portable Door Lock for Hotel Rooms

This portable door lock for hotel rooms gives peace of mind that your door cannot be opened by anyone with a hotel key.

Travel Money & Passport Belt

Protect your money and passport by wearing this belt wallet under your clothes.

Best Travel Products For Hiking Trips

Hiking Shoes

We are not avid hikers by any means, but we have hiked in Hawaii, Glacier National Park and in the mountains of Maryland and West Virginia. These are the Columbia hiking shoes that my daughters and I have. My son and husband have the men’s version. We wore them straight out of the box with no breaking in and had no issues with rubbing. They are comfortable and waterproof!

Hiking Poles

These Trail Buddy hiking poles were a must for a few of the hikes we did in Glacier National Park and we have used them on hikes in the Appalachian Mountains as well. These are helpful for any hike that has an ascent or descent, or stream crossings.

Hiking Socks

These women’s hiking socks have extra cushion in them and are incredibly comfortable. My husband and son are big fans of these Innotree hiking socks.

Hydro Flask 40L Water bottle

This is another item that everyone in my family has. The Hydro Flask water bottle keeps ice and water cold for hours! This is a must-have travel item for us.

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