Going off to have adventures or visit new places can certainly cost money. We work like crazy, save and make daily sacrifices so we can spend about five months of every year traveling.

As ordinary people we use our travel hacking skills so we can travel longer. We have twice been able to take a year off to travel (one year in Australia and one year around Southeast Asia.) We routinely travel five to six months in a given year. We achieve this by being:

• consistent with our habits
• big picture oriented
• opportunistic and always on the look out for a good deal
• execute financial intelligence and discipline

These are the same sites we use to look for deals and book our travel for ourselves.

We sign up for every reward program we can. I had such a hard time keeping track of them all (who else out there had to reset their password every single time?) Ah! It was maddening. I now use LastPass and it is a game changer! You can look into the details and see if you would like it, but basically create a vault on your computer with a master password. This master password you must never forget. Then use you use LastPass to log into all your accounts. I absolutely love it.

Anyway – always sign  up for any and all reward or loyalty programs. You never know when they will pay out. And $3 saved is still $3 saved. And “only” $3 saved in one program adds up when you “only” save $2 with another program and so on…before long it can be hundreds of dollars in a year.

Flights:

Expedia – we have had such fantastic luck booking with expedia. Absolutely sign up for their rewards. We love how the rewards accumulate and you can easily just apply them to your future bookings.

Skyscanner – We have also had good luck with Skyscanner. We always run searches on this site as well.

Vayama – This site has pulled threw a few times as the best bargain. We had easy booking experience.

*One booking site I cannot recommend based on the first hand horror stories I have heard from friends is CheapOair. Based on others experiences I steer far away from this site.*

Hotels:

*A few notes here if you like to save money. People often assume or think we stay in hostels or always camp when we travel. Somewhere this is still this cut and dry idea that a hostel is full of drunk young people in a 20 bed dormitory. Often, hostels have private rooms and private bathroom and nice facilities. However, usually a private room at a hostel cost more than a basic budget room. We find our best bargains with guest houses. If you are a solo travel and don’t mind sharing a room, hostels might be the way to go.

But otherwise look for guest houses/smaller places and read the reviews.

We find reviews to almost always be accurate and the smaller places to be better value and more welcoming. And on that note, if you don’t like a place, find a way to still say that constructively. Don’t be that asshole that just wants to leave a jerk of a review on a place because you can. Especially if you are traveling in a lesser developed area. Always be polite even if it’s constructive.

TIP: Always see which booking site is the best value when you book depending on your area. In Asia hands down Agoda was the lowest cost booking site. In USA and Mexico we found the best deals on Expedia. So you never know! Make sure you are aware of final price including the tax.

Expedia – Again make sure you sign up for those rewards because if you use them for both flights and hotels they can add up quick!

Agoda – Fantastic for Asia and also we have used them everywhere. Their rewards program is also good.

Bookings – A lot of people love to use bookings because they layout is super easy to use and it’s well done. They do a good job showcasing an accommodations features.

AirBnB – Don’t overlook good deals to be found on this site. We have found so many great value options of studio apartments and nice rooms with kitchens on here. We always look for private bathroom and our own space. If it’s your first time signing up and making a booking use this special link!!! You should save about $40 off your first trip. Again, read the reviews, they are almost always accurate.

Insurance

World Nomads – Tons of people use them and recommend them. I personally have never used World Nomads. So I can’t say first hand about them but I do know lots of people that have used their policy. What I will say is always read the fine print (of any insurance policy) and make sure any adventure activities you want to do are covered.