These are Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (yes, that beautiful piece of software – or as I like to call her, Sally) I have created these over time to help me organise the different components of my travel and compare/track things more easily.

I have tried to keep them super simple (for you unlearned folks), so hopefully you can jump in, download, and start utilising them at your leisure.

For ease of use, I have created a few YouTube tutorial videos on how to use them (these are also in the spreadsheets)

If you find these useful – all I ask for in return is you stand up, turn around three times, and say “DAYUUMMMMMM SON!!! – THAT’S A FINE SPREADSHEET YOU GOT THERE!!! – that would truly mean a lot to me).

Well – that and (here we go – it’s all about the affiliate links with you travel bloggers isn’t it…) also please consider using the below links if you are purchasing or booking something – whilst everything I recommend is always 100% my own opinions and – the small commissions I get from you purchasing a link through them helps keep the JourneyingPalces lights on

• Skyscanner – my favourite flight comparison tool. I like that you can put ‘everywhere’ as your destination, and a whole month rather than an exact date – and it will give you the full list – perfect for working out the most affordable route – I actually made a video on this – see here.
• Google Flights – my favourite flight comparison tool. I like that you can put ‘everywhere’ as your destination, and a whole month rather than an exact date – and it will give you the full list – perfect for working out the most affordable route – I actually made a video on this – see here.
• Momondo – my favourite flight comparison tool. I like that you can put ‘everywhere’ as your destination, and a whole month rather than an exact date – and it will give you the full list – perfect for working out the most affordable route – I actually made a video on this – see here.
• Flightnetwrok – my favourite flight comparison tool. I like that you can put ‘everywhere’ as your destination, and a whole month rather than an exact date – and it will give you the full list – perfect for working out the most affordable route – I actually made a video on this – see here.
• Kiwi.com – my favourite flight comparison tool. I like that you can put ‘everywhere’ as your destination, and a whole month rather than an exact date – and it will give you the full list – perfect for working out the most affordable route – I actually made a video on this – see here.

• Booking.com – the big gorilla in terms of booking accommodation for most places around the world (except Asia – where I recommend Agoda is better – although fun fact – did you know Booking.com own Agoda)
• Agoda – best booking site for Asia
• Hotels.com – get every 10th night free (I think all booking places should do this)
• HostelWorld – takes the cake for Hostel bookings (I actually bought shares in them because I that they were that good in terms of Hostels)
• HotelsCombined
• Hotwire – for discounted ‘secret’ deals (you can often work it out if you try hard enough)
• Expedia – also lets you book through the site – occasionally I find they have the best price – and Expedia has a rewards system so you can build up enough credit to get some great discounts
• Tripadvisor
• Airbnb
• Direct with the site!! Please don’t forget – after you’ve checked on each of the above and found your place – jusr double check the cost to book directly with the hotel (if an option)

I have travel insurance 100% of the time I’m travelling as you never know what’s going to happen. Also note, at the time of writing this some countries require travel insurance in order to enter. I use WorldNomads and can recommend them, they are especially good for travellers (like me) whose plans might change. Also, for those credit card holders – it might be worth checking if you’re credit card has travel insurance included.

getyourguide

Viator

• ManInSeat61 – who on earth is the genius who created and manages this site
• Rome2Rio
• JRPass – (Japan-specific obviously) – not available for locals – cheaper way to travel on the fast trains in japan – you have to get it BEFORE you go to japan – I’ve used it on multiple trips to japan – no issues – just be smart when you ‘activate tit’

• Uber
• Grab – in Asia (especially vietnam, …, …., …., )

VPN’s aren’t just for travelling and i’ve used it plenty at home, but especially handy when travelling. For instance, a bunch of sites won’t let you watch out of Australia – having a VPN be able to . My most frequent is actually to watch Australilan football lol.  Some places are more necessity than others – for example China you have to have one – make sure get it before you leave (as you’ll have trouble accessing it to download it once you’re there). I use NordVPN and I think it’s great – you just open the app click a country and boom. ExpressVPN are supposed to be good.

When trying to work out where to go, here some habndy apps – of course the big gorilla is TRipadvisor, but here are a few others depending where you’re going

• … in Singapore, Thailand
• …

Maps are essential when travelling. HEre are some good ones

• Hard copy map – often get one from your hotel, airport or tourist centre
• Google MAps
• Maps.me – works offline
• kakao maps – for Korea…

Here’s a list of handy websites I’ve compiled over the years

Setting up a blog is very simple: 1) Setup Hosting -> 2) Register Domain -> 3) Install WordPress -> You’re good to go! But there’s a lot to learn after that – for a detailed account of my experience setting up this blog, see my ‘Starting a Travel Blog – my experience’ post.

If you are right at the start of your blogging (or setting up any website really), then one of the questions you;; probably have, which I spent a bunch of time researching, was whether to go with a website creator like Squarespace, or go with Worpress. There are a bunch of youtube videos and other sites you can go for for a more in depth … of this one, but in short, if you’re looking to do a blog and take it seriously – Worpdress seems to be the best, however, if you arent looking to take it seriously and are very new to the website and don’t want to invest a huge amount of time learning all the ins and outs – then Squarespace might be a good p[tin for you.

Starting a Travel Blog in 2022 (a No-BS Guide) • Indie Traveller

First off – I had no knowledge about setting up a website when I first started this blog – whilst I’m much more knowledgeable now, there are still much better sources out there – Google search is useful. But if you’re still interested in what I’ve gathered so far.

NOTE: Wordpress.org actually have a few hosts they recommend (see here)

▪  BlueHost – After originally going with Hostgator I ended up switching to BlueHost (As Hostgator was not able to meet my theme’s requirements). So far, the support I have received from BlueHost is far better than what I received from HostGator, and the price is pretty similar (I just have Shared Hosting plan which is sufficient for my current needs).

Dreamhost and SiteGround are the two other hosts wordpress.org recommends. WHilst I don’t know much about dreamhost, I have heard good things about SiteGround.

▪  Cloudways – lastly, if you already have an established blog (or other website), then once your traffic grows you may need to change to a … host. Cloudways seems to be the one a lot of … recommend for ….

• Elegant themes is the one I went with – mainly because they seems like a big one that a lot pf .. Recommended
• ThemeForest – For if you want to expllre more them , I would recommend probaly sticking ot the ones with a lot of users as it’s safe bet that they’ll continue ot be supported an dupgraded.

I was never a big writer before starting this blog (it makes a difference when you love what you’re writing about!), but just trust me when I say you should use it. It is like having a pro proofread you’re writing while you type. Little embarrassing how many suggestions I use. AND IT’S FREE!!

…

Whilst all of the images you see in my posts are taken by myself or a friend I’m travelling with – still very useful for a lot of people. I actually utilise them when I’m planning a post – I will find similar images of what I hope to take and use them as placeholders in my drafts before I publish (i make sure that before I hit publish – everything is my own). But here are the best ones:

• unsplach
• pixabay
• pexels

Setup Google Analytics in order to know which posts are getting the most views. Here is a useful tutorial.

• KeySearch
• Semrush
• ahrefs
• keywords everywhere
• sitebulb

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Where I store every aspect of my life that is worth storing.

Where I store every aspect of my life that is worth storing.

For all photo and video storage / organisation.

Initially used Google Drive – very good, but dropbox slightly edged for better ability to organise and also sharing with others.

Note, i always have photos on multiple places

• SD Card
• Hard Drive
• Cloud (Dropbox)

A handy app my friend got me on to which tells you about the lighting and helps you make sure get your setting right. Lighting is everything.

I use excel for …, OneNote for …, and Notion for ….

Where I store every aspect of my life that is worth storing.

Where I store every aspect of my life that is worth storing.

I feel like Notion had a big marketing push where it seemed a bunch of YouTubers were touting Notion. Whilst i have eventually become a convert, it did take a few goes and probably over a year before I started to really utilise it. It is pretty good and is now where I store all write-ups for my website writings and also …

Slowly starting to migrate what I kept in my OneNote over to Notion. Although my exel spreadsheets will never make the migrtaion.

I am slowly migrating from OneNote to Notion for my writings – purely because it can be .. With Grammaerly (google docs is also another option)

Also use this workflow management system, which is pretty good.

But one imitation (at least at the toime of writing this) is it can’t work offline – where as oneNote can – so OneNote still majority of ‘life admin’

Please note that whilst some of the links on this page are affiliate links (meaning I earn a small commission if a purchase is made through the link) everything is my own 100% unbiased opinions.