Planning Travel Tips– Where do you wanna go?! what do you want to experience? how much time do you have? what is the weather like where you wanna go? Time, money, weather are gonna determine where fits best for you to travel. The length of the flight and time change are also big factors. Once you figure out places that excites you then start looking up plane tickets and seeing what price range you are in. I use Kayak to lookup flight and car rentals. https://www.kayak.com/ If you are flexible booking on a Tuesday to Tuesday is always the cheapest and summer is always gonna be more expensive. Some places are cheaper to fly into with cheap car rentals like Las Vegas. We also learned flying into Spain from Boston is such a great deal and you can travel from there. Also Scott’s Cheap Flights is great- https://scottscheapflights.com/ -highly recommend getting on his email list. Once you decide on where you wanna go learn a bit of the language and culture, figure out things you want to do, book the first and last night of your trip and the rest surrender to the flow. If you only have a week or so to travel you can totally book all your rooms ahead of time- we like to use booking.com https://www.booking.com/ you can find places that are free to cancel last minute. I also think you do get better places when you book ahead of time. You can plan your trip by detail if that makes you comfortable and for your first couple trips that might be what you need but when you are emotionally ready going with the flow is where the magic happens. The magic happens when you are wandering and following your instincts & gut. When you have a plan and then throw it out the window cause something else looks fun or you met someone who told you do something else. You for sure wanna do some planning so things are not closed or you need to buy tickets in advanced. You also don’t want to look back and wish you had seen something. My recommendation for planning is to look up travel blogs. My site will help but typing in where you are going and then travel blog will give you so much more detail about an area than I do in this website. This is how we plan our trips. Also when taking a trip to countries that make people nervous you will have to figure out how to not hold other peoples fears. When we went to Egypt, a dream of ours, we were so overcome by others being nervous for us- you will have to learn to let other peoples energy pass through you and check in to see how you are actually feeling.
Helpful Travel Tip– download the area or areas you are visiting on Google Maps and for International traveling Maps Me. You can use the map offline when traveling if downloaded. This will help when you get into a cab so the cab driver does not try to scam you. Always negotiate prices or ask for meters to get turned on. Make sure the price is for everyone not one person. We like to use Sim Cards in our phones when traveling internationally as well- you can look up where in the airport they are ahead of time. We exchange some money at airport but your best exchange rate will be at an ATM – There are a lot of scams in countries so be mindful of them. People are so kind all over the world but you may end up being scammed at some point- it actually took us years before we experienced one. The hussle is real in some countries. We have never felt unsafe just people trying to hussle us. Even if you don’t look like you have money, if you are traveling to them you have money. Just remember nothing is free and don’t let anyone put anything in your hands unless you want to give them money, same with photos and sometimes directions. Also be aware if they talk about holidays or roads being closed to your hotel. But also remember how important it is to give prosperity to others and know that some of these countries don’t have much work. Lead with your heart and trust your gut. You will find so much more kindness than scams while traveling. https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/avoid-travel-scams/
Packing Travel Tips– I pack so light that Joes tells me i need to pack more haha! feeling free is my goal in life and having so much stuff doesn’t make me feel free. Anything under 2 weeks we use our carry on travel backpack. Big fans of the Osprey Backpacks. For trips over 2 weeks we also bring one large backpacking bag that we check- traveling internationally you get a free check bag usually- be aware so they don’t try to charge you for it. If we are going to multiple destinations like heading to an island for a week where we don’t need the large bag we leave it at the airport in the luggage storage and come back to it after. We use packing cubes which are amazing. If you travel with a suitcase i don’t think travel cubes help but maybe to stay organized. I always have a medicine bag and toiletry bag all packed and ready to go at all times. It is easy to just grab and makes us able to pack the night before with ease. We also have a pouch that holds our passport, pen (you need a pen on the plane for custom forms) extra passport photos for Visas, a tool to open sim card on phone, & we make sure we have copies of our passports in put them in a section of our backpack that is usually with the rain backpack cover. Also our most important thing we travel with is apple cider vinegar- you can use it for cuts, acne, scalp, moisture and if you have acid reflux- its seriously been a game changer in our travels. Some countries we love are just so humid! We also pack a bag for dirty laundry- one usually comes with the packing cubes- you can do laundry so easily around the world. Some places make it so easy.
Mindful Travel Tips– you know when you go on vacation and you are like damn that went by too fast!!! well there is a way to slow it down. Before you leave on your trip your are thinking about your trip which puts your mind in the future- when you are on your trip you wanna stop thinking about the future and be as present as possible- as your mind wanders to the next day or two or three bring it back to the present moment or what is going on that day. Unless it is absolutely necessary to think about the future, bring your mind back. Be present. To help take 3 deep breaths and try the 5 senses trick – https://youtu.be/7o-oqjiLAOs This trick is helpful for a lot of things in life so try it and see if it helps. Also when traveling you are gonna see those you travel with at their highs and their lows. You are going to want to check in with yourself as much as you can. I like to check in first thing in the morning- put my hands on my heart and take 3 deep breaths till i drop in and i hear myself say hey- then ask what i need for boundaries and what I need for the day- sometimes it says take things slow or it says do the thing that makes me scared-or just be open- open my heart – I am anxious- that conversation didnt feel good- whatever it says honor it and acknowledge it. Checking in with each other while traveling and honoring everyone’s highs and low can make for such a fun trip like our Mother Daughters trip through Paris, Venice and Portugal – https://youtu.be/JsMJWDf-Yd4
Money Travel Tips– Everyone has a different relationship with money. Money is energy, money is a vibration. The way you feel about money is gonna effect how much money you have. I highly recommend this book. It changed my relationship with money and myself. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rich-as-f-ck-amanda-frances/1138495914 – I can tell you how we pay for our trips- how much we save and need to make but everyone is different and has different bills and spending habits. Also we stay in nicer places than we use to- we don’t worry about money like we used to. Everyone is different and at different points in their lives that’s why i recommend this book instead of giving you info- its a game changer.
We have tried a few different travel credit card but our favorite hands down was the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card- https://www.referyourchasecard.com/m/6c/6L5/GJZB/1559900064?fbclid=IwAR2nDfxFY4In94tdNJs-qliHZcDqAOsKJwNU2J6qPy-UZU5jkydyJSRl0OY -no foreign transaction fee and has its own travel insurance. Plus you can use it on any airline- use this link if interested in applying for the card and help me get referral points please- thank you!
Photo Travel Tips– When you show up somewhere you always dreamt of going you sometimes wanna just capture that moment you can get so excited you start taking so many photos. For some of us who take photos a lot it doesn’t take us out of the moment as much but for those of us who don’t- it might take us out of the moment a lot. My trick to photos so that I capture a great photo with ease is to look up the place I am visiting on google image- from google image you will see professional photos and get an idea of the best images. From there I pull out my camera when i see an image similar or that exact imagine- i know to keep me camera close but not be on it the whole time cause i know the shot i want ahead of time. That doesn’t meant i dont take photos along the way- it just makes me patient and present and able to feel more than think- if that makes sense to you. I get excited for photos- i have taken photos since i was a kid- so i get extra excited and this trick really helps me. Also i love using a go pro. You just hold it and it captures video without trying- you can also get photos from the video. I get my best laughing photos off the Go Pro. They always have great deals at Costco for the Go Pro.
Physical Travel Tips– Don’t just suffer when traveling and flying- bring and learn what you need to be happy. When flying I have a contraption that i can rest my feet on. It is like a long loop that goes around the food tray and i can adjust the height and rest my feet or legs in it. It has been a traveling game changer for me. I use it on flights and long bus rides. I also get a dry nose with flying and have tried all sorts of things and found a nose oil that is a game changer. https://store.sinussupport.com/baraka-dry-nose-oil/ I would sometimes get sick if my nose dries out too much. Now i am so happy i have this in my bag. We tried a lot of pillows for Joe for traveling and have not find the right one yet, but we will! Think about where you are uncomfortable and look up ways to help. Pack comfortable shoes- you will be walking a lot. A good backpack is so important- it helps distribute weight on your back and body. We love Osprey bags. Stretch as much as possible or if you are not feeling like stretching simple things like legs up the wall or twisting when laying down help so much. Lower back hurting- stretch those legs!!!
It is normal to get nervous before traveling! You are excited, you are nervous, you have so much to do before you go, there is lots of energy moving through your body. You are about to not have control over anything really!!! welcome to travel 😉 But a big part of us wants that surrender, wants to be so present and wants to experience everything!!! just know being nervous is normal, check in as much as possible and be easy with yourself. Have fun, trust your gut and do things to make you scared- you are gonna learn so much about yourself and you will come home such a different person.
Rachel Travel Vibes 