As I said before, we’ve been planning this for awhile. Bethany did a ton of research and we used a lot of different services in order to make the planning of our trip easier, Here’s a few of the services we found very useful.
- AirBNB – as hosts of Air BNB we couldn’t not use this great service. Yes there are a lot of bad stories in the news, but what else is new, Air BNB is a great way to find affordable unique places in cities and neighborhoods you would otherwise never see. Want to see a City from the locals perspective? Use Air BNB,
- Barclay Credit Card – though Financial Peace University graduates may scoff at the use of a credit card, the Barclay card has been hugely helpful in prepping for this trip as well as the execution of our trip. The Barclay card offers double points on any travel purchases, gets rid of international taxes for purchases over sees an offers all sorts of travel related benefits. Not only that but the rewards are pretty good and the web interface is easy to use and setup. If you’re smart with credit cards and love travel, I’d give it a try.
- TripIt – TripIt has been a huge blessing. Think of it as your own self-updating travel itinerary. Whenever you book a plane, a hotel, a train or rental car you forward that purchase to TripIt, it adds all the pertinent info into an itinerary and keeps everything in one place for you. It’s invaluable. Also, you can get a TripIt Pro account free just by having a Barclay Word Travel Plus Credit Card like us… just saying.
- Hulu & Rick Steves – I am not exaggerating. We lived and died by Rick Steve’s recommendations. If you do not know who Rick Steve’s is, you need to check out his travel series on Hulu. Granted he is possibly the cheesiest man alive, but man, does he know travel… There were a few cities we went to strictly because he gave a big thumbs up to them. If you’re wondering where to go in Europe purchase Hulu for month and binge on some Rick Steve’s.
- Custom Google Maps – Did you know you can create your own custom Google Maps? “But Bryce” you say “Why would I want to do that?” What a silly question! You can create a custom map to plot out areas of interest in all the various cities you are going to go. You can then bring them up on your phone’s Google maps app when you arrive in that City and easily get directions to all the places you want to go. What’s not great about that?
- Blogs – Chances are if you’re reading this, you like to read blogs to find out good practical info. Well here are a few blogs we found great info from as we searched around trying to find out how to plan our own trip. (1) Nomadic Matt (2) (3) (4). There were more but those were the biggies
- AAA – Did you know if you want to drive in another country you need an international drivers license? Did you know that you get them at AAA? Neither did we until recently. Luckily it’s pretty easy, fill out an application on their site, get two passport photos and your valid license and passport and you can drive poorly in whatever country you want.
- Three Wireless – When traveling abroad having a phone is important. Luckily Bethany and I had a virtual iPhone graveyard in our bedside tables so I took the time to unlock them for us on other wireless carries. The one I’m choosing? Three Wireless out of Dublin, Ireland. They have an “All You Can Eat” prepaid data plan with unlimited texts and data for an insanely cheap price. So cheap that I figured there had to be a catch. Thus far I can’t find one in the fine print. The better news? It works in all but two of the countries we are going to. That’s a good deal!
- My Wife – She has been a fountain of knowledge in this whole process. Finding out interesting tidbits, researching travel necessities and doing a lot of the overall planning. For someone who lacks administration skills it’s a blessing to be married to her. Thanks babe!
There are of course more services, but none that were nearly as helpful as these. With a little elbow grease, a moderate amount of stress, and the help of the world wide inter webs you to can plan a trip you’ll never forget!
Cheers,
B&B
