Backpacker hacks

My list of travel hacks/tips has grown to 118...while many are known, you may find something useful.

Many of these principles can be applied almost everywhere even though I have given specific examples. I will keep this article updated as I find new tips.

1. When buying the cheapest airline ticket, you can often still choose your seat 24 hours before the flight. I find this a benefit, as I can see the gaps and choose an aisle seat on a 3-seat configuration, with either the window seat booked or empty but importantly the middle seat empty. It's unlikely someone else will choose the middle seat which gives you and the window seat passenger extra leg room and the middle table for drinks and rubbish. If you are travelling with another person, book the window and aisle seat and hope nobody books the middle seat. If someone turns up, simply ask to swap. It goes without saying to avoid a seat near the toilets or galleys avoiding smell and noise!


2. Book flights for a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday, these are the cheapest days as the other days are busy due to business travel. This goes hand-in-hand with being flexible with your dates.


3. Booking an Airbnb apartment for a whole month often results in heavy discounts up to 50% less than the daily price. More choices on Airbnb seem to display when searching for monthly stays beginning on the 1st of a month.


4. Have offline maps for all the countries you are visiting stored on your smartphone. My preference is MapsMe. You have the piece of mind of always knowing where you are and if the taxi is on the correct route. Often taxi drivers don't actually know your hostel.....so you end up guiding them yourself! This also works with trains & coaches as you know when to get off despite not understanding the language of the announcement system.


5. Only use ATMs in large shopping centres as they are more likely to function and be topped up with cash. Wait to see if other people have success or problems withdrawing cash, don't be first in line. Always travel with at least 3/4 different bank cards in case they are swallowed by an ATM machine or stolen.


6. When withdrawing cash from an ATM, remember if given the option, to always choose "continue without conversion" which means your home bank will use their exchange rate which will always be better than the one applied by the foreign ATM.


7. Save money, sweat and tears by travelling with just a cabin sized backpack. You will firstly save money by not having to pay an airlines checked baggage fee which is usually a minimum of £25 which over the course of a long trip adds up. My backpack currently weighs under 8kg.....believe me when I say, less is more. I don't waste time at airports waiting for my backpack and never have to worry of it going astray. A small backpack will nearly always fit inside small lockers provided by many hostels and in overhead racks on coaches therefore it never leaves your side for added security and peace of mind.


8. Backpackers with higher budgets but still wanting the hostel vibe and ease of making new friends. Should consider getting a private room which many hostels usually have with prices often far lower than a comparable hotel.


9. Use Google Flights initially when searching for cheap flights as this is the most comprehensive database for all flights. You can search from where you are, leaving blank the destination box, and it will show you all options worldwide as you move around the map. When you have found a flight, then use the Momondo website or app and put in the exact dates, you will often find it's even cheaper. If the actual airline is the cheapest option, book with them directly as this may give you more flexibility if problems arise or changes are necessary.


10. A few alternatives to Google Flights, is ITA Matrix, which Google Flights is built upon with some users suggesting that the advanced search options give more flexibility. Two more options with free, and paid versions include: Scotts Cheap Flights and Jacks Flight Club. These two services provide free email notifications of underpriced or mistake airline fares with their paid subscription versions offering greater flexibility.


11. Another technique when searching for flights/hotels etc. is to change your home country or currency. The algorithms the search engines use, tend to give cheaper rates to countries with lower levels of income. Also don't forget to turn on "private browsing" as most travel websites track your movements and often raise prices on your return.


12. To find loopholes in airline flights/prices and bag yourself savings, head over to Skiplagged. Sometimes it's cheaper to arrive at your chosen destination by booking a flight that goes on somewhere else. Using Skiplagged, you may find a flight from Boston to Houston that stops in Miami (your chosen destination) where you simply get off in Miami...assuming you can collect your bags or have carry-on luggage only.


13. Occasionally you need to prove you have an onward flight reservation before boarding a flight to another country. One option is to use OneWayFly to get a virtual ticket you can use as proof.


14. While travel restrictions for the unvaccinated are slowly disappearing, I have found probably the best website for covid travel requirements.


15. When listening to video or podcasts in the background while doing other tasks. On some websites, you can speed up the playback to save time. I find that 1.5x to 1.75x speed works best.


16. Passwords for websites need to be stronger when travelling as you will use free wi-fi and become more open to being hacked. Ensure you use two-factor authentication/2FA via an app rather than SMS text message, adding an additional layer of security.


17. If you lose your USB charger or it breaks, most TVs have USB ports, use them to charge your devices.


18. Instead of having separate chargers for every USB device, purchase a combined high power USB PD travel charger with interchangeable country plugs. Newer laptops allow charging via the USB C port eliminating the heavy power brick/lead from the past. Modern cameras can also charge via USB eliminating the separate battery charger. I have personally got rid of all my separate chargers and even purchased USB hair clippers for my hair cuts.


19. Travelling overnight to your next destination means saving the cost of one nights accommodation which sometimes pays for the cost of your transportation.


20. If arriving super early to your hostel as happened to me in Bangkok (5.30am) because of an overnight train. Choose a hostel near the train station so you don't have to deal with extortionate taxi fares at a time when bargaining is limited. In addition, choose a hostel that is new with zero or few ratings. My particular hostel allowed me to check in at 6am instead of 2pm, I suspect they may have been conscious of their ratings.


21. In countries that have mobile taxi apps use them to check the price of a journey before talking with a tuk tuk driver or taxi. This way you know the approximate price and distance so less likely to get ripped off.


22. To save battery usage on an android smartphone when listening to, not viewing music, a podcast or video, instead of keeping the screen on the open app, switch to the home screen or another one, you will find your smartphone carries on playing but switches to a blacked-out screen therefore using less power.


23. If watching YouTube videos on your smartphone app, you end up watching loads of advertisements, switch to watching in a browser on your smartphone or laptop, and your ad-blocker will cut out the adverts.


24. When reading a busy webpage with lots of distractions, most desktop browsers in the search box have a "reader view" icon. This strips away everything but the text.


25. Instead of using your hands to type on your computer keyboard, with Windows 11, hit the WINDOWS + H key, to bring up voice-to-text. I have found this works extremely well and accurately and is especially useful when writing long passages of text. A similar system is available on Apple computers and Google Docs under the TOOLS + VOICE TYPING. The Google system seems to have the edge, as you can edit with the keyboard without having to stop dication.


26. Avoid buying bus tickets from websites. You are often paying up to 30% more in some instances. Yes it's still often a cheap ticket, but the way I see it, I get to have a free meal or beer or two when I arrive.


27. Either use wi-fi or turn on your smartphone GPS and use WhatsApp to send family & friends location snapshots letting them know exactly where you are.


28. Download for offline use, Google Translate or the Apple equivalent so that you have you own travel dictionary. Get all the languages of the countries you are visiting and you can get by in even the toughest languages with instant voice translations.....it amazes me how accurate they are and locals are blown away by it too.


29. Scan or take screenshots of all important documents and keep them on your phone and in cloud storage. Many money changers, museums, train stations require official ID for some transactions and most hostels at check-in. It is sometimes easier to show them a photo of your passport on your phone than dig out your passport from your backpack. This works great with train/flight apps so you can refer to the route when out of range of internet access.


30. The Grab & Go Jek Taxi Apps are your best friend in places like Jakarta (Indonesia) and pretty much most countries in South East Asia. The public transport system is often not great and streets are horrendously congested.....a motorcycle taxi is cheap, fast and what locals use to get around.


31. Back up your files, many people get this wrong. Your most valuable digital assets are your photos, books, music, diary and other files. Having copies of your photos on a laptop or external disk drive is not a back-up plan. If your backpack is lost or stolen so are your files. The only way to secure your files is online with a cloud back-up plan with the best plans covering multiple devices.


32. Use the Hostelworld app to choose your hostel as they have better reviews. Then use either Booking or Agoda apps to actually make the booking. In my experience, it is often around £1pn cheaper.....not much, but it adds up when travelling long term. In my situation it paid for my long haul flight back to the UK......not too shabby.


33. Backpackers love their coffee, to save money purchase your own ground coffee or tea bags. If you use the Indonesian system of making coffee you don't even need a filter. Simply poor over boiling water, stir and let it brew for a few minutes. The coffee granules will sink to the bottom without you needing a filter. If you have to buy your posh coffee, but still want to save money, try what I did in Siem Reap (Cambodia). On the main road, an Americano was £2.20....walk off to a side street to a different trendy cafe frequented by locals instead of tourists....80p.


34. If staying in an apartment with a coffee machine, once the boiled water has gone through the coffee filter, pour it back into the water chamber to boil and pass through again. You will get a tastier coffee and use less coffee grounds in the process.


35. For those staying longer in certain locations, consider buying rather than renting a bike/moped. When you add up the daily cost versus buying, buying is often cheaper. It's around £12 per day to hire a bike in Amsterdam, you can buy one second-hand for £50 and maybe sell it on when leaving.


36. Use packing cubes, rolling your clothes, to tightly pack your clothes and save space, there are plenty of YouTube videos showing the best packing techniques.


37. Opposite the trendy Earth Bar & Restaurant in Vientiane (Laos), there is a restaurant with drinks for half the cost as they try to compete. Base yourself there and listen to the live music for free....similarly, stay at The Bloom Hostel on Koh Lipe (Thailand) for £12pn and have cocktails during sunset at the classy Castaway Resort with the bar right on the beach, with happy hour classic cocktails at 2 for 1 for £3.75 for the two. Alternatively, Stay in a hostel like Crowded House in Langkawi (Malaysia) for £4pn and go to the Dash Boutique Resort and pay £6.50 for a day pass to their infinity pool and club right on an almost private beach. The nightly rate at this hotel is £100+. A day pass which includes lunch, a drink and towel and use the amazing infinity pool at The Jannata Resort & Spa in Ubud (Bali) for £17per day instead of £145per night for a room...these hacks can be applied almost everywhere.


38. On Norwegian Airlines and most budget airlines if you book the cheapest ticket like I tend to do, you don't receive anything. No hold baggage, no meal, no blanket, no earphones....not even water. A pre-ordered, tiny tasteless meal is £25, instead bring your own food or have a great big meal at one of the airport restaurants prior to boarding instead.


39. If you happen to lock the key to the padlock of your backpack inside your backpack, use a knife to gently pry open the zip and open your backpack. You will find you're able to get inside very easily, get what you need, in this case the padlock key and then use the zipper to go over the opened area to fix the zip back to normal.


40. If travelling by train, it's often better to get a low bed in a fan carriage rather than one with air conditioning as it's often too cold, even with a supplied sheet as it's usually very thin. Avoid the top beds too, as they are closer to the air-con and they sometimes don't switch the lights off.


41. Don't buy a cocktail in Koh Pha Ngan (Thailand) for £4 during the full moon festival. Instead buy a bucket from one of the street vendors leading down to the beach. The buckets contain about 250ml of alcohol for the same price and will last you for hours.


42. If you are single and going to a small island, stay in a hostel, otherwise you will be alone for the majority of time as small islands tend to attract couples. In a hostel you will mix with fellow backpackers, make friends and be less lonely.


43. Free wi-fi is often available near hotels, restaurants and bars and if you return to a place you have been to before, your smartphone will automatically log you in. Take advantage of this when staying at a hostel with really bad internet as happened to me in Coron (Philippines).


44. Consider repairing rather than replacing shoes. I had a pair of expensive Teva sports sandals repaired by street shoe repairers on three occasions...unfortunately they did not survive a fourth resuscitation!


45. Hate the huge hostel or locker key you have to carry everywhere. Take the key off its bulky holder and add it to your own small key ring with your two padlock keys and clip to your shorts/trousers etc. This routine means you always know where your keys are and less likely to lose the hostel key which many hostels will charge you for if lost.


46. Instead of carrying around heavy toiletries, use the ones provided by your hostel. If you do have your own, make sure the container is small and remember to fill it up before leaving.


47. Yes, the independent traveller that you are craves uniqueness by renting a scooter. However, joining a tour is often cheaper and you get to meet new people usually in an air conditioned vehicle which can save you getting sunburnt which often happens, together with not having to deal with being in an accident.


48. You'll often see some bars selling pints for the same price as a large bottle of beer. But is this the best choice? Yes, if you prefer draught, but usually it's not. Large bottles of Chiang, Leo, Singha and others are a minimum 620ml with some 640ml. A UK pint is 568ml, but many bars advertising a pint will serve you an American draft of 473ml or a 500ml draft.


49. In some towns or cities, it is often cheaper to book your own room in a hotel/guest house rather then get a bed in a dorm. This is especially true if you are a couple or two friends and just need your own space.


50. Use local knowledge especially from hostels with regards to food places, sites, and new things not yet in travel guides or online.


51. Avoid purchasing food, drinks or tours near the major tourist sights or near upmarket hotels as prices will be higher.


52. Complain when you have to. I was staying in a hotel in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and booked the cheapest room which was £12pn. On arrival, they gave me an indoor room with no windows which was completely dark and grim. I mentioned I was staying for 3 days and could they do something? I was upgraded to a riverfront room with a balcony. Unfortunately the TV did not work and the shower was tepid. I raised these issues with management and they offered me an extra night free of charge which I gratefully accepted.


53. Be smart with the colour choices of your clothes. All mine are different shades of blue allowing me to mix and match giving me 12 different outfits.


54. Use MicroSD cards instead of SD cards even in your camera with an adapter as they are cheaper and also easier to use as most new laptops and tablets only have MicroSD slots.


55. When needing to use the mirror in a hot and steamy bathroom/showeroom, put some soap/shampoo onto your hand and wipe the mirror and then rinse the soap off....it will prevent the mirror from steaming up.


56. In South Korea, and sometimes on metro systems of other cities, it's as cheap to complete a really long journey of 20+ stations as it is to travel 3 stations....plan your day trips accordingly.


57. The cost of buying a bottle of water even from a supermarket in South Korea, is sometimes about one third of the price of buying lunch in a local restaurant which always offer free water.


58. Convenience stores in many parts of Asia have seats either by the window or outside which allows you to buy pretty much anything and have a good view without paying bar or restaurant prices. In Busan (South Korea) you can buy 1.6 litres of beer for just under £3 and get a sea view seat compared to one glass of beer for the same price in a nearby bar.


59. In Japan, even hostels are expensive over the Fri-Sun period. Either book well in advance or shift your expensive days to cheaper countries like I did in Busan (South Korea), where I paid £10pn for a Saturday night instead of £33 in Japan.


60. In some of the smallest towns in Japan, accommodation is much more expensive as there are no hostels and limited hotels which charge a minimum of £60pn. It is often cheaper to take a train or bus from a bigger city and have a sightseeing day trip instead.


61. As most things in Japan are more expensive, look out for buffet lunches and dinners which I incorporate into my intermittent fasting routine by having a very big lunch one day and then not eating until lunchtime the following day, giving my body a full 24 hours of fasting. I had a couple of huge lunches including one at an upscale Thai restaurant which included oysters, this pretty much paid for my meal compared to buying them at the local fish market.


62. When you need time to chill, look out for boutique hotels that also have dorms. You are essentially getting the facilities of a trendy and smart boutique hotel at hostel prices. This worked particularly well in Indonesia where I stayed at the Adhisthana Hotel in Yogyakarta.


63. Book and choose your accommodation or hostels based on how expensive they are at weekends. You sometimes find that the up-market expensive hostels have the same price for a Saturday and Sunday as they have during a weekday. Book the lower end hostels during the week when they will be cheaper, this way you play the arbitrage game and save yourself some money by simply adjusting your schedule.


64. Instead of buying a fizzy drink get a coconut and enjoy healthy coconut juice with the added bonus of coconut flesh if the coconut is young.....always ask for a spoon, this way you get a free dessert!


65. Sit in front of a fan when you can, to avoid mosquitoes. It is physically impossible for a mosquito to fly against the air current produced by a fan which saves having to use toxic sprays.


66. Carry a tiny travel sewing kit as buttons will get loose over time.


67. Take advantage of happy hours and don't be pressured into buying food, especially when the beer is cheaper than buying at a supermarket. If a bar chooses to have a loss leader it's their choice.....use it.


68. For a chilled & cheap sunset, sit on the beach or a tree trunk next to a beach bar that is playing music and enjoy without paying a single penny.....booze is optional!


69. Co-working spaces are really popular but can be expensive when compared to simply buying a coffee in a coffee shop.


70. Buy a cheap smartphone with a plastic, not glass back. You will eventually drop it.....save yourself the headache and expense.


71. Do you really want to be connected 24/7 to the internet.....hold off purchasing SIM cards and simply rely on free wi-fi instead.


72. If you run a business of any sort, invest in business cards, it is so much quicker & easier to let people know how to contact you with the added benefit of looking professional.


73. Adapting to eat local food instead of western imported food will save you a fortune and is often healthier.


74. After having first hated buying and using flip-flops, I have to now admit how versatile they are. Not only are they the ideal footwear for the beach but also double up as a cushioned seat, slippers, shower & toilet shoes as well as being cheap to buy and very light. If you need to buy some, the Philippines has the biggest choice and best prices I have seen.


75. If you find yourself without hot water, which is often the case on some of the islands I have visited, and you double wet shave as I do. Instead of ripping your face apart, only shave once in the direction of your facial hair growth and not against the grain as it's too harsh with cold water.


76. For many years I have used a well known British brand of wet shave blades. I have managed to make each 5-blade cartridge last more than 10 months each. You don't need to replace them after a few days or weeks as their marketing suggests.


77. Booking a hotel room as a backpacker you often choose the cheapest room which means the hotel will give you that ugliest room that probably isn't represented as one of the pictures on the booking app you used. Politely point out that the room doesn't look like the one that you booked and ask to see alternatives, you will often get a much better room.


78. In some of the smaller bars in Coron (Philippines), instead of ordering a rum and coke for £1.40, order a whole bottle of rum & 2 litres of coke for £9. When in a small group, you have enough for the night for less than the cost of one drink.


79. If you want to have piece of mind that nobody has tried to get into your backpack. Position your padlock aligned with a logo or a piece of stitching on the backpack, this way you'll know if someone tried to get in as the padlock will have moved to a different position on the zip relative to your backpack.


80. If you have a long layover/delay at an airport, go around to see what facilities are available. Walk to a nearby 5 star hotel and simply have a coffee while enjoying sumptuous surroundings. If you're not too far from a city centre, use cheap public transport and wonder around the centre as I did in Chicago many years ago. A long flight delay in Greece years ago, prompted me to take a taxi to a nearby beach enjoying a great seafood feast instead of being stuck in a small overcrowded airport eating overpriced soggy food.


81. In much of my travels, cash is still king. Stop paying high ATM withdrawal fees by using currency cards from Monzo, Revolut or Starling among others. These online bank accounts & apps give you the best rates without withdrawal fees, apart from countries like Thailand & Philippines which charge all cards. Some cards allow pretty much unlimited weekly or monthly withdrawals.


82. By using a credit/debit card that has a smartphone app (needs internet access), you can lock your card. For added security and piece of mind, lock your card after ATM withdrawals or purchases that you make.


83. If visiting an island, especially the smaller ones, always get cashed up before going. Many will not have ATMs or they may be far away from where you are staying or as is often the case, they run out of money.


84. When on a moped by yourself, instead of using the screen to guide you, use the voice activated satellite navigation in combination with your GPS and headphones. This way, you don't have to stop every time to view your progress, or even more dangerously, trying to view your phone while moving. You have piece of mind knowing exactly which turns to take and when.


85. When arriving at a new destination and you begin to negotiate with a motorbike taxi driver to take you to your accommodation, the first taxi drivers to approach you will be the expensive ones and have confidence in marketing and communications skills...just smile politely and even laugh and explain to them that you know the actual prices as you have visited before (this can be a lie), then just walk away. You will find that they will always drop the price substantially. Keep walking away as there will always be other drivers that will take you for the money you are prepared to pay.


86. When boarding an aircraft, if you don't need access to your backpack and it is locked, put it into the first empty storage bin you come across. This saves you carrying it to your seat that may be at the back of the air plane.


87. If you're not happy with the seat allocated to you on your flight, engage in a polite chat either at the airline check-in desk or even at the boarding gate. They will probably tell you it is full, politely ask if there is anything they can do. On my return flight to London, I managed to get a better economy seat on the upper deck of the huge Airbus A380 on Thai Airways.


88. When at a bus station, if there's a choice and you're wondering which bus company to buy a ticket from, look to see where the longest queue is, it will likely mean it's the cheapest or most popular.


89. Get on a bus heading roughly to your destination and by using the GPS on your phone with offline maps, you can decide when to get off as you get closer to your destination.


90. Take a photo of your visa stamp in case you lose your passport or when you need to show proof of your arrival date somewhere when you don't have your passport on you.


91. If an airline cancels or asks for volunteers to hand over your seat, you will receive a credit/refund or sometimes compensation, often to a higher value than you paid for your ticket, this is especially true in the US. Alternatively in the US, simply opt to have cash instead, which you are entitled to. 0-1 hour delay = $0, 1-4 hour delay = maximum $675, 4+ hour delay = maximum $1,350.


92. On long-haul flights which require stops on route, it's often a good idea to disembark and spend a few days, in one sense you get a destination for free. Airwander is a website designed to find you the best stop-overs.


93. Buy shoes a bigger size than you need and try them on in bare feet. I don't wear socks when travelling as it's too hot and in hot weather your feet will swell, having the extra room reduces blisters to some extent.


94. When you find an ATM that works and doesn't steal your card, stick with that company. This gives you peace of mind as you don't want to have to deal with replacing a swallowed card.


95. Despite many hostels having signs for not allowing outside alcohol to be consumed. You can often drink in the kitchen or social area....just ask one of the staff.


96. I noticed in Mexico when booking an all-inclusive hotel, that it is often cheaper to book a room each if travelling with a friend, rather than sharing a double-bedded room, this may be applicable elsewhere.


97. Try checking in early when booking an all-inclusive hotel, they may not let you have your room until 2-3pm, but they may let you start eating/drinking early as happened to me when I checked in at 10am! This also works on leaving, I checked-out at midday, but carried on eating/drinking and enjoying hotel facilities until 8pm when I left!


98. A plastic carrier bag makes for a perfect bag for your shoes. An even better option is to purchase supermarket reusable bags as you can then use them when going shopping.


99. Use the small local red buses (which are actually small vans) called a Songthaew in Thailand for cheap transportation, but also as a cheap town/city tour as most loop around the main areas and sights.


100. If you ever feel constipated and bunged up, instead of taking laxatives to solve the situation, just eat some spicy food or if you have your own kitchen use dried chili flakes which you can carry with you, this solves the problem easily and naturally.


101. If you want to save weight, instead of carrying around a beer/wine bottle opener, search YouTube for innovative ways to open them.


102. Instead of buying and carrying around a laptop stand and separate keyboard like many digital nomads do to raise the laptop off the table so that it is in line with their eyesight. Instead use whatever is to hand to prop it up, a hat, books, a box, a coffee cup, backpack, all these are item you will have with or in a coffee shop/co-working space, this way you are not carrying any extra weight or bulk.


103. If money is running tight, it often pays to volunteer at hostels. You will receive a bunk bed and usually food too. This works particularly well in your favour in more expensive countries such as Europe rather than Asia.


104. A haggling or bargaining technique I have used with success in markets and cultures with no fixed prices is to smile. Let me explain, the traders always have the upper hand as they know what they paid for an item, so in one sense, this is a game the buyer can never win. However, they often like to have fun, you should join in and not be too serious. Find two similar items you are keen on and give more attention to the one you like least. The trader will often price higher the one you gave more attention too. This automatically leads you to mention that the one you really want must obviously be lower...they will usually agree. Once they mention the price, smile and play the game for them to continually reduce the price. As you get closer to the price you are willing to pay simply say "My friend, the price I have in my head I cannot tell you for I do not want to offend you". Carry on smiling and playing the game, eventually revealing your low price. Play the game a little more, however, be willing to walk away. Usually a last price as you leave the premises will come about. Worse case scenario, you got some good practice to use with another trader that will probably have the same or similar item.


105. One way to make the cost of travelling cheaper is to be a house sitter. Have a search online for the various websites where you can register. House sitting involves taking over someone's home for a specific period of time, often looking after pets. If you are a digital nomad, this could be a perfect scenario for a period of time allowing you to save on living expenses while working remotely.


106. In the US in particular, signing up to a new credit card can be very lucrative. Usually you have to spend a few thousand within the first few months and in return you will receive a high number of points to exchange for flights, hotels etc. If you plan to make a large purchase anyway (laptop, drone, new camera etc.), it could be wise to divert those purchases to the new card.


107. As a backpacker, eating food other people have prepared is the norm. A very simple way to ensure that the food is good for you and your body, is to check what comes out. While not a nice subject, I feel it's a very important one. Your urine should be almost clear in colour rather than yellow. If yellow/orange, it means you are dehydrated and need to drink more fluids, in particular water. With regards to solids, ideally the colour should be very dark browm and almost black. When in the light brown spectrum it's an indication you are eating junk and time to eat your vegetables.


108. If you are a digital nomad, depending on the type of work you undertake. Why not listen to podcasts/audio books/youtube videos or tutorials while carrying on your work. Listening to thought leaders in a field of interest, instead of music, exposes your mind to a flood of information with minimal effort.


109. Duty-free plastic bags do not count as carry-on baggage so always carry a spare bag in your luggage. Prior to checking in, place any excess items over your baggage allowance into the bag to avoid or reduce being questioned


110. When staying long term in a particular destination/apartment/hostel or hotel, make sure to talk to others to see what they are paying for their accomodation. I spoke with someone in my condo in Mexico, that had booked her apartment for six months at a very good rate. I managed to negotiate the same rate eventually while paying on a monthly basis giving me flexibility.


111. As the world fully opens after the plannedemic, take advantage of country and hotel arbitrage options. Most tourist centric countries have suffered terribly with closures for over two years. You can find some incredible deals on 4/5 star hotels in cities such as Bangkok. What would normally cost £120+ per night, have rates as low as £24...get onto those search engines and grab these bargains quickly.


112. It is often better not to pay for breakfast with a hotel booking, unless it's ridiculously cheap. I found it better to wonder down to see what breakfast is like, and if agreeable, pay on the day, which is often cheaper than online even with a discount.


113. When staying at a decent hotel there is usually a set of paper disposable slippers. As a backpacker, take these as they weigh nothing and may be useful if don't have a set of flip flops when at a hostel to use in the toilets and showers.


114. Instead of travelling with a full-sized, heavy cotton towel, most backpackers choose microfibre ones as they are very light. However, you cannot beat drying yourself with cotton, surprisingly a hand-sized towel is sufficient to dry a whole body.


115. If you find yourself in a colder destination or the weather changes dramatically, instead of buying new warmer clothing, only to dispose of once you reach your warmer country, buy second hand clothes if you can find them.


116. I can credit a fellow backpacker friend, Will for this top tip. Carry a lightweight loofah shower mesh ball. Not only is it amazing for getting truly clean when taking a shower with a mild skin exfoliating scrub. It doubles up, as a very fast and efficient way, to wash your clothes while on you in the shower or sink.


117. In countries where the tap water is not drinkable, instead of buying heavy water bottles and carrying back to your apartment. Do this only once by buying a 5/6 litre bottle and use the machines available on the streets (Mexico) or in your apartment block (Thailand) to refill your big bottle for a fraction of the pricec...convenience while reducing plastic waste.


118. Look for special deals when travelling - restaurant, events, trips etc. While in Thailand, I found a website/app with discounts of up to 50% on a selection of restaurants.

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