Resources

These are some of our favorite travel resources. The links below are affiliate links which means we get a small benefit if you use the link to sign up for the service or make a purchase. Some of the links provide you a discount as well.

Flights

Scott's Cheap Flights

We love using Scott's Cheap Flights to discover amazing flight deals. We got $300 round-trip flights to Stockholm shortly after signing up. There are free and premium tiers. The premium tier is only $49 per year and gets the most deals.

Lodging

Airbnb

When we travel, we almost always stay in an Airbnb if possible. We will use hotel points sometimes when we travel to a city, but Airbnb is our preferred accommodation. We like the extra space and typically find that it's cheaper than a hotel. Use this link for $65 off your first booking.

Cell phone provider

Google Fi

We switched to Google Fi for our cell phone provider in 2017 and couldn't be happier. The coverage is better than any other carrier we've used (it uses several other carriers under the covers and switches to the best network). There are no overage charges, they just charge $10 per GB for data. My favorite part is that there's no additional charge for data or texts internationally. Use this link to get $20 off.

Credit Cards

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The $550 annual fee may seem like a lot, but they offer plenty of benefits to offset the fee. There's a $300 travel credit, Priority Pass membership, and a Global Entry credit just to name a few. There's no foreign transaction fee. Earn 3% back on travel/dining and increase that to 4.5% when redeemed through their travel portal.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

There's no annual fee for this card and it has a flat 1.5% cash back for all purchases. We used to use the Citi Double Cash card instead since it offers 2% cash back. A friend told us that while this card is only 1.5% cash back, it's possible to transfer the points to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Those points are worth 1.5% more when redeemed on travel, effectively meaning this card earns 2.25% cash back on all purchases.

Charles Schwab Investor Checking Account

This checking account comes with no foreign transaction fees and all ATM fees are reimbursed. This makes getting cash in foreign countries a breeze. We can't recommend it highly enough.

Gear

Backpack

Osprey Stratos 24

Anthony has used this as his hiking day bag for 4 years now. It's the perfect size for a day hike. The best feature is the mesh back that allows air to flow through. It has hooks to hold hiking sticks, a waterproof shell, hip pockets, and great back support.

Osprey Sirrus 24

This is the women's version of the Stratos 24 bag. Anthony liked his so much that Jacqueline upgraded her day pack to this one.

Hiking shoes

There's a lot of people who will recommend hiking boots. We are not those people. We've both used hiking boots previously and have switched to trail runners. We love having something light weight and flexible. We found ourselves frequently rolling our ankles or tripping in hiking boots since we didn't pick up our feet enough.

Altra Lone Peak

This wide-toe, low support shoe is Anthony's favorite shoe to hike in. He says it's like walking on clouds.

Saucony Peregrine

This is Jacqueline's trail runner of choice. She's tried several different trail runners and these are her favorite. There's no break-in time required, they're comfortable from the first hike in them. They offer a little more support than the Altra Lone Peak.

Hiking poles

Jacqueline originally got hiking poles after a knee injury, but it didn't take her long to realize what a good idea they were all the time. It takes a lot of pressure off of joints while hiking and provides an extra boost on those uphill climbs. After Anthony couldn't keep up with Jacqueline anymore, we got a pair for him too.

Rain jacket

We've found a good waterproof jacket (not water resistant) to be one of the best investments we've made for travel gear. We aren't the type to sit around because of bad weather when traveling, so that means we're frequently exploring or hiking in the rain.

Outdoor Research Foray

Anthony loves this jacket because it's breathable, has side zippers to avoid overheating, and has pockets.

Outdoor Research Helium II

Jacqueline loves this jacket because it's breathable and very light weight. It rolls up to be very compact and easy to fit into a suitcase or hiking bag.

Water reservoir

We never hike without a water reservoir. We love the convenience of having easily accessible water without having to take anything out of our bag. This is the biggest size that will easily fit in our day bags. Trying to fit the equivalent amount of water in water bottles would take up much more space.

Water reservoir cleaning kit

Our favorite way to clean a water reservoir is just to put it in the freezer. Sometimes we need to do a deep clean though and to do that, we use this kit.

Sun shade hat

Anthony burns very easily, so he loves that this hat protects his neck too. I like that it converts into a normal baseball cap for more normal looking pictures. It's very lightweight and the mesh vents make it breathable.

Sun protective shirt

As previously mentioned, Anthony burns very easily so he likes to make sure he's covered up when we hike. He loves these shirts because they're long sleeve but incredibly light weight and breathable. The sleeves roll up as well.

Travel shoes

We walk a lot when we travel and comfortable shoes are essential. Suavs are the best travel shoe we've found so far. We love the style and they're pretty comfortable for moderate amounts of walking. Most days still require us to wear tennis shoes because of how much we walk, but if we have less walking or are going somewhere that requires nicer shoes, Suavs are perfect. Use this link for $20 off.

Tripod

This tripod doubles as a selfie stick. After using free selfie sticks for years, we finally switched to this tripod selfie stick combo. It connects to the phone via bluetooth and has a remote for taking pictures. We love the flexibility of using the tripod for better pictures than the selfie stick alone allows. It collapses down to be very compact.

Water filter

This is a great way to make sure not to run out of water while hiking. It makes water from any source safe to drink, so fill up at a stream or pond while hiking. It would also come in handy in countries that don't have safe drinking water. It's much more environmentally friendly than buying bottled water.

Microfiber towel

These are the perfect travel towels. They're compact so they pack easily and they dry very quickly. We bring them hiking with us in case we decide to go for a swim. They're also great to have for the beach or pool when traveling.

Water bottle

This is Jacqueline's travel water bottle when there's no hiking involved. It's big (which is necessary for staying hydrated), but it also collapses down to make it easier to pack when it's not full.

Electronics

Google Pixel 4a

We switched from iPhones to Pixels 3 years ago and we couldn't be happier. We're big Google fans and love how easy these phones are to use. Anthony still has a Google Pixel 2 and Jacqueline has the Google Pixel 4 XL. The Google Pixel 5 was just released as well, but it seems to lose some features from the Pixel 4 and we don't think it's worth the extra money. For $350, we think the Pixel 4a is the best deal on a phone right now.

Laptop/Tablet

Microsoft Surface Go 2

This is the perfect laptop for traveling. It's a laptop/tablet hybrid that's very lightweight. It's affordable too. It's perfect for basic web browsing and easy to take on a trip. Jacqueline uses the original Microsoft Surface Go and loves it. This is the newer model.

Keyboard

The Microsoft Surface Go 2 doesn't come with a keyboard, but it definitely needs one to be used as a laptop. This is the keyboard Microsoft advertises to go with it. Jacqueline finds it to be a nice keyboard considering how small it is. It's very easy to type on and it's inexpensive too.

Kindle

Books are a great form of entertainment while traveling, but carrying books is not practical. Jacqueline has an older Kindle and it still works great. Reading on backlit devices is not a good experience, but reading on a Kindle feels like reading an actual book. Seeing the screen in the bright sunlight isn't an issue. She loves that the new model comes with a light around the screen. She bought a case that had a built in light for reading at night, but that's no longer necessary with the newest model.

Headphone splitter

We know all the cool kids have wireless headphones these days, but there is one scenario we still need wired headphones for. We like to watch shows we've downloaded offline together on a plane and we can't connect multiple sets of bluetooth headphones to one device. A headphone splitter works perfectly so we can both hear the audio at full volume.

Car charger adapter

We always have some kind of car charger when we travel by car. This one is especially useful when we need to work while driving since it has an outlet and can charge a laptop.