RESOURCES TO PLAN YOUR ADVENTURES
I’ve often been asked to share travel planning essentials, travel apps I use religiously, tour operators I rely on when hiking, and any other planning tips. So, I’ve compiled all my go-to travel resources to help you plan your next one.
Whether you’re thinking of a quick weekend escape or taking a year to wander the world, these are the tools that you can trust and rely on.
💙 Travel Insurance: SafetyWing
I’ve been traveling Europe for the past 4+ years, and the travel insurance that I swear by is SafetyWing.
The SafetyWing Essential plan covers the basics with options for adventure sports and electronics theft – this is the one I used when I first started working with SafetyWing.
Full disclosure, because I’m a European citizen and resident of Portugal, I also use the local Medis healthcare as my base, but the SafetyWing Complete plan as my private healthcare option.
➡️ My personal recommendation for long-term nomads like myself is SafetyWing Nomad Complete. ⬅️
Here’s the difference between the 2 plans, so you can see what’s best for you.
- Can choose fixed dates for short trips
- The average cost for someone like me was about $60 a month.
- Subscription is on a 28-day cycle, max 364 days, after which a new policy will start automatically.
- Covered for short-term visits home
- Emergency medical coverage, medical evac, trip protection
- Add-ons for adventure sports (like high altitude hiking, scuba diving, etc), electronics theft, and US coverage
- Trip protection for delays, interruptions, or lost luggage
- Medical evac and repatriation
- ❌ NOT COVERED: Routine checkups, vision, dental, maternity leave, and extended home country coverage.
- ❌ NOT COVERED: Pre-existing conditions. he plan is not meant ot cover ongoing health conditions.
- Works for both year year-long travel or settling in one place
- Includes all Essential plan benefits, plus routine healthcare, mental health, and maternity.
- The average cost for someone like me is about $165 a month.
- Minimum contract of 12 months, paid monthly or yearly, renewable indefinitely
- No coverage restrictions at home
- Includes cancer screening and treatment
- Includes outpatient services and complementary therapies like chiropractic
- Includes additional coverage for trip or accommodation cancellation, burglary, and delayed luggage
- Add-ons for dental coverage and electronics theft.
- ❌ NOT COVERED: Pre-existing conditions from before the plan starts. Any new conditions or issues that arise will continue to be covered as long as the plan is renewed.
🏠 Where To Stay: Booking.com
I book 99% of my lodging using the Booking.com app. It saves me a lot of time, because the platform is easy to navigate and the booking process is pretty straightforward.
All of my road trip itineraries link to accommodations on Booking.com. Beyond hotels, the app hosts many unique little guesthouses, cozy apartments, and bed and breakfasts.
I know Airbnb is huge in America, but for Europe, the Booking app is king.
🚗 Car Rental: Discover Cars
I recommend using Discovercars.com to search for and book car rentals – they also have an app, and it’s what I use, even in my home in Portugal.
What I like about them is that they are easy to use, and the platform compares car rental deals from hundreds of trusted providers, so you can choose the best option for your trip. They also have the best deals!
✅ PRO TIP: If you can only drive automatic transmission cars, as opposed to manual cars (stick shift), book your car rental as early as possible – especially in Eastern and Southern Europe.
⛰️ Hiking Tour Companies
In the past couple of years, I’ve become really passionate about hut-to-hut hiking. It’s a unique and amazing way to experience Europe, trekking through its mountain ranges, one foot in front of the other. But, planning a hut-to-hut hike can be very time-consuming, sometimes frustrating, and almost always challenging.
The good news is that you don’t have to worry about the logistics if you book a self-guided tour with Alpine Exploratory. This passionate and responsible tour operator is based in the UK and offers a wide array of tours, including:
- Alta Via 1 and 9 in the Italian Dolomites (I did AV1 with them)
- Tour de Mont Blanc in France, Italy, and Switzerland (I also did this one with them!)
- Tour of the Vanoise in France
- Jotunheimen Tour in Norway
- Julian Alps in Slovenia
