Adventurous Andrea

The Solo Female Travel Blog

travel tips

Using The Internet To Bring Down The Cost of Your Vacations

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The internet has changed the way in which we live completely and there aren’t many aspects of our lives which haven’t been affected by the rapid rise of this technology. Over the last decade we are finding more and more ways to use the internet to provide solutions to our lives, and travel is certainly one area of our lives which has been greatly improved because of the power which we have at our fingertips.

In light of this, it is still somewhat surprising to learn of the number of people who are not utilizing the internet when it comes to booking up a trip or a vacation. In fact using the internet can enhance your travel experience, make your life easier, save you money and of course save you time. Before you book up your next trip, check out how you can bring down the cost through using the net.

Flights

The cheapest place to go for your flights is online, that is something of which there is no doubt whatsoever. The best place to start when looking for flights is to use an online flight aggregator like JustFly. What sites like this do for you is to search the internet for the best deals on flights. They do this by first searching the airlines for the best rates, and they also search through 3rd party sites who also have great offers. Instead of you sitting at the computer for hours on end weighing up which is the best flight price, you can simply type in your destination and dates into these websites, and they will offer you all of the available flights for those dates, at the best possible prices. Furthermore you can use the filters to select the preferred time of your flights, whether you are looking for direct flights or connections, and you can even stop it from searching for airlines which you don’t enjoy using.

Hotel Deals

Beyond all else hotels want their places to be full up and this is why you may be able to get a great deal on a hotel when you buy online. If you call up the hotel directly or use a travel agent then they will of course give you their standard room pricing. If you go online then you’ll find many websites which work with hotels, and they can offer you the best deals and the lowest rates. Usually people will tell you to book up early in order to save money on transport and accommodation but this isn’t always the case and when you are using a website through which to book your hotel, the best thing to do is leave it until just a few weeks before you leave. This may make you a little nervous but if you want to get the best deals then this is the way to do it.

Forums

Once you know where you are going you can look at travel forums where people have spoken about their experiences at the destination. This not only gives you a great insight into what you can expect at your destination, but there will also be a huge range of money saving tips which you can benefit from. For example very often people will book tours ahead of their vacation for a local attraction, when in fact you could easily have bought it cheaper when you actually arrive. Tips like this can save you huge amounts of money and these forums can give you the inside scoop on the truth about where to go and how much to pay. Word of mouth has long been the best way of finding out information and with online travel forums this is what you can expect, only those words will be coming from the mouths of a huge amount of people.

Deals and Promotions

There are many coupon and voucher sites which you can use to grab great deals which you can use at your destination and if you get on them in advance then you can really save some cash on your vacation. This could be anything from discounted car rental to money off vouchers for local restaurants and bars. Check these site out before you go to count on some great promotions.

As you can see the internet is awash with online resources which you can use to save yourself a bundle on your next break. Before booking up, get used to these sites and take advantage of the opportunity to save some money.

Smart Ways to Kill Time When Traveling

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Like it or not, there is a lot of downtime when you are traveling, especially when you’re traveling long distance. Waiting for the boarding call, waiting for the airplane to taxi and take off, waiting for your pick-up, and many other gaps in your schedule actually make up for up to 40% of your entire travel time.

You can utilize these gaps to be productive, or you can use them to have more fun along the trip. Worry not, because I’ve gone both routes and have complied for you a list of smart ways to kill time when traveling.

Get Some Work Done

Opening your laptop and getting some work done is among the many things you can do to fill gaps in your schedule. Instead of waiting until the end of the day – when you’re already tired – to take a look at work, it is actually better to get work done in short sprints whenever you have the time.

There is a trick to this approach too. First of all, you want to bring with you a Mi-Fi (a mobile access point with internet connectivity) so that you can work from anywhere. There are public hotspots in many places, but that doesn’t mean you will always have reliable internet when connected to those hotspots.

You also want to divide work into small chunks and prepare for them. Save any materials that you would have to access online to your drive, do some ground work of structuring your tasks before the start of the trip, and you are all set. All you need is a comfortable corner, and maybe some focus.

Read

This too is a simple thing to do. I’m sure many of you read more when you’re traveling, simply because you have more time to read compared to when you’re at home or at work. Traveling does make reading more enjoyable, plus you can now carry a lot of books you’ve been meaning to finish in a Kindle. Slip it in your carry-on and you’re good to go.

Of course, you’re not limited to reading books either. The internet is filled with entertaining things to explore. Funny memes and pictures at top sites like Lolhit.com are always fun to follow. You’ll find yourself giggling and laughing in the airport lounge after a few pages.

Binge-Watch a Series

My personal favorite is watching a TV series I’ve been meaning to watch. I don’t have time to watch them when I’m home, but I can now watch them whenever I’m traveling. I get to complete season after season without fail.

The key here is downloading the series to your phone or tablet. All streaming apps, including Netflix and Amazon Videos, allow you to save episodes to your phone and watch it later. Use your home Wi-Fi to download the episodes you want to see before the trip and you’ll have plenty of entertainment for the entire journey.

Do you have your own favorite things to do when you need to kill time during trips? Be sure to share your best tips and tricks in the Comments section below!

What to Do Online During Long Flights

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You’re headed towards your dream vacation on a lengthy flight. In front of you lies a laptop with a stable and free to use internet connection. But your movies, music and games are lying on a hard drive at home. Either that or you left your headphones behind, which means you can’t enjoy any media even if you did bring it along. Sounds familiar? We’ve all been there.

Luckily almost every modern plane has internet, which means there’s always something to do. But where do you start? Surely there’s more to it than mindless social media scrolling or stressing yourself out by looking at emails only to see a large pile of work waiting for you back home. Well, there definitely is. The internet is home to enough content to keep you busy for a few thousand years, never mind an eight-hour flight.

YouTube (The Right Way)

If you don’t already have a Google account tied to your interests and preferences, your YouTube feed will look like everyone else’s: awful. From horrible clickbait to annoying vloggers, it’s the last place you want to be. However, it’s easy to forget just how much great content there is on YouTube these days.

From genuinely interesting educational channels to chill-inducing entertainment, YouTube is still home to great content thanks to its massive network of dedicated channels who look past the AdSense revenue. Simply start by doing a bit of basic searches based on what you’re interested in and you’ll be down the rabbit hole in no time.

Good Memes

While the word is used a lot more loosely now than before, it still essentially defines the comedy that we find funniest: a picture and some accompanying text. From dark humour to dad jokes so bad they’re good, there’s a hub for every type of person with tons of content to scroll through.

From the shockingly tasteless but undeniably funny Dank Memes of Reddit to the timeless Rage comics that are constantly uploaded to Rage Maker, you’ll find something that will have you laughing uncontrollably in no time.

Start a Blog

Sounds ridiculous? Believe it or not, you could easily start your very own blog right from the comfort of your plane seat. And best of all, it doesn’t have to cost you a cent. Simply sign up on a reputable service such as WordPress and choose the free option. This way you can build a basic website and write about pretty much anything you want.

This is a great way to document your travels and you can use it as a hub to upload, caption and share your images from any device. If you prefer to keep it to yourself, you always have the option of making the blog private. But don’t be afraid to share your thoughts either, they could just propel your small blog into a popular website and pay for that flight ticket.

Listed above is just a mere fraction of what’s out there on the internet. Don’t be afraid to explore and try new things. You could just end up finding something interesting.