Companies and Products We Recommend
Here are several companies and products we use and recommend. They’ve helped us in our travels, and we trust these travel resources will be helpful for you too.
Many of the links on this page are “affiliate” links. If you click through a link here and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission on the transaction, at no additional cost to you. It’s one easy way you can help us keep sharing our tales about the curious things we encounter on our journeys.
TRAVEL GEAR
Columbia Sportswear
Eagle Creek
Best Buy® Price Match Guarantee: We Won’t Be Beat on Price” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>they’ll price match if you find it cheaper somewhere else (even Amazon in most cases)? You just need to ask.
Amazon Prime
eBay” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-wplink-url-error=”true”>eBay as a source for travel gear (and everything else). If it exists, it’s probably for sale here (or soon will be). Prices, quality and condition range all over the place, but if you know what you want, you can find it here. Hint: You can set up a saved search for that unique must-have item and get a notification when someone offers it for sale.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Agoda.com – Boasting property listings from around the world, Agoda really shines in Asia. Their listings include homes, hostels, guesthouses, resorts and, of course, hotels. Sort by price, rating and more. Plus, you can sign up to receive member-only deals that can drop prices by up to 30%.
Booking.com – We’ve used this site to book rooms in both Europe and Asia with good results. In addition to hotels, they also have listings for apartments, B&Bs, guesthouses, hostels and more. They always have a ton of options to choose from, and you can search by price, rating, included meals, on-site amenities, discounts and more.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
WorldNomads.com – Whether it’s insurance coverage for a canceled or interrupted trip, lost or stolen gear, an injury while you’re traveling or emergency evacuation when something goes drastically wrong, World Nomads is a great source for travel insurance. When Melanie got an eye infection while traveling in Vietnam, a call to World Nomads brought a quick referral for first class medical care right nearby. Travel insurance – Don’t leave home without it.
BLOGGING RESOURCES
SuperstarBlogging.com – Nomadic Matt’s Superstar Blogging Course has been incredibly helpful in setting up and maintaining our travel blog. And when you sign up you’re automatically tapped into a huge network of other travel bloggers via the course’s dedicated member’s forum. Priceless!
NomadicMatt also has a really great online course for Travel Writing. Whether you’re trying to find your way into print or establish your writing presence online, this course will give you a leg up.
HostGator – We’ve had various webhosts over the years, but HostGator has been the most reliable and has provided the best customer service, as well as competitive rates.
GoDaddy – All of our domains are registered through GoDaddy. And their Private Registration add-on keeps us off a lot of spam lists.
Photos – John shoots most of the photos we use here on our blog. But every once in a while we need something he doesn’t have in his portfolio. That’s when we search for stock photos we can license from one of several online photo agencies. They offer a variety of licensing options, from one-time use of a single photo to monthly or yearly subscriptions for quantity photo users.
And if you’re a photographer, you can license your own photos through them to earn some extra cash. John does that as well, and it provides us with a small but growing income stream to help supplement our travels. Just visit the sites above and look for information on becoming a contributor.