The following is a list of travel resources I have found to be incredibly useful while planning a trip or while on a trip. The list is surely missing many other great resources. Feel free to submit additional resources via the comment form to let your fellow travelers know about other great resources. I will add the best sites to the list.
Travel Guide Books
Lonely Planet – Huge selection of destinations, good background information such as history, culture and language.
Moon – Not the biggest selection but I was very impressed with Moon’s Panama guidebook. The author is also very approachable and helpful.
Fodor’s – Focused more on mid to higher end travel, especially accommodations.
Frommer’s – One of the most well-known travel guide books.
Let’s Go – The self-professed leader in budget travel.
Rough Guide – Initially budget-focused but now covers entire range of travel.
Footprint – UK-based guide book best known for its extensive coverage of South America.
Time Out – Another guide book that is generally well-reviewed. Less focused on hotels and budget travel.
Eyewitness Guides – Less geared to the budget traveler but comprehensive information about things to do.
Getting There & Away
Kayak – flexible flight comparison engine with intuitive user interface. Also does hotels and car rentals.
Skyscanner – great search, especially to find cheap flights with discount airlines in Europe.
Vayama – good search engine but, unlike Kayak, flights are only priced in USD.
Rideshare – find other travelers driving from point A to B in Europe and bum a ride. I have used the German site a lot, UK site is coming soon.
FlightStats – track flight status and airport delays before your departure.
Accommodation
Hotwire – For major cities in the world, Hotwire is a great way to get huge deals on hotels.
Hostelworld – a large database of hostels and cheaper hotels for the budget traveler. Many helpful community reviews.
MyTripGuru – shameless plug, but the hotel search aggregates tons of hotel search engines to find hotels by price, user rating, stars, etc…
Couchsurfing – a service where members offer a couch on which to crash for a day or two for free. Works best if you offer your couch to fellow travelers as well.
TripAdvisor – the most comprehensive collection of user reviews on hotels. Take them with a grain of salt though.
Travel Inspiration
National Geographic Photo of the Day – Awe-inspiring travel photos every day that are often nothing short of amazing.
Flickr Travel Photos – A collection of user-submitted travel shots from around the world.
StumbleUpon – Stumble across travel related sites that other people have deemed interesting.
Google Maps – What better way to get inspiration than to travel the world by your fingertips? Google Maps now supports Earth View (aka Google Earth), which requires a browser plugin.
BBC GoodFood – Relive your trip or get a taste of what is to come by cooking up a cultural feast.
NY Times Travel – Well known and well-written travel section of the New York Times.
Before You Go
Visa HQ – a helpful guide to visa requirements from and to any country in the world.
FXtop Currency Converter – not the prettiest site, but most countries are represented and historical rates are also available.
US Travel Advisory – the Department of State Travel website lists current travel advisories around the world.
Country Information – the same DOS website that lists helpful country information such as customs, driving, crime, etc…
CDC – Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Find out what vaccinations you need or about health issues at your destination.
Time Zone Check – get the local time using this interactive map.
Weather Underground – accurate weather forecasts with good coverage around the world – even small towns.
Wikipedia – learn about the history, culture and other useful information about your destination.
Electric Power – Learn what plugs and voltage your destination country uses.
Language & Culture
Michel Thomas – Learn Spanish, French, Italian or German from the master himself. These courses teach a new language amazingly well.
TravLang – decent collection of useful words and phrases in many languages. Includes sound bites.
Local customs – I don’t know of any specific websites that cover this extensively, but Google does a pretty good job on this important topic.
Travel Community
Travel Industry on Twitter – the most comprehensive list of people connected to the travel industry who use Twitter.
Travel Twibe – another Twitter list of travelers (and travel industry insiders).
Thorn Tree travel forum – Lonely Planet’s travel forum is full of passionate travelers eager to trade travel advice.
Travel Gear
Backcountry – A huge selection of outdoor and travel gear with helpful user reviews. The outlet shop often has tremendous bargains. Check retailmenot for coupon codes.
REI – another good online shop (with retail outlets in the US) for outdoor gear.
Barrabes – Europe’s answer to Backcountry. Higher prices but good selection of technical gear. Shipping throughout Europe is reasonable.
Mountain Equipment Co-op – Canada’s first stop for outdoor gear. You need to pay a one time fee of 10 CDN to join the co-op to buy here but it is worth it.
Practical Travel Gear – a nice blog by renowned travel writer Tim Leffel about travel gear and packing for travel.
On the Road
Dropbox – access important files via the web, Mac, PC or iPhone. All files are stored securely in a remote location. First 2GB are free.
Skype – The best way for communicating with friends and family as well as domestic calls. Requires a client, such as PC, Mac or iPhone.
iPhone – see related post about iPhone apps to help when you are traveling.
Online Conversion – convert units from anything to anything.
Country Codes – Find out about the country dialing code and other useful information.
I have always held a fascination for the mountains. The stunning vistas, panoramic views and crisp mountain air fuel a rush that escapes me during other travels. But this proximity to nature is not the only reason why mountains are so dear to my wayfaring heart. As all travelers know, great travel experiences come not only from where you travel but also from whom you meet and interact with. The best memories of a trip are almost invariably connected to the people I meet. And, in my experience, the people living in the mountains are some of the friendliest, warmest and most open people in the world. What’s more, this hospitality and friendliness are infectious. Other travelers seem to absorb this positive, heart-warming energy.
Now, of course, times have changed. Life for many mountain peoples isn’t the same struggle as it once was. Outsiders are no longer feared because they pose no threat to survival. But the strong bond between people remains. The sense of community is now apparent even to outsiders, who are now tourists and travelers, rather than threatening invaders hungry for resources. Within this expanded community, mountain people seem to be hard-wired to accept people and welcome them in their lives.
