I hope you found part one helpful for your adventures! Continuing with the theme of making your travels less hectic and perhaps even the unpredictable moments enjoyable! Here’s the final five hacks which I can’t travel without.

6. Take what you need, nothing more or less.
Over packing is so easy especially when we don’t know what to expect and we want to be prepared for everything! Ultimately just take your basics and anything else you can generally pick it up along the way. Unless you’re traveling to Africa for a festival and decide you can buy a tent there to sleep in, thinking you’ll save money and luggage weight. Take the tent! True story, we were heading to Zambia for a festival and didn’t have a tent, long story short we paid double the amount in Zambia for the tent which we ended up using for the week then donating it to a local charity so we didn’t have to lug it around for the remaining trip and take it home again.

7. Expect the unexpected.
When venturing out in the world we become vulnerable and exposed to the many things life has to offer. Preparation can only take us so far and beyond this we have no control so be prepared for plans to change, for delays to happen and for the unexpected to throw a curve ball in your direction. In essence, travel is not only about the destination but about the journey too so try and remember this and smile, knowing that it’s all part of the experience and that you’ll be sharing this unexpected story to friends one day.

8. Trust in God / Goddess but lock your car.
This saying rings true wherever you go to in the world. No one ever wants to be put in a compromising position and have to deal with theft, break ins etc so be street wise with your belongings. Use the safe if there’s one in your room, secure your belongings the best way you can when you’re out and about. Just take what you need and if you’re concerned have a spare bank card and cash incase something does happen.

9. Trust your instincts and use your common sense!
If anything feels weird, gives you a strange sensation or doesn’t smell right, it probably isn’t! Try and stay calm, continue on your journey and trust your gut at all times. It’s that simple!

10. eSIM!
I used to purchase a local SIM card wherever I travelled or just relied on the free wifi wherever I went which is available in most places but not always the most reliable. If you want to avoid the hassle of buying the local sim and the high data fees while traveling using your own SIM card, eSIM’s are a total game changer. I’ve used Airalo many times when traveling to Asia, the US and recently again to Costa Rica and Mexico. Depending on how long you’ll be away for, the countries you’re going too and how much data you need the price varies but it’s super easy to install (no physical SIM needed), top up and manage.

I hope these bring some ease to your travels! I’d love to know your go to travel hacks in the comments below 🙂

Happy trails!