Wherever you are in the world, if you need budget accommodation, then Hostelworld has got your back.
If you’re travelling for any longer duration then you’re inevitably going to need to stay in a Hostel, so you may as well go to the place with the best selection.
On the app itself you’ll find a ‘chat’ tab, once you’ve booked yourself a hostel you’ll be added to a property as a guest and you can use the chat function to speak to others staying in the same hostel.
This is a great way to meet like-minded folks to socialise and possibly travel with.
It’s also a great place to ask any questions you may have about the surrounding area or the property you’re staying at.
If you’re looking to stay anywhere in the world then Booking.com has the best selection for a range of different property types, with filters that you can apply to find exactly what you’re looking for.
They have a rewards system call Genius, which gives you levels based on how often you book with them, and the higher the level, the greater the discount on your next booking, and you will often find that prices on the app will be cheaper than on the desktop website, so it pays to have a look before booking anything.
The other perk to using Booking.com is that almost every place you book with them will ask you to pay in person, and many offer free cancellation up until around 24 hours before your stay, so you don’t have to make any payments until you’re there in person and happy with your choice.
Personally for me, Skyscanner is the best flight aggregator on the web. It has many different filters and functions to help you find exactly what you need when booking a flight.
They even allow for you to choose ‘everywhere’ for a location, which then will show you the cheapest flights for anywhere in the world based on your start location and your chosen dates.
If you’re not even sure on the dates, you can also select whole months to spot the cheapest times to get away.
No brainer really, you go to a country where English isn’t a spoken language then you’re going to need to know some basic phrases to get by.
Also learning some of the local lingo shows you’re not ignorant, and when the local people see that you’re trying then they are more likely to help you and be accommodating.
Furthermore word banks from tens of languages can be downloaded so that you’re able to use the app even we you have no internet connection.
If you’re smart about it and organised enough to work out where you’re going to need in advance, Google Maps does actually allow you to download areas on maps so that you can find your way whilst you’re offline.
You can also save favourite locations, and because of the Google Ecosystem, you can tie location to events in Google Calender so you can employ reminders that are linked to directions.
Once downloaded, all audiobooks will play offline, so no matter where you are, you can really just get lost in a good audiobook.
For long trips where you just want to zone out or you want to enjoy a good book without having to read, Audible is the perfect app for indulging that desire.
You can buy one off books, but Audible will let you try a month’s free trial. If you like the app, then you can sign up for monthly or yearly membership.
If you decide the app isn’t for you during the free trial, Audible will still let you keep the book you’ve downloaded.
You get a credit a month for a new book, and should you wish to cancel at any time, it’s easy to do, and you keep all the books you’ve downloaded forever.
These audiobooks will also play offline as you’ll have them downloaded to your account.
Download content when you do have a WiFi connection, and you won’t have to worry about buffering or having to have internet access in order to watch your favourite shows.
Netflix is the OG of streaming entertainment, and is my go to for intense documentaries or some of the amazing Netflix original content.
If you want to stream a video at the exact same time as someone else, you can sign up for a free Teleparty account, and share the link of your chosen viewing material with a loved one or a friend, and you’ll be able to have video playback at the exact same time as the person you shared it with.
This can be great for if you’re feeling homesick or you’re in shared accommodation and your screen is too small for multiple people to huddle around.
Not one for everyone, but I personally love a good game of Chess, and Lichess matches you up with a random player from around the world in seconds, if you have internet that is.
If you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with no data, you can still try your hand against the computer. We competing you can choose unranked games or test yourself in ranked games in a bid to increase your rating.
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It’s the perfect productivity tool where you can keep all the media that you need all in one place.
You can use it for drafting blog posts, scheduling, to-do lists, a place to dump media, or organise all your travel documents and info in one place.
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