Planning

If there is one thing we have learned over our nearly 20 years of running this site, it is that there are an untold number of unique travel styles out there- group travel, private tours, solo travel, cruises, and so much more.

We’d argue that the only wrong way to travel is to not travel at all, and if you have a preference that suits your particular style, go for it!

Although we personally prioritize solo travel, we have actually gone on many group trips over the years, too. Many of these were for special circumstances when the situation called for it (like my first trip to Europe when I was nervous going solo or a month-long African safari that we got for quite the deal), but they, for the most part, were a ton of fun too!

So in this one, we thought we’d break down some of our pros and cons of group and solo travel to share some highlights and considerations that you may want to keep in mind before booking your next trip.

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If there is one element of traveling that we often put on the back burner and overlook mentioning, it would be travel insurance.

To us, travel insurance is something that is extremely important, particularly for more expensive and consequential international travel, as it can cover instances of lost baggage, trip delays, health concerns, and even canceled vacations outright!

When we were robbed in Peru, for example, our World Nomads policy kicked in and helped us recoup a lot of our lost cost- salvaging what could’ve been a trip-ending experience for us.

So in this one, we thought we’d take a different look at the travel insurance discussion and talk about when we consider different types of travel insurance be it just protections from our credit cards, individual trip plans, or annual plans as well!

Note: Insurance is one of those things where your mileage will vary. Deciding on coverage is often a balance of risk vs reward vs cost, and what we do in our personal circumstances may not make sense for you. These are not absolute must-dos and are rather just our general thought process in how we buy travel insurance for our own specific needs.

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Not but three weeks into our year-and-a-half-long journey around the world did I realize my backpack had a hole in it.

Not just a tiny hole, one that you’d see after it was scraped against something sharp, but a big gaping hole along a seam that was only going to get bigger with each passing day.

Although my pack was almost 5 years old at the time, I was surprised that this had happened so quickly.  Not only that, it was at the bottom of the bag, one of the worst places it could have occurred.

Cue panic.

After a few minutes composing ourselves, we figured out a rather robust repair that lasted the duration of our trip.

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One thing I really hate when being out in the winter is having cold hands and feet. The rest of my body can deal with cold just fine with layers, but cold appendages, particularly when I’m skiing, are the worst- so much so that I often found myself quitting for the day, not because I was tired or had my fill, but because my hands or feet were far too cold.

So I went for the overkill method of staying warm and acquired a good pair of heated gloves and heated socks to wear while skiing. But I was curious, are these really a game-changer, or are they more of a novelty that only works part of the way?

While I am over-the-moon thrilled with how effective my gloves are, the socks are a different story. Although I’m glad to have both, I want to share some thoughts on each in this one.

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