Learn how to get the most out of every dollar and every hour while traveling, and check out our favorite gear for the road — from camper vans to cameras and computers.
Last year, we picked a country off our wishlist and booked a flight. We weren’t a part of an exchange student program or a research project. We didn’t have a work visa or a job offer. We were just randomly going on vacation…for three months.…
We’re about a month into our three-month trip across Australia, and we’ve been buying iced lattes from McDonald’s (or “Macca’s,” as Aussies call it) almost every day. That’s not exactly one of our best hacks for making long-term travel cheap, but it’s the truth. We’re…
A few weeks ago, I walked into Chase Bank in Florida and asked to withdraw cash from my checking account in the form of Australian dollars for an upcoming trip. The branch manager smiled and quoted me a currency exchange rate that was seven percent…
A month or so into any good trip, you begin to forget what it’s like back home. You get to break out of old routines, spend more time learning about yourself, and really start to live in the moment. It can feel as if you’re…
When shopping for a camera, most people start by Googling around a bit. But if you've done that, you probably spiraled into a search loop seeing the same few brands and recent models recommended. So how should you narrow down which one of those fancy…
There’s nothing like a stretch of empty highway, the perfect soundtrack, and grand views along the way to make a long drive worth it. Each tick of the odometer rolling over marks another new memory to look back on. If it isn’t obvious, we absolutely…
We’re not full-time vanlifers, and our Nissan NV200 was mostly designed around getting a good night’s sleep. The travel philosophy behind our own camper was to simply use public spaces and resources for everything not included in our van build. But Eric and Ashley of…
It’s time to let you in on a secret: All of my blog posts have been written on a laptop that’s a decade old. Amazingly, this computer still runs as well as — if not better than — the day I first bought it. Oh,…
If you’re into the whole #vanlife thing, you’ve probably seen some awesome DIY builds out there. We admit that the way we slapped a bed in the back of our Nissan NV200 isn’t all that impressive by comparison. Maybe you’re the type of person who…
When looking for the cheapest place to book a hotel room, the commonsense approach is just to compare prices on different sites. Go to Expedia, Trivago, Kayak, Priceline, etc., and pick whichever one has the best deal. If you try this obvious strategy, you’ll run…
A few months ago, we got really addicted to driving out to the beach. There was no rhyme or reason to the days or times we would go. We'd just head out whenever the mood struck us and take a long walk. Consistently, we had…
My bicycle is one of the best investments I’ve ever made. It’s allowed me to breathe more fresh air and experience more sunshine while I explore my own backyard. It’s made my heart stronger, kept me from gaining weight, and given me a weekend activity…
We’ve had lots of experience working remotely -- from that time we vacationed in Hawaii for six months, to the time we spent seven months driving cross country to visit every National Park, to the quiet times in between when we’ve settled into our home…
Travel is fun, but it can get lonely sometimes, especially if you’re doing it by yourself. Even if you have a companion, it’s normal to want a fresh social scene and some new faces once in a while. That’s especially true when you prefer to…
When we set out on a 7-month trip to visit every National Park in the United States, we knew there was only one way to make it affordable: avoiding hotel costs by sleeping in a camper. After considering all the options, we decided to convert…
Let’s be real — spending money on parking always feels bad. I mean, you’re basically just paying for your car to exist. When we go to the airport, we usually just have a friend (or an Uber) drop us off at the front gate and…
When you travel, you’re supposed to put your camera down and just use your own eyes. “Enjoy life in the moment,” they say. But for a photographer, getting that magical shot is the moment. Here are five photography tips for your road trip if making…
We’ve all played the license plate game as kids, but adults need a little more effort to stay entertained on a long road trip. One of the questions that comes up a lot when we’re traveling — especially when we’re spending 10 hours a day…
As breathtaking as the landscape was, our hearts sank as we continued down the Trans-Canada Highway toward Alaska. Now in the middle of British Columbia, we were seemingly out of range of civilization as we knew it. The problem? We were camping in our Honda…
