Climate

The GIF below was generated from a remarkable interactive map showing optimal times to visit for each of 52 weeks.
Group and Independent Tours
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Iraqi Kurdistan, 2013 |
If you only want a city tour or short excursion, Viator has extensive options from local tour companies. I've used these often and so far all have been good.
Airline Flights
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Scanned card of St. Martin's beach flight path. Jet exhaust had tossed me in the water and ruined my camera. |
For difficult routings, I am sometimes surprised to find connections I don't see Google or Kayak at:
Want to explore destination opportunities from a specific airport? You can always just go to Google Flights and leave the destination option empty!
(Then filter for nonstop or one-stop flights.)
Sometimes I also find it helpful to use:
For your many hours on board, be sure to reserve the best possible seat:
Exploit a long layover and take a city tour, sometimes free!
Americans especially forget trains are a great option for travel around Europe. And trains can be great adventures elsewhere as well. An amazing site for trains around the world is
Also, another cool site that let's you compare trains, planes, buses, and even ferries between two points

For booking hotels, the best way to save a lot of money is often to gamble and take the prepaid rate.
I’ve saved thousands of dollars by taking that risk, and reckon I’m now way ahead even if I miss a future stay.
I’ve not yet found an aggregator site (even Kayak, Expedia, or TripAdvisor) that has a definitive list of best prices every time.
But I recommend supplementing it with other site like Foders and always doing a web search for "top things to see and do in [wherever]" which will often reveal outstanding blogs and sites with brilliant local tips.
Also, consider investing in a travel guidebook ― to have a convenient summary of information about the sights on your route. As a HuffPost piece points out, such guidebooks do not require wi-fi or batteries, allow quick flipping around, include good maps, and are not theft magnets like tablets.
Packing light is important ― only carry-on if possible. Here are two helpful sites for constructing your minimal checklist:
When your jet-lagged brain refuses to do math, Oanda’s currency “cheat
sheets” are indispensible. Go here (and click on the tab for "Traveler's Cheatsheet") so you can a copy for each destination
country:
If you need a converter now, here it is:
(Then filter for nonstop or one-stop flights.)
Sometimes I also find it helpful to use:
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Boarding a flight from Haiti in 2008 |
For your many hours on board, be sure to reserve the best possible seat:
Exploit a long layover and take a city tour, sometimes free!
Trains
Don't forget about trains!Americans especially forget trains are a great option for travel around Europe. And trains can be great adventures elsewhere as well. An amazing site for trains around the world is
Also, another cool site that let's you compare trains, planes, buses, and even ferries between two points
Hotels
For picking hotels, I’m hooked on:
For booking hotels, the best way to save a lot of money is often to gamble and take the prepaid rate.
I’ve saved thousands of dollars by taking that risk, and reckon I’m now way ahead even if I miss a future stay.
I’ve not yet found an aggregator site (even Kayak, Expedia, or TripAdvisor) that has a definitive list of best prices every time.
Things to See & Do
TripAdvisor has a valuable "Things To Do” sections that let you skim numerous traveler verdicts about the merits of sights and activities. Sadly, the site is increasingly cluttered with its Viator sales efforts, but the key info is still there.But I recommend supplementing it with other site like Foders and always doing a web search for "top things to see and do in [wherever]" which will often reveal outstanding blogs and sites with brilliant local tips.
Also, consider investing in a travel guidebook ― to have a convenient summary of information about the sights on your route. As a HuffPost piece points out, such guidebooks do not require wi-fi or batteries, allow quick flipping around, include good maps, and are not theft magnets like tablets.
Destination Safety
To check security in your destination countries, I recommend the clear, concise, and practical travel advice offered by the British Foreign Office. Sad to say but the U.S. State Department's (CYA) travel advisories are usually verbose, rambling, vague, and embarrassingly timorous.Packing

Currency
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If you need a converter now, here it is:
Destination Inspiration
Brainstorming about where to go next?
Click here to look over some of the big handsome books filled with creative travel ideas from National Geographic and others.