Listen in to find out what new and epic conversations you can expect to hear on Zero To Travel this month! 

What topics and themes do you want to learn more about on the podcast? I’d love to get your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share them by sending me an audio message.

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The post What To Expect This Month on Zero To Travel (November 2024) appeared first on Zero to Travel.

Listen in to find out what new and epic conversations you can expect to hear on Zero To Travel this month! 

What topics and themes do you want to learn more about on the podcast? I’d love to get your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share them by sending me an audio message.

Premium Passport:

• Get ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and access to all episodes for only $3/month. Subscribe now!

Resources:

• Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport
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Thanks To Our Sponsors

• Unbound Merino – Use code ‘TRAVEL10’ to get 10% off your Unbound Merino order.
• Airalo – Get $3 off your first eSIM with the promo code ‘ZTT.’
• Women Who Travel Podcast – Pack your bags and go on a journey with the Women Who Travel podcast.

Photo by Holly Mandarich on Unsplash

The post What To Expect This Month on Zero To Travel (October 2024) appeared first on Zero to Travel.

Listen in to find out our theme for this month and what epic conversations you can expect to hear on Zero To Travel.

What topics and themes do you want to learn more about on the podcast? I’d love to get your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share them by sending me an audio message.

Premium Passport:

• Get ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and access to all episodes for only $3/month. Subscribe now!

Resources:

• Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport
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Thanks To Our Sponsors

• Airbnb – Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host.
• Nissan – Go find your path and enjoy the ride along the way with the 2024 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek Edition. Learn more at nissanusa.com.
• No Fixed Address Podcast – Travel around the globe with Michael and Vanessa as they visit a new country every month in search of the planet’s most extraordinary people.

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The post What To Expect This Month on Zero To Travel (August 2024) appeared first on Zero to Travel.

Today, I’m joined by my friend Travis Sherry to learn how to use real estate and short-term rentals to support your travel lifestyle. Whether you’re new to the game or a real estate pro, this episode has value for everyone!

Travis and his wife Heather combined their love for travel and real estate to build a thriving short-term rental business. One of their properties has even been featured in Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top 14 best beach rentals in the United States! Travis is also the founder of the travel community Extra Pack of Peanuts and the co-founder of Location Indie, a global community for people looking to travel and work from anywhere in the world.

In this episode, Travis breaks down his top five strategies, from the lowest monetary investment to the highest. He’ll dispel common myths, share his favorite hacks, and we’ll explore some key mindset shifts that will completely change your perspective on real estate.

What was your biggest takeaway? Which strategy will you try first? I’d love to hear your thoughts and hope you’ll share them by sending me an audio message.

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• Want access to the private Zero To Travel podcast feed, a monthly bonus episode (decided on by YOU), exclusive content, direct access to me to answer your questions, and more? Click here to try Premium Passport for only $1.

Tune In To Learn:

• The misconception about real estate
• Travis’ story with real estate and how he ended up in North Carolina
• Why you shouldn’t be intimidated by real estate or more experienced investors
• The biggest advantage that has served Travis more than anything else
• The easiest way to get started and make money while you travel
• How to get in the game without purchasing any property
• How to house hack and get creative with your property or home to generate income
• How to earn passive income with short-term rentals
• The benefits of investing and the unique way he’s leveraging investment properties
• Travis’ top resources to dive into real estate and his best advice for getting started
• And so much more

Resources:

• Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport
• Subscribe to our FREE newsletter
• Today’s Sponsors – Airbnb, US Bank, Uncommon Goods
• Learn about Location Indie and Extra Pack of Peanuts
• Listen to his short-term rental series on the Extra Pack of Peanuts podcast
• Travis’ resources – Zillow, Redfin, LoopNet, AirDNA, BiggerPockets 

Want More?

• How to Get Incredible Airbnb Deals (and Save More Money) with Zach Busekrus from Sponstayneous
• How To Use Airbnb to Fund Your Travels (Even If You Don’t Own Anything Or Live Anywhere)
• The Paradise Pack Sessions: Jasper Ribbers from The Traveling Dutchman on Renting Your Home Out on Airbnb

Thanks To Our Sponsors

• Sometimes, it just makes more sense. Book your next group stay with Airbnb!
• This episode is also sponsored by US Bank’s Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card, with the ability to earn up to 5x the points on travel-related expenses like hotels, and rental cars, this card will get you the most return on your next trip.
• Get 15% off your next gift from Uncommon Goods by visiting uncommongoods.com/travel.

The post How to Leverage Real Estate to Fuel Your Ideal Travel Lifestyle (5 Expert Strategies) With Travis Sherry appeared first on Zero to Travel.

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And you find yourself wondering, is the Eurail Pass worth it?

With countless options for ways to travel Europe, from budget airlines, buses, cars and tours to riding the rails, deciding the best path to take can be a challenge.

That’s where this guide comes in. Read on to learn whether the Eurail Pass is the best option for your personal priorities, budget and travel goals.

Eurail Pass & The Origins of Zero to Travel

Two decades ago, Jason, founder of Zero to Travel, was more or less your average recent college grad.

He had student debt, a fulltime job offer and had never traveled overseas.

He also had a dream of exploring Europe by train, and executing that dream not only shaped Jason’s perspective of the world, but also the course of his life.

“It was the catalyst for me basically revolving my entire life around travel,” said Jason, who has now visited dozens of countries across the globe along with founding a travel website, podcast, and online community focused on helping others to make travel a reality.

“Even my mom will tell you, when I came back she said I said something like, ‘What would you think if I lived in Europe?’”

Jason now lives in Norway, and it all began with a mind-opening two-month long adventure through Europe by way of Europe’s elaborate train system, traveling with an open ended ticket known as the Eurail Pass.

“Needless to say I was charmed, and a huge part of that charm was because of the way I traveled,” he said. “I don’t think it would have been the same experience if I was just flying from place to place.”

Table of Contents

1. What is the Eurail Pass?
2. Is the Eurail Pass right for you?
3. Breakdown of the Eurail Pass ticket options
4. Other transportation options to consider
5. Deciding on your Travel Strategy
6. How much does a Eurail Pass cost?
7. Hidden costs and discounts
8. How to Get The Most from your Eurail Pass
9. How to decide if the Eurail Pass is right for YOU

What is the Eurail Pass?

A Eurail Pass provides access to more than 10,000 destinations and 115,000 miles of interconnected railways, allowing travelers to build their own itineraries as they go.

“Eurail has been providing multi-destination train travel in Europe since 1959,” said Nienke Geudeker, Eurail Communications Officer. “Today, with just one rail pass, travellers have the ability to travel in and through up to 28 different European countries.”

“Traveling by train brings you in an efficient and convenient way from country to country and from city to city, while enjoying the landscape passing by. The trip itself makes it unique and is incomparable with travelling by car or plane for example. Europe is packed with amazing places, be it world-famous cities or off the beaten path charming villages, there really is no better and more comfortable way to visit it all than by train… Eurail is the ultimate way to experience Europe, and a Eurail Pass offers more than train travel,” she said.

So, is the Eurail Pass for you?

Let’s start by noting that the Eurail Pass is not your only option.

And, right upfront, you should know that the pass is likely not the cheapest option.

Europe is home to numerous competitive budget airlines, robust bus systems, popular group tours and rideshare options, not to mention you can also utilize the rails network without buying a Eurail Pass, so you’ve got lots of options for your travels that all have their pros and cons.

But, depending on your overall travel goals, despite its costs, the Eurail Pass could be your best option.

Here are some questions to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your trip:

1. How long is your trip?

If you have a 10-day trip in Europe, your trip may be too short to experience the carefree freedom of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants (ride-trains-by-the-seat-of-your-pants?) trip through Europe that the Eurail Pass is best suited for.

In this case, you may be better off to plan out an itinerary for your trip in advance and purchase individual train tickets and budget flights to maximize your time and money.

But, if you have two weeks to two months, a Eurail Pass will provide you with a degree of freedom, comfort and a classic European experience you won’t get any other way.

2. What type of traveler are you?

Deciding whether to purchase a pass may require some personal reflection.

Do you like the idea of showing up in a city with no plans for how long you will stay or where you will go next? Can you imagine yourself meeting a group of travelers in a hostel and deciding to go with them to their next destination?

If this is the type of adventure you’re craving then, by all means, the pass will be worth it just for the sake of open-ended adventure.

In contrast, if you are the type of traveler who wants to plan a day-by-day itinerary three months in advance, and you would feel reassured knowing your exact schedule, then the Eurail Pass may not be the best value to you.

3. What region of Europe is your priority?

The value of the Eurail Pass greatly depends on where you want to go.

If you plan to visit some more expensive regions such Switzerland or France, then a flat rate for all your transportation could easily become the cheapest option.

For instance, traveler Raphael Zoren used his Eurail Pass in the Swiss Alps, where he said the average price of a ticket is at least two or three times as much as the price of a train ticket in other EU countries. “It is entirely possible to make back the entire price of the Eurail Pass in just a couple of days traveling in Switzerland” Raphael said. “How crazy is that?”

On the other hand, if you see yourself spending a solid portion of your time in Eastern Europe, or even a less pricey country like Spain or Italy, you will be able to put together a cheaper trip with individual trains and buses.

On that note, the train systems in Eastern Europe are not what they are in the rest of the continent, so regardless of price, if your trip is focused on Eastern Europe you should consider using buses instead.

Despite all the options, for Jason, the decision to purchase a Eurail Pass was a no brainer.

“I always had it in my head that I was going to do a train trip around Europe,” Jason said. “I just thought that was such a cool concept to be able to just hop on a train and one minute you’re in one country in the next minute you’re in a totally different place — and the reality of that is so incredible.”

The train ride is about so much more than just transportation, Jason explained.

“Something about taking trains is kind of romantic and also you get to share a nice space with people,” he said. “There are a lot of relaxing things about being in a train and there is something about the sound of the rails… You can still get up and move around but you also have the countryside going past you.”

For Jason, choosing the Eurail Pass as opposed to individual train tickets was all about the freedom.

“When you purchase the Eurail Pass, you feel like you’ve purchased the key to Europe,” Jason said. “The key unlocks all of Europe and you can go pretty much anywhere, whenever, and that’s a great feeling.”

A Breakdown of the Eurail Pass Ticket Options

When it comes to choosing a Eurail Pass, you have two main options:

The Global Pass

If you want to feel like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, the Global Pass is your ultimate golden ticket.

With access in 28 countries, when you choose the Global Pass, you pick how many days you want to travel on over a certain period.

For example, you could choose to travel on five days within one month, or 10 days within a two month period, or you could choose a month (or another period of time) of continuous travel days to allow you the freedom to ride trains on everyday of your travels if you so choose.

The One Country Pass

Are you more interested in an in depth exploration of one country? Pick the One Country pass and choose your travel length and days for within that destination.

So, how to decide what type of pass is right for your trip? If you don’t have your heart set on delving deep on Spain, or know you want to see as many places as possible, this might feel like a tough decision, so here are a few factors to consider:

• The Eurail Pass experience is all about freedom, so if you want to leave your travel plans open and not be locked in to a certain country or set of countries, consider the Global Pass.While the cost of the passes will vary based on the flexibility, if you can imagine yourself getting to Europe and regretting being restrained to a certain region, it is worth forking up a few extra dollars now.
• However, if you are settled on mainly exploring one country but think you may want to add on a couple others once you arrive, remember that just because you own a rail pass doesn’t mean you are limited to only traveling with that Pass. If you can use up your 10 travel days within one country, but also want to see another country in another part of Europe, consider — for example — purchasing a One Country Pass for the majority of your travels but incorporating a budget flight to Eastern Europe and traveling by bus in this region.

Other transportation options to consider

From budget airlines to online ride sharing networks, Europe has a huge variety of options when it comes to ways to travel. So, before you decide whether the Eurail Pass is right for you, take a look at what else is out there.

• Budget Airlines – Affordable and efficient for long distances but you’ll miss what’s along the way
• Buses – Cheaper and a better option than trains for Eastern Europe travel
• Ferries or Cruises – Some destinations can only be reached by boat or underground by train
• Individual train tickets – Good for short Europe vacations and travelers who like to plan far in advance
• Group tours – Expensive but great for travelers who don’t want to plan or make decisions
• Rideshare – Good for travelers who have ample time and flexibility
• Driving – Efficient but stressful and potentially isolating

While the options for traveling Europe are as varied as the costs associated with each means of travel, choosing your means for travel will ultimately need to be based on the type of trip you want to take and what you want to get out of your Europe adventure.

Deciding on Your Travel Strategy

“It’s not only about cost savings when you are choosing a travel strategy,” Jason said. “For the right person, the Eurail Pass is also about the peace of mind of knowing you have your transportation and it’s all taken care of.”

Rather than wasting precious travel time figuring out your transport on the fly, or committing yourself to certain plans by booking flights weeks in advance, you can travel with the reassurance of knowing you already have your ticket to wherever you want to go.

“You’re also dedicating yourself to an amazing experience, which is a train journey through the romantic countryside, skipping from country to country,” Jason said. “It is so liberating to just be able to hop on a train and go somewhere.”

When it comes to planning the budget for your trip, it’s also reassuring to have one of your biggest costs paid for upfront and not have to worry as much about budgeting money for your transportation costs as you go.

As budget airlines get more and more popular, the ionic train ride through Europe is still an experience that is hard to get anywhere else.

Planes are a great way to get from point A to point B, but they miss everything along the way, Jason described.

In addition to not adding to your travel experience, the process can be depleting with trips to and from the airport, long lines and security checkpoints.

“On a plane the journey itself isn’t as much of experience, it’s more like ‘Hey let’s get this plane ride over with so we can get to the good stuff,’ whereas when you’re on a train, that is part of the travel experience.”

The layout on trains also tends to be more receptive to interacting with other travelers. In comparison to the rows of seats on planes or buses, trains have cars where seats face each other, common areas where you can meet others, and are conducive to walking around.

“You are in transit but you’re still having a travel experience, you’re interacting with locals and you’re still experiencing that country,” Jason said. “You’re also getting to be immersed in the scenery of that country, while sharing a physical space with other people from that country, in that culture and it really makes for a special way to travel I think.”

How much does the Eurail Pass cost?

If you decide a Eurail Pass is right for you, there are many price variables within the system.

Pass options start at under $100 and can cost more than $1000, depending on any discounts and extra charges that apply based on your age, group and the countries you are traveling in.

Here’s a breakdown of the base prices for each type of Eurail Pass ticket:

Cheapest: One Country

You can have the freedom of a Eurail Pass for under $100 — you just have to exercise that freedom within one country.

If going deep in on one location is more your style than the classic cram-in-all-of-Europe backpacking adventure, you can purchase a Eurail Pass that will get you nine travel days within a country over a one month period.

These passes start as low as $59 for many Eastern European countries as well as a few others.

In the pricier European countries, a single country pass will be more expensive, but even better value. A pass for Norway starts at $192, and individual tickets in these countries would add up to that price in as little as three train rides.

Pro Tip: Just because you buy a one country pass doesn’t mean you can’t see other countries while in Europe. Purchase a pass for the most expensive country, use up your travel days there, and then use a different mode of transport to explore cheaper European countries.

More money, more freedom: Global Pass

So you want to see as much as possible and have that ultimate freedom? Try the opposite end of the spectrum.

Global Passes allow you access to 28 European countries, and will cost you anywhere from $245 to upwards of $1000 depending on how many travel days you want and how long your trip is.

The cheapest Global Pass comes with three travel days within a one month period traveling in 2nd class, starting at $245, while the most expensive costs six times that but lets you travel continuously for three months in first class.

Travelers looking for a happy medium can get a pass that includes 10 travel days during a 2 month period starting at $600 in first class.

Note: Prices vary depending on when you are traveling and when tickets are purchased.

Hidden costs and discounts revealed

Now that you have an idea of the basic costs of a Eurail Pass, it’s time to fill you in on some of the hidden costs and discounts you should consider.

Hidden Costs

The costs listed above are the “starting” price. While you pay a flat rate upfront for your pass, that is not the only money you will be spending on your transportation.

Many of the trains require you to make reservations,, which usually costs about 8 euros per train, plus an additional seat reservation fee which on average vary from 6 to 20 euros.

If you want to avoid making reservations, you can ride regional trains, which you can usually just hop aboard with your Eurail Pass.

However, more popular trains, night trains, high speed trains, and some scenic trains will require a reservation, not only adding a cost to your trip but also taking away some of that ultimate freedom we keep talking about.

Many trains only accept reservations at least 8 days in advance.

So that will take a bit away from the train-ride-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thing.

“We advise travelers to book well in advance; seats can be in high demand, especially in the peak travel season — July through August,” Eurail representative Nienke Geudeker said. “On a few trains, the number of available Pass holder seats can be limited. But most of the time you can just show up at the train station and hop on the next train.”

But, Nienke also noted that your reservation could include some perks, such as a meal and a drink served at your seat, a complimentary newspaper or free Wi-Fi, depending on the train and class.
Speaking of perks, let’s get to that good news.

Hidden Discounts

Age: Eurail has a few discounts you should consider based on your age.

For instance, children under 11 travel free, and if you are age 12 to 27, you can get a youth discount of 23% cheaper than the standard adult pass. Also, a 10% senior discount is available to adults 60 and older.

Partnerships: The Eurail Pass also offers perks and discounts on other things like European City cards accommodations, attractions and more.

How to Get the Most From Your Eurail Pass

Embrace the journey

When planning a trip to Europe, many travelers set their sights on the big name spots like the Eiffel Tower and Sistine Chapel. But when you travel by train, you get to take in all the things along the way that you never even knew you wanted to see.

“It’s great to see those big sights of course, but it’s also just these magical places in between that can make a journey great,” Jason said.

Staying flexible and being open to new places that weren’t originally on your itinerary can add depth to your trip and is just one of the many ways to increase the value of your Eurail Pass.

Travel more, save more

“With a Eurail Pass, the general rule is the more you travel, the more you save,” Nienke said. “Therefore, to make your Eurail trip a real success, we recommend including a palette of experiences as diverse as possible.”

If you only want to go on a few train rides, the Eurail Pass might not be in your best interest, but if you want the freedom to travel continuously throughout your trip, the more times you use your pass the cheaper each train ride gets. This is especially true in more expensive regions where you could easily rack up the cost of a Eurail Pass on individual tickets.

Overnight trips

Taking advantage of overnight trains, not only to maximize your travel time, but also to save on a night’s stay somewhere else.

“Not only are you not having to pay for accommodation, you’re still getting to your next place and getting a decent night’s sleep,” Jason said.

Insider tip:

“It’s very useful to know about the 7 p.m. rule if you have a Flexi Pass (e.g. Global Pass – 15 days within 2 months) as it can save you precious travel days,” Nienke said. “The rule means that you only need to use one travel day when you travel on trains that depart after 7 p.m. and arrive at their final stop after 4 a.m., even if you leave the train before 4 a.m.”

Think outside the rails

The Greek Island Pass was recently added to the Eurail Pass options and includes 6 ferry connections between Italy and Greece or between the Greek islands within one month, and can be a great addition to your Eurail adventure.

So, is the Eurail Pass worth it for you?

So how do you feel? Now that you have all this info, do you think you should you use a Eurail Pass for your European adventure?

Ultimately, the answer depends on your individual goals for your journey, but if you need help sorting out your priorities, we’re here to help.

If you find yourself aligning with the statements in the left column, it is time to order your very own key to Europe.

Yes, absolutely:

• Your priority is seeing as much of Europe as possible
• You won’t settle for anything less than the iconic Europe experience
• Extra freedom is worth paying for
• You want to be able to make last minute plans
• You have more than two weeks in Europe
• You would rather pay for transportation upfront than budget along the way

Not so much:

• You’re spending less than two weeks in Europe
• You want to find the cheapest transportation possible
• You don’t mind planning your trip in advance
• You only anticipate traveling within a small region of Europe
• You have the time to research and buy individual tickets
• A large portion of your travels will be in Eastern Europe

Pass or no pass, travel

“The most important point is, whether you get a Eurail Pass or not, go on the trip,” Jason said.

Sometimes wading through information, making decisions and building a plan for your trip can become such a big burden that trips never get off the ground — or on to the rails.

Don’t miss this opportunity for a life-changing experience.

“The trip that opened up the world to me was a Eurail trip through Europe,” Jason said. “I just remember this buz of energy and feeling high for 2 months straight. It was a spectacular feeling. I met so many people on the way that were travelling the world in all these different ways and I realized, this doesn’t have to be a one time thing — I can keep doing this. I realized I could make seeing the world my life, and essentially, that’s what I’ve done.”

The post Eurail Pass: Is It Worth It? (An In-Depth Guide) appeared first on Zero to Travel.

An around the world ticket (also known as an RTW ticket for short, or “Round the World”) is a special type of plane ticket that allows you to circumnavigate the globe.

When done right, booking an RTW ticket can save you a lot of money.

That being said, around the world trip planning isn’t your ordinary Google Flights search for a few sweet deals. This is a whole different way to travel.

Stringing together multiple flights across several continents requires strategic planning, skillful budgeting, a lot of knowledge about international travel, and hours and hours of research. It’s a daunting task, but almost every RTW trip starts by answering one simple question:

Should you buy an Around The World ticket or book each leg of the trip as you go?

The answer to this question will impact your budget, timeline, destinations, and even how you travel. Booking an around the world ticket (or not booking one!) is a big deal, and honestly, RTW trips aren’t for everyone.

So let’s dig into the pros and cons of Around The World tickets with a look at the average price for one, common rules and restrictions, how to make changes and cancellations to RTW flights, and a few pro tips to help you add more stops, score free layovers, and get the best bang for your buck on your RTW ticket.

Here’s what will cover…

Around the World Ticket FAQs

What is an Around The World Ticket and How Does It Work?
How Much Does an Around The World Ticket Cost?
What is an Air Alliance and How Do They Work?
What’s the Difference Between Booking with Airline Alliances and Travel Agents or Booking Sites?
What are the Rules and Restrictions of an Around The World Ticket?
Can You Change Dates or Destinations While Traveling on an RTW Ticket?
How Long is an Around The World Ticket Good For?
How Many Stops Can You Book on an Around The World Ticket?
Do You Always Have to Start and End in the Same City on an RTW Ticket?
Why Can’t You Backtrack with an RTW Ticket?
Can You Use Budget Airlines in an RTW Ticket?
Can You Redeem Points or Miles for Around The World Tickets?
Tips, Tricks, & Travel Hacks for Around The World Tickets
When is the Best Time to Book an Around The World Ticket?
The Pros and Cons of Around The World tickets
Podcast Episode Show Notes

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Listen to the full Zero to Travel podcast episode featuring around the world ticket expert Dale Vaughn from AirTreks as he shares his tips and advice for booking an RTW ticket.

What is an Around The World Ticket and How Does It Work?

An RTW ticket is an around the world one-way ticket with a bunch of stops along the way. You can tailor your trip to however many destinations and continents you like, but there are (generally) only three rules for an RTW ticket:

1. 1. You have to book every stop and destination in advance
   2. You always have to fly in the same direction (always flying east to west, for example)
   3. RTW tickets are good for up to 11 months from start to finish

The specific rules and restrictions of your Around The World ticket can vary based on if you book with an airline alliance vs. a third-party travel company like AirTreks or STA Travel.

We’ll get into all the pricing, red tape, and RTW travel hacks down below, but that’s the nuts and bolts of an RTW ticket. Or as AirTreks Marketing Director, Dale Vaughn puts it:

“An around the world ticket is exactly what it sounds like. You go in one direction around the world—circumnavigating it—with a handful of stops along the way.”

So if Around The World tickets are just a string of flights on different airlines, what’s the advantage of buying an RTW ticket upfront vs booking each leg of travel separately as you travel?

The answer is simple—it costs a lot less when you buy everything in advance. And the reason why has to do with what happens when you buy multiple flights at once and the weird world of airline alliances.

How Much Does an Around the World Ticket Cost?

Obviously, it’s impossible to give an average price for an Around The World ticket. Every RTW ticket varies based on your starting city, the number of stops, when you fly, the duration of your trip, and flights and airlines you choose.

“It all depends on where you are and where you want to go,” argues Vaughn from AirTreks. “But, it would be very easy to plan an around the world trip with four or five stops for around $2000 or less,” he continues. “We have a travel planner, named Nicola, who lives in London. She planned an RTW trip from London > Chicago > LA > New Zealand > Bangkok > London for less than $2000.”

Again, that price is just one example of a common RTW route. Don’t be surprised if your dream Round The World trip costs closer to $5000—or even more. And that difference is largely based on who you book your RTW ticket through (an alliance vs a travel agent or booking site) and how the three big airline alliances work when you buy an Around The World ticket.

What is an Airline Alliance?

Almost all Around The World tickets are air alliance flight passes. That means that you’re basically buying a “pass” to use multiple airlines within a single alliance. And almost every major airline belongs to one of three airline alliances:

• Star Alliance – 27 members including United, Air Canada, and Lufthansa
• Oneworld – 13 members including American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas
• Sky Team – 20 members including Air France, Delta, and KLM

Airline alliances were started in the late 90’s to make international travel easier, and more affordable by leveraging larger networks for better connections, more destinations, and competitive prices. So it’s no surprise that the three major alliances have dominated RTW ticketing for the past 15 years.

Airline alliances are why your last trip to Europe probably started on a United flight out of New York or LA and ended with a Lufthansa connection in Germany. You didn’t book with Lufthansa, but both Lufthansa and United are part of the Star Alliance network. So United works with them to get you to your final destination instead of going through the hassle of creating their own flight to a city they don’t service regularly. This is essentially how alliances book RTW tickets. But things are changing.

What’s the Difference Between Booking with Airline Alliances & Travel Agents or Booking Sites?

When you book an Around The World ticket through an alliance you only get access to the airlines in that alliance.

When you book through a third-party travel company they can mix and match flights and destinations to tailor your dream trip to your ideal budget. It’s just a larger pool to draw from.

“You can book an RTW ticket from London > Chicago > LA > New Zealand > Bangkok > London for less than $2000”

Remember that an Around The World ticket is really just one booking for multiple flights from different airlines. You can’t book your entire RTW trip through American or Delta because they won’t go to all the places you want to visit.

Instead, you create an Around The World ticket by choosing flights and destinations from within an alliance network and the end result is that your ticket is a little cheaper and the trip easier than booking every single flight on your own. At least that’s the goal.

However, the benefits of airline alliances don’t always go to the customers, and alliance RTW tickets can come with a lot of rules and restrictions.

A Guide to the Most Common Round The World Ticket Rules & Restrictions

According to Vaughn, Around The World tickets through an alliance usually come with a fair bit of red tape:

“The alliances are basically a partnership between airlines that give each other better rates, although you don’t typically see the benefits of these better rates,” explains Vaughn. “When you book an RTW ticket through an alliance or try to book the entire trip yourself you’re typically restricted to major hub cities and major airlines.”

Vaughn argues that alliance RTW tickets usually aren’t as flexible as something from a professional travel service like AirTreks. And for most people, flexibility is kind of the whole point of booking an Around The World trip.

Here are some answers to the most common questions concerning rules and restrictions on Around The World tickets.

Can You Change Dates or Destinations While Traveling on an RTW Ticket?

When you change your ticket (if that’s possible through your RTW provider), you’ll almost always have to pay a change fee. Altering your Around The World ticket is like changing any other flight. You’ll usually have to pay the difference between your old flight and your new flight and you’ll likely pay some kind of admin fee.

The same goes for changing dates and pushing back a connection. “It all depends on the airline,” explains Vaughn.

Change fees can add up regardless of who you use. So while it’s nice to have some flexibility built into your RTW ticket through a travel agency or booking site like AirTreks, you should really put some time and thought into your timing and destinations. Or, as Vaughn cautions, it pays to work with a person instead of a booking site:

“When you plan a trip and you know that you’re gonna be creative on the ground, it helps to be involved with a person instead of a search algorithm because algorithms can’t help you with that kind of flexible creative travel planning.”

Pro Tip: Budget for short roundtrip flights or bus trips from select hubs instead of adding stops or making major reroutes to your Around The World ticket.

How Long is an Around The World Ticket Good For?

Most RTW tickets have a time restriction of 11 months to complete your trip. But that’s changing. AirTreks offers RTW trips that can last for years. According to Vaughn, the timeline is up to you:

“If you want to break the Guinness World Record and see all 197 countries in less than two years, you’d contact us. We’ve helped multiple people break the record, and that takes two, three years for people to do.”

But the catch is that AirTreks (and almost every airline search engine in the world) can only book flights up to one year at a time because flights just aren’t released that far in advance, let alone pricing. That’s the main reason that Around The World tickets typically “expire” within 11 months—you can’t book tickets more than a year in advance.

How Many Stops Can You Book on an Around The World Ticket?

The short answer is: as many as you want. The whole point of an Around The World ticket is to take you around the world. That can include as few as three stops or more than 20. It’s your call. The only difference is the price.

An RTW ticket with only three destinations can cost as little as $1500 while a more extravagant RTW ticket with a dozen destinations can be upwards of $10,000. It’s all about customizing your ticket to your ideal trip and finding the budget that works for you.

Do You Always Have to Start and End in the Same City on an RTW Ticket?

Yup. You can book all kinds of trips and all kinds of combo flights, but if you book an RTW with an alliance or a third-party vendor you have to start and end in the same city.

Image Credit: AirTreks

Why Can’t You Backtrack with an Around The World Ticket?

One of the core restrictions for most Around The World tickets is the rule against “backtracking” or traveling in more than one direction (i.e. always east to west). For whatever reason, it’s just cheaper to fly in the same direction for all your flights. It’s just one of those things, even among airline alliances. That’s the main reason Around The World booking agents don’t typically allow switching directions—it just costs them more.

However, AirTreks says they don’t have any restrictions on the direction you can travel. “There are some ways to save money by going in the same direction,” argues Vaughn, “but that’s flexible. You can go in any direction, you can go in loops, you can go back and forth.”

Can I Book Budget Airlines in an Around The World Ticket?

You can always book a budget airline like Spirit or RyanAir, but it’s not always worth the savings. Most budget airlines charge extra for checked and carry on bags, have small cramped seating, and don’t provide the same in-flight amenities as other airlines.

Work with your booking company (or price out other options) to see if that Spirit Airlines flight from NYC to Costa Rica is really worth saving $40 (spoiler alert: it isn’t).

Can You Redeem Points or Miles for Around The World Tickets?

You can always book legs of your trip with miles, but not typically through booking sites. You usually have to handle miles and points booking directly with the airline. So that’s an added hassle. Also, many travel agents don’t make any money off of trips or RTW legs booked with miles, so they’ll typically offload that responsibility to you.

If you’re a can-do person, you can use miles and points to book parts (or all!) of your RTW ticket.

Tips, Tricks & Travel Hacks For Around The World Tickets

When is the Best Time to Book an Around The World Ticket?

You’ve probably heard that the sooner you book your ticket, the better, but that’s just not true.

“The sweet spot for the best prices for flights is typically between four and six months out,” argues Vaughn. “The only exception is the holidays (December).”

And he has the data to prove it: “We measured this over thousands of different trips and we found on average you’re going to save between 30-40% on the price of the ticket when you book 4-6 months ahead of time.”

Look for Free Stopovers

A lot of people don’t know that they can get free stopovers and layovers in multiple destinations with the right carriers. Use the airline booking system to your advantage. As of January 2019, Turkish Airlines does a free hotel stopover in Budapest if you fly with them. So you not only get a free stopover in a fantastic destination, you get a free hotel if you book with them. You don’t even have to add it as a separate destination.

Pro Tip: The AirTreks trip planner will even give you suggestions for free stopovers at certain destinations.

Fly in the Same Direction

Yes, you can backtrack on RTW trips with AirTreks or other travel agents, but it’ll cost you. Fly in one direction and help keep costs down.

Crossing the Equator Costs Money

According to Vaughn, “Crossing the equator adds a couple of hundred dollars to your trip. If you can bunch your southern and northern hemisphere trips together it helps with cost-cutting.” Try to only cross the equator twice.

Get Travel Insurance

C’mon. You’re going around the freaking world. Get travel insurance. We love World Nomads travel insurance.

Tell People You’re Going to Travel the World

“When you say I want to travel the world in your diary, that’s one thing. But when you tell Facebook or your friends, it’s real,” argues Vaughn. “You can’t go back after that,” he adds.

Commit to Yourself

Vaughn adds that saying “yes” to yourself is a huge part of planning a successful RTW trip:

“Have you given yourself permission to take the trip of your life, or are you gonna let this be a dream? After that, it’s just a matter of planning.” AirTreks even offers free tools to help you talk to your boss about your RTW trip. So that’s awesome.

RTW Pros and Cons: Should You Buy an Around The World Ticket?

RTW travel really is for anyone and everyone, but AirTreks has found that many of their trips are popular with certain types of travelers.

Around The World Tickets are great if you’re a:

• Gap Year Traveler
• Taking a Career Sabbatical
• Family Traveler (especially if you’re buying lots of flights for the kids!)
• Senior & Retiree
• Solo Traveler & Digital Nomad

And Around The World Tickets are great if you:

• Like sticking to a schedule
• Have the budget to pay for changes
• Want those frequent flier miles
• Hate budget airlines
• Plan to go to off the grid destinations

Airtreks has an awesome flight booking tool to help you see if an RTW ticket is right for you.

Podcast Show Notes

Since 1987, AirTreks has been a leader in multi-stop international travel and is the leading expert on RTW plane tickets. You’ll love that their team is made up of experienced independent travelers who truly care about your trip.

In this podcast you’ll learn:

• Differences of round the world tickets vs. normal plane tickets
• Advantages and disadvantages of a RTW ticket
• How to create a blank canvas for travel
• The general cost of RTW tickets (and how to keep the cost low)
• How to learn about hidden costs for trips
• How you can get incentives to hang out in certain cities
• Specific travelers that benefit from round the world tickets
• The best way to plan your route
• And so much more!

Resources:

• Tortuga Backpacks
• AirTreks
• Round The World Travel + GAP Year For All! With Sean Keener

* Tortuga and Airtreks references contain affiliate links – if you decide to purchase anything through those links I’ll receive a small commission at no extra charge and you’ll be supporting my work. Thanks!

The post Around The World Ticket: Is It Worth It? appeared first on Zero to Travel.

You’ll discover every possible tactic we could think of so you can learn how to find cheap flights every time.

Most are super quick, and some can even be automated so the cheap flights come to you.

Let’s get going…

Table of Contents

• How to Find Cheap Flights (And Have Them Come To You)
• Best Ways To Research Cheap Flights
• Tips To Find Existing Cheap Flights
• Engineering Your Itinerary To Save (i.e. Itinerary Hacks!)
• What’s Better Than Cheap Flights? Free Flights! (i.e. Travel Hacking!)
• Extra Things You Can Do To Make It Easier To Save Money On Flights

How to Find Cheap Flights (And Have Them Come To You)

1. Sign Up For Cheap Flight Newsletters

By far the easiest way to find cheap flights is to have them magically appear in your inbox. There are a number of cheap flight notification newsletters you can sign up for to make this happen. Some newsletters are free, some are premium. Shop around and choose the ones that suit you best. Here’s a list of some of our favorites:

TravelPirates – TravelPirates has a free daily newsletter to alert you of all the deals they’ve found before they sell out and disappear.

SecretFlying – The daily newsletter from SecretFlying is customizable so that if you only want to hear about flights departing from your area, you can. To register, fill out their signup form here.

AirfareWatchdog – The most sophisticated option, AirfareWatchdog keeps an eye out for specific journeys for you, and alerts you when they’re available for a good price. For example, if you’ve always wanted to go to Paris, and you live in the Boston area, you could set it to watch for flights from Boston to Paris. You can also set it to watch for deals departing from Boston, or even for hotel deals in Paris.

Scott’s Cheap Flights – Scott’s Cheap Flights is the only newsletter on this list that has a Premium paid option. What makes Scott’s newsletter different from the above options is that it’s all compiled by a human rather than an algorithm. When he finds a deal, he does the legwork to find the cheapest way to book it, and from what cities it’s available. In order to make sure he doesn’t flood your inbox with lame deals, he focuses solely on international flights, so if you’re hoping to find domestic deals, this isn’t the newsletter for you. Another benefit to Scott’s Cheap Flights is that in each email he walks you through the steps to exactly how to book the flight the cheapest way possible.

2. Join Specific Airline Newsletters

You can also sign up for emails directly from the airlines. Usually, if an airline is having a sale, their email list is going to be the first to hear about it. Some airlines also occasionally offer promo codes exclusively for email subscribers. The best of these tend to come from budget airlines rather than the major ones. Here’s a list of some good ones we’ve found:

• Alaska Air
• Allegiant Air
• Frontier Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• jetBlue
• Southwest
• Spirit Airlines (they also have the $9 Fare Club, a membership program which includes access to crazy deals and discounted luggage)

3. Get An Awesome Cheap Flight Notification App

Think email’s too slow? Worried you might miss the deal of a lifetime because you didn’t get an instant ping? There’s an app for that.

But seriously, Jetto is an app that basically takes the premise of the flight deal newsletters into the 21st century. Choose your departure region and possible destinations, and let the app ping you whenever it finds a deal to fit your travel dreams.

Best Ways To Research Cheap Flights

If you have a specific trip in mind, it may be better to seek out the deals yourself, rather than waiting for one to appear in your inbox.

In that case, the best place to start is with airfare search engines.

Step-by-step to research: How to find cheap flights with airfare search engines

1. Start with the best airfare search engines
2. Check as many of them as you can to make sure you’re getting the best deal available
3. Then check the airline’s website directly and locate the same flight to see if it’s cheaper.

4. Check Best Airfare Search Engines

Skyscanner – What it’s great at: Finding the cheapest fares possible. It makes finding the cheapest place to fly into or out of and the cheapest day to leave super easy.

Momondo – What it’s great at: It occasionally catches cheap fares that Skyscanner didn’t find, so it’s great for double checking yourself.

Google Flights – What it’s great at is finding the cheapest day for your flight.

5. Get Cheap Flight Search Apps

Hopper – This app is really great at predicting when airfare might be about to go up. You can also set it to watch certain journeys and alert you of deals.

You can book through the app, but it’s important to keep in mind that that’s how they make money, so it’s in their favor to encourage you to purchase sooner rather than later. Because of that, they might overemphasize when the price is going up in order to get you to purchase sooner than later. Regardless, it’s still an awesome tool to have in your cheap flight research arsenal.

A lot of the search engines have apps as well!

6. Stick To Budget Airlines When You Can

Every year another budget airline crops up, making finding a good deal on flights extremely accessible.

But the devil is in the details with budget airlines.

They’re able to keep their costs low by not necessarily including things like snacks, drinks, or carry-on bags. Some even charge really high fees for things like not printing out your ticket ahead of time (looking at you, Ryanair).

They often only depart from non-major airports that might be out of the way or inconvenient to get to.

Sometimes, they only run at crazy early-in-the-morning or late-at-night times (another way they keep costs low).

But if you’re willing to take off at 5:30 am from an airport an hour outside of town, you could be in for some really sweet deals.

Just make sure you read the fine print, and bring your own snacks and water bottle.

7. Use Wikipedia To Find Cheap Flights On The Best Budget Airlines

Most people don’t think to use Wikipedia for travel but it can be a fantastic resource.

For example, here is a comprehensive list of low-cost airlines by country.

You can also use Wikipedia to find information on specific airports and discover all the airlines that come in and out of that airport and what destinations they fly to.

Here are a few commonly used low-cost airlines:

• Ryanair (within Europe)
• Norwegian Air (great deals from the U.S. to Europe and back)
• Spirit (U.S. domestic deals)
• Allegiant Air (U.S. domestic deals)
• Southwest (U.S. regional deals)
• Scoot (formerly Tiger Airways)
• flyDubai
• AirAsia

8. Search For Flights In Incognito / Private Mode

When you research flights for your trip, going back and forth between different sites, double and triple-checking things before you drop your hard-earned cash, you might start seeing the prices going up from what they were the first time you looked.

No, you might not be going crazy.

Many people think that there are cookies on some airfare sites that notice when you’ve searched for a trip a few times, and they start bumping up the price for you.

This is disputed in the travel community, and it hasn’t been proven yet. But many people suggest always set your browser to the private or incognito mode when you search for flights.

This means that it won’t save cookies when you close the window, so the sites won’t recognize that you’ve been there before or done that search before (assuming they are in fact using cookies).

It can’t hurt, right?

So here’s how you set your browser to private/incognito:

How to set Chrome to Incognito:
Select “File”, and “New Incognito Window” from the dropdown (or press “Shift + Cmd + N” on a Mac, “Shift + Ctrl + N” on a PC).

How to set Safari to private:
Select “File”, and “New Private Window” from the dropdown (or press “Shift + Cmd + N” on a Mac, “Shift + Ctrl + N” on a PC).

Tips To Find Existing Cheap Flights

9. Jump On Mistake Fares When You See Them

By far the most satisfying feeling is when you book a massive international flight that’s normally a couple of thousand dollars, and you only paid a couple hundred.

“What is this magic?” you cry!

Sometimes, airlines make a mistake when they post a new flight, and they put the wrong price. For example, maybe they missed a zero or two. And that’s what we call a mistake fare.

The trick with mistake fares is that they don’t last very long. Sometimes they only last an hour or two…or less.

The airline suddenly sees a massive upswing in sales on a particular flight, they get suspicious and check, catch their mistake, and correct it.

We want to make sure we’re part of that massive upswing in sales.
How do we do this?

There are a few places who make it their business to catch these and let people know.

The newsletters we mentioned at the beginning of this guide are a good start. But to really take advantage of mistake fares, you need something more immediate.

The team over at The Flight Deal always seems to know about mistake fares first, so following them on Twitter and making sure you always get notified when they post is a great way to start making sure you always hear about mistake fares.

10. How To Find Cheap Flights By Taking Advantage of Airline Sales

Sometimes, just like any other business that sells stuff, airlines have sales.

These can be for certain destinations, special packages, discount codes, or any other gimmick they come up with to give us a great deal.

Sometimes you’ll find these in cheap flight email newsletters, but the best way to be the first to hear about them is to subscribe to the airline’s email list directly.

These can be unpredictable, but good times to keep an eye out for airline sales include January (New Year’s travel goals?), the beginning of summer, and Black Friday (and Cyber Monday).

11. Monitor The Flyer Talk Message Boards

Flyer Talk is a forum for travel hacking and flight deal enthusiasts, and it can be a great way to hear about mistake fares, sales, or generally great deals on flights.

12. Try Other Currencies

Sometimes if you try looking at a flight in a different currency, it might be at a different price level. It’s not totally clear why this happens, but it can be a handy (relatively easy) way to save a bit of cash.

To try this, you’ll need to do the search in incognito/private mode, with all location settings off. Otherwise, it won’t work.

(Basically, you’re trying to trick the site into thinking you’re actually in the country whose currency you’re looking at. If your browser’s location settings say somewhere in the U.S., though, it’ll know better and you won’t see a better deal.)

Check out our instructions above to put your browser in incognito/private mode.

It’s also super important to only try this on a card that doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, or you’ll end up paying more money (or at least washing out) rather than saving any.

13. Use a VPN To ‘Trick’ Airline Websites

VPN’s (Virtual Private Network) are a tool that you can use to protect your computer on public networks.

For example, say you’re surfing the internet at a cafe in Rome on their WIFI network. Using a VPN protects your sensitive data.

So how can you use a VPN to find cheaper flights?

Every VPN allows you to select what country to route your VPN through. Here’s what it looks like when I connect with my Tunnelbear account.

Say you were in the USA and looking for a flight in Italy. You could hook up your VPN through Italy, then go to the airline website and ‘trick’ the website into thinking you were in Italy searching for that same flight. This can sometimes result in cheaper flights. Other countries might also net cheaper prices as well.

Note: some websites are savvier than others and won’t fall for your VPN ruse.

Of course, there is no way to know how often you’ll find cheaper flights or even if it will work for your specific situation. Still, it’s good to have another cheap flights tool in your arsenal!

Engineering Your Itinerary To Save (i.e. Itinerary Hacks!)

Now we’re getting into the really advanced stuff. Itinerary hacking.

Itinerary hacking is all about engineering your tickets to get the most savings and the most travel bang for your buck.

Some of the strategies we’re about to talk about are pretty simple, and some are more advanced, but they all involve making modifications to the physical journey you take (don’t worry, you’ll still end up at your destination).

14. Save Money By Using Alternative Airports

Sometimes taking the bus to/from a nearby airport rather than arriving in/departing from the one that’s closest may save you hundreds (though it might take more time, so consider the opportunity cost).

15. Get A Free Mini Trip With Stopovers / Open Jaws

Basically, a stopover is when you spend a few days in your layover destination instead of just grabbing an overpriced lunch in the airport terminal during a layover.

Or as Airwander puts it: Layover = less than 24hrs. Stopover = More than 24hrs.

The awesome part: there’s no extra cost for those few days!

Airwander helps make engineering stopovers super easy.

16. Use Multi-City Flights or Air Passes For Extended Trips

Booking your trip with Round The World tickets can be cost-effective, but really only if you have a fixed itinerary with lots of international stops in mind.

Otherwise, if you’re trying to be budget conscious and a bit more spontaneous, it might not be a good option for you.

But, if you are one of those types that like to plan everything in advance, it could save you a ton of money! You can either book them directly through the airline alliance or through a travel agent.

There are several restrictions around Round The World tickets, so it might be easiest to work with a travel agent who specializes in RTWs and can work around the restrictions and your wants and needs to get you the best deal.

Another thing to consider are airline passes. If you were planning on spending some time in Asia it might be worth looking into the AirAsia Asean Pass.

Brazil has the Azul Airpass which, at the time of writing, offers unlimited flights around the country for up to 10 days.

Airpass deals are always in flux and new programs pop up on occasion so be on the lookout for something that might be a fit with your travel goals.

17. Book Flight Legs Separately

Sometimes the best way to get from A to B is by booking your flight legs separately yourself.

For example, if you wanted to fly from Texas to Paris, but you found a cheaper flight from Texas to Madrid, you could then book a budget airline from Madrid to Paris to save yourself some cash.

Many of the search engines we’ve mentioned in this guide have “multi-city” search capabilities that make this easy.

18. How To Find Cheap Flights Using Hidden City Ticketing

This is an interesting one.

Basically, with hidden city ticketing, you book a flight from your starting location to another place that connects in your final destination, and you just don’t take the second leg of the journey.

For example, you’re in San Diego, and you want to go to Nashville. Let’s say the flights you’re finding from San Diego to Nashville are $400.

But then you find a ticket from San Diego to Detroit that connects in Nashville and only costs $300. With Hidden City Ticketing, you just get off the plane in Nashville and don’t take the second leg of the journey all the way to Detroit.

In this hypothetical journey, you just saved major bucks!

This is tricky sometimes with checked bags, and some airlines don’t actually let you off the plane, so use this method at your own risk.

By far the easiest way to find and book hidden city tickets is with Skiplagged.

19. Sometimes Round-Trip Is Cheaper Than One-Way

Sometimes, for some reason, a return flight is cheaper than a one-way ticket (don’t ask us, we didn’t write the rules!)

In this case, you can just book the round trip ticket instead of the one-way, and then just don’t take the return flight!

This doesn’t happen all the time, but it can definitely be worth checking.

20. What’s Better Than Cheap Flights? Free Flights! (i.e. Travel Hacking!)

The only thing that beats a cheap flight is a free flight, and the best way to do that is with travel hacking!

Travel hacking is when you use credit cards’ frequent flyer and miles programs to earn points and get your flights with those instead of your hard earned cash.

To get started with travel hacking, check out our beginner’s guide here!

Extra Things You Can Do To Make It Easier To Save Money On Flights

21. Plan To Travel During Off-Season

By booking in the shoulder season (or just the non-major tourist season), you can save tons of money on your trip. Not only on flights but often times accommodation and experiences are significantly reduced in price in the off season. Plus, bonus, fewer crowds.

22. Look Early (but not too early)

When you’re planning a trip ahead of time, it’s a good idea to book your ticket early, not last second.

At the same time, you don’t want to book it too early, or you could end up paying more than you needed to.

Generally speaking, the sweet spot for booking your flights is about 6-8 weeks ahead of time.

23. Be Open To Extra Long Layovers

Sometimes, especially with international journeys, you’ll see a list of super-expensive flights at the standard rate, and then one or two at the top of the list that is only a couple hundred.

The catch?

A ten-hour layover.

Now don’t get me wrong, hanging out in an airport for multiple hours is never ideal. It’s not long enough to go out into the city your layover is in, and it’s too long to pass with just a leisurely meal or a movie on your laptop.

But if you’re open to putting up with a super long layover, you could save hundreds of dollars.

24. Avoid Airline Fees By Packing Light

This may seem obvious, but some people forget that they don’t necessarily have to check a bag when they travel.

By implementing strategies to pack light, you could save money on checked bag fees by only traveling with a carry-on. And if you’re hopping from destination to destination, those fees will add up!

There are other fees that you can avoid if you pay attention to the fine print for your airline. This is especially true with budget airlines, so make sure you pay close attention.

25. Be Flexible With Dates

Sometimes you have to be in a certain location at a certain time, it’s true. But for the trips where that’s not the case? Some dates are going to be cheaper to fly on than others!

Make sure you do your research to see which dates are cheapest for the journey you have in mind.

This is fairly easy to do with Skyscanner and Google Flights’ calendar features.

26. Be Flexible On Your Destination(s)

If you just want to travel and don’t have any particular destination in mind, do the airfare equivalent of spinning the globe and putting your finger down!

Use Skyscanner’s “Everywhere” feature to search for flights within your budget. You can even be flexible on the dates, choosing a specific date, a whole month, or just select “Cheapest month”.

On Kayak Explore, you can see a whole map with flights from your location to anywhere in the world. You can set a budget cap when you want to take the trip as months, seasons, or holidays, and you can even specify the duration of the trip you want to take.

27. Harness The Power Of The ITA Matrix

What is the ITA Matrix? Simply put, it’s the insanely powerful software used to run some giant flight search websites like Google Flights and Kayak.

The ITA Matrix is often my very first stop when searching for cheap flights.

Tweaking flight searches in the matrix is an art. The software is not going to win any awards for being super intuitive.

That being said it might be worth the time investment to learn a bit about how to use it so you can unlock one of the most underrated and underused cheap flight tools out there.

Conclusion

So there you have it. A whole whopping 27 different ways for you to find cheap flights and save on your travels.

You don’t have to use every single tactic to see major results, either. Sometimes all you need is just one.

So go ahead. Try a few of these strategies, and make your travel dreams possible.

And don’t forget if you want to get FREE flights (because free is always better than cheap) check out our Travel Hacking Guide.

The post How to Find Cheap Flights: 27 Easy Ways to Save Money Today appeared first on Zero to Travel.

Sometimes you may even wonder if you’re kidding yourself, if this kind of lifestyle is even possible. When you don’t know anyone who’s living the life you’re working towards, you might wonder if your dream is just that – a dream.

Well, let me tell you, my friend, that it is not a dream! The location independent lifestyle is very real. There are plenty of digital nomads out there, traveling the world on their own terms every day.

And you can be one of them!

The Importance of Community

It’s important to surround yourself with both people who are living the lifestyle you want and people who are working towards the same goal as you.

This is why I created Location Indie – a community of people helping each other kick ass in business and travel.

It’s also why I’ve put together this roundup of my fifteen favorite digital nomads. When you can see that other people are out there doing what you want to do, you start to believe that you can do it too.

I’ve collected together some of their top tips for becoming a digital nomad, dealing with the realities of being a digital nomad, and making the most of this lifestyle.

Ready to be inspired? Dig in!

My 15 Favorite Digital Nomads

1. Dan Andrews & Ian Schoen from TropicalMBA

TropicalMBA | Twitter

Dan and Ian help people build location independent lifestyle businesses. They’re all about helping wannabe digital nomads to create businesses that let them do the things they want to do, whether that’s spending more time with their families, traveling, or changing the world.

Here’s their advice on sticking to your guns and doing things your way, even if you get criticised for doing so:

If you’ve made a difference in your community, or just made a stack of cash, you are probably pissing a lot of people off. That’s because you’re in the game. You can’t build a road without paving some meadow. You can’t build a team without firing some people. You can’t write a blog without driving people nuts, and you can’t have a point of view without miffing those with the opposite.

Your business, if it’s gonna pay you, will effect a lot of people’s lives– hopefully for the better. In the process of making the world a better place, you are gonna piss people off.

Get used to it.

– 14 Business Tips Nobody Told Me About

2. Travis Sherry from Extra Pack of Peanuts

Extra Pack of Peanuts | Twitter

Travis is on a mission to convince anyone who will listen that travel doesn’t have to be expensive. Armed with bucket loads of frequent flyer miles, he travels the world for under $100, and he wants to teach you to do the same. Travis is also the co-founder of Location Indie – our community of digital nomads.

But despite his love of travel, Travis also values the days he spends at home. Here’s his take on the phrase “carpe diem.”

It’s time to start living EVERY day to the fullest.

Whether I’m traveling…or not.

Whether I’m in Calcutta….or Collegeville.

The Philippines…or Philadelphia.

A hostel….or home.

“Carpe Diem…wherever you are”

“Seize the day…EVERYDAY”.

– How 2 Funerals Have Reshaped My Beliefs On Travel

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Travis: 

• Your Ultimate Guide To Travel in South East Asia
• How To Plan Ahead For Travel + Why Budget Airlines Rock
• Location Independent: The Unsexy Truth Revealed
• Epic Trekking : Best Treks In The World
• 16 Ways To Meet Locals (Part 1)
• 16 Ways To Meet Locals (Part 2)
• 16 Mindset Hacks To Help You Travel Long Term
• Coffee Talk: The 16 Best Coffee Experiences Around The World
• How To Fly For Free Anywhere: Travel Hacking Credit Cards Using The App-O-Rama

3. Benny Lewis from Fluent in 3 months 

Fluent in 3 Months | Twitter

Benny is a digital nomad who travels the world, learning languages and teaching others to do the same. Despite not being able to speak any language other than his native English until he was 21, Benny is now fluent in several languages. He’s figured out a simple way to learn to speak new languages in a matter of days, weeks, and months rather than years, and is passionate about sharing his method with wannabe polyglots!

He truly believes that it’s never too late to learn a language:

ANYONE can learn a language. When I was 21 I thought I couldn’t do it, but one day I put all the bullshit excuses to one side and just spoke it. Speaking a language from day one is the ‘secret’ to being able to learn it quicker and at any age.

– 29 Life Lessons Learned In Travelling The World For 8 Years Straight

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Benny:

• Travel Tactics Part 1
• Travel Tactics Part 2

4. Sean Ogle from Location180

Location180 | Twitter 

In 2009, Sean hated his life, so he quit his job, moved to Thailand, started his own business, and began living a life he loves. He now teaches other people how to build businesses to become location independent and fill their lives with amazing experiences.

He believes that lifestyle design is a fundamental part of building a life that you love:

The “lifestyle designers” that have been successful did so because they recognized that in order to design a life that they really wanted, one with freedom of time, money, and influence, they couldn’t simply rely on their sparking personality.

They had to provide real value.  In order to do that they not only had to learn how to encapsulate their current skills, but they needed to learn something new (or a lot of somethings) in the process.

– Why “Lifestyle Design” Will Never Die

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Sean:

• Location Independent Business : Work From Anywhere

5. Emilie Wapnick from Puttylike

Puttylike | Twitter

Emilie is a multipotentialite – someone with multiple interests and creative pursuits. But despite her inability to stick to one interest, she’s found a way to make a living no matter where she is in the world. The key to her success? Embracing her multipotentiality and creating a business that incorporates all of her interests.

Emilie’s all about forgetting what you’re supposed to do and doing things because they feel right to you:

And this is what I’m finding to be the most wonderful part of traveling: if you move from place to place with the intention of simply connecting with people, you’ll begin to notice energy pulling you along, showing you signs of where to go and what to do. You’ll meet people you never would have met, you’ll hear about their lives, and you’ll learn to be present.

Don’t worry too much about hitting the sights. Go where the people are. When coincidence and synchronicity happens, notice it, use your intuition and trust yourself. If an opportunity feels right, embrace it. If it doesn’t feel right, go do your own thing.

– Magic Days in Santa Cruz

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Emilie:

• How To Combine Your Passions Into A Business When You’re A Multipotentialite

6. Ethan Waldman from Cloud Coach and The Tiny House

Cloud Coach | The Tiny House | Twitter

Ethan is a technology coach and tiny house owner who loves helping people to simplify their lives. He likes to teach small businesses and individuals how to use technology in such a way that it works in harmony with the rest of their lives, helping rather than hindering them.

One of Ethan’s biggest tips is to use automation to save time:

Back when business and communication was done on paper, it was imperative that you (the boss) had an assistant of some kind, to file those papers. Respond to those letters. Find those documents.

So in the absence of having someone who can do this for you, say, in your email inbox, you do it yourself. […]

Applying automation to your inbox takes the job title Secretary away from you, and gives it to the cloud.

– How To Fire Your Secretary (You) and Reclaim Your Time

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Ethan:

• How To Build A Tiny House
• Adventure Cycle Touring Guide

7. Chris Guillebeau from The Art of Non-Conformity

The Art of Non-Conformity | Twitter

Chris Guillebeau is a bestselling author and blogger who writes about living an unconventional life and doing remarkable things in life, work, and travel. A few months ago, I interviewed him about his quest to travel to every single country in the world by the age of 35.

Chris believes the best way to change the world by doing work you love is to use convergence:

As we’ll examine it, convergence represents the intersection between something you especially like to do or are good at doing (preferably both), and what other people are also interested in. The easiest way to understand convergence is: the overlapping space between what you care about and what other people are willing to spend money on.

Not everything that you are passionate about or skilled in is interesting to the rest of the world—and not everything is marketable. I can be very passionate about eating pizza, but no one is going to pay me to do it. Likewise, any particular person won’t be able to provide a solution to every problem or be interesting to everyone. But in the overlap between the two circles, where passion or skill meets usefulness, a microbusiness built on freedom and value can thrive.

– The $100 Startup

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Chris:

• Finding A Quest That Can Change Your Life : An Interview With Chris Guillebeau

8. Derek Earl Baron from Wandering Earl

Wandering Earl | Twitter

In 1999, Earl set off on a three-month trip to Asia. Well over a decade later, he’s still going. Earl aims to show people that long-term travel is not only perfectly possible but also a completely valid lifestyle choice. Although he’s been to over 85 countries, Earl is less concerned with seeing the sights that the world has to offer and more interested in meeting people and learning about life along the way.

Earl has one piece of advice for working out whether or not you should make travel a part of your life:

If you close your eyes right now and think of travel, and a smile forms on your face and you feel a surge of positive energy spread throughout your body, then travel is definitely a good idea for you.

Don’t let others dictate your life or influence what you know in your heart is the right decision. I know it’s not easy to ignore such negative reactions, but you must push forward.

– Everybody Told Me I Was A Useless Bum

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Earl:

• An Interview with Wandering Earl
• Travel Tactics Part 1
• Travel Tactics Part 2
• Travel Tactics Part 3

9. Natalie Sisson from The Suitcase Entrepreneur

The Suitcase Entrepreneur | Twitter

Natalie has been traveling the world since 2006, using her online business to support her lifestyle. She is passionate about teaching other wannabe digital nomads to start online businesses that will enable them to live out of their suitcases too.

Natalie believes that, when it comes to starting a business you can run from anywhere, the important thing is to have something to sell, someone to sell it to, and a way to get paid:

The most important principle to remember is to focus on what you have, not what you don’t have. You don’t need a lot of money or an MBA to start a small business.  You do need a product or service, a group of people who want to pay for it, and a way to get paid. That is the most simplistic way to describe a business that will work for you.

– The Secret to Finding Your Sweet Spot

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Natalie:

• Finding Personal Freedom Through Travel with Natalie Sisson

10. John Bardos from JetSetCitizen

Jet Set Citizen | Twitter

John has been living abroad since 1997. He used to run a business in Japan with his wife, before they decided to get rid of everything they owned and become digital nomads. He believes we’re living in a time of incredible opportunity because the internet has made it possible to work from anywhere and do amazing things.

John believes an excellent life comes from everyday experiences rather than material possessions and one-off events:

A meaningful life does not come from crossing off items from a bucket list, getting stoned on exotic beaches, or getting stamps in your passport. Personal excellence is reflected in all the little decisions you make in your life everyday.

– JetSetCitizen Manifesto

11. Rob and Mish Slade from Making It Anywhere

Making It Anywhere | Twitter

Rob and Mish are a couple of digital nomads who left London in 2012 to try and “make it anywhere”. They define “making it anywhere” as running businesses they love from wherever they want to be, while at the same time earning more than they did in their old jobs!

They don’t believe being a digital nomad is for everyone:

Living the life of a digital nomad is probably not something that everyone can do.  You need to be willing to be independent.  You need to be comfortable with people thinking you’re a bit weird because although lots and lots more people are doing it these days; your still in the minority if you’re going to be doing it.

– Digital Nomads Mish & Rob from ‘Making it Anywhere’

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Rob and Mish:

• How to Become a Digital Nomad

12. Tim Ferriss from the Four-Hour Work Week

Four-Hour Work Week | Twitter

Tim is an author, entrepreneur, blogger, and motivational speaker who is best known for his concept of the four-hour work week. He teaches that it’s possible to live a rich life by working only four hours a week. He applies the 80/20 rule to every area of life, carrying out lifestyle design experiments to optimize his life.

Tim recommends focusing your efforts on the things you’re good at:

“It is far more lucrative and fun to leverage your strengths instead of attempting to fix all the chinks in your armor. The choice is between multiplication of results using strengths or incremental improvement fixing weaknesses that will, at best, become mediocre. Focus on better use of your best weapons instead of constant repair.”

– The 4-Hour Work Week

13. Cody McKibben from Thrilling Heroics

Thrilling Heroics | Twitter

Cody is an entrepreneur, writer, and traveler who “woke up” in 2004 after the deaths of two of his best friends. He vowed to stop wasting his life and quit his job, started his business, and moved abroad. He’s now a location independent digital nomad who helps others build their own online businesses.

Cody acknowledges that fear is a part of every journey to location independence:

Failure doesn’t have the same sharp teeth and claws that it used to. If you’re trying to do big, remarkable things in business or in life, then failure is unavoidable. It’s part of the journey, part of the learning process. And in fact, failure is only going to teach you what you didn’t know already, and it will teach you lessons to apply in your next attempt at success.

– How to Keep Kicking Ass When You Lose Everything

14. Dave Dean from What’s Dave Doing?

What’s Dave Doing? | Twitter

Dave Dean is a corporate runaway and permanent traveler. He’s tried to settle down several times but somehow he always ends up back on the road. To fund his travels, he’s become a blogger, writer, and small online business owner.

Dave doesn’t believe in wishing for the future you want. Instead, you have to make your dreams come true yourself:

If you want your dreams to come true, you’re going to need to make some sacrifices too.  You won’t enjoy it.  I don’t enjoy it.  Nobody likes being denied something they want.  The secret is to want something else in the future so damn badly that you can deal with not having some other things now.  Delayed gratification.  You know what?  It’s ok.

– So what the hell are you waiting for?

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Dave:

• Travel Tactics Part 1
• Travel Tactics Part 2
• Travel Tactics Part 3

15. Dave Sperling from Dave’s ESL Cafe

Dave’s ESL Cafe

Another Dave! This Dave is the founder of a phenomenal site called Dave’s ESL Cafe – a site that empowers students to learn English, and English teachers to find work all over the planet. The site’s been going since 1995 and it’s a hub of information and activity for world travelers.

Dave advises travelers to understand that living abroad for long periods of time isn’t the same as traveling for a holiday:

In my experience there are three stages in culture shock. In the beginning,  you love the country you are visiting. Then you get a job, start working and a couple of months go by and you start hating everything about the place (laughs)! You get frustrated and annoyed with things that seemed exotic at first.  And then comes the third stage, where you have somehow settled in and you’ve adjusted.

– An interview with Dave Sperling of Dave’s ESL cafe

Zero To Travel Podcast episodes featuring Dave:

• Dave Sperling Talks ESL Cafe, Travel and Teaching English Abroad

So Many Nuggets of Wisdom!

The best way to believe this lifestyle is possible by surrounding yourself with people who are already living it.

If you’re looking for even more inspiration and advice from digital nomads who have been there and done that (whether “that” is start an online business, live out of a suitcase, or travel for free), be sure to check out the following resources:

• The Zero To Travel Podcast interviews
• The Travel Podcasts Directory
• Location Indie – the community of traveling entrepreneurs

Being a digital nomad isn’t easy but it’s one of the most exciting and rewarding lives you can have.

I’m on a mission to make unlimited travel attainable for anyone who wants it, so if you’ve got any questions about travel that I might be able to answer for you, please get in touch with me on jason@zerototravel.com.

Happy traveling!

The post 15 Inspiring Insights From My Favorite Digital Nomads appeared first on Zero to Travel.

My brain is fried.

It’s been nearly 2 weeks of non-stop screen time, all just to get into a position to leave it behind for a few weeks.

How did this happen?

When did it become so intense?

I used to work among the living, moving my body…lifting things and talking to people in person.

Now, in the vacuum of digital nomadism, it’s just me and the screen.

When I get a chance to speak with a friend, record a podcast with my buddy Trav, or chat with another human being I am overly enthusiastic.

Hopped up on coffee and loneliness I burst to life.

I LOVE people. Chatting with them, learning, growing, helping.

Overall, I absolutely LOVE what I am doing.

You, the amazing people I am privileged to interview, my close friends and family all inspire me in so many ways.

I wouldn’t trade this life for a briefcase filled with gold.

This sabbatical is about having authentic, non-digital travel experiences again.

It’s time to kick it old school, leave the computer behind and go out into the world. Detach from the feeling that something needs to be done all of the time.

Yes, there will still be a smattering of digital stuff. A smartphone, camera, video and audio recording for the Zero To Travel caravan. After all, I need to bring the experience back to you my friend!

But overall it’s mostly going to be walking in the mountains of Nepal, taking in the scenery and spending time with my wife and the people we encounter.

It seems counterintuitive, but I have some intuition telling me that this will create the type of space within to take everything I am working on to the next level.

Walking brings me peace, which spills forth ideas like a waterfall after a glacial melt.

The recent tragedy in Nepal has us sad, nervous and a bit scared.

It’s time to get out and appreciate being in the world, with all of it’s beauty and sadness.

Time to leave the screen, and get moving again.

The post Why I’m Taking A Digital Sabbatical appeared first on Zero to Travel.