8 Hacks For Life On The Road
Here are some of the savviest tips and tricks used by travelers around the world:
1. Use the side pockets of your suitcase for shoes and socks, which can get dirty.
2. Pillowcase doubles as a laundry bag! Keep your dirty clothes separate from your clean ones in transit.
3. Use an old prescription bottle to store bobby pins, earings and other trinkets that can easily get lost in your toiletry bag.
4. Keep a colorful ribbon looped through the handle of your carry-on luggage so you can easily spot it on the baggage carousel.
5. Pick up some cheap, clear plastic shoe boxes at Target or Walmart and pack one for each person in your group (by day). This will keep everyone’s clothing organized and accessible during the trip.
6. If you’re driving and have multiple people in the car, bring along some cheap shower caddies to keep snacks, iPods and other items handy without littering the floor with crumbs, wrappers or cords.
7. Bring along some dryer sheets to repel insects and freshen up suitcases along the way.
8. Put a dryer sheet in your kid
Life on the road can be challenging. You have to improvise in order to make do with limited resources. Here are some of the savviest tips and tricks used by travelers around the world:
1) Metal Busk
Attach a metal busk (or any other type of metal that can’t be cut easily) to your money belt or some other place where you keep money. This will make it almost impossible for anyone with a knife to take your money without you noticing.
2) Essential Oils
Carry essential oils around with you. Anti-Anxiety, Citronella, Lemongrass and Tea Tree oil can come in handy for all sorts of reasons, from keeping mosquitoes away, calming anxiety attacks and helping you sleep better at night.
3) Dental Floss
Dental floss has many uses around the home, office and for camping trips. It’s also great for sewing up torn clothing or pulling out loose threads from fabrics that have begun to fray at the seams.
4) Pack A Steri Pen
When traveling to developing countries with questionable water quality, pack a UV light pen that purifies water by killing bacteria and parasites with ultraviolet light. No more buying plastic bottles of water!
5) Jumper
You’re traveling, and you want to be comfortable, and you want to be productive. This is a blog about both of those things. But most of all it’s about traveling in comfort.
The metal busk is the most uncomfortable thing in your luggage. It’s the metal piece at the top of the zipper on your suitcase, bag or backpack that helps it open and close smoothly. I have a big metal busk, so putting my bag onto my lap usually means 1) lifting the bag onto my lap, 2) finding a way to position it so that the metal busk doesn’t hurt me, 3) sitting down awkwardly so that I don’t hit my head against the ceiling.
To fix this problem, I use a small piece of cardboard to cover the metal busk. It’s lightweight and easy to pack, and it makes traveling a lot more comfortable.
When you’re on the road, your home is your car.
And it’s important that your car be a place where you can relax and get some rest.
When you’re driving long distances, comfort is key. And when you’re spending lots of time in the driver’s seat, it pays to make sure your seat is as comfortable as possible.
A busk is a metal piece of armor used by knights to protect their midriffs in battle. But now there’s a cool new use for the busk: to keep you comfortable while driving.
Just take any old busk and cut it into small pieces. Then attach the pieces to your car’s steering wheel using cable ties or velcro straps. Now whenever you take a turn, they’ll rub against your skin, gently massaging your hands and forearms and keeping them from getting tired or sore.
The busk hack has already been adopted by thousands of happy drivers around the world!
The first thing to think about when planning a long trip is the question of transport. Getting from A to B can be half the fun, but it can also be stressful and expensive. One of the best ways to make it easier is to use points and miles to fly for free. Using airline miles and credit card points, you can often fly in comfort for a fraction of the price.
1. Never pay for wifi on trains or buses
2. Always book an aisle seat
3. Keep your money safe
4. Bring a portable charger
5. Don’t exchange currency at airports
6. Know the tipping customs wherever you are
7. Never check a bag
8. Use your credit card’s foreign transaction fee protection
1. FINDING A PLACE TO STAY
Accommodations are often the biggest single expense for travelers, which is why so much effort goes into finding ways to get around it. Some of the most popular tricks:
House-sitting: Websites like TrustedHousesitters and MindMyHouse connect homeowners with people willing to stay in their homes while they’re away, in exchange for free lodging. In some cases, you’ll have to feed the pets too.
Couchsurfing: This website connects travelers with local residents who offer a place on their couch (or spare bedroom) for free. I’ve heard good things about it…but after reading horror stories like this one, I’m hesitant to try it myself.
WWOOFing: WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms is an organization that connects volunteers with organic farms around the world. In exchange for your labor, you get free food and a place to stay. It sounds like a great way to learn about organic farming and meet interesting people…and it’s one of the few volunteer programs that doesn’t require a hefty fee just to join!
Camping & RV-ing: Campgrounds can be surprisingly cheap (
1. Know All The Laundromats