Travel tips

Travel more, spend less

Getting the most out of every trip while spending as little as possible is what made our 444-day family trip around the world possible. Here are the methods we use: cheap flights, loyalty points, budgeting, planning and packing.

Chart: a well-planned trip involves organizational and budget optimization, which lead to fewer contingencies and lower costs, then to more free time and more budget, and finally to less stress, more fun and more Wonderlust.

Why plan so carefully?

Slow travel is gaining ground, but it doesn’t suit most travellers: few vacation days, and the wish to get the most out of every experience, every journey and every dollar. That’s why we believe a well-planned trip is a trip you enjoy more. It rests on two principles, organizational optimization and budget optimization, and here is the recipe in one chart.

Less stress, more fun and more Wonderlust, for the same time and the same budget! The time and effort you invest before leaving save you more of both on the road, with fewer regrets: organizational and budget optimization go hand in hand. The guides below put them into practice.

Spend less

Flights, hotel and airline points, credit cards and budget forecasts.

How to Find Cheap Flights? 4 Basic Principles and 3 ToolsDiscover how I effectively managed to book 10 flights for our family of 4 –  a total of 40 tickets – for $2838, only $709 per person.Travel Hacking 101 - How to Get Hotels for $12 a NightLearn how to collect points and use them to substantially reduce the cost of your hotel nights. You only need to take advantage of it once and there's no turning back. Travel Hacking 102 - How to Maximize Your Airline MilesIntroduction to airline points, reward programs and strategies for success. Economical and Practical Tips for Traveling With a Credit CardTraveling with a credit card is the most economical and flexible choice for accessing your money while traveling. This post deals with credit card transactions. How Much Does It Cost to Tour the World? Forecasting ExpensesAn approach to estimating the costs of a round-the-world trip + Tax optimization techniques for Quebecers

Plan better

Choose an itinerary and pack light.

3 Steps to Effectively Decide on a RTW Trip ItineraryAre you planning a route around the world and the task seems tedious? Check out this effective 3-step method for planning a world trip itinerary.The Ultimate List of Travel Gear for Packing as Light as Possible (2020 Edition)Travel light - meticulously selected items based on the criteria of compactness, lightness, quality, sturdiness and price.

Share your trips

Edit your photos and start a travel blog.

How to Enhance Your Travel Photos With LightroomHow to enhance your photos quickly and easily? With Lightroom, develop the full potential of photography. And you won't be able to live without it!How to Start a WordPress Blog - A 14 Steps TutorialHere is a complete guide to start a WordPress blog: conceptualization, strategy, getting started, optimization, monetization.

Reflections

Thoughts written along the way.

Climate Hysteria, Ecological Dictatorship and the Inconvenient TruthOpinion piece by a climate-skeptic traveler: why he sees radical environmentalism as politicized, the consensus as exploited, and calls for open debate.

The trip in 3 reports

What 444 days taught us

Back in Montréal, we laid it all out: the memories, the organisation and the spending. A three-part series.

  1. Part 1/3Key Highlights of a Wonderful Family Trip Around the WorldAchievements, highlights, encounters and favourites, and the whole trip in figures.Read part 1 →
  2. Part 2/3Organisational Summary of Our Extraordinary Round-The-World Tour56 flights, 33 rental cars, 181 places to stay, visas and travel hacking: how we organised it all.Read part 2 →
  3. Part 3/3How Much Did Our Family RTW Trip Cost?Accommodation, food, transport: every dollar of the trip, analysed for a family of four.Read part 3 →