#travel resources

Some people are able to hurl themselves blindly into the unknown. I am not one of them, so here are some websites I’ve found invaluable.

• Discount airlines (Ryanair,Wizzair,Wow Air,Easyjet): most of them have flexible date options showing the cheapest days for flights. Wow Air can get you across the Atlantic (Boston-Rekjavik-Destination) for as low as $160, and the others have flights around Europe from about €15.
  
• Skyscanner: the only flight search engine I know that includes discount flights. Also lets you scan an entire month for flight prices.
• Student Universe: a flight search engine that finds student fares for flights. It doesn’t include discount flights, but it does have a useful date grid showing the cheapest dates for round trip or one-way flights within a week.
• Eurail: the Eurail Pass site, with all the maps and pass types and rules.
• Drungli: the flight search to use if you’re feeling spontaneous. You tell it when you’re going or where you’re going, but not both. It will find you the cheapest tickets for that destination or date. This is the ‘I guess I’m going to Estonia this Friday’ website.
• HostelbookersandHostelworld: the best websites for finding and booking hostels. Both have extensive databases of hostels, a lot of useful filters, and good review systems. Hostelbookers, in my experience, finds better deals. Hostelworld is a bit easier to use.
• Couchsurfing: The couchsurfing website. You don’t need a profile to browse people’s profiles and reviews, but you do need one to see the descriptions of their homes. Signing up is free. If you do make a profile, fill it out as thoroughly as you can.
• AirBnB: You don’t need an account to browse, but I believe you need one to make a booking. Signing up is free. It has a really useful map with a price slider you can adjust; only rooms within your chosen price range are visible on the map of the city.
• Rome 2 Rio: An amazing A to B website. When you plug in where you are and where you want to end up, it shows you all the possible ways to get from one to the other. In the sidebar it lists options using every available combination of train, plane, bus, taxi, and ferry, as well as estimated times, distances, and prices. Invaluable for planning a trip. Not a booking website, but it can help you get some idea of your options, and the time you should expect to spend traveling.
• Wikitravel: the most comprehensive travel guide you’ll ever find. Although it can be dry, it has articles for pretty much anywhere you could hope to go. It has the usual travel guide items like descriptions of culturally significant attractions and dishes, but it also has everything else you’ll ever need. For each city, it will tell you how to get to and from the airport, how to use the public transportation system, what scams to look out for, what behaviors locals find rude, local attitudes towards LGBTQ people, activities and cultural events off the beaten path, advice for attending school or finding work, and a brief history of the city and its regions. It has everything.
  
• Who To Tip: an index of when and how much tipping is expected, broken down by country. If, like me, you’re terrified of insulting your nice waiter by tipping them (or not tipping them), this is a good website to have before you eat out in any new country.
• Google Translate: wherever you’re going, try to memorize hello, please, thank you,help,andexcuse me in the local language. It will let you mumble through a shocking amount of crowds, admissions, and restaurants. In most countries, the locals will appreciate it.
• Workaway: A great option if you want to stay in a city or country for longer than just a few days, Workaway connects you with businesses looking for volunteers. In exchange for what is usually about 20 hours/week, you get free accommodation and often meals (what you work and what you receive vary by host). The jobs vary from hostels to farms to private yachts. I prefer this to WWOOF, because the review system and profile give a better idea of what to expect. Just two things: there is a $30 fee for a 2-year account, and for legal purposes technically it is ‘adventure tourism’ rather than a job.