Here we share all our favorite travel tips to help you learn how to plan a trip and enjoy your next holiday.

Plan Your Next Trip

Planning a trip is one of the most exciting parts of travel, at least if you know what you're doing.

Discovering your destination, writing down all the places you wish to explore and activities you are eager to try, creating a practical itinerary, making a packing list, and booking your flight tickets, accommodation, and tours are definitely fun.

It can also be super overwhelming if you're not a frequent traveler or a planning person. Or you could be simply embarking on your first trip abroad.

Find the Right Accommodation

Long gone are the days when we just showed up in Hoi An or Hue without a reservation and started looking for a place to stay right after getting off the bus.

While the method was more adventurous back then, it was also time-consuming and inconvenient at times. So we're glad we can make all our reservations online and in advance today, even if it's last minute.

Our budget has increased since our university days when Lucie and I embarked on our first trips together, but we're still reluctant to pay more for a hotel room than necessary.

Our philosophy is to spend more money on new experiences, food, and fun activities rather than accommodation.

After years of backpacking and staying in shared dormitories, we also learned how important it is to have a good night's sleep. Saving two dollars by staying in a 12-bed dormitory instead of a private room in Da Lat (and all the following nights) allowed us to see more of Vietnam, but we felt pretty tired after some time.

So, what are the main criteria when searching for a good hotel? For us, it's price, location, cleanliness, and positive reviews.

Find a Travel Destination

Every trip starts with the search for a travel destination. First, you need to figure out where you want to go.

This process is highly individual, as we all have different must-see places on our bucket lists. Lucie and I have an advantage because we share similar interests, so finding our next destination is usually pretty simple.

If your dream destination wishlist is blank, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, travel documentaries, or our travel blog offer endless inspiration.

Our favorite story is how we wanted to go to Barcelona but realized we would spend a lot of money for just a few days. So, we looked into Southeast Asia and ended up hiking the Annapurna Circuit.

We share this tidbit of our history mainly because you should make your goals realistic. Obviously, budgeting is essential, but you also need to factor in trip length and other things.

We would love to spend a few months surfing in Hawaii or road-tripping Japan, but that's a dream we are saving for our future selves.

The second piece of advice is also practical. We all have our own dream destinations or things we want to experience someday.

Every year, this list only gets bigger and bigger. It makes deciding harder, especially if spontaneity is not your strongest suit.

So, pick a location and try to stick with it, whether you dream of visiting Machu Picchu or Yellowstone National Park.

Travel on a Budget

When Lucie and I started traveling together, we were just a couple of broke students who wanted to see the world. So, we always had to look for ways to make our dreams possible.

Our first travel experiences included a lot of hiking, camping, and public transportation. Then came the WHS experience in New Zealand (and the following journey across Australia and Southeast Asia), which taught us that you can see some of the most beautiful places in the world on a shoestring.

Even after all those years, our philosophy remains the same. The less money we spend on staying in expensive hotels or taking organized tours, the longer we can travel.

During our countless trips, we learned how to travel independently, cut down expenses, and save money when on the road.

On our first adventures, we quickly learned that traveling on a budget doesn't mean compromising on experiences. We just had to be smarter when it comes to planning and making savvier choices.

Taking the night buses saved us a lot of money on accommodation when we traveled around Peru. In the Canadian Rockies, we rented a campervan instead of staying in hotels. In Iceland, we prepared our own meals to save money on eating out.

Those are just a few examples to show you there's always a way to reduce your expenses. This brings us to our last piece of advice.

Don't overdo it! It's crucial to find a balance between saving, spending, and splurging from time to time. If you're a budget-conscious traveler, this is actually one of the hardest parts of travel.

Packing Tips

No matter how many countries and places we've visited or how many years we spent on the road, packing for the next trip is always a challenge.

Overpacking is a common pitfall, as we all want to be prepared for all eventualities, which is especially true for long-term travelers. Probably the hardest challenge we faced so far was packing for our year-long trip to South America.

From the sunny beaches of Tayrona National Park, the snow-covered peak of Santa Isabela Volcano, to the windy mountains of Patagonia, we had to be prepared for every type of weather and occasion.

After lugging around our relatively heavy backpacks all those months, we learned two things. First, South America is incredibly diverse and beautiful. Second, we need to ditch the checked-in luggage philosophy once and for all.

Obviously, choosing what to pack and what to leave behind depends on the nature and duration of your trip. Our packing lists for our Ireland road trip, skiing vacation in Zermatt, and a day trip to Cesky Krumlov looked completely different.

The idea remained the same: pack as light as possible and bring only carry-on baggage whenever possible. After years of traveling, we learned that less is more.

So we purchased a pair of 30L backpacks and never looked back. Fitting everything we needed into such small bags for our following trips to Iceland and Israel required some skill and compromises, but it was worth it (plus we saved money and time).

Here, we share our best tips and tricks for packing light.

Hiking Tips

The combination of stunning nature, a sense of adventure, amazing views, fresh air, or a challenging journey is why we love walking and being outdoors so much.

We did some incredible hikes in Patagonia, explored some of the finest Great Walks in New Zealand, and enjoyed the challenging trails in Banff National Park.

Hiking is, without any doubt, one of our favorite ways to see the world and explore new places. Even short hikes and easy walks can also be incredibly rewarding.

The best part is that walking offers an answer to everything. It's a great way to discover the buzz about Jasper, recover after a long travel day, acclimate your body in Manang, stretch your legs on a road trip, or just boost your mood.

Hiking also has tons of benefits: it is great for your cardiovascular fitness, your muscles, stability, and mental health.

Another amazing thing about hiking is that it's, unlike many activities, free or very affordable. Most trails in the world are free, and even places like the U.S. National Parks, with their annual pass, offer incredible value.

For most hikes, you generally just need a sturdy pair of boots, a rain and windproof jacket, and a comfortable daypack. Some brands like Decathlon, MEC, or REI offer great value if you don't want to spend too much at the start.

Travel Tips

Traveling is a learning process. It taught us confidence, gave us freedom, broadened our horizons, connected us with other people, and brought unforgettable experiences to our lives.

No matter where or for how long we travel, we always learn something new.

In New Zealand, we discovered that we can easily see some of its beautiful places independently. Our Calgary experience helped us to improve our English and showed us that we can start from scratch wherever we are.

Every journey taught us that traveling doesn't have to cost a fortune, and with some planning, we can cut down on expenses and explore expensive destinations like Dublin or Sydney.

After backpacking throughout Malaysia, we learned about ourselves that we would rather stay in cheap hostels and spend more money on food in Melaka and a trip to Tioman Island rather than expensive hotels.

In all those years, we met tons of people from different backgrounds and cultures, teaching us how incredibly diverse our world is, whether we lived in Martinborough or stayed for three weeks in Cusco.

We had the opportunity to see the world's most famous places, like Petra or Iguazu Falls, as well as venture beyond the well-trodden tourist paths to explore Isafjordur or Villa O'Higgins.

Not every experience was positive, though, and we also made many mistakes in the past.

We were scammed in Mui Ne, our flight to Kathmandu was delayed for about 10 hours, we had to cancel our trip to Israel and completely overhaul Jordan itinerary, someone stole our phone in Bogota, we were in a bus crash near Arequipa, I hurt my back in San Agustin, Lucie got sick in Tulum, etc.

Every trip, every experience, every mistake, and every encounter gave us something new.

So, it's not surprising that we've picked up many useful travel tips, hacks, and tricks on our adventures, and we would love to share them with you to help you explore the world.

Sustainable Travel

Like every other industry, travel has positive and negative effects on the environment and local communities. We've seen the changes in our home town, Prague.

Over the years, places like Charles Bridge and Old Town Square became so crowded that it became difficult for us locals to enjoy them. As more and more people travel each year, it's pretty clear that the cons of tourism are more prevalent than ever.

The good thing is that we all have the power to change. There are tons of ways to travel sustainably and be a responsible tourist.

We stayed in small family-run accommodations on our trip to Costa Rica, explored Pacaya Samiria with local guides, took a 12-hour bus from Cartagena to Medellin instead of a 1-hour flight, and went off the beaten path to Westfjords.

All these little things make together a bigger picture and show how we can positively impact our travel habits.

Long Term Travel

Long term travel is one of our favorite ways to explore the world. We set off on our first long term journey to New Zealand after we finished our university studies, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.

It was very different from all our previous experiences, like our backpacking trip to Azerbaijan or hiking adventures in Austria.

We had to move out of an apartment, sell furniture, store stuff, arrange travel insurance, or make new passports. When we traveled to Canada a few years later, we also had to quit our jobs.

From our experience, long-term travel is about freedom, being able to go at our own pace, exploring many countries in one go, and seeing places we would probably miss.

It has many pros and cons, and each experience is unique for every person, so it's crucial to figure out whether it's right for you.