Hi Reader,

In last week's email, we shared a little behind-the-scenes look at our planning process and the steps we took for our upcoming trip to Sri Lanka.

It won’t be long before we’re on that flight, and we’re still putting the finishing touches to our itinerary.

We’ve planned our route and created a rough itinerary; our final step is to book the remaining accommodation and activities we’re considering.

As we’ve been going through this final stage of planning, it reminded us just how much easier organising a trip has become over the years.

Not because we spend less time researching, but because we’ve found a handful of travel tools that we genuinely use and trust.

Like most travellers, we’ve tried plenty of different websites and apps along the way. Some we’ve used once and wouldn’t use again, while others have become part of our planning process every time we travel.

So today, we thought we’d share some of our essential travel tools, why we use them, and how they’ve helped us during our adventures.

Booking.com

This is probably the tool we use the most when researching and booking our accommodation.

Because one thing we’ve learnt over the years is that where you stay can have a huge impact on your trip.

Sometimes it’s better to spend a little longer finding accommodation in the right location than save a few pounds and spend hours travelling backwards and forwards each day.

That’s one of the reasons we nearly always start our accommodation search on Booking.com.

We love that we can easily compare hotels, apartments and guesthouses, read reviews from other travellers, check the location on the map, and look at the best transport options nearby.

It simply makes finding the right place to stay that little bit easier.

NordVPN

Until recently, we never really thought twice about the risks of using public Wi-Fi.

Whether it was at the airport, hotel or a café, we’d happily connect and get on with searching the internet, checking emails, or even logging into our online banking.

It wasn’t until one day I connected to the London Underground Wi-Fi that I stopped and asked myself….

“How secure is this connection?”

At the time, I was actually logging into our online banking app, and it made me realise that we should probably be doing more to protect ourselves when using public networks.

That was the moment I said to Shams that we really must get a VPN.​

It encrypts our internet connection while it’s switched on, adding an extra layer of privacy and security when we’re browsing, booking things online, or accessing personal information.

For us, it has given us that extra peace of mind knowing we’re better protected whenever we’re online, whether that’s at home or travelling.

GetYourGuide

When we’re visiting somewhere new, we always like to have a rough idea of the experiences and activities we’d like to do before we arrive.

One of those places we check is GetYourGuide.

We’ve used it when looking for things to do, and it’s also somewhere we’re currently looking at as we plan our time in Colombo.

It’s a great way to discover tours, attractions and local experiences, while also seeing reviews from other travellers.

We love that it helps make finding experiences easier, especially when you’re visiting somewhere new and don’t want to spend hours searching through lots of different websites.

These are just three of the travel tools we regularly use, but they’re by no means the only ones.

We’ve put together a complete guide with all our favourite travel websites and tools, including the ones we use for planning, booking and travelling.

If you’d like to save yourself time searching through hundreds of different websites, you can discover the travel tools we use to make planning our adventures easier below.

​Check out our complete guide to the best travel tools.​

We'd love to hear from you too...

Is there one travel website or app you couldn't travel without?

Just hit reply and let us know. We're always looking for new recommendations, and your suggestion will help us discover some new tools to trial.

Happy travelling

Bev & Shams

P.S. One more thing before you go…

Don’t forget to stay safe online while travelling. We use NordVPN whenever we’re connecting to Wi-Fi abroad, and it’s become one of our travel essentials.

Stay safe online with NordVPN.​

Email: bev@bevandshams.com

Website: www.bevandshams.com​

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Resources: www.bevandshams.com/travel-resources/​