23 Travel Tips & Hacks for 2023 (that make traveling easier)

what's up everyone welcome back to my channel so here are 23 travel tips and travel hacks for 2023. I have been to over 10 different countries so here are all of the different tips that I've accumulated over the years number one let's talk about your travel experience let's say you got an economy ticket and usually on the day of your flight if you go to the check encounter they will have upgrades available if the flight is not full for example you may be able to pay 500 to go on premium economy or a thousand dollars to get on business class and I did the math and it is slightly cheaper than if you bought those tickets ahead of time but just slightly now while the checking counter is still open if you want an emergency aisle seat you will have to pay for that even though you're voluntarily saying you're okay you know helping the entire plane get off the plane if there's an emergency but if you wait about 15 minutes before the boarding time you're at the terminal and there's a counter near your gate you can ask them if you can sit in the emergency seat if they have not been taken and nobody has purchased them then they will move you if there's space available now the perk of an emergency aisle is that there is more legroom but sometimes the seats don't recline as far back of course if you're sitting in the emergency aisle you are putting yourself out there and saying you are willing to help if needed I found that this works when I'm traveling alone because it's just one seat usually if you're in a group it's going to be a lot harder because there's not that many emergency seats and of course they want to prioritize paying customers number two always bring an empty water bottle to the airport there have been many times where I was so thirsty and I bought a five to six dollar water from the store when if I just had an empty water bottle I could have refilled it from the fountain or you could go to Starbucks and get free water there too now let's move on to flight accessories in terms of my luggage I have a cute white carry-on luggage and also I don't plan on ever checking it in so it usually stays pretty clean but in terms of my medium and my large check-in luggage I got a dark color because I know it's literally just going to be flung around left and right practically speaking I think having two larges makes more sense because you're literally paying for the same amount but the reason why I got different size sizes is because I can actually stick my medium into my large suitcase so if you ever go abroad and you know you want to bring back a lot of stuff you can go with just one large suitcase with your medium inside then when you come back you'll have your tip I find that duffel bags are very difficult to travel with only because like one side gets really tired especially if you're taking public transportation around so I feel like a backpack is a lot easier to carry but of course you could put your duffel bag or your backpack on top of your suitcase and that makes things a lot easier so I have this base backpack that has a sleeve in the back where it goes right through my suitcase handle number four earplugs these earplugs are really comfortable I got a bunch of them from Amazon and I am very sensitive to sound so I always carry earplugs with me wherever I go because you never know if your hotel room is facing a noisy Street or if you're in Korea and there's busking going on or noise canceling headphones work too but sometimes it's hard to sleep with headphones or earphones on but the earplugs just lessen the sound it's not like you can't hear anything anymore number five is my suitcase protector I I love this plastic casing that goes around my suitcase especially when I'm checking it in it prevents it from getting scratched and if it's raining it also protects my suitcase although I do have a hard shell suitcase but it's not like it would get wet but it's pretty much because I like the fact that it protects it from scratching and when it's coming around the carousel I can notify which one is mine pretty quickly number six are compression socks now I haven't done a study on this but I find that it helps me and it makes me feel better knowing I am wearing compression socks especially on Long flights it prevents your legs and your ankles from getting swollen and I heard it's really good especially for people who are pregnant who are more prone to inflammation and blood clots and that's really going to help with the circulation but we should be getting up and moving often when we're on a flight anyway but I think the compression socks help number seven is a turtle pillow it is a travel pillow at first I was a little skeptical as to if it would really be comfortable it's truly like a neck brace that's cuter but you wrap it around your head and it provides really good support and I was able to sleep for one hour on my flight to Japan usually I never sleep on a plane unless I am lying down horizontally and that's only ever happened once and I always worry that if I'm leaning on my hand I'm gonna end up just you know being real close to my neighbor so I found that the turtle is a lot more supportive than a normal travel pillow that just goes around your neck and it's foamy those are very soft and comfortable but my neck starts to hurt while the turtle really holds it in a really good position I'm also an aisle seeder because I have to pee every hour so I can't lean on the window or anything like that number eight is a cordless external battery I've talked about this many times on my channel but it is one of my favorite things to take with me when I'm traveling or I'm going to be out for a long period of time because this one it can literally plug into an outlet so you don't need a special cord to charge it and it comes with three different cores already built in so you really don't need to bring anything else but this external battery pack the only downside is that it's a little big but it's flat so it can fit into any bag and it can literally charge my phone from zero to a hundred all in one go number nine download your media before you get on your flight I always like to download my Spotify playlist if there's a song not available on Spotify that I want to listen to BTS hidden tracks then I will put that on my Apple music I can download my podcasts I can also download Netflix shows so that when I'm on the plane I have so many of these entertain me number 10 make sure to put all your liquid toiletry in a plastic bag of some sort there have been times where my shampoo or my conditioner has exploded and you don't want it to go all over your clothes so if it does explode because of the elevation at least it's staying within a plastic bag that you can also wash number 11 packing cubes packing cubes really help me stay organized in my suitcase I do find that I can fit a lot more in my suitcase with my packing Cube you can also categorize where your things are so I have one packing Cube for my tops I have one packing Cube for my bottoms a packing Cube for my undergarments and all of that helps me visually see okay I know where all my clothes are instead of just digging for what I'm looking for number 12 wear your heaviest clothes if you're worried about out whether or not you're gonna have to pay extra for the weight limit on checking in your bag when I was going from Japan to Korea I did find that my bag was a little bit too heavy so I just took out my vest and my sweater and I just wore it number 13 planning and if you don't want to plan and you just want everything done for you I have my Cree itinerary and my Japan itinerary as well as a few other itineraries down below I spent many many hours on these so if you can help support me that would be fantastic but literally everything I did I poured into that and also added notes make sure to have a credit card that doesn't have foreign transaction fees a lot of cards that you use whether it's a debit card or just a regular credit card when you're traveling they're going to add on a three percent charge on top of whatever it is you're paying for and it really does add up it's kind of like paying 10 cents for a grocery bag every single time I have the American Express Platinum Card which is the goat of travel cards then I have the built rewards card and then I have my Sapphire preferred and I get to Rack all of those points for my future travels now if you are going to use a credit card make sure to pay it off every single month if you are not paying it off and you are accruing debt then that is really playing against you so do not do that my American Express Platinum Card gets 5x on travel so if I spend 500 on a flight I'm going to get 2 500 points and those points can be applied to my future flights my hotels and those points really add up and that was one of the ways I was able to take my mom and I on a business class trip to Korea last year I also have clear ntsa pre-check thanks to my American Express Platinum Card but there are so many travel cards out there that will provide TSA pre-check or global entry for free they'll cover the fee for you clear global entry and TSA pre-check have been so helpful for me I don't have to wait in lines I literally just pass through it's amazing the perk of Tuesday pre-check is that I don't know how to take off my shoes and I don't have to take out my laptop when I'm going through TSA it's the little things number 14 keep a digital copy of your passport or your driver's license somewhere whether you email it to yourself or you have it saved on your phone or you send it to a friend because you just never know what's going to happen and if your phone ever got stolen or if your wallet got stolen or your passport got stolen or you forget your passport like I did when I was at the airport I took my husband's passport and not mine but it does help to prove that you are who you say you are especially if you're in another country number 15 Reserve Things Early in terms of my flight I like to book International trips at least six months in advance domestic flights I usually book about two to three months in advance hotels are usually a little more lenient in the price unless there is some hot commodity happening you know like BTS going to Vegas where they will triple the price most likely if you're traveling you are going to a place that a lot of other people are going to and I found that looking up whether a restaurant takes reservations or not has been a lifesaver the happy moments where I've traveled where we went to a place and the wait was two hours long and we're literally just walking around hungry I like to be aware of where we're going when you are reserving for restaurants you can also check if they're even open on the day that you wanted to go there have been moments where I've traveled and I've gone onto a restaurant and they're closed on a Monday number 16. in terms of planning my itinerary I use Google Sheets or Google Docs I got this template from my friend but basically it's hour by hour this definitely comes from my teacher background where I am aware of how long something should take but I am also flexible where if we decide to spend a little bit longer at a certain spot that's okay we'll just push things over totally fine with me I also made sure that all my documents are available offline just in case if I lose service like if I'm on public transportation then I can still check my document I can look up the addresses and things like that I do put the address of wherever I am staying on my Apple notes though just in case and that way I can just show the taxi driver like this is there going number 17 Google also has something called my maps and you can actually pin all these different things that you're interested in doing and I like to color code my pins based on whether it's entertainment food or sightseeing and then after I look at where these locations are I kind of group them together and that's how I determine what I'm doing day if I find that one location has 10 of the restaurants I want to eat then I know I need to split that up because I can't eat at 10 places in one day number 18 make sure to always keep a pen with you it's really convenient especially if you have to sign custom forms or any type of form you don't want to feel pressured to have to finish things and you can't because you don't have a pen number 19 are laundry tablets I actually forgot these when I went to Asia this past trip but it is environmentally friendly and they're so easy you literally just throw in the tablet and it washes my clothes excellente I use them at home too number 20. maybe this is because I'm 30 but vitamins probiotics and Tums whenever I travel I end up getting a stomachache I don't know why I love food but sometimes you know the bacteria is just different in other places so make sure to always have probiotics because you can also be easily constipated when you're traveling so I have probiotics I also have my Tums in case I have a stomach ache and I also take vitamins to ensure I'm not getting sick from you know going out constantly and being surrounded by new people number 21 one have a toiletry bag with your skincare products and toiletries already ready to go I actually haven't even unpacked this since I came back from Japan because I only need it when I travel essentially I got double of all the things I use at home and I stuck it into this toiletry bag I didn't do it all at once it's a slow gradual thing anything I need to survive it's already in there number 22 if you're in a place where you're experiencing jet lag you need to see sunlight so right when you wake up see sunlight when you're going to sleep you need it to be dark those kinds of things are going to help reset your circadian rhythm and reset your body clock so that it makes it a little bit easier someone told me it resets about an hour a day depending on the time difference that's how well you're going to progress and number 23 keep emergency cash with you in your wallet there have been times where I've traveled to another country and the public transportation did not accept my card so I needed to have cash on me otherwise I couldn't get on so I hope that these travel tips help you and I hope you have so much fun wherever you go and if you are not traveling and you feel like oh I wish I could travel just know that it's never too late and I hope that my Vlogs help you feel like you're exploring with me too if you like what you see please like And subscribe and I'll see you later bye [Music]

Channel: Maya Lee

Views: 211,020

Keywords: packing tips, travel hacks, travel tips, maya lee, travel hacks 2023, travel tips 2023, carry on luggage, best luggage, carry on packing, how to pack, pack with me, carry on, carry on only, packing hacks, luggage review, travel tips packing, travel tips and hacks, best carry on luggage, business class tickets credit card, american express platinum card, chase sapphire preferred, bilt rewards credit card, bilt rewards, AMEX plat, traveling on a budget

Id: LmSb21jJErM

Length: 12min 17sec (737 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 18 2023