15 Travel Tips Hacks for 2026 that make traveling EASIER

I am still getting over my jet lag right now. Just came back from Taiwan. We have been to seven countries in the last three months. And just last year, I went on over 30 airplanes. But here are my travel tips and hacks that will hopefully help you. And in case you're wondering, I still work full-time as a teacher and educational facilitator. I work mostly remote. That is why I can still travel and do my work. And of course, I'm a YouTuber as well. Number one, always carry on what you cannot afford to lose. I put my passport in a big wallet and then I carry it around with me everywhere I go. Typically in Asia, you never have to worry about anybody pickpocketing your wallet. It's nice to keep your passport on you because one, you get tax refunds when you go shopping. And two, a lot of people forget our regular state ID does not mean anything when we're in a foreign country. Toiletry bags, a set of pajamas, and clean underwear are things I like to have in my carry-on. If my check-in luggage gets lost, yes, it's inconvenient. But I won't be super stressed because all of my essentials will be with me. You also want to make sure you take a picture of your check-in luggage just in case. You have a photo of it so that the baggage claim people can take a look. Number two, be mindful that you also might have to check in your carry-on luggage if it's in a suitcase. Most Asian airlines will always weigh my carry-on suitcase. I ended up getting this bodysuit for my Rimowa because I didn't want it to get all scratched up. It clips. Usually, they don't care about the weight of your backpack. But anything that looks like a suitcase, they're going to weigh it. And there were many times in Asia where they would have me check in my carry-on. But you always want to prepare for the worst. Number three, budget for mistakes or things that are outside of your control. My husband and I, we were flying to Singapore from San Francisco. But we're from LA. We had to get from LA to San Francisco, and our flight was delayed. So I was telling Alaska Airlines that we have to make it to San Francisco by tonight. And Alaska basically canceled the rest of their flights for the rest of the day. So there was no way for us to get to San Francisco on another Alaska flight. So, of course, I'm looking at United, American. So you just want to make sure you have wiggle room for things like that where it's outside of your control. But my husband saw that the United Airlines flight or a JetSuite X semi-private jet flight was the same cost. So we went that route. Number four, you can withdraw money from the ATM in the country that you're at. But your bank is going to also charge a $5 fee on top of the conversion rate. Even so, when you're in a pinch, it's not a big deal to have to pull money that way. But always make sure you pull in that country's currency. Do not convert to the U.S. price while you're in that other country because then you're not going to get a good rate. Number five, rarely does this backfire on us. It was just this recent trip. We had some issues. If you're looking for cheaper flights, it is a lot cheaper to fly to another city and then fly internationally from there. We have found that it is more affordable to fly from San Francisco or Seattle, including our flight from Burbank to those cities. Usually, if you take the first flight out to the city that you're going to or, of course, the night before, there's less of a chance of something going wrong because usually the first flight out, the airlines are good. Tip number six, use a VPN when you are traveling or even when you're at home. For the longest time, I thought the term use a VPN was a very techie thing to do. But actually, it's really easy and you're safer online. And today's sponsor is NordVPN. My husband and I have been using NordVPN for a very long time. And I even got my parents to be on NordVPN because I noticed that they were getting viruses so often on their computers. But you can be safe from scams, phishing, malware with Threat Protection Pro. It prevents you from entering malware hosting websites, so it ensures that you stay protected wherever you are, especially in another country when the internet can feel a little iffy. We also like to use NordVPN if you want to check what shows are available in other countries. Or another hack is if you want to buy tickets as if you are in that other country, you can set that too. For example, I was trying to get reservations for a buffet in Taiwan, but they have a different reservation system for foreigners versus Taiwan locals. So I was able to check their reservation site by turning on my VPN by clicking Taiwan and I was able to access their local Taiwanese website. So you can click the link in my description to get an exclusive offer from NordVPN. And it's also risk-free because NordVPN also has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Power banks that are airline approved, you're going to see this little airplane on your power bank. You still are not allowed to use power banks on an airline, but you can bring it on the flight if it's approved at least. My friend recently went to China and she said they threw away everyone's power banks if it did not have the airplane on it. This is not only helpful if you need to call a taxi, but when you're filling out your arrival card, many times it's going to ask for this information, especially when you're filling it out on the flight. And most of us don't have Wi-Fi access on the flight, so you're just kind of sitting there like, I don't know what the address is. So have a screenshot ready to go since it's already on your phone. Or the satellite view. Especially when I traveled solo, I did this all the time because I wanted to know what neighborhood am I in. Does it look safe? Am I in the middle of nowhere? Is there food around me? Where's the closest convenience store? All of those things. This is different if you're working. You know, sometimes I do have to do work meetings and I have to know what time it is in LA, but it does not help your jet lag. You feel more tired when you know it's 2 a.m. in LA versus, oh, it's currently 6 p.m. dinner time. If you want to adjust your Apple Watch ahead of time, and my phone will usually adjust right when I land, but when it's on airplane mode, it's just trying not to look at the time. And I just try to think about what time it is in the country that I'm going to be in. As if you're not going to have any. There have been many times where my husband has been on a plane where he's surprised to see that there's no screen on the back of his seat. I usually never even rely on watching movies on the flight because I have Kindle fully loaded, full of books. I have episodes downloaded on our iPad of any shows we want to watch. I have my music downloaded on Spotify. And if all else fails, I'll scroll through my photo albums and just start deleting things I don't need and organizing my phone. And if you plan on doing work on the plane, make sure your Google Docs are available offline so that you can access them too. In that order, if you can only afford to do one or two. TSA PreCheck is amazing if you live in the United States. Anywhere you go, any airport will have TSA PreCheck. Sometimes they're not open super early in the morning. You don't have to take off your shoes, your jacket, or your laptop, and you get to just walk through the security. And they screen my things so quickly. Global entry only matters if you're flying in internationally into the United States. They have its own separate line. They take a picture of your face. I rarely get asked for my global entry card, and then they just call my name and I walk through. They don't even ask me questions of where I was or what I did. And actually for me, when I applied for global entry, I also got my TSA PreCheck with it. So my global entry ID is also my TSA PreCheck ID. But I don't know if global entry is worth it for everyone if you're not planning to travel internationally. While TSA PreCheck throughout the United States is good. Clear has also saved my butt a couple times because I don't need my ID. I just need my eyes or facial recognition. And then they helped me skip the ID identification part of TSA. But usually the TSA PreCheck line is short, so them checking my ID is not a big deal. I usually will always check Uber or Google Maps and I'll kind of route and see what is the most economical. How long is this going to take? And you really want to do this ahead of time because it is so stressful when you just got off of a really long flight. You're tired and you want to go to the hotel and you're trying to figure out what's the best way to get there. If you already know, that's one less thing to worry about. Even your carry-on suitcase that you think is going to be with you at all times. Because again, sometimes they may ask you to check it in. But it's also handy because my husband showed me that you can also... Not only can you see the location, you can also see how many feet away the air tag thinks your luggage is from you. But that one time I was in Spain, I knew my luggage was stuck in London. And then the baggage people were like, how do you know it's in London? And I was like, it's on my phone right now. It says it's in London still. But again, if it weren't for that, they would be calling a bunch of people and it would just be a lot longer. Number 15, when you're traveling is to be flexible, especially when things don't go your way. If your luggage didn't show, be okay with having to purchase some outfits and then get reimbursed later if you have travel insurance or if the airline will. If dinner wasn't good, be okay with, you know, having to use one of your meals on food that wasn't that great. Oh well, we're gonna go eat something else now. This has happened probably three times now to my husband and I where we walked really far, Google Maps said it was open, we get there, it's closed. And we can allow it to affect the rest of our evening or we just say, oh well, and we just move on and it's part of the plot twist. But it's just the joys of traveling and it makes a funny story later. And I'm just gonna give you guys a bonus tip. I know not everyone is like this, but I really love it as an adult and it is to deep clean your space. Wash all your bed sheets, wash all your bedding, clean the floors, organize your counters right before a trip. I know there's a lot going on before you go somewhere and you have to pack and you have to finish up your work. But coming back to a clean house allows me to rest a little bit without worrying about, oh, I have to also now clean my space. Thanks to Past Me for thinking about Future Me. Let me know in the comments below what travel tips have been helpful for you, whether domestic or international travel. If you like what you see, please like and subscribe and I'll see you later. Bye!