Hello my friend,

Happy Sunday wherever you are in the world.

I’m writing this from my usual haunt of Starbucks in the local shopping mall here in Phuket. If you’d told me a few years back I’d be counting the days until we leave this beautiful island, I wouldn’t have believed you. 

I’m well aware of how incredibly privileged that sounds, but it reminds me of something I read in Tim Ferriss book - The 4 Hour Workweek, about how too much of something, even something good, can become negative over time.

And while I’m sure that’s true, it’s not the only reason I’m so anxious to leave. Phuket has definitely changed for the worst over the last 10 years and has turned from a slower paced, island life vibe, to a heavily commercial, tourist and international residential hub. 

However my excitement is more to do with the fact that I simply have itchy feet & can’t wait to start exploring the world further!

There’s so much to see & do and with a balance of both fast & slow travel I intend to pack as much in to the second half of my life as I can!

So we think our plans will be to head back to the UK for a month or so to see family in July time and then head out to Oz for a few months to a year in late Aug.

And although Australia is local territory for my husband it’s still a foreign land to me and I can’t wait to see so much more of it!

I saw this great graphic recently, which made me think - ‘hmm, a year is probably not enough time!’

But I’ll give it a good go and see how much I can fit in!

Do hit reply and let me know if there’s anywhere that’s an absolute unmissable place or experience I must do when there.

In the meantime, here’s some Aussie themed trivia for you;

What iconic Australian landmark, known for its distinctive red hue and sacred significance, was officially closed to climbers in October 2019 out of respect for its indigenous custodians?

Answer at the bottom of the newsletter!

How to Get Free Accommodation When Travelling

So, I talk a lot about how to make money which is definitely one of the most important parts of being a nomad, but on the other side of the coin there’s saving money while you’re exploring the globe.

My husband is currently in Australia as we speak training for his 100km Kokoda Trail Hike in Papua New Guinea in April. 

And rather than pay for two households while my daughter and I stay here until she finishes school in May, he decided to try out house sitting.

It was something we had planned to do as part of our world travels, and so we thought what better time to start building up some experience and reviews.

So far it’s been amazing!

He’s been living in Australia since 28th December completely rent free, looking after some fairly independent cats. The latest house he’s living in, even has a huge massage chair, which is getting well used!

I’ve written a detailed post all about it, including the best websites, how to create your profile, how to apply, some do’s and don’ts etc. You can read it here;

I hope it’s useful!

Also back in 2018, I interviewed a lovely member of my JBO community at the time, Eden Rudin on her experiences house sitting around the world. You can listen to that interview here;

Where to Get Travel Deals

On Facebook today I was asked to list some of the best sites for travel deals. While there are many and a lot of it depends on the type of travel, location, time of year etc, here are my go to sites when searching for deals;

Skyscanner - I always start my flight search with Skyscanner. I rarely use the companies they recommend, instead going straight to the airline in question to book my flights. But if you’re prepared to split your airlines and fly out on one and back on another and do a few stops in between, you can get some great deals. (This is not always the case, sometime I’ll get great deals on a straightforward round trip with the same airline, you just have to be prepared to do the research)

Momondo & Google Flights are also great flight aggregators searching for the best deals for your dates and times.

Secret Flying - This site is all about error fares and flash sales. It's a bit more hit and miss, as these deals can vanish as quickly as they appear, but if you're quick on the draw, you can snag some unbelievable bargains. I was just looking as writing this and I found a way to fly from Bangkok to Frankfurt for $276 and the Frankfurt to London for $27. Sure it’s a couple of extra stops, and you need to be flexible on dates, but the layovers looked good and that’s Thailand to the UK for £303!

Going.com for US travelers. This used to be Scotts Cheap Flights. I haven’t used it as I’m not from the US, but if you are this one comes highly recommended by Nomadic Matt!

For hotels and accommodation I’m a booking.com fan. I’ve rarely found better deals on any of the other hotel app sites and I generally check the rates against the hotels where possible and if the hotels are offering a cheaper deal (rare), I’ll book direct.

I haven’t personally used this site myself yet, but I have been recommended - https://www.travelpirates.com/ for good deals on flights, hotels and vacations and as my husband is an Aussie, we have access to Luxury Escapes which occasionally sends out the most amazing deals! (NB: I think they’ve now opened up to many countries outside of Oz also)

To be honest though, our personal secret, which isn’t so easily replicated is that we became Marriott Vacation Club owners over 10 years ago and use an associated deals site specifically for owners that get us some amazing accommodation deals around the world in some beautiful hotels.

I’m more than happy to provide some details on how to do the same affordably, and without having to purchase their ridiculous and very expensive points system they have these days. 

Let me know if this is something you’d like to hear more about! (Just click the Yes button below and I’ll be happy to write a blog post with all the details).

Also if there are any great deal sites you regularly use, do hit reply and let me know!

From the Web

Every day I must read 10 or so posts about travel, mindset, nomadism and entrepreneurship.

Here are some interesting finds from this week;

Trivia Answer

If you guessed Ayers Rock, you’re right!

The landmark is Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. This massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory's arid "Red Centre" is deeply sacred to the indigenous Anangu people.

The decision to close the climb was made to honor the spiritual significance of the site, reflecting a growing recognition and respect for indigenous cultures and traditions in Australia and around the world.

That’s All Folks

That’s it from me this week. I don’t have an Etsy update as I’ve been busy updating and adding lots of posts on The Working Traveller site this week. They’re not quite ready yet, but I look forward to sharing some fab, ‘make money to fund your travels’ resources with you next week.

In the meantime have a fabulous week, live your best life and as always get out there and make it happen!

Jo 😊