Read on for all my travel essentials from the best websites for low-cost budget travel deals to the hiking gear and photography equipment I swear by!
Some of the links below are affiliate links. I only recommend products and brands I love and am confident that you would love, too!
Travel Safety
Safety while travelling solo as a woman is critical. These are the items I don’t travel without, whether for physical protection, online safety or making sure you are adequately insured for any eventuality.
Safety Wing Travel Insurance
Travel insurance should be non-negotiable when it comes to travel essentials. Safety Wing is my travel insurance of choice. Safety Wing provides global health insurance and travel insurance for nomads in over 180 countries.
Nord VPN
If you’re working while travelling, you’re probably using pubic WiFi in hotels and cafes. NordVPN makes it safer to use public WiFi and protects your privacy online. They provide a 30-day money-back guarantee and affordable monthly or annual plans.
Door Stop
It might seem strange to pack a door stop with you while travelling, but if I’m travelling solo, I always take a door stop with me. I place it under the door to my hotel room or Airbnb to prevent any unwanted guests from intruding while I’m in the room or sleeping. Call it paranoia if you will, but you can never be sure who has a key to your accommodation.
Hiking Gear and Equipment
Every item below is a piece of equipment I wouldn’t leave home without when embarking on a hike, long or short. Each item of clothing and piece of equipment has been tried and tested over many months and years of hiking in the UK and around the world.
Salomon Hiking Boots
I have worn Salomon hiking boots for 5 years now and love them. I’ve had 2 pairs and both have been entirely waterproof, very comfortable. I have hiked hundreds of miles in these Salomon X-Ultra hiking boots and highly recommend the Salomon brand.
Berghaus Waterproof Jacket
This Berghaus waterproof jacket has seen me through some very wet hikes. It kept me dry when I spent a whole day hiking in the rain on the South Downs Way! I love the colour of the jacket and it’s super lightweight, packing up really small, so it’s super easy to pack into your hand luggage!
Osprey Daylite 15L Backpack
This Osprey Daylite 15l Backpack is a great bag for a day hike. I also use this for travelling as it fits perfectly underneath the seat in front of you on a plane. It’s got a few little compartments and a vent at the back to stop your back getting sweaty.
Lowe Alpine Women’s Airzone Backpack
If you’re embarking on a long-distance hike, this Lowe Alpine 40-litre backpack is big enough for everything you need for a few days. I’ve carried my tent, blow-up mattress and pillow, food and water and a change of clothes in this bag when I hiked the South Downs Way. It’s comfortable to wear and fits me well as a petite woman, at only 5 feet 3 inches. It can be tough to find a backpack that fits well as a small woman but I love this one.
Naturehike Cloud-Up 2 Two-Person Tent
I love this tent! I’ve slept in this tent for a week at Glastonbury Festival, taken it hiking on the South West Coast Path and slept in it for 5 days on the South Downs Way. It’s a bit snug for two people, but if you’re a solo hiker, it’s perfect. It’s also extremely lightweight and folds down very small, so it’s perfect for carrying in your backpack on a long hike. It’s very fast to put up – I can put it up in 5-10 mins and take it down even quicker.
Trekology UL80 Blow-Up Camping Mattress
This lightweight blow-up camping mattress is perfect for long-distance hikes. It’s very comfortable, wide enough to spread out and only takes 5 minutes to blow up. I’ve slept on this mattress for 5 days while hiking the South Downs Way, and for a week at Glastonbury Festival. I always sleep really well on this mattress and it’s also very lightweight to carry in my backpack. It folds down very small and is ideal for carrying on a long-distance hike.
Lightweight Walking
Poles
You don’t need to spend a fortune on walking poles unless you’re going to be walking thousands of miles. These TrailBuddy walking poles are well-designed, lightweight, and affordable.
Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System
If there’s one item that’s essential on a hike, it’s a water filtration system. Even if you think you have plenty of water with you, you should always take a water filter with you for emergencies. This Sawyer Mini filter is easy to use and small enough to carry with you.
Odoland Camping Cookware Kit Incl. Pans and Stove Attachment
Compact, lightweight and easy to use, this camping cookware kit includes a cup, two pans (large and small), cutlery and stove attachments. I’ve used this to boil water, and cook simple meals on the trail.
Budget Travel Essentials, Websites and Tools
Travelling can get expensive! If you’re travelling on a budget, these are the websites and brands I use to keep costs down so I can spend more on enjoying my trip when I get there!
Reduce My Excess Car Insurance
Hiring a car is a great way to get around but the insurance that the hire company tries to sell you can really cause the costs to skyrocket. Instead of expensive insurance that can cost more than the hire car itself, book Excess Waiver Insurance with Reduce My Excess. I’ve been using this company for a long time, and have even had to claim in the past for lost keys. Reduce My Excess paid my claim without argument and were very helpful in responding to my queries via the live chat and emails.
Get Your Guide – Tours
Get Your Guide offers a variety of experiences and tours from food tours, to walking tours and other incredible experiences. I’ve used Get Your Guide to book walking tours in cities, food tours in some destinations and have always found that it is a great way to experience the local culture and get to know your destination through a local’s eyes.
Skyscanner – Flights
Skyscanner is the tool I use to book all my flights. If you’re not set on a date or destination, Skyscanner offers tools that allow you to search for the cheapest flight to any destination within a given month, so if you’re flexible and open to ideas, this tool can be a great way to save money. I have found it to be easier to use than other tools such as Google Flights.
British Airways AMEX Credit Card
If you live in the UK, the British Airways American Express credit card is a great card to help you build up your Avios points to get free flights and upgrades. Travel hacking is tricky in the UK – it’s not as easy as it is in the US to build up points and get rewards, but this card is a great place to start. You get 1 Avios for every £1 you spend on the card.
Airport Parking Discounts
UK airport parking can often cost more than the flight itself, which is ridiculous! If you live in the UK, always check the discount codes via Money Saving Expert website as they can help you save quite a lot of money with discounts on Holiday Extras and Sky Park Secure. I also check Purple Parking for comparison pricing.
Discover Cars – Cheapest Car Hire Website
Discover Cars is my go-to comparison tool for car hire. I’ve tested many different car hire tools and this always comes out the cheapest. It’s also a really nice website to use, with easy-to-use filters and is a great way to compare multiple car rental companies.
Digital Travel Essentials and Digital Nomad Tools
Working on the go can give you enormous amounts of freedom to travel when and wherever you choose. However, it’s crucial to have the right tools for the job to make digital nomad life as easy as possible. These are my digital travel essentials…
Sim Local eSIM
A reliable eSIM can provide flexibility and reliability when it comes to connecting on the move. I’ve used a few different eSIMs over the last couple of years and found Sim Local to be the most reliable. I recently wrote a review of Sim Local’s UK eSIM, and found the customer service, purchase process and network reliability to be excellent.
Anker Power Bank
In this day and age, I use my phone for everything – storing boarding passes, calling an Uber, and working out directions to my accommodation. So the last thing I need is to run out of battery mid-flight! This 20,000 mAh Anker power bank is bulky, but worth the extra weight in my carry-on for the peace of mind of knowing I can easily charge my phone. I usually get 4 phone charges out of this power bank.
Universal Worldwide Travel Adaptor
Rather than buying different travel adaptors for different countries, simply pack this universal worldwide travel adaptor that works in multiple countries across the world.
Blogging Essentials
If you dream of getting paid to travel the world, these are the travel blogging essentials I swear by.
Kadence WordPress Theme
I’ve used a few different themes in the past but Kadence is my favourite. It’s user-friendly, has a ton of features, even on the free version, and is also one of the fastest templates out there, so it won’t slow your website down with bloated code you don’t need! I use the free version for this website and it offers everything I need.
WordPress.org
I started my blog over 10 years ago on WordPress.com, and that was a huge mistake. Once I decided to start growing my blog, I migrated to a self-hosted WordPress.org site and wish I’d just set it up on WordPress.org in the first place. WordPress.org is a free open-source platform – all you need to do is pay for hosting. I recommend SiteGround (more info in the next card).
SiteGround WordPress Hosting
I have used SiteGround for several years and have experience excellent service and barely any downtime at all in that time. They offer different packages based on your needs and traffic, and usually offer huge discounts for your first year which means you can try them without much risk.
Travelpayouts Affiliate Network
I’ve been using Travelpayouts for a couple of years now and made my very first affiliate sale through the Travelpayouts platform. They have a huge variety of brands in their affiliate programme, including Booking.com, Agoda, Get Your Guide, Trivago, Tripadvisor, Trainline and Vrbo, to mention just a few. Their system is easy to use and it’s simple to set up your links. You can even use their Link Switcher tool to save you time having to go back and edit all your previous links.
Stay22 Affiliate Network
Signing up to Stay22 was one of the best things I ever did for my blog. I have increased my income and seen more affiliate bookings than ever via the Stay22 platform. A word of warning though: Stay22 does add alot of cookies to your website users computers, which is why you see such an increase in bookings. Test out the platform and do your research to see if this platform is right for you and your audience. When you use this link, you’ll get a $100 bonus when you reach your first 100 confirmed bookings.
Keysearch Keyword Research Tool
If you want to grow a travel blog in 2025, I recommend you learn SEO. While SEO isn’t the silver bullet it used to be in growing a blog, it still pays to get Google on your side. Currently, 90% of my traffic comes from Google and that’s because I learnt SEO and bought the tools I needed to help me get to the top of Google. The most important tool in your SEO arsenal? A reliable keyword research tool. I recommend Keysearch as an easy-to-use tool that doesn’t cost a fortune.
Travel Photography Essentials
If you want to take better travel photos, these are the photography essentials I swear by. But here’s the thing—no matter how much you spend on gear, if you don’t know how to use your camera or edit your shots, your photos will still fall flat. That’s why it’s worth learning a few simple tips, mastering your camera settings, and getting to grips with editing. This photography YouTube channel is a great place to start.
Camera
I’ve used a few different camera in the past and it really depends on what you’re after when it comes to taking good travel photos. If you want a top-of-the-range camera, the Sony RX100 VII is a great choice. If you want something cheaper, you could buy a used Sony RX100 II. This camera can struggle with focus, but it provides great image quality so is a fantastic and compact camera to get started on. If you’re looking for a cheaper DSLR, I also use the Nikon D7000, which you can get very cheaply second-hand. It has 2 memory card slots to back up your travel photos and professional settings if you want to step up your photography game.
Camera Lenses
If you want to step-up your photography, and are wondering what lenses you should buy for your camera, here are my suggestions… If you buy the Sony RX100, you won’t need to buy lenses as the camera is all-in-one. If you’re looking for lenses for a DSLR Nikon, I recommend the 18-55mm VR lens which you can get for £50-60. This is the ultimate travel lens to cover all ranges. I also recommend the Tamron 18-270mm VC. I use Wex Photographic and MPB for second-hand photography gear.
Camera Tripod
If you’re struggling for space in your carry-on or intend to only take photos during the daytime, you can easily do without a tripod. However, if you’re looking to improve your night photography and want to take photos of evening events such as the Northern Lights, you’ll need a sturdy tripod. I recommend K&F Tripods such as this one. This K&F tripod is well-made and lightweight, making it easy to pack and carry. It may be too big for hand luggage, though.
Lightroom Editing Tool
If you want professional-quality images, there’s no doubt about it – you will have to learn how to edit your photos. Lightroom is a paid tool with plenty of tutorials on YouTube that will teach you how to use it for basic editing. Another free alternative is GIMP.
Snapseed – Free Editing Tool (Mobile)
If you’re after a free, basic tool to get started with editing your photos, the Snapseed free mobile app is fantastic. I used Snapseed all the time for quick edits on my phone while I’m travelling. Again, watch some simple tutorials to learn how to get the best out of the app.
Memory Cards
Of course, if you’re looking to buy a camera, you’ll also need to buy memory cards. It’s worth investing in some high-quality memory cards such as these Sandisk Extreme Pro memory cards. You do not want to risk losing all of your travel photos because you skimped out on cheap memory cards that ended up malfunctioning!