6 Travel Tools That Helped Me Plan 6 Weeks of Non-Stop Travel

Since challenging myself to travel to 50 countries by the time I turn 50, it’s been a wild ride of trying to average at least four new countries each year. For 2024 and 2025, all our travel is booked between mid-December ’24 and March ’25; a compact 2 weeks in December + 4 weeks in March to visit 10 countries, hop on and off 18 flights, stay in 13 different hotels/Airbnbs and juggle 9 different currencies. Needless to say, things could get really messy if I wasn’t such an obsessively organized freak.

While I don’t expect everyone to follow my lead and create a 20-tab Google Sheet (outlining vaccinations, visas, voltage, budget, accommodations, itinerary, etc) with a corresponding Google Map, here are a few easy sites and apps I’ve been replying on to keep things tidy.

Flighty: I sprung for the paid version ($45/year) and it’s already earned its keep in my opinion. Plug in your flight details (number, date, confirmation code, seat) and Flighty keeps you updated with schedule changes and aircraft swaps faster than the airline. It also syncs very cleverly to my Apple Calendar with all relevant details included.

Sunflight: I’ve already written a treatise on why I love Sunflight.org, but simply put this site lets you know where to sit on the plan to avoid getting blasted in the face with the rising sun. It’s also helpful to see when the sun will rise/fall on a lengthy 10+ hour flight.

XE App: A currency converter that also shows historical tracking.

Google Flights: The easiest way to plan a trip, hands down. Whether you know your exact plans or are totally game for anything, Google Flights should be one of your first stops to plan a trip. This guide will show you the ropes.

Airline Apps: It’s annoying to have 10 different airline apps on my phone (Qatar, Emirates, Virgin, BA, JetBlue, Thai, HK Express, Bangkok Airways, KoreanAir, etc) but it’s crucial to have complete control over your flights and ability to manage them in real time should something come up.

Flyertalk: It took me awhile to learn how the forums worked (the UX on this site leaves a lot to be desired), but once I got the hang of things, FlyerTalk was an invaluable resource for booking award tickets, understanding lounge access, navigating Middle Eastern airlines during Ramadan, and other things an overly enthusiastic planner would want to know.

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