Resources

This page has a list of companies and products that I recommend.

For some of the items if you use the link on this page and make a purchase I will receive a small commission. You can also read my full disclosure.

For the rest of 2019 ALL of my profits from Happiness Travels Here will be donated to Charity Water.

Kaylie why are you donating your profits to Charity Water?

Phase 1: The idea came about because I wanted more motivation to work on my blog. I love writing about our travels and answering reader questions and the readership of Happiness Travels Here is steadily growing. I want blogging to be more than a hobby and by growing the blog I can reach more people. To justify spending more time on the blog I really needed to start making some money from the blog.

Phase 2: I like to contribute money to charity but being a questioner I wanted to ensure I was supporting a charity that was

• ethical,
• made every cent of their money count,
• saved lives
• and left the communities that they worked with self-sufficient.

After hearing about Charity Water through Paula Pant’s Afford Anything podcast it sat in the back of my mind. While I was researching charities Charity Water came up again.

• 100% of my donation would go to a clean water project ✔
• Access to clean water saves lives ✔
• This also means that girls are more likely to get educated ✔ (girls are often responsible for collecting water for their families).
• Once Charity Water has built the well they train local residents the skills required to maintain and service the well ✔.

Phase 3: Earning money for myself wasn’t motivating me but earning money for my chosen charity is a big motivator. (Sewing 100 scarves for one of my previous charity projects is a testament to this).

Earning money for Charity Water

Amazon

“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

• Amazon Australia the best online shopping portal. Sign up to Amazon Prime for extra benefits.

• Amazon USA online shopping portal where you can buy almost anything! Amazon Prime for TV shows, free ebooks, free delivery and more.

Accommodation

• Booking.com This is where I book most of my accommodation. They often have the cheapest prices, many have free cancellation with no hidden fees, the website is easy to use with good customer service.
• Hotels.com Always compare prices on other sites. Hotels.com has a stay 10 nights get 1 free bonus. As well as the ability to filter for hotels with adjoining rooms, great for those with 3 or more kids who often need to book 2 rooms.
• TripAdvisor large travel reviews website which includes hotels, activities, restaurants, and private holiday rentals.
• Homeexchange.com house swapping website we have used for the past 4 years.
• Airbnb, rent a home or apartment to have more space for your family, new members get a sign-up bonus, existing members click here.
• VRBO Vacation Rental By Owner. Similar to Airbnb.
• Homeaway American version of VRBO, fees are often lower than booking on Airbnb.

Flights

• Kiwi.com Flight search engine that will combine different airlines to find the best deals.
• Skyscanner.com flight search engine that also allows you to set up price alerts to find the best deal.

Travel Insurance

• Allianz (USA residents) Sign up for the annual family plan, this offers great value if you are a frequent traveler. We have claimed twice and the process has been seamless and payment quick. Covers travel internationally and within the USA.
• World Nomads covers US residents for international travel.

Activities and Attractions

• City Pass We have used these attraction passes in New York and Chicago. They are available in other cities around the USA. City Pass bundles attractions into one pass to allow you to skip queues and save money.
• Sightseeing Pass A multi-attraction pass that are available for New York City, New Orleans, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Nashville, Orlando, Miami, Key West, Puerto Rico.
• Groupon worldwide discount coupons on meals, activities and accommodation.
• Viator a TripAdvisor company where you can book tours and attractions around the world in one place. Great if you have missed out on tickets to a popular attraction or want to get to know a destination better with a knowledgeable tour guide.
• Get Your Guide similar to Viator. It is worth checking both if you are searching for something specific.
• Entertainment Book. If you are spending a week or more somewhere in the USA or Canada then the entertainment book can be a great way to save money on activities and dining out.

Car Rental

• Discover Cars finds the best deals across multiple rental car companies, highly rated on trust pilot.
• Costco The bulk food supermarket chain has great travel discounts for its members and usually has the cheapest rental cars. USA residents only
• Rentalcars.com if you aren’t based in the USA this website has the cheapest rental cars when I have used it. Can sometimes beat out Costco too.

Web Hosting

• Siteground Very competitively price web hosting. The customer service is amazing and they will hand hold you through many of the technical aspects like getting a security certificate and improving the speed of your site, all for no extra charge.

Blogging Tools

• Tailwind Schedule your pins and boost your traffic with tailwind tribes.
• Keysearch

Shopping

• Best Buy USA electronic stores. Look out for their ‘out of the box’ deals where they sell floor stock for us to 50% off retail.
• Wayfair I love this online furniture and homewares store. The quality and customer service is great, a wide range of price points and lots of customer reviews which often include photos of the product in use.
• Amazon online shopping at its finest, if you aren’t shopping on Amazon you should be. Prime members get lots of extra savings like free delivery and Prime TV.
• Target popular retail store with competitive pricing
• Walmart Retail and Supermarket brand, online groceries and household items that can be cheaper than Amazon.
• ASOS awesome online clothing retailer, based in the UK but shipping worldwide.
• Uniqlo fantastic thermal underlayers, we wear them skiing and on winter trips.
• Kathmandu Australia Great travel and hiking gear and clothing.
• Look Fantastic Europes largest online beauty retailer now ships around the world. They stock “the ordinary” a no-frills beauty brand with top quality at rock bottom prices.
• Beauty Habit luxury skin care, hair care, candles and cleaning products at department store prices.
• Ulta stocks all the main beauty brands with free shipping over $50
• Sephora a giant in the online beauty industry.
• Aha life gorgeous gifts from the worlds best designers you have never heard of.
• Ban.do drool worthy stationery and other gift items including clothing, bags and accessories.