30Traveler – Travel Podcast  

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I’m going to be spending the next few months in the US. I’ll be subletting an apartment in New York, but will be getting there via stopovers in L.A. and Boston.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Please note: The smoothest way to get the video is to use the download button. Recommended players for playing the video are Apple Quicktime or VLC Media Player (both free). Video is a normal mp4 file (50mb).

Priceline is one of my favorite ways of saving A LOT of money on hotels.

I’ve used it for Europe and the US.

Its perfect for the budget traveler who doesn’t want to stay in hostels 100% of the time.

However Priceline can be intimidating the first time you use it so I’ve created a video tutorial.

My explanation of the famous free re-bid hack starts at about the 6:30 minute mark.

For two people traveling together: I have gotten 4* hotel rooms for similar to the cost of two hostel beds by using Priceline.

I’ve signed up to TripIt to manage my US trip. Its free and super easy. You can sign up at TripIt.com – takes 3 seconds.

How it works

You just email your flight confirmations to plans@TripIt.com and it compiles them into one timeline.

Puts all the info (e.g. flight and layover durations) into a nice consistent format.

You can make your itinerary public or private.

Also has free mobile apps for iphone, android and blackberry (or just use their website).

Does a bunch of other things but I’m still exploring it.

Other than storing my info in one place and showing it in a consistent format, one feature I especially like is…

for free I can auto feed the info to my Google Calendar and it shows the times based on whatever timezone the calendar is set to (e.g. converts the US times for my US trip to New Zealand time).

Before leaving I can share my calendar with family in New Zealand who will then know what days/times I’m traveling New Zealand time.