RESOURCES TO PLAN YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE
We’re often asked what travel platforms, travel apps, tour operators, and camera gear we use. So, we’ve compiled all our go-to travel resources to help you plan your next adventure. Whether you’re planning a short getaway or a year-long trip, these are the tools that you can trust and rely on.
WHERE TO STAY
BOOKING.COM
We book 95% of our accommodations using the Booking.com platform. It saves us a lot of time, because the platform is easy to navigate and the booking process is straightforward.
All our road trip itineraries link to accommodation on Booking.com. In addition to hotels, the platform hosts many guesthouses, apartments and bed and breakfasts.
TRUSTED HOUSESITTERS
Trusted Housesitters is a petsitting platform, whereby petsitters can search and apply for available petsits around the world. We’re huge fans of this platform because it allows you to stay in someone’s home for free with the added bonus of pets.
We’ve had amazing petsitting experiences in New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, England, Istanbul, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Whether you’re traveling long-term, location independent, or planning a vacation, Trusted Housesitters is a great choice.
To join the platform, you have to pay an annual membership fee. Click this link and use code MOON25 at checkout to get 25% off all new memberships.
CAR RENTAL
DISCOVERCARS.COM
We recommend using the Discovercars.com car rental reservation platform to search for and book car rentals. This easy-to-use booking platform compares car rental deals from 500+ trusted providers, so that you can choose the best option for your trip.
Tip: If you can only drive automatic transmission cars, as opposed to manual transmission cars (stick shift), book your can rental as early as possible.
Southern Europe Road Trips:
- Asturias and Cantabria, Spain: 10-Day Picos de Europa Road Trip
- Algarve, Portugal: 7-Day Algarve Road Trip
- Mallorca, Spain: 7-Day Mallorca Road Trip
- Tenerife, Spain: 7-Day Tenerife Road Trip
- Gran Canaria, Spain: 7-Day Gran Canaria Road Trip
European Alps Road Trips:
- Italy: 5-Day Dolomites Road Trip
- Italy: 7-Day Dolomites Road Trip
- Italy: 10-14 Day Dolomites Road Trip
- Germany & Austria: 10-Day Bavarian Alps & Tyrolean Alps Road Trip
- Austria: 2 Week Austria Road Trip
- Austria: 1 Week Austria Road Trip
- Slovenia: 2 Week Slovenia Road Trip
- Slovenia: 5 Day Slovenia Road Trip
Nordic Europe Road Trips:
- Iceland: 2 Week Iceland Road Trip
- Faroe Islands: 8 Day Faroe Islands Road Trip
Eastern Europe Road Trips:
- Montenegro: 2 Week Montenegro Road Trip
- Albania: 2 Week Albania Itinerary
SELF-GUIDED HIKING TOUR COMPANIES
ALPENVENTURES UNGUIDED
We’re really passionate about hut to hut hiking. It’s a unique and thrilling way to experience different mountain ranges and cultures across the globe. But, planning a hut-to-hut hike can be very time-consuming and challenging.
The good news is that you don’t have to worry about the logistics, if you book a self-guided tour with Alpenventures UNGUIDED. This passionate and responsible tour operator is based in Munich and offer a wide array of tours, including:
- 10-Day Alta Via 1
- Best of the Dolomites Trek 9-day Standard
- 10-Day Tour du Mont Blanc – what we booked in 2022 (read our TMB Guide)
- 14-Day Walker’s Haute Route
- 7-Day Bernese Oberland Traverse
- 5-Day Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu
- 5-Day W-Trek in Torres del Paine Patagonia
- 8-Day O-Trek in Torres del Paine Patagonia
SLOTRIPS
Slotrips is a Slovenian hiking tour operator run by passionate locals. They organize both guided and self-guided hiking trips across the Slovenian Alps.
Small Group Guided Hiking Tours:
- Best Walks in Slovenia (April – October)
- Discover the Slovenian Alps (July – September)
- Best of the Julian Alps Hut-to-Hut (July – September)
Private Guided Hiking Tours:
- Best of Alpe-Adria Trail (May – October)
- Bespoke Trip – Request a custom private guided hiking tour
Self-Guided Hiking Tours:
- Crossing the Julian Alps (July – September)
- Mountains and Lakes Hut-to-Hut (July – September)
- Triglav National Park Adventure July – September)
- Trekking the Karawanks (June – September)
- Alpe Adria Trail Adventure (May – October)
- Best of Alpe-Adria and Juliana Trail (May – October)
- Mountains to Sea (May – October)
TRAVEL CAMERA GEAR
SONY ALPHA A6000 MIRRORLESS DIGITAL CAMERA
We did a lot of research before investing in a camera. We wanted a powerful camera that’s also lightweight and easy to hike with. We chose the Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera, which we’re head-over-heels in love with. It’s a great entry-level camera with an attractive price point. If you buy it on Amazon, it comes with the 16-50mm and 55-210mm Power Zoom Lenses.
After several years, we upgraded our camera gear. Our current set-up is Sony Alpha a6400 (camera body), Tamron 17-70mm 2.8 Di III-A VC RXD (mid-range zoom lens), and Sony – E 10-18mm F4 OSS (wide-angle zoom lens).
For portrait photography, we use the Sony 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens.
PEAK DESIGN CAPTURE CAMERA CLIP V3
The Peak Design Camera Clip is the only practical way to comfortably and safely hike with a camera. You adhere one part of the clip to your hiking backpack strap and the other part to your camera. That means no neck pain and no swinging camera. I was skeptical at first, but now I have no idea how I hiked with a camera before.
TRIPOD
Whether you’re traveling solo, with your partner, or with friends, it’s really nice to be able to take photos of yourself (that aren’t selfies). You need a tripod to safely prop of your camera and capture yourself and your surroundings.
SD CARD
We recommend using this SanDisk Extreme Pro 256 GB SD Card to save your photos. If you’re shooting in both raw and jpeg, you’ll want an SD card with 128 GB or more.
TRAVEL APPS WE USE
MAPS.ME
Maps.me is a mobile offline maps app. We use this religiously for city travel, and even for trails. You can mark destinations you’ve visited, or want to visit on your downloaded map. Because the maps are offline, you don’t need data to use it.
XE CURRENCY CONVERTER
XE is our go-to currency converter app. We use this on a daily basis when we’re not in our home countries.
GOOGLE MAPS OFFLINE
Did you know that you can download Google maps and use those maps to navigate offline? When we’re road tripping and want to save our data (or don’t even have a local SIM card), we download Google Maps. It works really well for driving navigation (not walking, or transit). After you download the Google Maps app on your phone, use the hamburger menu to navigate to “Offline Maps.” Once you’re there, you can download a custom map.
