I’ve been a traveller for more than 20 years, so I’ve tried and tested loads of different products and companies. Below are some of the ones I personally use, love and trust, and am happy to recommend to you too.
Note: Some of these travel resources contain affiliate links which means that if you click and make a purchase I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. However I am happy to recommend brands here because I think they are good and helpful, regardless of whether I am a member of the affiliate programme or not.
Flights, Hotels and Holidays
If you’re not going to do a group trip, you’ll need to book your own flights and accommodation. Here are some of the sites I use regularly for that.
Booking.com
My go-to for booking accommodation, Booking.com has a user-friendly site, loads of reviews, and if you use it regularly you can earn discounts.
Tripadvisor
The number one travel review site. Check out which are the top hotels and compare prices all in one place.
LateRooms
If you’ve left booking to the last minute, you can often get great deals on discounted hotel rooms at LateRooms.
Neilson Holidays
Neilson offer all-inclusive activity and ski holidays. If you’re not good at sitting still, these are the ones for you.
Expedia
Expedia is a very user-friendly site for building your own trip. Search and compare flights and hotels, build your own package or just buy one of theirs.
Flight Centre
In today’s uncertain world, I like having an expert on hand to advise and help in case of last minute panics. Booking through Flight Centre gives you the peace of mind of knowing someone has your back.
Viator
Part of the TripAdvisor brand, Viator is another great place to search for group adventures and day trips.
Get Your Guide
Get Your Guide is a really easy way to book tours and day trips in destinations around the world.
Skyscanner
The easy way to compare and book flights. I use this for simple and cheap short-haul options.
Group Adventure Travel
As an extrovert I love having company when I travel, but as a solo traveller that can sometimes be hard to find!
I’ve found group travel is a really great way to travel safely and make friends along the way – and if you want to know more about why I like it so much, check out 10 Great Reasons To Do Group Holidays.
Here are some of my favourite group travel companies:
G Adventures
G Adventures offers tours to a huge range of destinations, and you can pick your level of service to suit your budget and travel style.
TourRadar
If you prefer group travel, TourRadar has a huge range of fantastic tours from respected operators. They’re very helpful and have 4.5 stars on TrustPilot.
Flash Pack
A relatively new company, Flash Pack has cornered the market in group travel for professionals in their 30s and 40s.
Travel Tools
Airalo
Say goodbye to mobile roaming charges. Install an e-SIM in your phone before you fly, and then use data abroad at local prices.
Priority Pass
Gives you access to 1600+ airport lounges, letting you enjoy my time at the airport. Click the link to get 20% off a Standard membership or 10% off Standard Plus.
Rentalcars
Part of the Booking.com family and the world’s largest online car rental service, with 24/7 customer service.
Travel Gear
Buying gear can be overwhelming – there’s so much choice! Here are my favourite places and top brands to buy kit for my adventures.
Ellis Brigham
Staff here are hugely knowledgeable and everything they stock is from trusted brands. The best place to buy travel gear in the UK.
Cotswold Outdoor
Another trusted and reliable place to buy gear from backpacks and jackets to tents and accessories.
Patagonia
Not only is Patagonia gear really good quality, but all the company profits go to fight climate change. Seriously, Google it. I swear I will only buy from Patagonia from now on if I can.
Rab
Rab do great quality hiking and outdoor gear at reasonable prices.
Mountain Equipment
Another great quality brand, not to be confused with Mountain Warehouse which is rubbish!
Amazon
With so many products of varying quality, I wouldn’t buy expensive gear from here, but there’s no denying Amazon is great for all those bits you need to grab at the last minute.
Travel Insurance
World Nomads
Travel insurance for backpackers and longer trips.
True Traveller
Fully customisable insurance that you can pay for monthly and extend if you need to.
Safety Wing
No-frills insurance great for longer trips and if you’re based in the USA.
Photography Gear
From cameras and lenses to bags and accessories, as a photographer I spend almost as much money on kit as I do on travel! Here’s where I prefer to shop.
Wex Photo Video
Where I buy almost all my gear. They have a huge range of both new and used equipment at extremely competitive prices. And if you tell them I referred you using my full name – BELLA FALK – you’ll get £20 off your first order!
MPB.com
I’m a huge fan of buying used and second-hand gear, and MPB.com are great for that. Items are clearly described and come with a 6 month warranty.
Photobox
I use Photobox to create photobooks of my adventures. Much better than having all your images hidden away on hard drives!
What’s in my luggage?
Here are some of the many items I have bought and travelled with over the years, and still return to and use time and time again.
- Wheeled backpack. Mine is the Farpoint 65L by Osprey.
- Antler hard-shelled suitcases in three different sizes
- 30-40L daypack. I have a Nebula 34L and a Tempest 40L, both by Osprey.
- Ultra-light puffy jacket (mine is a Nano puff from Patagonia and I love it!). Note that Patagonia donate all profits to help fight climate change – another great reason to buy from them!
- Lightweight zip-off walking trousers. Mine are by North Face.
- A durable waterproof jacket (I have two, a lovely Zeta LT by Arcteryx and a packable Meridien jacket by Rab).
- Waterproof trousers (mine are by Mountain Equipment).
- I have several pairs of walking trousers – both lightweight ones and thermal winter ones from Craghoppers. I particularly like the Kiwi Pro trousers which come in summer and winter versions. Their gear is good quality, fits well, and isn’t stupidly expensive. They also have great sales.
- I also like Craghoppers for activewear tops and t-shirts.
- My go-to thermal leggings are the bestselling Rab Power Stretch pants (or find them here if you’re not in the UK).
- Hiking boots. Mine are Quests by Salomon and I love them!
- Hiking socks by Bridgedale.
- I buy all my cute and packable T-shirts and jersey dresses from Boden.
- Suncream. I swear by Riemann P20 because it’s hard wearing and you only need to apply it once a day. Or for the best face SPF you will ever find, that’s non-greasy and non-orange (!), I love this one from the Body Shop.
- Roll up compression bags – for organising and compressing my stuff.
- Tweezers, nail scissors, and pocket mirror – or get a little vanity kit.
- Good hand moisturiser. I never go anywhere without my Neutrogena hand cream – it’s cheap and it works and I don’t know why anyone would buy any other kind.
- Roll-up microfibre travel towel.
- Waterproof backpack cover.
- Ear plugs. I use these ones which I think are really good.
- Eye mask for sleeping. Silk ones are the softest on your face.
- Portable phone charger. Mine is a little Anker one.
- Snack bars. My faves are these protein flapjacks which are delicious and filling!
- Power adaptors. I normally carry a universal travel adaptor.
- If I don’t want to take a larger daypack, I also have a small folding 30L folding backpack that packs right down but still has plenty of room for the essentials.
- Travel hairdryer.
- Water bottle.
- Hardback A5 notebook for taking notes.
In general, I buy all my outdoor gear from either Cotswold Outdoor or Ellis Brigham as they have everything you need and are really helpful with advice.
What’s in my kit bag?
As a photographer, I travel with quite a lot of gear! Here’s what’s in my bag. I don’t always travel with all of these items, but this is all stuff I own, use regularly, and would recommend.
- Canon R5 body. You can read my full review of this camera here.
- Canon R6 Mark II body. I often travel with this as a second camera so I didn’t have to change lenses in the field.
- Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L lens
- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 L lens
- Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8 L lens
- Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L lens
- Canon EF to EOS R adapter
- 3 x 128 GB Lexar SDHC cards and 1 Lexar CF Express card
- Charger, adapters, plug extender
- My Macbook pro laptop
- 2 x 2TB portable hard drives
- Dual CF Express and SD card reader
- Battery grip
- Canon BR-E1 remote shutter release
- 3 x LP-E6NH batteries for the R5
- 3 x LP-E6 batteries for the 5D
- 77 mm and 82 mm UV filters for my lenses
- 77 mm and 82 mm circular polarisers
- Variable ND filters from Urth.
- Shimoda Action X 40L backpack
- Tamrac Anvil backpack
- SpiderPro dual camera holster belt
- Peak Design Slide camera strap
- Peak Design Cuff wrist strap
- Microfibre cleaning cloths
- Quick drying pocket towels
- Camera wrap
- Lens pen DSLR cleaning kit
- Air/dust blower
- Heat Company fingerless mittens
- Heat Company Polartec touch screen gloves
- Rain cover for the camera
- Waterproof cover for backpack
- Benro Cyanbird carbon fibre and aluminium travel tripod
- Before I upgraded I also had a Manfrotto BeFree travel tripod which is slightly heavier but more affordable than the Benro.
- GoPro with head strap and selfie stick, spare battery and 2x 32 GB memory cards.
I buy most of my gear either new or second hand from Wex Photo Video – who have a huge range, great customer service, and competitive prices. And even better – if you tell them I referred you using my full name – BELLA FALK – you’ll get £20 off your first order!
