Over the years, I’ve spent hours poring over travel booking sites in various forms, searching for the best deal on flights, package holidays or creating my own tailor made trips. From searching out the best forms of transport to the perfect travel insurance deals, I’ve always looked for something that suits me, while trying to get the best deal or making some savings or cashback. I couldn’t tell you how many cameras I have owned over the past decades. I’ve been a fan of photography since I was a child, so there have been a lot. Although the list is in no way definitive, I’ve put together some details below on my current go-to travel companies, the camera kit I’m currently using, as well as a bit of an insight into what I generally travel with, whether it’s heading abroad for a week, or a day’s hiking in the mountains.

Disclosure: Making bookings through the links within the coloured boxes on this page will earn me a small commission and assist in the upkeep of this website at no extra cost to you. Any companies or products endorsed are based on my own personal experiences.

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SHOOT FROM THE TRIP’S BEST TRAVEL RESOURCES

PACKAGE HOLIDAYS

As a general rule, it’s very rare that I book package holidays, preferring to create a tailor made itinerary and booking flights, car hire and accommodation separately to provide the ultimate flexibility. There are some instances though when package holidays tick the box, by booking everything in one place. For city and European breaks, I find EXPEDIA is a great resource when looking for flights, car hire and accommodation deals. Having done a lot of travelling west to the USA and Caribbean, VIRGIN HOLIDAYS has always been my company of choice. From package holidays to Caribbean islands, tailor made road trips to the west coast USA, or awesome theme park breaks in Florida, Virgin have a great range of flights and accommodation options. More recently, we’ve been using JET2.COM & JET2HOLIDAYS for European trips. From beach holidays to city breaks, Jet2 always offer a friendly and efficient service.

ACCOMMODATION

You are always most likely to get the best deal by booking accommodation directly with the provider if you know where you want to stay, but if you’re looking for best deals in a particular area BOOKING.COM and HOTELS.COM are great resources to finding a hotel that works for you. I always find the map view on these websites useful when trying to nail down the best hotel with the best price as it clearly shows the price comparisons. The other benefit of these hotels are different rates providing flexibility on payment dates. You’ll get a better deal if you ‘pay now’ on a non-refundable rate, but there are also options to pay on arrival with a cancellation date which is much closer to your travel dates. This gives the opportunity of securing the accommodation you want, and being able to budget your payments for a later date. Historically a review site for accommodation, restaurants and attractions, TRIPADVISOR is also a great site where you can also book your accommodation directly on the site. Take the reviews with a pinch of salt and be sure to have a good overview of a number of reviews before making your decision.

For self-catering accommodation the increasing popularity of AIRBNB provides travellers with the options of non-hotel accommodation, and unique stays. Be aware that there are some added cleaning fees that can be added on, so the price you see in the search may not be the full total. For UK cottage stays, COTTAGES.COM have a superb variety of accommodation options and if you’re heading to North Wales then I would definitely recommend DIONI HOLIDAY COTTAGES, who offer a wide variety of self catering accommodation options across the region.

GROUND TRANSPORTATION

Whether you are looking for train tickets, the best flights or car hire while you’re away, the options of where to search are almost endless and can be overwhelming. A constant cycle of checking for the best deal can leave you going around in circles and actually missing out on a good fare or price. For UK train travel, rather than search on the individual train operator’s website, I use the TRAINLINE app or website. This simple to use platform provides an easy way to search train times and look for the best prices, with tickets available directly on the app once booked. I’ve had changes in my preferred car hire companies over the years but for the past few years, I have found that SIXT provide a great service and have generally been my go-to hire car company. More recently I have found that DISCOVER CARS offer a great comparison and booking site for car hire, with great filters to whittle down your preferences from a range of car hire operators at your destination.

FINDING YOUR PERFECT FLIGHT

Do you have a favourite long or short haul airline? I’ve flown with a number of airlines to the US over the years and settled with VIRGIN ATLANTIC after finding some great deals with them, alongside excellent service. Although it’s been a while since our last long haul flight, we’re looking to book a Virgin trip later in the year. Short haul and European breaks have seen us use Ryanair and Easyjet regularly, but more recently we found that JET2.COM fly to some great destinations, with great flights from our local airports in Liverpool and Manchester. For flight only deals, the SKYSCANNER website is a great resource to check the best flight times and prices across all airlines.

As a side note on Virgin Atlantic flights, for years we have been collecting Virgin Points via a number of different avenues including converting Tesco Clubcard Points, spending with Virgin companies and most effectively from using the VIRGIN ATLANTIC REWARD CREDIT CARD through Virgin Money. With two card options, one of which carries an annual fee, these provide the opportunity to collect Virgin Points on all of your spending. The points allow you to spend in a number of different ways with Virgin Atlantic and partner companies. Over the years, these points have allowed us to take a number of Upper Class flights on Virgin Atlantic flights, while only paying for the taxes. It’s worth noting that the price of these taxes have increased significantly over the past few years, especially from UK airports.

INSURANCE, AIRPORTS AND DESTINATION EXPERIENCES

From the boring stuff like making sure you have travel insurance, to finding exciting ways to enhance your airport experience, alongside finding great things to do while at a new destination, there are a few companies that I use to tick these boxes. For a long time, HOLIDAY EXTRAS have been the company that I use for any airport related bookings. Whether it’s airport parking and hotels, security fast passes or lounge access, Holiday Extras is a great resource to find all of these things. They also offer a comparison site for booking your travel insurance, which once again saves searching through numerous sites looking for a deal that works for you.

Enhancing your travel experiences whilst at a destination is easy using the GET YOUR GUIDE website or app. From walking tours to balloon flights, wine tasting and catamaran sunset cruises, Get Your Guide will provide a wide range of activities in your destination of choice, with tickets downloaded to the app for easy access.

A final tip when searching and planning any travel related spends is to head over the to the TOPCASHBACK website. Signing up to the site and clicking through to specific websites and making bookings, provides the option to earn cashback on a number of purchases you make. It’s a no brainer.

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SHOOT FROM THE TRIP’S CAMERA EQUIPMENT AND ELECTRONICS

Camera equipment – where to start with this? My constantly evolving collection of camera kit is ever changing and based on the progression through my photography journey. Having always been a fan of taking photographs, even when younger I would always be looking for the better quality point and click cameras for my travel photography. Evolving into using DSLR’s meant experimenting with different lens types and trying to find a balance which worked for me. Until recently, I’d never invested heavily in lenses, instead looking at the cheaper end of the lens ranges. Spending time lugging around a heavy camera bag with numerous lenses becomes tiresome, especially when out for long days, so I’ve condensed my lens options down, opting for quality over quantity.

So, what’s in my camera bag? Having always been in the CANON camp of DSLR’s, my current camera body is 7D Mark II, with a range of lenses. My most recent purchase was a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens, which I feel will spend the majority of time on my camera thanks to its versatility and quality. This lens was by far the most expensive piece of camera kit I have purchased (to date), retailing at over £2000.00 new. The good thing about quality camera equipment is that you can buy used items at a much reduced cost, with good warranties depending on where you buy. One great resource for all camera equipment is WEX PHOTO VIDEO, who sell new and used photography kit, and are a good place to find honest reviews on the equipment.

Alongside the Canon DSLR and associated items, I also use a number of other pieces of equipment for capturing content. From compact cameras, action cameras, gimbals and drones, my office is slowly being taken over by photography and video equipment. For a great lightweight camera to throw into a bag when on the move, the compact SONY RX100V is a great premium compact camera with superb low light capabilities and DSLR quality images. For action and adventure photography and video, GOPRO offer a great range of cameras. My GOPRO Hero 7 Silver has served me well for a number of years – great for water based filming or for action and adventure. It took me a while, but I finally got myself onto drone photography, with a recent purchase of a DJI Mini 4K, which is a great piece of kit, but make sure you have multiple batteries. Another member of the DJI family in my household is the DJI Osmo Mobile SE Gimbal.

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