We love the Booking.com site and used it all the time. Great for finding and comparing cheap hotels and other accommodation. It's super easy to use, you don't have to sign up to book a room and there are up to date reviews. There are also no additional booking fees, free cancellation and most of the time you pay the hotel upon arrival.

Airbnb is a great alternative to hotels and motels. Owners rent our their spare rooms or entire homes/apartments. You get all the comforts of home and can discover some great areas off the beaten track.

HomeAway is vacation rental website similar to Airbnb where you are connected directly with the owner, but rentals are for the entire apartment. Usually for longer stays but we have used this for 1-2 night stays also. We've found great accommodation through this site.

Couchsurfing lets you stay on someones couch or spare room or for free. We never thought that we would find ourselves couch surfing, but we loved it! We've even had entire apartments to ourselves. It's a great way of truly experiencing the area and getting tips from the locals. And we've made lifelong friends too.

World Nomads has competitive pricing, is very flexible and is available to people from over 150 countries. It’s designed for adventurous travellers with cover for a range of adventure sports and activities. We love that you can extend your policy whilst you are still travelling and you can even purchase it after your trip has already begun. The also cover heli-skiing, off piste and cat skiing. 

We used Ski Insurance on our most recent trip as it was by far the best value for us. We needed to have coverage for 9 months, and it had to include off-piste, heli-skiing and cat skiing. What we also liked is that you can add in the heli-ski option later as long as it is within 24 hours prior to going heli-skiing. There is also basic cover available if you think you'll be staying on piste.

Worldcare is a really good basic insurance policy. We, and friends of ours have had to make claims through this policy before and have had good experiences. This policy will not cover you for off-piste, heli or any freestyle action though. It also requires that the resort is above 1000m and that your trip is taken within a certain date period. If you're looking for basic coverage, this is a good option.

Skyscanner is an awesome way to compare flights across hundreds of airlines. We love that you can set up alerts for price drops and you can also display prices over the month, letting you choose the best dates to travel.

Auto Europe isn't just for car hire in Europe. They are a comparison site for care hire and service 180 countries. We love that they have free cancellation up to 48 hours before pick up, 24/7 assistance and guarantee that the car is ready when you arrive.

The most cost effective way to transfer funds internationally is not through your bank. We use OFX for all of our money transfers. We’ve secured a special offer where you don’t pay any bank fees and you typically save an additional 3% over your banks or cards exchange rate.