Tools & Resources

We wanted to provide you with a one stop shop for your journey’s needs. This is a work in progress as we never know when we are going to discover another valuable resource. You’ll probably notice that we referred to this page often, so we recommend that you bookmark it for your convenience.

Hope you find these helpful!

Disclosure: Some of the products and services mentioned below are affiliate links. We may earn a small commission should you make a purchase, but at no additional cost to you. We have experience with all of these products or services and recommend them because we found them useful or helpful. Please only make purchases if you feel good about them and they help you to achieve your goals.

 

Earn as you Go Resources

AWAI– about -The Travel Writers Course, Copywriting Course, Blog for Money Course and the Photographers Life Online Course.

Caretaker Gazette– a website for Care-taking jobs of all types worldwide.

eLance– Is an online Job Board for Freelance jobs or posting of your own Freelance Profile.

PB Inspections– Apply Online to be a FEMA Disaster Inspector- must have a background in the construction trade and computer skills. John and I have both done 1000’s of inspections around the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It can be a fascinating,challenging and rewarding line of work.

Teach English– We don’t recommend any certification or course for learning to Teach English as a Second Language but here is a great site for starting your investigation.

Teach School Internationally– I not only grew up in the International School System in Hong Kong and Singapore but John and I both taught at Collegio Americano in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. What a fantastic way to make a living. Housing and a salary in an exotic place while teaching munchkins. Best teaching experience I ever had was in Mexico. There are job fairs throughout the U.S. annually that you can visit to meet representatives from many of the schools.

Working Couples– an Online Resource of Jobs for Couples.

 

Living Overseas

International Living– a great publication targeted at people that wish to move abroad.

Transitions Abroad– a webzine with a host of articles and resources for those considering living abroad.

Third Culture Kids– a website and well known book supporting children and their parents on the consequences and benefits of raising your child in a foreign country.

 

Mobile Office Tools

Cube Wireless Speaker – a small wireless speaker that we can use for our phones or PCs, it has been great for conference calls, music and video.

Docusign– a low cost digital contract tool for the upload, filing and signing of documents. Securely sign and send documents online from any device with the most widely used e-Signature. They have a free trial version.

eFax– a free eFax service assigns you your own dedicated Fax phone number

FileZilla– Free .ftp upload service for larger files

International Converter/Adapter Set

LegalZoom– A great resource for template and stock legal forms and documents.

Logitech Wireless Headset – Love this device. I can do the dishes and wander around while listening to a webinar or conference call. Excellent sound quality and really comfortable.

Maillink– Our Mail service in Las Vegas. Small but great service and pricing.

Skype– Our international work phone bill used to be about $600 a month. Then SKYPE came along. We can call all our customers and friends international anywhere from our computer or iPhone for FREE with Video too. It makes keeping in touch really fun, like talking to our little nieces in Australia.

Verizon Aircard– We have been happy with our Verizon Air Card for Data transmission. They consistently have the best coverage Nation Wide and with the newer 4G the speed is getting better.

 

Boating Lifestyles

Cruising World– a monthly publication for anyone considering going cruising on a boat.

West Marine– a national brick and mortal Marine Store with a great online store to provide most boaters equipment needs.

Moorings Charters– Moorings is a charter boat company that you can charter at various sailing bases around the world. Chartering is especially useful if you are trying to determine if you are suited to buy or live on a boat. Additionally they have a purchase option that allows you to buy the boat and lease it back to them for chartering to pay its way.

SSCA– a nonprofit community of cruising boaters that share information. A deep resource.

 

RV Resources

BassPro– a national chain store catering to all outdoor activities, in particular hunting, fishing and camping.

Cabela – another giant chain store nationwide, catering to all outdoor activities, in particular hunting, fishing and camping.

Camping World– a national brick and mortal Camping, RV and Trailer supply store. They also have a great online store and service centers across the U.S.

DirectTV– The flexibility of satellite TV while traveling by RV or Boat or just with iPad and Aircard has really been wonderful. To be able to record our favorite shows and see them whenever we want adds a sense of regularity to our home life no matter where we might be.

FMCA– a national organization for RV, Trailer and Motorhome enthusiast. They have a monthly publication, discount member services and annual rendezvous’s.

Good Sam Club– A national organization for RVers providing discounts, products & services including camping discounts are a standard benefit.

National Park Pass– the deal of the century. For $80 we get unlimited access ( up to 4 people) into all the National Parks, Monuments and Bureau of Land Management lands for a year. After age 62 it’s a $10.00 one time cost for the lifetime pass. The break even for us is typically 3 park visits and we’ve paid for the pass.

Passport America– a 50% off Campground Discount membership program. This is an inexpensive way to save a lot on your camping costs.

Rails to Trails– A nonprofit, national network of converted railroad beds to walking,biking and equestrian use. Wonderful trails that are car-free.

Walk Score– now also offers a limited selection of BikeScores. This is a great resource when researching communities that are sensitive to a walking and biking lifestyle.

 

TRAVEL

CDC Vaccinations– THE place to check what immunizations are needed for your destination.

Columbia Sportswear– Outdoor wear and travel gear that is multipurpose, comfortable and rugged. They offer a discount if you sign up as a member.

Gas Buddy– a phone app that gives you the cheapest pricing for all gas stations near your GPS coordinates. It’s Free.

Google Earth– The more we use it, the more we are astounded at it’s power. Check the Street View for low bridge clearances, getting into places when you are driving, we even took the street view right into Sherry’s brothel in Pahrump, Nevada. Amazing.

Google Maps– it works in many countries worldwide and can be a safety tool when trying to find an address in another country. Excellent resource for trip planning, road mapping and time estimates.

Google Street View– a wonderful tool for getting a 360’ street view of a neighborhood, community, landmark etc. A great tool when planning drives on questionable roads.

Lonely Planet Guidebooks– This is the old standard from feet in the trenches first hand travelers. Love the perspective of the contributors as you never know what they will turn up.

NOAA– Great weather resource

Qatar Airways– Hands down the best service and nicest flights we’ve ever enjoyed. Their lounges are amazing too. After a 20+ hour flight to India we actually felt great when we arrived. Can’t wait to fly them again.

Rand McNally Travel Store– a famous map and travel brand where you will find all the specialty items.

REI– We joined the REI Co-op years ago and have always been honored to be part of this great community. If you join you automatically get a discount and other benefits. They have terrific outdoor equipment, knowledgeable subject experts and all sorts of workshops from Rock Climbing to Mountain Biking.

Rosetta Stone– A wonderfully graphic and intuitive method for quick language learning-I loved it for Spanish and look forward to it for other languages as we travel to new places. It has helped us both personally and professionally.

Thule– They have thought of every conceivable rack that you might need from carrying you Windsurfer to carrying the whole families bikes. We’ve had a variety of their racks through the years and they’ve never failed us. A little pricey but definitely a good product.

TripAdvisor– a dedicated resource. We use the phone app and online to get local knowledge and look for ideas when going to a new place. A trusted resource.

VisitorTips.com-A FANTASTIC RESOURCE- These are the Brochure stands you see in all attractions. Get all the local brochures before you go, coupons, maps etc. They also have an app.

World Electric Guide– a comprehensive set of calculators for electric current conversions.

World Health Organization Country Reports– A valuable safety tool for overseas trip planning.

World Nomads Travel Insurance– We normally only buy Travel Insurance on our international trips, but it’s given us a lot of peace of mind over the years. Their site has a lot of great travel information up on it too. Lastly they are recommended by Lonely Planet and National Geographic.

 

Website and Blogging Tools

Interested in creating a website business or blogging? Here are courses and resources we personally use which could be helpful for you as well:

1 & 1 Network– We’ve been using 1 & 1 without issue for over 10 years. They have been very supportive and responsive. They are not the least expensive but pricing is decent at the level we work with them.

Adobe– A wonderful, economical way to license on a needed basis all the Adobe creative software. Pay by the month until you don’t need it and then discontinue it. We saw updates constantly with new and improved tools coming onboard.

AWeber-A powerful and popular online opt-in Email and Autoresponder tool. Their interface is a little challenging but overall we’ve been happy with the results and the tool. This is what we use for all of our AutoResponses.

iStock Photo– we have used iStock in professional event production as well as website and marketing efforts. Amazing selection and good pricing. We’ve found them easy to work with.

Lynda.com– On-demand online training videos. Lynda offers monthly subscription arrangements. We’ve have had excellent instructors with great content over a vast array of topics on software, creative skills and some business skills.

WordPress– The most popular blog publishing platform on the net. WordPress provides free customizable templates with a host of widget tools. We use WordPress for the Itchy Nomad Blog portion of the site. They have two sites WordPress.com is hosted by WordPress, WordPress.org is self-hosted.

Vimeo– a community for hosting and distributing your video content.

 

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