Top Travel Sites

My collection of Top Travel Sites as a Professional Traveler for over 12 years and 88 countries. I do not own a home, I do not rent an apartment, I am a perpetual traveler, I am homeless.

Andy Graham - Read the Travel Journal to understand my "Life Less Normal."

Starting with the Top Travel Sites: These are the sites I use continuously as a traveler, but will omit Google.com.

1. WikiPedia.org - This is my base for information, facts, and maps of countries, it is the source of the best knowledge.

2. Goggle Alerts: I track searches, this service by goggle sends me daily updates on a country. For example, say I want to know a Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast with WIFI. I will submit this search and goggle will update me daily.

3. Goggle Maps: I use the Lonely Planet or Rough guide paper guidebooks first, then when outside the grid I use Goggle Maps.

4. About.com: The best collection of information and links on the Internet, they will list out great resources and allow me to click directly to the site. Most sites put paid links in their list and keep readers from good sites that do not pay. About.com is truly a magnanimous site.

5. Canadian Government Travel Warnings and Information: I receive an e-mail daily from this system, they give me knowledge of current conditions in the country.

6. USA Government Consular Sheets: I get e-mail updates on consular sheets, this is helpful, the link continually breaks so you may need to search. The Webmasters of the USA government do not understand the plot of making a usable site. However, if you want to have an unbiased answer to the question, is this the country safe, or not safe, here is the answers.

7. Travelocity.com: I have an account and purchase 50 percent of my plane tickets from them, then about 40 percent from Kayak.com that sends me to other sites. WARNING - Purchase only Airfare, do not buy other stuff.

Note: This page makes me money and could very well work better, Travel Deals

Note: Search FIVE TIMES per day, every 4 hours you try again, and also when you would normally be sleeping. The airlines release tickets at midnight in 24 different time zone.s

8. Hotels Protest- I am not going to point you at any Hotel sites because I do not trust any of them, except my own and seems a little dodgy to recommend my own. (HoboHideOut.com)

9. Transitionsabroad.com: This independent site, privately owned does the most essential research, and truly is helpful. Take care because it is still a "Tourist Site," the money is tourist, and backpackers are tourist, not travelers, a.k.a. Flashpackers. However, the site is a wealth of links within limits. It is the best travel site source of Backpacker information on the internet today.

10. Lonely Planet Thorntree Forum: When I truly want Travel Insider information, I go the Lonely Planet Forum, about 1 in 20 people that post have a clue, and sometimes can help by direct contact with the person. Before I went to Iraq, I was on the Thorntree daily posting question. Warning, there are many companies that troll for business, pretending to be your friend and trying to recommend you go to the company. Try to key on people who say, I just returned, there are many armchair know-it-alls who want to read and believe they travel.

Sad state of affairs, the Travel Industry is inundated with sites that misrepresent and lead you into a "Cesspool," as the CEO of Google admits

Andy Graham of HoboTraveler.com
This page was updated in Teal, Honduras July 31, 2010
Andy Graham - Read the Travel Journal to understand my "Life Less Normal."

SUB-CATEGORIES ANDY NEEDS HELP - Volunteer to Help 

Planning:
The way travel life really works is this, you choose a destination, you buy a cheap air ticket, and you hope to find a cheap room, or if youare like me, you fly there and find one the ground. Hotels are still the most difficult problem for travel. You have a 1 in 30 chance of finding a good value Hotel, most of the other information is manageble. Note, the only gear you need for sure is a Passport, 400 Dollars in US, and two ATM Cards, you are ready, but this is not gear... Oh yes, pack some dreams, and remember to bag up your memories for the return trip home.

Destination Guides - Explains the tourist attractions at the destination

1. WikiPedia.org - This is my base for information, facts, and maps of countries, it is the source of the best knowledge.
   
   
2. BudgetTravel.com www.budgettravel.com/
   
   
3. Human Development Index - hdr.undp.org/en/
   
   
4. About.com: The best collection of information and links on the Internet, they will list out great resources and allow me to click directly to the site. Most sites put paid links in their list and keep readers from good sites that do not pay. About.com is truly a magnanimous site.
   
   
5. http://whc.unesco.org/ World Heritage Sites
   
   
6. United States Government Background Notes www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
   
   
7. CIA Factbook - www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Airfare Purchase Sites for World Travel

1. Travelocity www.travelocity.com - I know this site is getting a lot of consolidatr type tickets.
   Join, log in and the site keeps good reservation systems
   
   
2. Kayak.com www.kayak.com
   
   
3. Orbitz www.orbitz.com
   
   
4. Expedia www.expedia.com
   
   
5. priceline.com www.priceline.com
   
   
6. Hotwire www.hotwire.com
   
   
7. Yahoo! Travel travel.yahoo.com
   
   
8. CheapOair.com www.cheapoair.com
   
   
9. Cheap Tickets www.cheaptickets.com
   
   
10. Lowfares.com www.lowfares.com
    
    

Airfare Journalism Sites for World Travel

1. CrankyFlier.com crankyflier.com
   
   
2. JohnnyJet.com www.johnnyjet.com
   
   

Hotel Booking Sites for World Travel

1. TripAdvisor www.tripadvisor.com - Does best at 4-5 Star Level, not good below
   
   
2. HostelWorld.com www.hostelworld.com - This site you middle range of prices for Hotel, the bottom level is seldom included or tricky business practices.
   
   
3. Hotels.com www.hotels.com - Straight Business Bookings
   
   
4. AsianRooms.com www.asiarooms.com 
   
   
5. InterContinental Hotels Group www.ichotelsgroup.com
   
   
6. Marriott International www.marriott.com
   
   
7. Hilton Hotels Online www.hilton.com
   
   
8. Choice Hotels International www.choicehotels.com
   
   
9. Vacation Rentals by Owner www.vrbo.com
   
   

Backpacker Travel Sites for World Travel
Sites on how to Live on a 25 Dollars per day Budget or below.

1.  Transitionsabroad.com: This independent site, privately owned does the most essential research, and truly is helpful. Take care because it is still a "Tourist Site," the money is tourist, and backpackers are tourist, not travelers, a.k.a. Flashpackers. However, the site is a wealth of links within limits. It is the best travel site source of Backpacker information on the internet today.
   
   
2. Kathleens Student Travel Blog http://studenttravel.about.com/b/
   
   
3. TravelJunky.com www.traveljunky.com
   
   

Travel Gear for Tourist

1. About.com: The best collection of information and links on the Internet, they will list out great resources and allow me to click directly to the site. Most sites put paid links in their list and keep readers from good sites that do not pay. About.com is truly a magnanimous site.

Travel Gear for Backpackers

Travel Gear for Professional or Perpetual Travelers

1. ZenStoves.net  zenstoves.net
   
   
2. About.com: The best collection of information and links on the Internet, they will list out great resources and allow me to click directly to the site. Most sites put paid links in their list and keep readers from good sites that do not pay. About.com is truly a magnanimous site.

Travel Warnings 

1. Canadian Government Travel Warnings and Information: I receive an e-mail daily from this system, they give me knowledge of current conditions in the country.
   
   
2. Goggle Alerts: I track searches, this service by goggle sends me daily updates on a country. For example, say I want to know a Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast with WIFI. I will submit this search and goggle will update me daily.
   
   
3. Human Development Index - http://hdr.undp.org/en/
   
   
4. USA Government Consular Sheets: I get e-mail updates on consular sheets, this is helpful, the link continually breaks so you may need to search. The Webmasters of the USA government do not understand the plot of making a usable site. However, if you want to have an unbiased answer to the question, is this the country safe, or not safe, here is the answers.
   
   
5. CIA Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
   
   

Travel Forums Where you Can Talk with Real People

1. Lonely Planet Thorntree Forum: When I truly want Travel Insider information, I go the Lonely Planet Forum, about 1 in 20 people that post have a clue, and sometimes can help by direct contact with the person. Before I went to Iraq, I was on the Thorntree daily posting question. Warning, there are many companies that troll for business, pretending to be your friend and trying to recommend you go to the company. Try to key on people who say, I just returned, there are many armchair know-it-alls who want to read and believe they travel.
   
   
2. Southeast Asia - ThaiVisa.com www.thaivisa.com

Etc, and all the categories on the Index of HoboTraveler.com

OLD TOP 10 TRAVEL WEBSITES
From January 1, 2004 to January 1, 2005
Former years -  2004  2003  2002  2001

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:13:11

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